They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for 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. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And 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.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So 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 drowned in the sea
Comment: You cannot believe the Bible without believing in demons and demon possession. You cannot believe the Bible unless you believe that there is a world which we cannot see and yet is very real. Can you see God? Do you believe in angels beyond the level of of saying that your daughter is a little angel? On the other hand does this passage imply that there were many people many people in Israel who were demon possesed? In the country of the Gerasenes it only mentions one! But this man was an extreme case. Jesus healed the man after a conversation in which ‘he’, ‘my’, ‘we’ ‘them’ and ‘they’ are used when Jesus received a reply from the demon possessed man. This suggests to me that sometimes the man answered and sometimes the legion of demons answered! The demons were sent by Jesus at their request into a herd of pigs, which interestingly couldn’t stand the ‘possession by demons’ and drowned themselves! The story continues tomorrow!
Proverbs 25: 19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. – Can we trust the Bible?
Prayer: Make me perceptive Lord – perceptive enough to see You as the Ultimate Originator and Meaning of my existence!
As I read it! 