'When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district (Mt. 8:28-34).'
Jesus was passing through Gentile territory. Two men possessed by demons came out of the tombs to meet him and acknowledged him as the ‘Son of God,’ something neither the Jews nor the Disciples had acknowledged. The ‘appointed time (v. 29)’ reflected the thinking that demons were free to interact with human until the end-time when Satan’s rule will be displaced by the rule of God. The demons were subservient to Jesus and pleaded with him to send them into the herd of swine some distance away when he cast them out. The demons may have felt that the swine were as unclean as they were. To the Jews pigs were unclean and to the Gentiles, the Jews ‘horror’ concerning swine was amusing. The townspeople could have asked Jesus to leave their district because they were afraid and had lost a herd of swine that was valuable to them. The story shows the destructive nature of the hold evil has on human lives. It also demonstrates by the Son of God’s power over the demons what will happen at the end-time. Interestingly, it would appear that the townspeople were more comfortable with the demoniac that with the freedom Jesus represents.
Almighty God, in your mercy send down the fire of your holy spirit upon us that we may be cleansed of all that is impure. Grant us your grace that we may not be possessed by anything that leads us to do evil but be strengthened in faith so we may resist all that is bad and do what is good and righteous. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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