Chapter 4 - Jesus’ Power over the Supernatural (8:28-34)

4 Jesus’ Power over the Supernatural (8:28-34)

And when He had come 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 exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. And behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Now there was at a distance from them a herd of many swine feeding. And 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, “Begone!” And they came out, and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city, and reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they entreated Him to depart from their region. (8:28-34)

Matthew adds to the convincing evidence of Jesus’ messiahship and divinity by showing His power over the supernatural as well as over disease, deformity, and the natural world. For Jesus to redeem the earth and reverse the curse, He would have to have total power over Satan and his demon hosts. In order to rescue fallen humanity He would have to be able to overpower the evil forces that hold men in physical, mental, and spiritual bondage. Throughout the gospel record, therefore, we repeatedly find accounts of Jesus’ ability to cast out demons from those under their evil control. He exercised His power instantaneously, authoritatively, and with total success—often by the use of but a single word, as in the present instance.

In the wilderness temptations Jesus demonstrated His power to resist Satan; now He demonstrates His power to overcome and completely subdue Satan. In His dealing with the kingdom of darkness He not only would not bend to Satan but made Satan bend to Him. As the apostle John tells us, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Lord became a Man and came into the world in order to destroy the works of Satan. When He comes again to establish His kingdom He will incarcerate Satan for a thousand years, at the end of which, after a brief freedom, he and his evil co-workers will be cast into the lake of fire, where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:2,7-10). By casting out demons during His earthly ministry, Jesus gave dramatic, powerful, and repeated evidence of His power over Satan. As He explained to a multitude near Jerusalem, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20).

When the disciples tried to cast out demons they found out how extremely difficult it is. Although Jesus had given them “power and authority over all the demons” (Luke 9:1), they discovered that casting out demons was not as easy for them as for Him (Matt. 17:16, 19). Many Jews of New Testament times were involved in exorcism by means of various formulas and rituals, with no real success. That is why Jesus’ total success was so surprising. “What is this? A new teaching with authority!” exclaimed the incredulous Jews at Capernaum. “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him” (Mark 1:27). Because Jesus cast out demons with such ease, some of the people concluded that He must therefore be in collusion with the devil, and they declared, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons” (Luke 11:15). When the seven sons of Sceva tried to cast an evil spirit out of a man by the power of “Jesus whom Paul preaches,… the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16).

In the account of the two demon-possessed men, Matthew first describes the possession by the demons, then the power of Christ over the demons, and finally the perspective of the people in regard to Jesus.

THE POSSESSION BY THE DEMONS

After the miraculous stilling of the storm, Jesus and His disciples continued across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. By now it was daylight and the group of boats (see Mark 4:36) landed in the country of the Gadarenes. Those whom Matthew calls Gadarenes were also called Gerasenes (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) or Gergesenes, as found in some Greek texts. The small town of Gerasa, or Gergesa (from which come Gerasenes and Gergesenes, respectively) was on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee, about six miles across the water from Capernaum, and the steep cliffs nearby fit the geographical setting described here. The town of Gadara (from which comes Gadarenes) is located farther south and is inland; but the general region, including Gerasa, was often referred to as the country of the Gadarenes.

THE RECEPTION BY THE DEMONS

two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. (8:28b)

In their accounts of this incident, Mark (5:2) and Luke (8:27) mention only one demon-possessed man but do not state that only one was present. For their particular purposes they chose to focus on the more dominant of the two men. Daimonizomai (demon-possessed) simply means to be demonized, to be under the control of a demonic spirit, without regard to the kind or degree of control. Although its accounts of demonized people reflect many different conditions and degrees of control, Scripture does not clearly distinguish between being possessed, obsessed, or oppressed by demons.

Demonization may be denned as a condition in which one or more demons inhabits and gains control over a human being. Demons can attack men spiritually, mentally, and physically. In the spiritual realm they promote false religions, demon worship, the occult, and innumerable kinds of immorality, including murder (Rev. 9:20-21; 18:23-24). In the intellectual and psychological realm they promote such things as false doctrines; insanity and masochism, as in this demon-possessed man, who gashed himself with stones (Mark 5:5); and inability to speak and suicidal mania (see Mark 9:17-22).

Demon domination was a common affliction in New Testament times, even among God’s chosen people, the Jews. In the apostolic church, the gift of miracles, or powers, was the ability to cast out demons. It is interesting, however, that we read of no account of demon possession in the city of Jerusalem. Throughout history, including modern times, that particular aspect of Satan’s activity seems to appear more commonly in rural and unsophisticated areas than in sophisticated urban society. It is also more common where animistic religion and its accompanying fear and worship of evil spirits are strong. In more advanced societies, a person who is seriously deranged by demons is likely to be considered insane and placed in a mental institution, and it seems certain that many people who are diagnosed as mentally ill are actually demonized.

It is significant that Jesus never blamed a person for being either diseased or demon controlled. He recognized them as victims of powers beyond their own control and as in need of deliverance, not exhortation or condemnation.

As we see with these two men who were demon-possessed, the personality and voice of a demon can at will, and sometimes continuously, eclipse the personality and voice of the occupied person. When Jesus asked one of the men, “What is your name?” the demon responded through the man’s mouth, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many” (Mark 5:9).

These men lived in burial chambers that were commonly hewn out of rock hillsides or cliffs on the outskirts of a town or city, and as they saw Jesus approaching they met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. It is possible they were Jews, for whom touching a dead body was the greatest ceremonial defilement. If so, their being forced by the demons to live in a cemetery was an additional humiliation and torment.

They were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. We learn from the other gospel accounts that at least one of the men wore no clothes and that he had such great strength that no chain could keep him bound. He was often driven into the desert by the demons and spent much of his time ranting and raving, “crying out and gashing himself with stones” (Mark 5:4-5; Luke 8:27-29).

THE RECOGNITION BY THE DEMONS

And behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (8:29)

What do we have to do with You meant, “What are You doing here and why are You bothering us?” By addressing Jesus as Son of God the demons showed that they immediately recognized who He was. Mark reports that one of the men “ran up and bowed down before Him” (5:6). The word from which “bowed down” comes (proskune) is usually translated “worship,” because it represents the most common Near Eastern act of adoration and reverence. The term carries the idea of profound awe and respect. Demons hate and loathe everything about God, yet they are powerless to do anything but bow down before Him when in His presence—just as one day at His name every knee will “bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10).

Demons are fallen angels, and before they joined Satan in his rebellion against God they knew intimately each member of the Trinity. Though they had never before seen Him in human form, they instantly recognized Jesus as the second Person of the Godhead. As spirits, they recognized His spirit. They knew intuitively that they were standing in the presence of the Son of God, the “Son of the Most High God,” as Mark (5:7) and Luke (8:28) report. As we learn from another encounter of Jesus with demons, they also “knew Him to be the Christ,” that is, the Messiah (Luke 4:41).

They knew Jesus was their divine antagonist and that He had full power and authority to destroy them at will. By their question, Have You come here to torment us before the time? they acknowledged that they knew there was a divinely appointed time, not yet come, when He would indeed judge them and punish them with eternal damnation. Their eschatology like the rest of their theology was factually correct. As James tells us, “the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19). They shudder because their belief is that of recognition but not acceptance, and they fully realize the consequence of rejecting God.

In light of their knowledge about His divine power and plan it seems strange that Satan and his fallen hosts bothered to tempt and attack Jesus. But the supreme deceivers are also supremely self-deceived, and in their evil delusions they somehow hoped to frustrate Christ in His humanity. By inducing Him to sin, perhaps they could drag Him down to the lake of fire with them when judgment came. Perhaps they thought He was somehow less powerful and righteous on earth than they knew Him to have been in heaven. In any case, it is the nature of Satan and of those who belong to him to oppose God, no matter what the consequences or prospect for success.

The demons understood much more about Jesus’ identity and about the divine plan of redemption and judgment than did the twelve disciples at that time. It was much later that Peter confessed before Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” a truth he came to know only by divine revelation (Matt. 16:16-17).

The demons knew they were not destined for judgment until after the Millennium and they consequently wondered why Christ now had dealings with them. It was much too early for their scheduled time of torment, and yet they sensed that Jesus was about to interrupt and destroy their present evil work.

THE REQUEST OF THE DEMONS

Now there was at a distance from them a herd of many swine feeding. And the demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” (8:30-31)

In desperation the demons looked around for a way of escape, and they spotted a herd of many swine feeding in a pasture. The great size of the herd, which numbered 2,000 animals (Mark 5:13), indicates that the number of demons was also large (see also Mark 5:9). If You are going to cast us out was not a statement of uncertainty or mere possibility. The idea is, “In light of the fact that You are about to cast us out,.” Knowing Jesus’ compassion for men and His divine plan to destroy the works of the devil, the demons knew He would not let them continue to inhabit and torment the two men.

The request of the demons seems bizarre, and we are not told why they asked to be sent into the herd of swine. Perhaps they thought the Lord had changed His timetable for judgment and would otherwise immediately throw them into the great abyss. Even inhabiting pigs would be immeasurably better than that. Because swine were the most unclean of all unclean animals to the Jews, perhaps the demons thought Jesus would not care if the demons took control of them. Or, by inhabiting and then destroying the pigs, perhaps they could cause the pigs’ owners and others in the area to turn against Jesus. Perhaps Jesus would be killed for killing the pigs. Whatever the reason for the demons’ request, it was predicated on the clear understanding that Jesus would not allow them to remain where they were.

THE POWER OF CHRIST

And He said to them, “Begone!” And they came out, and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. (8:32)

When the disciples cast out demons even with God’s commissioning and empowering, it often required considerable time and persistence as well as prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:21; Mark 9:29). But Jesus cast the entire legion of demons out of the two men with but a word: Begone! He gave permission to the demons (see Luke 8:32) in the form of a command which they were powerless to disobey, and immediately they came out, and went into the swine.

Again we can only wonder at the demons’ reason for doing what they did. Whether they directed the whole herd to rush down the steep bank into the sea where they perished in the waters, or whether that was simply the animals’ frenzied response to being inhabited by the evil spirits, it seems likely the demons knew the outcome in advance. But we do not know why they did what they did or what happened to them after the pigs drowned.

As fallen angels, demons are extremely powerful beings (see 2 Kings 19:35; Ps. 103:20; 2 Pet. 2:11). When an angel was sent with a message for the prophet Daniel, he was delayed by a demon (called “the prince of the kingdom of Persia”) for three weeks, and the Lord had to send the archangel Michael to his aid (Dan. 10:13). It is therefore hardly surprising that Paul warns us that even as God’s own children we cannot withstand the attacks of demons apart from the Lord’s armor, especially the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16).

Demons have superior intelligence (Ezek. 28:3-4), superior strength (Mark 5:4; Acts 19:16), superior supernatural powers to perform “signs and false wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9), and the superior experience of having existed long before the creation of the world, first as holy angels and then as fallen. They not only have great knowledge of God’s nature and power but also great knowledge of man’s nature and weaknesses. As spirit beings they are not limited by time, space, or form. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to bruise Satan’s head and it will only be by the Lord’s power that he will be bound and cast into the abyss and eventually into the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 20:3,10). It required tremendous power to cast out so many demons as Jesus did in the country of the Gadarenes, yet He did it in an instant.

Many people wonder why Jesus would allow so many animals, even unclean pigs, to be destroyed just to cater to the bizarre request of a bunch of demons. But animals were created for man’s use and consumption, and those pigs were destined for slaughter anyway. Their being drowned brought considerable financial loss, but if the owners were Jews—as they may well have been—they had no business raising pigs in the first place. But the souls of the two possessed men were of infinitely greater value than the two thousand animals, and Jesus did not hesitate to permit such a relatively small sacrifice to be made on the men’s behalf.

The primary lesson of this passage, however, does not have to do with the right to raise or eat pigs or with the relative value of pigs and human beings. The Lord’s supreme purpose in casting out the demons and Matthew’s purpose in reporting it were to demonstrate Jesus’ authority and power over Satan and his forces. The fact that the demons went into the swine and the swine reacted in the frenzy they did was dramatic and convincing evidence that they had left the two men. Their fierceness and violence was transferred to the pigs and there could be no doubt in the minds of observers as to what had happened.

THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PEOPLE

And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city, and reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they entreated Him to depart from their region. (8:33-34)

When the herdsmen saw what happened to their pigs, they ran away. The fact that they reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs, indicates they realized the connection between the two demon-possessed men and what had happened to the animals. The pigs’ mass suicide proved that Jesus had indeed cast the demons out of the men. Further evidence, which the herdsmen and the others discovered when they returned to the scene, was that one of the men—and presumably the other as well—was clothed and sat in his right mind at Jesus’ feet (Luke 8:35).

The townspeople, probably including the owners of the pigs, were so amazed by the report that the whole city came out to meet Jesus. That they came specifically to meet Jesus shows that He was the focus of attention. He was of greater concern to them than either the pigs or the two previously possessed men. Contrary to the suggestion of many interpreters through the centuries, there is no indication in the text that the response of the people was due to their materialistic concern over the loss of so many pigs. Though they were possibly present, the owners of the pigs are not mentioned in any of the three gospel accounts. The issue was not the demons, the pigs, or the two men, but Jesus.

The people of the city (probably Gerasa) did not even give Him the reluctant reverence shown by the demons. They did not seem the least interested in finding out who He was or why He had come to their area. They wanted nothing to do with Him, and entreated Him to depart from their region. They had at first simply come out “to see what it was that had happened,” but when “they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the ‘legion’;… they became frightened” (Mark 5:14-15). They were not angry or resentful but scared.

When unholy men come face-to-face with the holy God, they are terrified. Again we are reminded that when Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted,” he exclaimed, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:1,5). After Peter witnessed Jesus’ miraculous provision of fish that nearly swamped two fishing boats, “he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’”(Luke 5:8). When the storm came on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples were afraid, but when they saw Jesus still the storm they were even more afraid (Mark 4:38-41). They were more afraid of Jesus than the storm, because they realized that God Himself was in the boat with them. The sinner who knows he faces God can only see his sin, and the result is fear.

We are not told exactly what the people from the city thought of Jesus. We only know that they had a glimpse of the supernatural and it caused them to panic. They saw One who could control demons, who could control animals, and who could restore shattered minds to sanity—and they wanted nothing to do with Him.

Here we find the first opposition to Jesus recorded in the gospels. The people did not ridicule or persecute Jesus; they simply asked Him to leave them alone. Perhaps they resented His righteousness exposing their sin, His power exposing their weakness, or His compassion exposing their hardness of heart. Perhaps they could not tolerate Jesus because of His perfection. But unlike the scribes and Pharisees, these people showed no interest at all in who Jesus was or in His teaching or work. They seemed totally indifferent to His person and ministry. They did not care if He was the Messiah. They did not seem to care whether His powers were good or whether He was from God. They did not care anything about Him, except that He would go away. Their rejection of Jesus was in the form of great indifference, the same indifference to God shown by most men throughout history—the indifference that wants to let God alone and to be left alone by God. The Lord was an intrusion with whom they did not want to be bothered.

In great contrast to the attitude of those people, one of the men who had been demon-possessed begged Jesus “that he might accompany Him” (Mark 5:18). He was so grateful to Jesus for deliverance and so drawn to Him in love and adoration that he could not bear to be separated from Him. But Jesus had other plans for the man, and “He did not let him, but He said to him, ‘Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you’” (v. 19). Jesus sent the man back to his own people—quite probably the very people who had asked Jesus to leave—to testify to them of the Lord’s love and mercy. The man was to be an evangelist and missionary to his own people, living testimony that the One whom they had rejected nevertheless loved and sought to redeem them. Even to those who entreat Him to depart, Jesus extends His grace.