Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. 33 And 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 herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. 35 The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
The healing of the demoniac is a story wonderful … and strange — wonderful for Jesus’ miracle in casting out the legion of demons from the man; strange for the people’s response to this miracle in asking Jesus to depart from their district.
The demoniac … was possessed with a legion of demons, was naked and living among the dead. Mark 5 notes that the man cried out, as if in agony or rage, day and night, cut himself with stones and could not be restrained even by chains and shackles. The man was wretched and miserable and poor and bruised and naked … a rueful, living manifestation of the devastating and deadly art of Satan and his minions in the lives of men.
The healing of the demoniac … when the demoniac saw Jesus he doesn’t flee from Jesus’ presence as one might have expected, but fell down before Jesus, not in an act of worship, but as one compelled by the presence of a superior. “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” The demons knew well what Jesus’ presence meant for them. Jesus came that “he might destroy the works of the devil,” I John 3:5. Jesus asks the name of the demon … “Legion,” for many demons possessed the man (a Roman legion numbered 6826 men). The demons implored Jesus to allow them to enter a herd of swine and having entered the swine the demons, fittingly, drove the swine into the lake where they all drowned.
The people’s response to the demoniac’s cure … the text tells us that when the people of the district heard the incredible reports of what had happened they came out to see for themselves. To their amazement, they found the man seated, clothed and in his right mind. In possession of all this wonderful evidence what was the people's response? They asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were gripped with fear. What? Depart from them!? The deliverance of the poor demoniac came at too high a price! They regretted the loss of their swine — even if they owned the swine herd in contravention of OT prohibitions — and Jesus’ presence may require even more of them, more than they were willing to pay! This a sobering reflection. Some are unwilling to pay the price to have Jesus in their lives. The short-term cost to their livelihood is simply too great. … They ask Him who is Life itself to depart from them … at the eternal cost of their lives.
JSH+