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. 29 They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. 31 The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 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. 33 The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
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. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac so it seems that Matthew had a source independent from Mark whose Gospel was the earliest to be written. The ‘appointed time (v. 29)’ reflected the thinking that demons were free to interact with humans until the end-time when Satan’s rule will be displaced by the rule of God and they will be expelled to hell. The demons were afraid of Jesus who had power over them, and they pleaded with him, through the possessed man, to send them into the herd of swine some distance away when he cast them out.
To the Jews pigs were unclean but 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. Jesus was more concerned with the salvation of the possessed man’s soul than the herd of swine. Jesus’ action also demonstrated what will happen to the evil spirits at the end-time. Interestingly, it would appear that the townspeople were more comfortable with the demoniac than with the freedom Jesus could offer them.
Almighty God, in your mercy, shower us with the fire of your divine love that we may be cleansed of all that is impure. Grant that we may not succumb to evil, but be strengthened in faith so that we may do what is good and righteous. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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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