And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
On the morning Jesus landed beneath Gadara on the eastern shore, a large herd of unclean swine kept for gain was grazing on a mountainside at some distance from Him and the two violent demoniacs who rushed to meet Him. Speaking through the afflicted men, the demons begged not to be sent out of the country but to be allowed to enter the swine, and Jesus granted their request and permitted them to go. Satan's design in that request was to bring heavy loss upon the owners so that Jesus would be feared as a bringer of financial ruin and rejected throughout the region. Yet even demons can act only as Jesus permits, and their entering the herd and rushing it headlong down the steep cliff into the lake to perish displayed both their cruelty and Christ's absolute supremacy and power to restrain evil and free its captives. The people valued the lost property more than the restoration of the two men, and in fear of further loss besought Jesus to depart, but He left the healed men sitting clothed and in their right mind as living witnesses to tell in Decapolis what they had seen and felt of His power.
Place and Event
After an eventful day beside the sea spent teaching the parables of the kingdom and healing, Jesus in the evening sought retirement in a solitary place across the lake and crossed by boat with His disciples to find seclusion from the crowds. Other crowded boats followed Him to the eastern shore of the Sea of Gennesaret, which had towns here and there but was desolate compared with the western side. Its population was more heathen than Jewish and had little communication with Galilee.
He landed that morning at the southern end of the lake on shore beneath Gadara, in the territory of that half-heathen trading city on the table-land twelve hundred feet above the shore and at some distance from it. The country beside the road from the lake up to Gadara was soft limestone full of caves enlarged into dwellings and tombs. There lived two furious men of prodigious strength and fierceness who made the road almost impassable. They rushed out shrieking as soon as He set foot on shore.
A large herd of many swine was feeding and grazing on a mountainside a good way off and at some distance from Jesus and the two demon-possessed men. Its presence nearby sets the scene for what follows, for the demons were about to ask to enter the swine and, when Jesus permitted them, to drive the herd to destruction. The loss would lead the keepers and local people to focus on the property lost rather than on the men delivered.
The demons, speaking through the afflicted men as mediums of communication and using them to ask, begged not to be sent away out of the country but to be let to enter the swine. Jesus granted their request and permitted them to go.
As soon as the demons entered the swine, panic seized the whole drove. They rushed madly and headlong down the steep precipice and cliff and steep slope. Unable to stop themselves at the shore, they plunged into the sea and lake and were drowned and perished.
The keepers of the swine hurried away to publish the news, and the whole population flocked to meet Jesus. They found the men who had been the terror of the country clothed and in their right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words and glorifying Him who had made them whole.
Christ's Power, Satan's Scheme
Satan's design in the demons' request to enter the feeding herd was to hedge up Jesus' way in that region and prevent the preaching of the gospel there. He brought considerable loss upon the owners by the destruction of the swine, calculating that the loss of property would cause Jesus to be held in disfavor throughout the country, feared as a bringer of financial ruin, and rejected by the people. The loss instead roused the whole country as nothing else could have done and directed attention to Christ, so that though Jesus Himself departed in ignorance without their hearing His words, light was still sent to them through witnesses.
Even the power of demons is under the absolute control of Jesus, for they entered the herd only when He permitted it. He restrained them from destroying the keepers and owners as well as the swine, and the working of evil was overruled for good. The swine were unclean animals being raised for gain, and their destruction rebuked those who kept them. The event showed the demons' cruel power over animals and people, and Christ's power to restrain evil and free its captives.
The encounter visibly set the Prince of Light against the Prince of Darkness and showed the supremacy of the one over the other. There was living, visible evidence of Satan's power, and at the same time of One who cared more for the people's real good than they did themselves. He was One who could control the elements by the lifting of His finger and cast out demons and heal the diseased and imbecile by a word or the touch of His hand.
The stilling of the tempest and this deliverance on the other side show that through Jesus there is rest, and heaven begins here. Responding to His invitation to come and learn of Him begins life eternal as ceaseless approaching to God through Christ. Walking with Jesus in this life fills with His love and satisfies with His presence with all that human nature can bear, and this is only a foretaste of the hereafter of greater glory, more knowledge of God, and more intense happiness. The story of the demoniacs proves that none have fallen so low and none are so vile that they cannot find deliverance in Christ, for even when in place of prayer they could utter only the words of Satan, their heart's unspoken appeal was heard, showing that no cry from a soul in need is unheeded.
Rejection Turned to Witness
Those who saw what had happened did not rejoice, for the loss of the swine seemed to them of greater moment than the deliverance of the captives of Satan, and the owners and the people valued the lost property more than the restoration of the two men to reason. The destruction of the herd was a financial loss that fixed their minds on the property lost rather than on the men delivered, and they resented the One who had freed them. The herd's ruin displayed the visible power of Satan, yet they looked only at the loss and sent Jesus away rather than valuing His presence and power to heal and cast out demons.
Blinded by worldliness they had cared only for the advantages of the world and thought little of eternal interests, and they gave no weight to the advantage of having among them One of such power. Even though those who had crossed the lake told them of the peril of the night before and His miracle in stilling the tempest, and even though they saw and heard the healed men who had been the terror of the community, they refused to consider One who could control the elements by the lifting of His finger and cast out demons and heal the diseased by a word or the touch of His hand. They beheld the Prince of Light meet the Prince of Darkness and saw the supremacy of the one over the other with visible evidence of Satan's power, yet fear of incurring further pecuniary loss led them to treat Him as an unwelcome invader. Their concern for worldly possessions blinded them to the greater good of His presence, and attachment to worldly interests turned them away from Christ and His mercy.
In terror they thronged about Jesus beseeching Him to depart from them and from their coast, and He complied and gratified their wish at once, taking ship for the opposite shore. He never urges His presence where He is unwelcome. The loss that Satan designed to hedge up His way and prevent the preaching of the gospel there instead roused the whole country as nothing else could have done and directed attention to Christ and brought Him directly before public notice. Though Jesus Himself departed and they had bidden Him go without hearing His words, ignorant of what they were rejecting, He did not leave them to the darkness they chose but sent light to them by those to whom they would listen.
The healed men remained as witnesses to His power, changed from mediums of the prince of darkness into channels of light and messengers of the Son of God. They were the first missionaries sent to teach the gospel in Decapolis and the region of Gergesa, and a door was opened to the gospel throughout that region so that when He returned thousands flocked to Him and for three days heard the message of salvation. They had listened to His words only a short time and not one sermon from His lips had ever fallen upon their ears, so they could not instruct the people as the disciples who had been daily with Christ were able to do. But they could tell what they knew, what they themselves had seen and heard and felt of the Saviour's power, and the people listened to them and a desire was aroused to see Him when He came again. This telling of personal experience of grace is what everyone whose heart has been touched can do, and it is the witness for which the Lord calls and for want of which the world is perishing.
The destruction of the swine tested the Gadarenes and exposed their valuing of property above mercy, for with living evidences of Christ's power and mercy before their eyes in the men restored to reason they still turned the priceless Gift of Heaven from their doors and blindly rejected His visit of mercy. The same choice remains when people refuse to follow His teachings because obedience would require sacrificing some worldly interest, turning Jesus from their hearts for fear His presence will cost them pecuniary loss, overlooking His grace and driving His Spirit from them. For no one can serve God and mammon.
On the morning Jesus landed beneath Gadara on the eastern shore, a large herd of unclean swine kept for gain was grazing on a mountainside at some distance from Him and the two violent demoniacs who rushed to meet Him. Speaking through the afflicted men, the demons begged not to be sent out of the country but to be allowed to enter the swine, and Jesus granted their request and permitted them to go. Satan's design in that request was to bring heavy loss upon the owners so that Jesus would be feared as a bringer of financial ruin and rejected throughout the region. Yet even demons can act only as Jesus permits, and their entering the herd and rushing it headlong down the steep cliff into the lake to perish displayed both their cruelty and Christ's absolute supremacy and power to restrain evil and free its captives. The people valued the lost property more than the restoration of the two men, and in fear of further loss besought Jesus to depart, but He left the healed men sitting clothed and in their right mind as living witnesses to tell in Decapolis what they had seen and felt of His power.
Place and Event
After an eventful day beside the sea spent teaching the parables of the kingdom and healing, Jesus in the evening sought retirement in a solitary place across the lake and crossed by boat with His disciples to find seclusion from the crowds. Other crowded boats followed Him to the eastern shore of the Sea of Gennesaret, which had towns here and there but was desolate compared with the western side. Its population was more heathen than Jewish and had little communication with Galilee.
He landed that morning at the southern end of the lake on shore beneath Gadara, in the territory of that half-heathen trading city on the table-land twelve hundred feet above the shore and at some distance from it. The country beside the road from the lake up to Gadara was soft limestone full of caves enlarged into dwellings and tombs. There lived two furious men of prodigious strength and fierceness who made the road almost impassable. They rushed out shrieking as soon as He set foot on shore.
A large herd of many swine was feeding and grazing on a mountainside a good way off and at some distance from Jesus and the two demon-possessed men. Its presence nearby sets the scene for what follows, for the demons were about to ask to enter the swine and, when Jesus permitted them, to drive the herd to destruction. The loss would lead the keepers and local people to focus on the property lost rather than on the men delivered.
The demons, speaking through the afflicted men as mediums of communication and using them to ask, begged not to be sent away out of the country but to be let to enter the swine. Jesus granted their request and permitted them to go.
As soon as the demons entered the swine, panic seized the whole drove. They rushed madly and headlong down the steep precipice and cliff and steep slope. Unable to stop themselves at the shore, they plunged into the sea and lake and were drowned and perished.
The keepers of the swine hurried away to publish the news, and the whole population flocked to meet Jesus. They found the men who had been the terror of the country clothed and in their right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words and glorifying Him who had made them whole.
Christ's Power, Satan's Scheme
Satan's design in the demons' request to enter the feeding herd was to hedge up Jesus' way in that region and prevent the preaching of the gospel there. He brought considerable loss upon the owners by the destruction of the swine, calculating that the loss of property would cause Jesus to be held in disfavor throughout the country, feared as a bringer of financial ruin, and rejected by the people. The loss instead roused the whole country as nothing else could have done and directed attention to Christ, so that though Jesus Himself departed in ignorance without their hearing His words, light was still sent to them through witnesses.
Even the power of demons is under the absolute control of Jesus, for they entered the herd only when He permitted it. He restrained them from destroying the keepers and owners as well as the swine, and the working of evil was overruled for good. The swine were unclean animals being raised for gain, and their destruction rebuked those who kept them. The event showed the demons' cruel power over animals and people, and Christ's power to restrain evil and free its captives.
The encounter visibly set the Prince of Light against the Prince of Darkness and showed the supremacy of the one over the other. There was living, visible evidence of Satan's power, and at the same time of One who cared more for the people's real good than they did themselves. He was One who could control the elements by the lifting of His finger and cast out demons and heal the diseased and imbecile by a word or the touch of His hand.
The stilling of the tempest and this deliverance on the other side show that through Jesus there is rest, and heaven begins here. Responding to His invitation to come and learn of Him begins life eternal as ceaseless approaching to God through Christ. Walking with Jesus in this life fills with His love and satisfies with His presence with all that human nature can bear, and this is only a foretaste of the hereafter of greater glory, more knowledge of God, and more intense happiness. The story of the demoniacs proves that none have fallen so low and none are so vile that they cannot find deliverance in Christ, for even when in place of prayer they could utter only the words of Satan, their heart's unspoken appeal was heard, showing that no cry from a soul in need is unheeded.
Rejection Turned to Witness
Those who saw what had happened did not rejoice, for the loss of the swine seemed to them of greater moment than the deliverance of the captives of Satan, and the owners and the people valued the lost property more than the restoration of the two men to reason. The destruction of the herd was a financial loss that fixed their minds on the property lost rather than on the men delivered, and they resented the One who had freed them. The herd's ruin displayed the visible power of Satan, yet they looked only at the loss and sent Jesus away rather than valuing His presence and power to heal and cast out demons.
Blinded by worldliness they had cared only for the advantages of the world and thought little of eternal interests, and they gave no weight to the advantage of having among them One of such power. Even though those who had crossed the lake told them of the peril of the night before and His miracle in stilling the tempest, and even though they saw and heard the healed men who had been the terror of the community, they refused to consider One who could control the elements by the lifting of His finger and cast out demons and heal the diseased by a word or the touch of His hand. They beheld the Prince of Light meet the Prince of Darkness and saw the supremacy of the one over the other with visible evidence of Satan's power, yet fear of incurring further pecuniary loss led them to treat Him as an unwelcome invader. Their concern for worldly possessions blinded them to the greater good of His presence, and attachment to worldly interests turned them away from Christ and His mercy.
In terror they thronged about Jesus beseeching Him to depart from them and from their coast, and He complied and gratified their wish at once, taking ship for the opposite shore. He never urges His presence where He is unwelcome. The loss that Satan designed to hedge up His way and prevent the preaching of the gospel there instead roused the whole country as nothing else could have done and directed attention to Christ and brought Him directly before public notice. Though Jesus Himself departed and they had bidden Him go without hearing His words, ignorant of what they were rejecting, He did not leave them to the darkness they chose but sent light to them by those to whom they would listen.
The healed men remained as witnesses to His power, changed from mediums of the prince of darkness into channels of light and messengers of the Son of God. They were the first missionaries sent to teach the gospel in Decapolis and the region of Gergesa, and a door was opened to the gospel throughout that region so that when He returned thousands flocked to Him and for three days heard the message of salvation. They had listened to His words only a short time and not one sermon from His lips had ever fallen upon their ears, so they could not instruct the people as the disciples who had been daily with Christ were able to do. But they could tell what they knew, what they themselves had seen and heard and felt of the Saviour's power, and the people listened to them and a desire was aroused to see Him when He came again. This telling of personal experience of grace is what everyone whose heart has been touched can do, and it is the witness for which the Lord calls and for want of which the world is perishing.
The destruction of the swine tested the Gadarenes and exposed their valuing of property above mercy, for with living evidences of Christ's power and mercy before their eyes in the men restored to reason they still turned the priceless Gift of Heaven from their doors and blindly rejected His visit of mercy. The same choice remains when people refuse to follow His teachings because obedience would require sacrificing some worldly interest, turning Jesus from their hearts for fear His presence will cost them pecuniary loss, overlooking His grace and driving His Spirit from them. For no one can serve God and mammon.