Jesus Expels Demons from Gadarene Men

Passages: Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:20-39. Jesus went out of his way to go into this region, just to minister to these two men. Yet he could not expel the demons immediately. Why not?

We can learn many things from Jesus about deliverance ministry today. Let’s see what they are.

The translations are mine, but if you would like to see many other translations, please go to biblegateway.com. I include the Greek text to bring out the nuances, but readers may scroll past it, if they wish.

Let’s begin.

Jesus Expels Demons from Gadarene Demoniacs
Matthew 8:28-34	Mark 5:1-20	Luke 8:20-39
²⁸ After he went to the other side of the lake into the region where the Gadarenes lived, two demonized men, coming from the tombs, confronted him. They were very dangerous, so that no one was able to pass along that road. ²⁹ Then look! They shrieked, saying, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰ There was, at a distance from them, a herd of many pigs, feeding. ³¹ The demons begged him, saying, “If you expel us, send us into the herd of pigs!” ³² He said to them, “Go!” They exited and departed into the swine. And look! The entire herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and perished in the water. ³³ Then the swineherds fled and left for the town and reported everything—even the things about the demonized men. ³⁴ Then surprise! The entire town went out for a meeting with Jesus, and after they saw him, they implored him to cross over, out of their vicinity.	¹ He went to the other side of the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² As he was getting out of the boat, a man coming out of the tombs, having an unclean spirit, met him. ³ He made his home in the tombs. No one was able tie him down with a chain anymore ⁴ because, after he was often bound with chains and shackles, the chains were broken by him and the shackles shattered; no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Day and night he was crying out in the tombs and hills and cutting himself with stones. ⁶Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt before him. ⁷He cried out with a loud voice, “Mind your own business, Jesus, Son of God Most High! I implore you! Don’t torment me!” ⁸(For he was saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) ⁹ Then he asked him, “What is your name?” And he said to him, “My name is Legion, because we are many!” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly that he would not send him out of the region. ¹¹ A huge herd of pigs was there on the hillside, feeding. ¹² They begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, so that we may go into them!” ¹³ He permitted them, and the unclean spirits left and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed headlong from a crest into the lake and drowned in the lake. ¹⁴ The ones tending them fled and reported this in the town and the fields. They came to see what it is that happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and observed the demoniac sitting clothed and sound-minded—the one having Legion—and they were frightened. ¹⁶ The ones who saw this recounted to them what had happened to the demonized man and about the pigs. ¹⁷ And they begged him to depart from their district. ¹⁸ As he was getting in the boat, the one who had been demonized begged him that he may be with him. ¹⁹ He did not allow him, but instead told him, “Go to your house and your family and report to them everything the Lord has done for you and how much mercy he showed you.” ²⁰ And so he departed and began to proclaim in the Decapolis everything Jesus had done for him. Everyone was amazed.	²⁶ So they sailed down into the region of Gerasene, which is opposite of Galilee. ²⁷ A particular man having demons from the town met him as Jesus was getting out on land. For a long time, the man wore no clothes and did not remain at home but was among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he screamed and fell down before him, and with a loud voice he said, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torment me!” ²⁹ He commanded the unclean spirit to leave the man. (For a long time it had seized him, and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, but he broke the chains and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.) ³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion!” because many demons entered him. ³¹ And they began to implore him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. ³² And right there was a herd of numerous pigs feeding on the hillside. And the demons begged him that he would permit them to go into them. And he allowed them to do that. ³³ The demons went out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. ³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled and reported it to the town and the countryside. ³⁵ They went out to see what happened and came towards Jesus and found the man from whom the demons went out clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. They became frightened. ³⁶ The ones who saw reported to them how the demonized man was rescued. ³⁷ The whole crowd from the region of Gerasene asked him to leave them because they were seized with a great fear. He got in the boat and left. ³⁸ But before then the man from whom the demons went out was asking him to remain with him. But he released him, saying, “Return to your household and recount how much God did for you.” ³⁹ And he returned, preaching in the entire town how much Jesus did for him.
²⁸ Καὶ ἐλθόντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πέραν εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γαδαρηνῶν ὑπήντησαν αὐτῷ δύο δαιμονιζόμενοι ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἐξερχόμενοι, χαλεποὶ λίαν, ὥστε μὴ ἰσχύειν τινὰ παρελθεῖν διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐκείνης. ²⁹ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔκραξαν λέγοντες· τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ; ἦλθες ὧδε πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς; ³⁰ ἦν δὲ μακρὰν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ἀγέλη χοίρων πολλῶν βοσκομένη. ³¹ οἱ δὲ δαίμονες παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· εἰ ἐκβάλλεις ἡμᾶς, ἀπόστειλον ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην τῶν χοίρων. ³² καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ὑπάγετε. οἱ δὲ ἐξελθόντες ἀπῆλθον εἰς τοὺς χοίρους· καὶ ἰδοὺ ὥρμησεν πᾶσα ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ ἀπέθανον ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν. ³³ οἱ δὲ βόσκοντες ἔφυγον, καὶ ἀπελθόντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήγγειλαν πάντα καὶ τὰ τῶν δαιμονιζομένων. ³⁴ καὶ ἰδοὺ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἐξῆλθεν εἰς ὑπάντησιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν παρεκάλεσαν ὅπως μεταβῇ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῶν.	¹ Καὶ ἦλθον εἰς τὸ πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γερασηνῶν. ² καὶ ἐξελθόντος αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου εὐθὺς ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἄνθρωπος ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ, ³ ὃς τὴν κατοίκησιν εἶχεν ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν, καὶ οὐδὲ ἁλύσει οὐκέτι οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτὸν δῆσαι ⁴ διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν πολλάκις πέδαις καὶ ἁλύσεσιν δεδέσθαι καὶ διεσπάσθαι ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ τὰς ἁλύσεις καὶ τὰς πέδας συντετρῖφθαι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἴσχυεν αὐτὸν δαμάσαι· ⁵ καὶ διὰ παντὸς νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἦν κράζων καὶ κατακόπτων ἑαυτὸν λίθοις. ⁶ Καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔδραμεν καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ ⁷ καὶ κράξας φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγει· τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, Ἰησοῦ υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου; ὁρκίζω σε τὸν θεόν, μή με βασανίσῃς. ⁸ ἔλεγεν γὰρ αὐτῷ· ἔξελθε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. ⁹ καὶ ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· τί ὄνομά σοι; καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· λεγιὼν ὄνομά μοι, ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμεν. ¹⁰ καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν πολλὰ ἵνα μὴ αὐτὰ ἀποστείλῃ ἔξω τῆς χώρας. ¹¹ Ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ πρὸς τῷ ὄρει ἀγέλη χοίρων μεγάλη βοσκομένη· ¹² καὶ παρεκάλεσαν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· πέμψον ἡμᾶς εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, ἵνα εἰς αὐτοὺς εἰσέλθωμεν. ¹³ καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἐξελθόντα τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα εἰσῆλθον εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, καὶ ὥρμησεν ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ὡς δισχίλιοι, καὶ ἐπνίγοντο ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ. ¹⁴ Καὶ οἱ βόσκοντες αὐτοὺς ἔφυγον καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς· καὶ ἦλθον ἰδεῖν τί ἐστιν τὸ γεγονὸς ¹⁵ καὶ ἔρχονται πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ θεωροῦσιν τὸν δαιμονιζόμενον καθήμενον ἱματισμένον καὶ σωφρονοῦντα, τὸν ἐσχηκότα τὸν λεγιῶνα, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν. ¹⁶ καὶ διηγήσαντο αὐτοῖς οἱ ἰδόντες πῶς ἐγένετο τῷ δαιμονιζομένῳ καὶ περὶ τῶν χοίρων. ¹⁷ καὶ ἤρξαντο παρακαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῶν. ¹⁸ Καὶ ἐμβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ὁ δαιμονισθεὶς ἵνα μετ’ αὐτοῦ ᾖ. ¹⁹ καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ λέγει αὐτῷ· ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου πρὸς τοὺς σοὺς καὶ ἀπάγγειλον αὐτοῖς ὅσα ὁ κύριός σοι πεποίηκεν καὶ ἠλέησέν σε. ²⁰ καὶ ἀπῆλθεν καὶ ἤρξατο κηρύσσειν ἐν τῇ Δεκαπόλει ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ πάντες ἐθαύμαζον.	²⁶ Καὶ κατέπλευσαν εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γερασηνῶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἀντιπέρα τῆς Γαλιλαίας. ²⁷ ἐξελθόντι δὲ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑπήντησεν ἀνήρ τις ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἔχων δαιμόνια καὶ χρόνῳ ἱκανῷ οὐκ ἐνεδύσατο ἱμάτιον καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ οὐκ ἔμενεν ἀλλ’ ἐν τοῖς μνήμασιν. ²⁸ ἰδὼν δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνακράξας προσέπεσεν αὐτῷ καὶ φωνῇ μεγάλῃ εἶπεν· τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, Ἰησοῦ υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου; δέομαί σου, μή με βασανίσῃς. ²⁹ παρήγγειλεν γὰρ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. πολλοῖς γὰρ χρόνοις συνηρπάκει αὐτὸν καὶ ἐδεσμεύετο ἁλύσεσιν καὶ πέδαις φυλασσόμενος καὶ διαρρήσσων τὰ δεσμὰ ἠλαύνετο ὑπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου εἰς τὰς ἐρήμους. ³⁰ ἐπηρώτησεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· τί σοι ὄνομά ἐστιν; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· λεγιών, ὅτι εἰσῆλθεν δαιμόνια πολλὰ εἰς αὐτόν. ³¹ καὶ παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν ἵνα μὴ ἐπιτάξῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον ἀπελθεῖν. ³² ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ ἀγέλη χοίρων ἱκανῶν βοσκομένη ἐν τῷ ὄρει· καὶ παρεκάλεσαν αὐτὸν ἵνα ἐπιτρέψῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς ἐκείνους εἰσελθεῖν· καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτοῖς. ³³ ἐξελθόντα δὲ τὰ δαιμόνια ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰσῆλθον εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, καὶ ὥρμησεν ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν λίμνην καὶ ἀπεπνίγη. ³⁴ Ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ βόσκοντες τὸ γεγονὸς ἔφυγον καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς. ³⁵ ἐξῆλθον δὲ ἰδεῖν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ εὗρον καθήμενον τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀφ’ οὗ τὰ δαιμόνια ἐξῆλθεν ἱματισμένον καὶ σωφρονοῦντα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν. ³⁶ ἀπήγγειλαν δὲ αὐτοῖς οἱ ἰδόντες πῶς ἐσώθη ὁ δαιμονισθείς. ³⁷ καὶ ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος τῆς περιχώρου τῶν Γερασηνῶν ἀπελθεῖν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, ὅτι φόβῳ μεγάλῳ συνείχοντο· αὐτὸς δὲ ἐμβὰς εἰς πλοῖον ὑπέστρεψεν. ³⁸ ἐδεῖτο δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀφ’ οὗ ἐξεληλύθει τὰ δαιμόνια εἶναι σὺν αὐτῷ· ἀπέλυσεν δὲ αὐτὸν λέγων· ³⁹ ὑπόστρεφε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου καὶ διηγοῦ ὅσα σοι ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός. καὶ ἀπῆλθεν καθ’ ὅλην τὴν πόλιν κηρύσσων ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς.

Comments:

I have nicknamed Matthew “the Trimmer” because he trims out many elements that the other two synoptic Gospels leave in. The length of the three pericopes (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-peas) or sections or episodes visually proves this. Matthew’s version is much shorter. However, he introduces two men, while Mark and Luke have only one. So there are limits to his trimming.

For information on why these differences exist, please go to this link and look for the right verses:

Matthew 8

For my purposes here, I will follow Mark’s and Luke’s versions, since they are fuller. There is one person in need of deliverance.

“having an unclean spirit”: There are two main ways in the Greek NT to express demonic attacks of varying degrees, from full possession to just attacks: “have a demon” and “demonized.” The latter term is used often in Matthew: 4:24; 8:16, 28, 35; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22, but only once in Luke (8:36), and Mark four times (1:32; 5:15, 16, 18). John uses the term once (10:21). In Luke 8:26-39, Luke uses both “have a demon” and “demonized,” so he sees the terms synonymously. “demonized” comes from the verb daimonizomai (pronounced dy-mo-nee-zo-my), which just adds the suffix –iz- to the noun daimōn (pronounced dy-moan). It is a very convenient quality about Greek (English has this ability too: modern to modernize). Just add this suffix to a noun, and it turns into a verb. So it looks like “have a demon” and “be demonized” are synonyms. The context determines how severe the possession was. In this passage Mark uses both forms, apparently meaning the same thing, without precision as to the depth of possession.

“unclean”: this means that the demon defiled the man, so it was a “defiling” spirit (Strauss). In the ancient pagan world, demonize was not necessarily a bad thing, so the Gospel writers had to make sure that their audiences knew that it was bad.

“Mind your own business!”: Grammarian Decker says that the Greek idiom literally reads: “What is it to me and you?” Rhetorically it asks, “What have we to do with you?” That is, “What business is it of yours to interfere with us?” The Septuagint (pronounced sep-TOO-a-gent) is the third-to-second century translation into Greek from the Hebrew Bible. It uses this idiom in Judg. 11:12; 2 Sam. 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs. 17:18; 2 Kings 3:13; 2 Chron. 35:21. It is always abrupt, is often harsh, and consistently introduces distance between the speaker and hearer (p. 183). These demons were arrogant smart Aleks, but they had to acknowledge that he was the Son of God. In the spirit world, they saw Jesus rebuke Satan in the Great Temptation (Matt. 4:1-12). Decker: “This is a statement of ‘defensive hostility’ [NET note]; or as Danker puts it, ‘A diplomatic way of saying “mind your own business.”’”

Apparently these demons understood what their ultimate fate was. No, Jesus was not going to torment them personally, but he was going to send them into hell, which was prepared for Satan and his angels (demons), and that state was going to be torment enough (Matt. 25:41). The legion of demons understood that Jesus had authority to command them.

However, Jesus was saying to the demon that the demon should go. But something didn’t work. The tension in this real-life, spiritual confrontation story is building in the audience. Then Jesus found out the demon’s name, and the fuller truth. His name was Legion, for “we are many.” It is amazing to me how calm Jesus was in asking for the name of the demons. Authority and calm go together. Flashy Renewalists who nervously beg the demon during their deliverance ministries are probably just insecure.

“Legion”: many demons entered him. A Roman legion was 3000-6000 foot soldiers with a cavalry. And Mark says the herd of pigs numbered about 2000 (v. 13). However, the number in the word legion should not be taken overly literally. Many demons had overtaken him.

A real battle is taking place.

“Son of the Most High God”: Neither the crowds nor the disciples knew fully what this title meant, but demons knew who he was better than the humans did at this moment.

Mark backtracks and informs us that they were so dangerous—again indicating total possession—that people could not pass along the road by the tombs, an appropriate place for a demonized man. The seven sons of Sceva found out how dangerous demons could be. A demon-possessed man pounced on the seven men, overpowered them, and beat them up (Acts 19:11-17). Demons have super-human strength, enough to break chains and shackles (or literally “foot shackles”). I wonder how they put them on him since no one was strong enough to subdue him. Probably the answer is that the demons grew in strength. Or maybe the demons were toying with the men who put him in chains, and then the demons broke them, in mockery and as a sign of power.

The demon was powerful and moved the man’s muscles to break the chains. The demon used to drive him out into the tombs and hills. The possession went deep. The story is startling and scary to Mark’s ordinary readers. How would it end? We know Jesus will handle things, but how? And how do his methods relate to us?

Commentator Lane’s comment on these verses is right:

In the several features of the description, the purpose of demonic possession to distort and destroy the divine likeness of man according to creation is made indelibly clear. The attitude and actions of the people of the town were an added cruelty based on popular misunderstanding. But ultimate responsibility for the wretchedness of the man and brutal treatment he had endured rested with the demons who had taken possession of the center of his personality (p. 182)

I like this excerpt because it insightfully reveals that demon possession destroys God’s image in a person.

Why did Jesus allow the swine to enter the pigs? Lane gives two reasons. First, Jesus recognized that the ultimate destruction of the demons had not yet come. His victory over these demons do not put an end to Satan’s power and authority. This waits for a future time. Jesus therefore allows the demons to work their destruction, but not on the man. Second, Jesus intended to show that demons was the total destruction of their host, and what they did to the pigs demonstrates it. They were doing to the pigs what they had been doing to the man.

A little Renewal theology. Yes, Jesus was God incarnate, but his unique divinity that he took with him to earth was hidden (not lost) behind his humanity. As he lived and moved on earth, he was subject to the everyday human limitations of life—hunger, sleep, fatigue and thirst, for instance. He was also anointed by the Spirit. He was the Anointed One.

What Is the ‘Anointing’?

So the Father and the Spirit worked in Jesus of Nazareth—the Trinity together, but we will never be able to figure out in detail how the three cooperated together. Here the Father willed that his Son—the Son of God—cast out a demon. We too are anointed by the Spirit, and through this lesson in this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section of Scripture, kingdom citizens also learn how to cast out demons, after Jesus ascended to heaven.

Jesus gave them permission—showing his authority—to lunge headlong into the lake. I translate the word as “crest,” but most other translations have “bank” or “cliff.” It’s hard to believe that the pigs just waded out into the water, so I envision a crest or cliff, and they were thrown out—leapt out—into the deep. This loss of two thousand pigs was costly to the swineherds.

They fled out of fear. The swineherds must have run back to the scene of deliverance and recounted what they saw. Also, maybe some of the people who saw the original event stayed around and then reported to the townsmen who came out to see what had happened. The man was delivered, clothed, and in his right mind.

The Greek verb for “sound-minded” is sōphroneō (soh-fro-neh-oh), and it can be translated, depending on the context, as “in right mind,” “clear minded,” “self-controlled,” “sober judgment” (NIV); “be of sound mind, be in one’s right mind, be reasonable, sensible, serious” (Shorter Lexicon).

It is good to see the man in his right mind. His deliverance was complete.

The healed man wanted to remain with Jesus (literally “be with,” which is how I translated it). This is understandable because no one had shown him more love and compassion and power to deliver him than Jesus. He contrasts the townspeople’s over-reaction. “The kingdom either attracts or repels, depending on whether one has eyes to see and ears to hear (4:12)” (Wessel and Strauss). Nonetheless, Jesus told him to go back home and narrate his story of what the Lord did for him.

Jesus now has an emissary to speak to people, the Gentiles. France is insightful in his comment on v. 19:

The reason for refusal is rather the positive one that this man has an opportunity, which is uniquely his, to spread the news of what God is doing through Jesus of Nazareth among those who have known what he was before, and who therefore cannot ignore the dramatic change which has resulted from his encounter with Jesus. In emphasising this motivation Mark no doubt expects his readers to understand that the same principle applies to others whose lives Jesus has changed, even in less dramatic circumstances.

Jesus is expanding his outreach to Gentiles, by this emissary. He told his story. You too can tell your story of how God set you free.

Meanwhile, the man told the people what great things Jesus did for him. Of course the people were amazed, given Mark’s description of him before his deliverance. The people lived with his unpredictability and threats. He cried out day and night, which must have haunted the people in the area. Why does Jesus permit the man to go out and tell everyone, but in v. 43 he tells Jairus and his family not to let anyone know the resurrection of the girl? Here Jesus is in Gentile territory, where Messianism would not be a threat, but back in Capernaum (most likely), he will be in Israel, where misunderstanding about Messianic expectations can emerge.

Application for Ministry

We can learn many truths from how Jesus expelled demons, and we can incorporate these truths into our own deliverance ministry. In this section I number my points for clarity and order.

1.. Why did Jesus have to learn the demons’ name and how many there were? Evidently the commands were not working, however, so Jesus had to dig more deeply. Some critics say this was an embarrassment for Jesus because he could not instantly make the demons go. In reply, however, people have to want to be set free. The demon in this man was defiant and had so deceived their human host that the man himself did not want to let them go. He ran right up to Jesus to scare the Lord, but Jesus stood his ground.

2.. Also, these demons, we come to learn, were deeply entrenched. Learning a demon’s name means you have authority over it. On the other hand, some commentators say this is unnecessary, for Jesus already had authority over it. I favor the view that we, his people, may sometimes have to learn a demon’s name to have authority over it. But don’t turn that “sometimes truth” into a necessary part of a ritual; just cast it out in Jesus’s name. In his name, we really do have authority over demons.

3.. Some teachers say they can converse with demons, in order to find out why they refuse to go, why they have a root in the human, since Jesus asked the demon or demons for his or their name. I would never say no to this part of deliverance. I believe the mature believer must not follow a formula or ritual. However, do we have to take it so far and have a detailed conversation? No. But if it is necessary to ask an authoritative question, then do it.

4.. Luke informs the audience that the demons believed Jesus had authority to command them to go into the abyss. Apparently, demons are assigned territories. The demon begs Jesus not to send him into the abyss to await judgment (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). That is, to leave an assigned area means defeat (Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26), so the demons implore Jesus to let them enter the pigs, who are part of the local area. Little did they know what was about to happen! One thing is for certain, to command the demons to leave the human is a sure sign that Satan and his kingdom is being pushed back.

5.. As just noted, the demon possession ran deep in the man, and Jesus had to find out more information. Why did he have to do that? There was a jurisdiction matter to clear up. Recall the idiom, “Why are you interfering with us?” The clause could be translated as “Why would you cross over to our jurisdiction?” The point is that Jesus learned the name of the demons, so he could have authority in this demonic jurisdiction. Some commentators say that learning the name was not to gain authority over the demons, while other commentators think otherwise. I think this case was exceptional, not an ordinary possession in Jesus’s ministry, because no other passage about deliverance shows a man snapping chains. Jesus found out quickly that the case was unique when he commanded the demons and got no results—at first. He learned the name to get more authority over this unique case.

6.. In Jesus’s name, we also have authority to command demons. May we learn how to live life in the Spirit to discern how to set people free. If we have to learn a demon’s name or how he came to enter the demonized person, then let’s follow the Spirit and minister by his directions. In other cases we can command the demon to go. Still in other cases we may have to get the demonized person to repent of sins, like involvement in the occult or habitual sins.

Here are the same pericopes with fuller commentaries.

Matthew 8

Mark 5

Luke 8

Scroll down to find the right verses

These articles may prove useful:

Bible Basics about Deliverance

Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling

See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:

Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them

Satan and Demons: Personal

Satan and Demons: Theology