They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. 2 When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. 3 The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. 4 In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. 6 Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, 7 crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” 8 (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) 9 He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” 10 And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. 11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. 12 And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” 13 And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. 14 The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. 15 As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. 16 Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. 17 Then they began to beg him to leave their district. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. 19 But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” 20 Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.
In Jesus’ first mission into Gentile (pagan) territory, when he disembarked from the boat a man with an evil spirit met him. The tormented man lived isolated from society in nearby caves which were used as tombs. The tombs were thought of as places where demons dwelled. Unclean spirits were portrayed as opposed to God and righteousness, and they often caused harm and affliction to individuals (Mk. 9:17-18). The possessed man was strong, violently out of control, and often harmed himself. He recognized Jesus’ true identity, unlike the Pharisees (Mk. 3:22), prostrated himself, and addressed him as the “Son of the Most High God.” Knowing that Jesus had authority over Satan’s realm, he asked Jesus not to torment him (cf. Mk. 1:34). Jesus asked the demoniac his name and the demoniac told him, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” He asked Jesus not to drive him out of the territory. A Roman legion can be up to 6,000 men.
Despite their large numbers, the unclean spirits recognized Jesus’ authority and pleaded with him to send them into the swine feeding nearby. Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man and allowed the spirits to enter the swine. The swine then ran into the sea and drowned. The swineherds report the incident to the townspeople who came and saw the man who was possessed sitting, clothed, and in his right mind completely cured. When they heard the story, they were in fear and awe. The demons had asked Jesus not to send them out of the region, but the townspeople, despite the miracle, asked Jesus, who had brought the man back to spiritual life, to leave the region. Jesus would not permit the man who was healed to follow him and told him to go and tell his family all that the Lord had done for him. The man became the first missionary to the Gentiles and spread the news of Jesus' miraculous work throughout the Decapolis amazing all who heard it.
Almighty God, your divine Son has power over Satan and his realm, and through your Son's suffering, death, and resurrection we too, as your adopted sons and daughters, have power over Satan with respect to our lives. Grant us steadfast faith and belief in Jesus that we too may be instruments of light and salvation to others. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
__________________________________
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.
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.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
Comments