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The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac (Lk. 8:26-39)

Then they sailed to the territory of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 When he came ashore a man from the town who was possessed by demons met him. For a long time he had not worn clothes; he did not live in a house, but lived among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him; in a loud voice he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” 29 For he had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (It had taken hold of him many times, and he used to be bound with chains and shackles as a restraint, but he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) 30 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they pleaded with him not to order them to depart to the abyss. 32 A herd of many swine was feeding there on the hillside, and they pleaded with him to allow them to enter those swine; and he let them. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. 35 People came out to see what had happened and, when they approached Jesus, they discovered the man from whom the demons had come out sitting at his feet. He was clothed and in his right mind, and they were seized with fear. 36 Those who witnessed it told them how the possessed man had been saved. 37 The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. So he got into a boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had come out begged to remain with him, but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and recount what God has done for you.” The man went off and proclaimed throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.

Luke adapted Mark’s story (Mk. 5:1-20) about the Gerasene Demoniac.  Gerasa was one of the cities in the Gentile region of the Decapolis.  The demoniac recognized Jesus immediately as the Son of God and fell down before him acknowledging the power and authority Jesus had (v. 28).  Luke did not insist that the demons be silent as Mark did (Mk. 1:23-25).  A Roman legion was 6,000 foot soldiers. The man’ name, Legion, implied that he was possessed by many demons (v. 30).  The name Legion and sending the demons int the pigs could have been a reference to Rome since Israel was under the “demonic” Roman occupation at that time.  The pigs drowning (v. 33) not only showed that Jesus had power over all demons, but it could be interpreted by his followers as Jesus having authority over Roman rule.  The abyss (v. 31) was the realm of Satan, and pigs (v. 32) were abhorrent to Jews.  Pigs were the animals most frequently sacrificed by Pagans so their owners would have suffered economic loss.  

Luke showed a contrast between the man possessed and the man healed.  The possessed man originally lived in the town, but was now an outcast living in isolation in the desert where demons lived (v. 27), but once healed, his identity was restored and he was accepted back in the town (v. 39). When Jesus met him, he wore no clothes (v. 27), an OT indication that he was being punished by God (Deut. 28:47-48), but when healed he was fully clothed (v. 35).  He was possessed by demons (v. 27) and nothing could restrain him (v. 29), but when healed he sat at Jesus’ feet like a disciple (v. 35; Lk. 10:39).  All those transformations took place because the man was “saved” (v. 36).  The Pagan townspeople originally feared the demoniac and tried to keep him in chains (v. 29), but when the man was healed, they feared Jesus because of the miracle (v. 37).  The restored man wanted to become one of Jesus’ followers (v. 38) but instead Jesus sent him away to become a ‘missionary’ (v. 39).  

Almighty God, we thank you for the mercies both seen and unseen that you have showered upon us for without you we would lead dissolute lives in isolation from you.  Grant that we can lead lives in accordance with the dignity with which you first created mankind.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

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