Matthew 8:28 ¶ And when he
was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him
two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that
no man might pass by that way. 29 And,
behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an
herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the
devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the
herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them,
Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold,
the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and
perished in the waters. 33 And they that
kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and
what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet
Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out
of their coasts.
In this chapter Christ’s authority over disease and natural
occurrences like storms is made apparent. Here He will show His power over the
spirit world. Matthew reports that there were two men possessed of devils. Matthew
has not been chosen yet so he had to rely on the testimony of those who were
there under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Mark gives a variant spelling of
Gadarenes with Strong’s saying they are the same and John Gill saying they are
different towns near each other and Mark only mentions one possessed person but
Mark, supposedly John Mark, is also writing based on testimony of others. Only
one possessed man is focused on in Mark’s account in chapter 5 of his gospel.
The difference is completely irrelevant. I’ve seen many historical accounts
that focus on one or a few when many more were participants. If you have ever
seen Band of Brothers on HBO you certainly didn’t believe that they were
the only soldiers in the U.S. Army during WW2, did you? John Mark was writing,
according to tradition and the testimony of early church fathers, from sermons
and writings of Peter. I’ve discussed that previously and will again in my
study on Mark’s gospel.
Possessed people having a fascination with tombs and graveyards is
nothing out of the ordinary for us as we have a cult of death in this country
that associates everything from satanic rites in graveyards and horror movies
to abortion to a mass-die off of the human race to “save the planet” as being
good things. Gill wrote that the Jews had many myths about how the deads’
spirits hovered near their bodies for a period of time resulting in some people
trying to speak to them like the witch of Endor in 1Samuel 28. He also noted
that these tombs were large enough that you could find shelter in them.
The violent aspect of possessed people is attested to in other
places;
Mark 5:3 Who had his
dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the
fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the
mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
Acts 19:14 And there were
seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit
answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the
evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them,
so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
The devils acknowledge that Jesus is the Son, uppercase S, of God,
or God in the flesh, and has authority over them. What they plead with Jesus to
do, understanding that He will do something, is very interesting.
We know that swine are forbidden as food for the Jews. Pork was a
big part of the Roman soldier’s diet and there were probably many Gentiles in
this area who may have owned the swine. Let’s suppose for now that it was Jews
who owned and cared for these swine, whether their intent was on selling to the
Romans or not. Jews throughout history have been keen and, indeed, have made a
lot of money pandering to the desires of the Gentile. From banking in the
Middle Ages to something as unseemly today as peddling pornography they have
had a tremendous influence in satisfying the desires of the Gentile populations
around them. It would not be impossible to imagine Jews herding swine they
could not eat to make money off of the Gentile occupiers.
Here in the first recorded instance of “hogicide” or “deviled ham”
as Dr. Ruckman jokingly noted. Here is a characteristic of devil possession in
animals. They will destroy themselves. This small fortune for the owners is
lost and as a matter of good business practice the owners ask Jesus to leave.
This is a very easy to understand situation. Can you imagine a
revival you were instrumental in causing in a bar and how the owners would want
you to leave and stop damaging their livelihood as their clients left? Some
commentators say it was out of fear for a greater judgment coming on them.
Whatever the reason, this situation caused quite a stir and much evangelism was
accomplished as the city knew about Christ’s power over the spirit world.
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