Piggy Spirits

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region. Matthew 8:28-34

On a trip to Israel when we visited the Gadarenes area, at the north end of the Sea of Galilee, our tour guide asked us what we thought “the other side” meant—and I responded (correctly) “the place of the Gentiles.”  Swine were raised in this area and since Jews don’t eat pork, it had to be a Gentile area. When Jesus cast the demons into the swine those herdsmen lost not only their income, but also their next meal. No sitting down for a feast with Jesus that day. Economically speaking, it is understandable that they asked Jesus to leave. Who asks someone who has just caused them to lose their income to hang around and have a feast with them?  Additionally, we can assume that they were afraid of Jesus’ power. Who can tell demons what to do?  Those who had been demon possessed probably would have liked to have thanked Jesus, but this passage doesn’t tell us that.

Parallel scriptures in Mark 5:1-17 and Luke 8:26-39 tell us that there were 2000 pigs. That is a huge herd of swine! The passage in Mark relates that the formerly demon possessed man wanted to leave with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go home and report to his people the great things the Lord had done for him and the mercy the Lord had on him. So he went to Decapolis, an area of ten Greek cities southeast of the Sea of Galilee (now in Jordan), and told about what Jesus had done for him. Wow—he was like one of the first missionaries for Jesus.

RSVP: Jesus is inviting us to learn about His power from this lesson on the demons being cast into the swine. What can you learn from this? How can you apply this to your life? 

Prayer ~ Lord, we praise you and thank you that you came to heal and minister to the Gentiles, too. Help us to tell others what you have done for us.

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.