Jesus and His disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee "to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee" (Luke 8:26). Galilee is located to the north and west of the Sea of Galilee, with Capernaum on the north shore. From the northwest shore they crossed the sea to the southeast shore, to the Hellenistic or Greek town of Gadara, which is about six miles southeast of the sea and east of the Jordan river. Gadara was a member of the Decapolis, a league of ten Greek cities.
"And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs" (v. 27). A strange man indeed! A man who was out of his right mind; and for good reason. He had long been taken over by many demons. He had no control over what he was doing.
"When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, 'What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!' For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness" (vv. 28-29). The man was controlled by demons and he had strength that was anything but human! Even heavy chains and shackles could not hold him.
"Jesus asked him, saying, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Legion,' because many demons had entered him" (v. 30). This is not a name, as such. In Greek, the word "legion" means "many." It refers to a regimen of many soldiers gathered together in the Roman army.
The demons begged Jesus not to "command them to go out into the abyss" (v. 31). In Mark 5:10, they begged Jesus to "not send them out of the country." "Out of the country" (v. 10) or "into the abyss" (Luke 8:31) carries the thought of a permanent punishment. They would rather be cast into the many pigs feeding nearby.
"Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned" (vv. 32-33). Mark 5:13b adds that "there were about two thousand" swine. A legion can be up to as many as three thousand or more. Mark estimated about two thousand swine. That means this man was possessed by at least two thousand demons! No wonder he had no control.
The herdsmen ran and spread the word throughout the region of how Jesus had cast out these demons (Luke 8:34). "Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid" (v. 35).
"They were afraid!" Afraid of what? They were told how Jesus had healed this man (v. 36), but instead of rejoicing, they "asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned" (v. 37). They didn't understand in the least. That is why "they were seized with great fear" (v. 37b). We need not fear Jesus, but rather, we should embrace Him by faith and sit at His feet and learn from Him.
"Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.' And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him" (vv. 38-39). Tell people about Jesus! Let them know what He means to you. Amen.
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