When Jesus went to Gadara
Introduction: Jesus spent the larger portion of His ministry in Judea and Galilee. He and the disciples did indeed go to a few other places, like Samaria, but this time the group headed east to the land of Gadara. They encountered some things they probably never forgot!
Prologue: The Voyage Across the Lake
Text: Luke 8:22-25, KJV: 22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
“A certain day”. Nothing was ever random or chance with Jesus. He always obeyed the Father, going and doing only according to the Father’s will. Here is no exception: He was busy teaching and preaching until, on “a certain day”, He and the disciples got into a boat and crossed the sea of Galilee to arrive at Gadara. The Sea of Galilee was maybe a few miles across and a boat could sail or be rowed across in a few hours, some have estimated. That is, if the weather stayed good.
For at least some of the trip, all seemed well, but then the weather turned bad. Stormy. I’ve heard some Bible teachers explain that winds could more or less funnel through the mountains of Galilee and blow into fierce storms that could high waves, large enough to swamp boats or make them sink. To make things worse, for the disciples, even though Jesus was with them in the boat, He was sound asleep! If that doesn’t prove His humanity, what else would?
The disciples, frightened (and who could blame them?), knew they were in trouble. According to verse 23, the boat was beginning to fill with water and if there was too much water in a too small boat, the boat and everything in it was headed in one direction—down.
So they cried out for Jesus, saying “Master, master, we perish” or, in a word, “HELP!” Jesus, apparently calmly, rebuked the wind and water and everything calmed. Then He rebuked the disciples (!), asking, “Where is your faith?” By now they should have known that anywhere and at any time they were with Jesus, then that was the safest place ever to be.
This made such an impact on them that the disciples wondered aloud, “What manner of man is this! The winds and water obey Him when He commands them!” To be fair, this may have been the first time all 13 men were in the boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee during a storm. No matter, because, as they found out, Jesus was and is Ruler over wind, water, and all of Nature.
1 The man possessed by evil spirits
Text: Luke 8:26-31, KJV: 26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. 27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) 30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. 31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
After the storm, Jesus and the disciples arrived at “the country of the Gadarenes (other words include Gergesenes and Gerasenes, per Ellicott based on the cross-reference in this passage to one in Matthew; https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/matthew/8.htm). This area was generally on the east and southern areas of the Sea of Galilee. We’re never told how many Jews were living there during our Lord’s days on this earth. He was about to meet one very special man from that region, however!
This man was in a bad way, as some might express it. We’re told nothing about his heritage, nor his age, nor if he had any family (at the time, that seems very unlikely!). We do know from the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and here in Luke that he was basically a wild man who lived in tombs and wore only an undergarment (no outer garment or robe according to the online lexicon at https://biblehub.com/greek/2440.htm). Matthew added that this man was “exceeding fierce (Matt. 8:29) and Mark noted the man could break fetters and chains plus, even worse, would cut himself with stones (Mark 5:3-5).
Yet, to make things even worse, the man was possessed with “devils” or, demons, evil spirits (https://biblehub.com/greek/1140.htm) which had not only entered the man, but it seems they made their home inside him! The disciples had seen what a man possessed by only one demon could do (Mark 1:21-27). Now imagine a man who had an unknown (at the time) quantity making themselves at home in his body!
Imagine this: the man was so wild or out-of-control that he couldn’t live in a house, but the demons inside him had his body their own house. What a miserable way to be.
Then Luke says the man saw Jesus. Luke used the word meaning “beheld” or “perceiving” this was Jesus (see notes at https://biblehub.com/greek/3708.htm). The man didn’t just “see” as in “Oh, look, there’s Jesus over there” nor did he try to analyze (the word “theory” comes from that Greek word). No, he first saw, then realized, just Who was standing within his range of vision.
Actually, the first thing the man did after he saw Jesus (and recognized Him for Who He was), he “cried out” or “screamed (https://biblehub.com/greek/349.htm)”. Whether this was the man speaking, the demons crying out, or all of the above, they knew Jesus was here.
Even more, they knew for certain Who Jesus was and what was in store for them. Whoever did the shouting, that entity knew Jesus was the Son of the Most High God. Digressing for a moment, the name “Most High God” or “God Most High” is one name of God that saints and sinners alike have used. Melchizedek was priest of “God Most High” in Genesis 14. Of all people, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, used this Name of God in his testimony (Daniel 4). And Daniel used this Name of God when spoke with Belshazzar, acting ruler, on the night the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon (Daniel 5).
These evil spirits, then, knew more at that time about Jesus than some “scholars” do today!
Still, they—the evil spirits—not only recognized Jesus, they also knew what fate was in store for them. Some, including myself, believe that when Lucifer led a rebellion against God (Isaiah 14), the angels which followed him were cursed and became the evil spirits. The issue, though, is not where, when, or how they were made: it’s where they’re going. Jesus would later say in Matthew 25 that there is an everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), which, sadly, is the final destination for every lost soul. Revelation 20 adds more about what will happen at the Great White Throne Judgment.
Incredibly, these evil spirits prayed to Jesus! First, they knew Him (James would confirm this in his Epistle, James 2:19) and as mentioned addressed Him as “Son of the Most High God”. After this, they exclaimed, “I beg You, don’t torment me!” (Luke added as a parenthetical remark which echoes Mark’s notes that the man couldn’t be held with either fetters or chains and that the devil often drove him into the wilderness. One can only guess why.)
Now Jesus asked them (the man, the demons, maybe both), “What is your name?” This may seem odd to us, but the Lord knew what He was doing even if we don’t. After all, He had cast out a single demon from one man and seven demons from Mary Magdalene and He may have sensed something even worse here.
Whoever it was speaking, the reply was something I don’t think the disciples ever expected to hear: ”Legion, for we are many!” For comparison, a Roman army legion was 6000 soldiers, more if officers like chiliarchs (commanders of 1000, sometimes called “chief captains” in the KJV) and centurions (supervisors of 100 soldiers, usually called “centurions” in the KJV) were counted separately from the rank and file. So then, clearly there were more than 1 to 7 demons and maybe a grand total of around 6000 in the man’s body.
But now these evil spirits made a strange request of Jesus. Remember, they knew He was the Son of the Most High God and they also seemed to know about torment (at least, something was going to happen). The request is that they not be sent into “the deep” and that’s interesting. The Sea of Galilee was deep (some estimates are 200-400 feet in places) and the Mediterranean Sea was even more so the farther away one got away from land. But that isn’t the word used here: the demons didn’t want to be cast into the “abyss (https://biblehub.com/greek/12.htm)”, usually translated “bottomless pit”. To be sure, Satan will be thrown into that “abyss” after Jesus returns from Heaven with the saints (Rev. 20) and sealed there for 1000 years.
At this time, there seems to be a pause: Jesus has not yet done or said much of anything except to ask one question, “What is your name?” even though the man/demon combination had created a lot of noise or commotion! What would come next?
2 The pigs which drowned themselves
Text, Luke 8:31-36, KJV: 32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. 33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. 34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
There’s really not much to say about this section. Pigs/swine were unclean (forbidden as food) under the Law of Moses. This was because they didn’t chew the cud even though they did have a cloven or divided foot (Lev. 11:7, Deut. 14:8). Of course, Gentiles were exempt from the Law of Moses (unless one did convert to Judaism, like Ruth and some others) and were free to eat anything they wanted. If, as Ray VanderLaan (video lessons called “That The World May Know) and other Bible teachers observed, Roman soldiers were stationed there, then they might well eat whatever meat they could find.
Sure enough, there was a herd of swine feeding “on the mountain”. The demons seemed to take a look and maybe thought, “Hmmm, here’s a new home for us!” And in one of the strangest prayer requests in Scripture, these demons asked Jesus for permission to enter the swine!
And Jesus said, “Okay!” Well, maybe He didn’t use those exact words but He did give the demons His permission to enter the pigs! My guess is that it didn’t take very long for the whole “legion” to fly from person to pigs.
And it didn’t likely take long for the pigs to react—swiftly, and suddenly. Luke records the swine “ran violently down a steep place into the lake (Sea of Galilee—Robertson and others observe that Luke never called that body of water a “sea”) and were “choked” or drowned.
Do you think that event didn’t get noticed?
Luke says the swineherds (basically) fled and” told it in the city and the country”. Then “they (likely some of the leaders or elders of the city or officials over the region)” came to inspect what had happened. They may have seen the dead bodies of the swine in the “lake”, or not, but they did for a fact see the (formerly) demon-possessed man, now fully clothed, in his right mind (mentally sound, we might say) and, get this, he was sitting at the feet of Jesus!
The man had gone from having a “legion” of evil spirits setting up their homes in his body, but now they’re all gone! He used to be so wild that nobody wanted to be near him, but now he’s calmly sitting near the One, the Only One, who did this for him! And he’s not running around in his undergarments, now he’s fully clothed (and blessed be the one who got him some clothes).
We’d probably think this would be a cause for celebration, no? I mean, a man has been healed in body, soul, and spirit; a severe problem for that region was solved forever; and in my mind there would be at least a few who would ask, “How did this happen?” Somehow word got to the leaders about how this happened and soon a delegation came to where Jesus and the formerly-wild man were sitting.
That group of people came to where Jesus, the disciples, and the man were staying. We’d think they would be rejoicing over this miracle, right?
3 The responses after these things took place
Text, Luke 8:37-39, KJV: 37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. 38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
Let me ask again, if a man with serious problems like the man with the “legion” was healed, and listening to Jesus, we’d be happy, we’d be rejoicing, right? But we would be wrong. There’s no record that anybody except maybe the man himself and possibly the disciples were rejoicing, seeing the Power of God at work in a mighty way. No, the people of that area, if you can believe it, asked Jesus to leave!
Jesus never stayed where He wasn’t wanted. This was one such case. And who could blame Him? He had just done something incredible, but the leaders were more concerned about pigs than people. Sure, they had lost 2000 pigs when the scrambled down to the Sea of Galilee and were drowned, but they had something better—the presence and power of God in front of them—and they wanted Jesus out of their territory!
Luke says “they were taken with great fear” but about what? Losing money from no more bacon and pork chops? Talk about being short sighted: they saw the results of a miracle and still wanted the Miracle Maker to get out of town!
So that’s one reaction, and one the Lord knew would happen (He is God and knows all things) but I’m sure He felt the pain of rejection again. But there was another reaction, and I have to think He was pleased when He heard what the Gerasene man had to say.
This man had not only been healed and clothed, he was also sitting by the feet of Jesus, maybe trying to learn what he could, maybe praising Jesus with what limited knowledge he did have. As mentioned before, this area was mostly Gentile and there’s no way to gauge how much or how little faith in The One True God, the Most High God, anyone over there really did have then.
This to me is both precious and puzzling. The man wanted to be one of the disciples, one of the group. He knew what he’d been just moments before—and he knew he was not the same man now. The only reason any of that could happen was Jesus, only Jesus, and everyone knew it!
What’s puzzling to me is that Jesus turned down the man’s request! I mean, it’s anybody’s guess how many said “I’ll follow You” compared to the relative few to whom Jesus said, “Follow Me”. But Jesus knew His own ministry was mostly in Galilee and Judea, not the other side near Gadara or whatever it was called then.
And that’s why He gave this man a commission: “Go back home and show what God has done for you!” The man accepted that commission or job and did exactly as Jesus said. He went throughout the whole city declaring all Jesus had done.
Conclusion: You and I may not meet people who were as bad off as this man of Gadara but we’ll likely meet any number of folks who do have problems. When that does happen, I hope we’ll be ready to show God’s Love to the one or the many and share the Plan of Salvation with them. The results may not be quite so dramatic as what happened in Gadara, but another soul might be won for Christ.
Won’t that be worth it all, when we see Jesus ourselves?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
