Demons and Swine: Mark 5:1-20
By Phil Higley | April 18, 2010
5.1-20 (ESV)
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Intro:
Within the text of Mark 5 we have one of the most graphic and interesting exorcism stories in the NT. This story has more elaboration than any other tale prior to the passion narrative, which may suggest that it had particular importance for Mark’s largely Gentile/Roman audience. It has been called the second inaugural exorcism by various scholars due in part to the close similarities of language to the exorcism tale in Mark 1. Yet one of these exorcisms takes place on sacred soil in a sacred place (i.e., the synagogue), the other in an unclean land in an unclean place. This suggests that Mark saw this story as particularly revealing of the identity of Jesus. It is not clear if we are to see this story as the immediate sequel to the storm incident, but in any case Jesus and the disciples go across the Sea of Galilee to a region called the Decapolis (literally ‘ten cities’). Most of the population in this area was non-Jewish. Evidence of this is obvious from the heard of pigs. No practicing Jew would have had such a heard, nor for that matter would they have been found residing in a graveyard. Just as Jesus has had confrontations with his own people, he is about to have an encounter with a gentile population.
Exegesis:
In the preceding passage (4.35-41) Jesus had demonstrated his power over the forces of nature by calming the winds and the waves; in this passage he demonstrates his power over the forces of evil by casting out demons from a possessed man. The two stories seem to connect to one another by virtue of Jesus’ power and authority as it is being communicated by Mark. Both stories reveal, in essence, that Jesus is truly divine.
Verse 2 seems to indicate that as soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, he was immediately confronted by the possessed man, but v. 6 provides a little clarification of this. The man actually saw Jesus from a distance and came running to him. We are told that the possessed man lived in the tombs. Often in Palestine people were buried in natural caves or in tombs cut out of the limestone. These provided excellent shelter for anyone desiring to live in them. It was a natural place for a possessed man to dwell because of the popular belief in ancient culture that tombs were the favorite haunts of demons. This demon possessed man had likely been driven from ordinary society into the tombs. Mark explains in the story that many efforts had been made to control the man, but they were all without success. One scholar says that vv. 3-5 “give a vivid picture of a manic stage of a manic depressive psychosis.” This is true, but Mark is communicating something much more profound. This man has been relegated to a psychotic, animalistic, self-destructive, and enraged state. The man was unequivocally out of control and therefore out of society. What is society supposed to do with such a person?
We are told that the possessed man, in direct response to seeing Jesus, “fell down before him.” The reason the man fell down before Jesus is not because of worship, but out of homage because the demon recognizes that he is confronted with one greatly superior to him. James 2.19 says “…even the demons believe and shudder!”
Upon falling before Jesus, the demon cries out: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” This cry was a way of saying in a hostile way, “What do we have in common?” or “mind your own business.” The demon recognizes that he is in the presence of one who threatens his very existence. Like earlier in Mark, the demon addresses Jesus by using his personal name. The demon also uses the title “Son of the Most High God,” a title that implies that the demons recognizes Jesus’ deity. The demon, however, uses the title, not to express his belief in the Lordship of Jesus, but in the hope of controlling him (again see Mark 1.24). The demon fears that he will be damned to eternal punishment right there on the spot.
But it is quite interesting to note here that the demon pleads not to be tormented by Jesus’ presence or eternal judgment. This is the demon(s) rather than the man speaking, but they ironically are the ones torturing the poor man. Equally ironic is the fact that they are adjuring Jesus by the name of the one who is Jesus’ Father, as if that could give them power over Jesus! The demons appear to fear that Jesus will torture or destroy them, and to be sure, that is his long-range goal—to destroy the works of the devil. It is also obvious to mention again that the demons would see it as torment simply be in the presence of Jesus.
At v. 9 the demons are asked to name themselves, but it is hard to know what to make of the reply. Clearly Luke believed in the concept of a person being possessed by multiple demons (Lk 8.2). And at first glance, the demons response: “My name is Legion, for we are many” is a curious response. In an exorcism ritual, naming is a crucial part of trying to gain control of the demon, and it is possible to see this response as an attempt to avoid giving Jesus the power of the personal name over these spirits. A legion in Roman military terms was 6,000 soldiers, but it is doubtful a specific number is meant (though notice that the about 2,000 pigs are said to be destroyed). The military metaphor could imply that many demons were involved in the possession like a military force, taking captive the man’s spirit and being.
Verse 10 is very interesting because both the singular and plural occur in the text: “He begged…not to send them…” This is likely Mark’s way of indicating that the demons are speaking through the lips of the demoniac. What they request is that they not be sent “out of the country.” In Luke 8.31 the request by the demons is that they not be sent into the Abyss (Rev 20.1-3), the place of confinement before judgment. What this demonstrates is that the demons are afraid for their very existence in the face and presence of Jesus.
The presence of a large herd of swine (v. 11) in the Decapolis is not surprising. This region, on the eastern shore of Galilee, was largely Gentile. Mark’s account shows that what caused the stampede of the pigs was the entrance of the demons into them. This is crucial for the contemporary readers of Mark’s Gospel: The demons were/are bent on destroying. Not having been able to destroy the man, they destroyed the pigs. Demons are emissaries of Satan, the Destroyer. But why did Jesus, having exorcised the demons, allow them to enter the pigs, an act that ultimately resulted in the destruction of the entire herd? A tentative answer is that Jesus wanted to give tangible evidence to the man and to the people that the demons had actually left him and that their purpose had been to destroy him even as they destroyed the pigs.
A particularly relevant point in our culture’s reading of this text is that some people have gotten upset with this story because it involves the destruction of animals, but here is a matter of priorities. The Bible is emphatic that a human life is seen as more important than a heard of pigs, even though the Gentiles who came afterward to see Jesus seem more concerned with the lost pigs than the restored man. Humanity is made in the image of God, not animals. The early church fathers Jerome and Chrysostom dealt with this issue and stressed that it was for the greater good of eliciting faith and attesting God’s power that the pigs were slain. Jerome stresses that no one would have believed so many demons came out of the man unless a similarly large number of swine had been afflicted thereafter (Life of Saint Hilarion 32). The pig herders were the ones who spread the tale in the towns and villages of what Jesus did (v. 14).
Also notice that the man for whom nobody had been able to do anything, not even chain him down so he would not hurt himself, is now said to be clothed, sitting, and sane—things no one who had known him expected to see him do or be again. Once more Jesus’ miracle working causes a great fear to come on the people—fear of the awesome supernatural power Jesus must have in order to do what he did to the demons and the pigs, a power even greater than a legion! There is a rather sad point and counter point between the Gentiles who want Jesus to go and the restored man who wanted to go with Jesus. Instead Jesus tells him to return to his village and resume a normal life, except that in addition he is to be a witness. Jesus’ answer shows how impossible it is to have a stereotyped definition of discipleship. One person is taken away from home and family (1.16-20), another is sent back to them contrary of his own wishes. There can be little doubt that the man did indeed wish to be a disciple, not only because of what follows in v. 20 but also because the description of his longing to be “with Jesus” is a deliberate echo in the Greek of the earlier description of what would be true of Jesus’ inner circle.
Lastly, in v. 20 we hear of the obedient response of this man. He went and preached in the Ten Cities about what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed. Again notice that amazement and fear do not equal full or true faith in Jesus. Jesus would have been perceived in this region, and perhaps by parts of Mark’s own audience, as another Hellenistic wonder-worker that wowed the people like a Simon Magus or an Apollonius of Tyana. But the ability to impress a crowd and the ability to call out and make disciples are not one and the same.
—————
Notes from:
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Edited by Barton and Muddiman, 2001.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8, Edited by Gaebelein, 1984.
The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Witherington III, 2001.
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Note that Matthew mentions there are two demoniacs who came to Jesus, whereas Mark and Luke mention there was one. Some people try and make a big deal out of this but it’s not that big of a deal because “where there are two, there is always one.” Some scholars think that Mark and Luke only mention the one because his condition may have been the most extreme out of the two. This makes sense given the conversation that Jesus has with the demonic possessors of the man.
By the way, the text where Matthew says two is 8.28-34.
Matthew 8:28-34 28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
So the question for me is what is the message for today. Is the focus of the passage on demonism, or the focus on a changed man who desired to be with Jesus, but the willingness to go preach instead?
Hey Brent,
The passage strikes me as being two pronged in the sense that Jesus is clearly powerful enough to calm even the most wild of characters and turn them around (it doesn’t always entail demonic possession either). And we have an example of an absolutely out of control guy encountering Jesus and then changing in roughly an instant in this story.
After being ‘healed’, this guy sincerely wanted to be a disciple, and he indeed was–presumably–but Jesus had different plans for him. Jesus didn’t necessarily give him what he wanted when he became a “believer,” but instead, Jesus “sent him out” to give witness to his own gentile people.
I think this story is practical for everyday believers because the first question is if they want to follow Jesus at all, whereas the second is will they respond and be obedient to what Jesus would have them do. For example, I can imagine that a lot of guys want to take leadership roles within the church, but they suck at being witnesses to their own families, friends, etc.
My question is that if you can’t be a witness in contexts outside of formal ministry, then what makes you think you can inside?
Or, on the other hand, is the disciple content with the command of Jesus? This guy didn’t complain when Jesus told him no and to go home. I wonder how our pride might get in the way of Jesus’ ‘no’ for us. We pray to do such and such, and he says no. Do we lose faith like the rich young ruler and walk away, or do we follow his lead in whatever way he directs us? There’s a lot of “dirty” work in the Christian church that doesn’t earn accolades. Will we take that work on? Is it glorious enough to strive for, or should we let a “less spiritual person” do it?
Another question might be, how does one “know” what Jesus would have them do? Well, there’s prayer, discernment, NT examples, godly counsel, etc. etc. It’s not easy of course to discern the will of God, but this passage makes it evident to me that as a disciple I need to be following God and giving witness to him and what his Son has done for me in whatever context I’m in, whether it be the gym, the highland games, the grocery store, starbucks, and of course work. God can do more with an faithful and obedient pauper than he can with a rebellious and unfaithful king. I fear, however, that I always want to be the king in all my situations without being either humble, faithful, or obedient. This is where I go back to the cross!