“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 ESV1
Read Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, & Luke 8:26-39
Not only did Jesus cross the Sea of Galilee to get a break from the crowds. Not only did He cross the Sea of Galilee to show His disciples He had authority over the weather. He crossed the Sea of Galilee for an even greater reason— “to proclaim liberty to the captives and … to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). The same disciples who were amazed by His authority over the wind and the waves were to be, in this next adventure, astonished at His power over bondage.
“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 man2 with an unclean spirit” (Mark 5:1-2), “so fierce that no one could pass that way” (Matthew 8:28). “He lived among the tombs” (Mark 5:3a). “For a long time, he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house” (Luke 8:27). “He was kept under guard” (Luke 8:29). “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” (Mark 5:3b-5), “and [he would be] be driven by the demon into the desert” (Luke 8:29). “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’” (Mark 5:6-9), “for many demons had entered him” (Luke 8:30). “And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the country” (Mark 5:10). “And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss” (Luke 8:31). “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” (Mark 5:11-13).
“The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion [of demons], sitting there” (Mark 5:14-15a), “at the feet of Jesus” (Luke 8:35), “clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs” (Mark 5:15b-16). “Then all the people of the surrounding country” (Luke 8:37) “began to beg Jesus to depart from their region” (Mark 5:17), “for they were seized with great fear. So, He got into the boat and returned” (Luke 8:37). “As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged Him that he might be with Him. And He did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:18-20).
If you are familiar with this account and how it is recorded in each of the Gospels, if you read the above-listed passages, or if you glanced at the footnotes, you may have encountered a little detail which you might have found troubling. So, before we go any further, let’s deal with the elephant in the room, the apparent contradiction, the thing that will distract us from the main points of this passage.
“[Concerning] the incident with the demoniacs in the country of the Gerasenes, also called Gadarene … The Matthew account mentions two demon-possessed men, while Mark and Luke only mention one. Is there a discrepancy in these accounts, and do the Gospel writers contradict one another?
The first thing to determine is whether the three writers are describing the same event. The timing of the event in all three accounts—immediately following the calming of the storm on the sea of Galilee—as well as other similarities (living in the tombs, the ferocity of the demoniac, the conversation with the demons, the driving of them into the pigs, the drowning of the herd, and the response of those who witnessed the scene) all give credence to Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describing the same event. The question remains, then, whether there was one demoniac or two.
Matthew tells us there were two demoniacs, while Mark and Luke only mention one of the two. It is unclear why they chose to mention only one, but that does not negate the possibility of a second demoniac being present. Mark and Luke do not say there was “only one” demon-possessed man. They simply state that one of the two met Jesus and spoke to Him. For whatever reason, Matthew simply gives us more information than Mark and Luke.
In any case, no contradiction exists. A contradiction occurs only if one statement makes the other impossible and there is absolutely no way for them to be reconciled. For example, let’s say we put two apples on a table. Statement 1: There are two apples on the table. Statement 2: There is only one apple on the table. These two statements contradict each other. Now read these two statements: Statement 1: There are two apples on the table. Statement 2: There is an apple on the table. These two statements do not contradict each other. In the same way, the biblical accounts do not represent a contradiction. All three accounts describe demon possession and the power that Jesus has over the spirit world. All three tell us that He made a point to cross the sea to save someone from the demons. All three affirm that there was at least one man who was plagued by demons. The fact that the three accounts differ in some minor details only proves that they were written by three different authors, each of whom chose to focus on a different aspect of the account.”3
I personally believe there were two men, but Mark and Luke focused on one man, the one who had been possessed by the legion of demons, because it was this man who desired to follow Jesus, and it was to this man that Jesus gave the ministry of sharing his testimony with his friends in the surrounding ten towns—the Decapolis. Decapolis was on the East side of the Jordan; it was a largely Gentile area. Decapolis is a Greek word meaning ten towns. Also, the presence of the large herd of pigs proves this was a Gentile area. Pigs were unclean animals for the Jews; there would be no call for pigs in a Jewish area.
Each of the Gospel writers had a different audience in mind when writing his gospel. Matthew wrote to the Jews. Mark communicated to the Romans. Luke was Greek; his audience was Greek. The Jews would not have been interested in the same things as Gentiles. Being acquainted with the fact that Jesus had authority over demons even in Gentile areas, and that some pigs had been eliminated, would have been enough for the Jews. The Greeks and the Romans, however, would have been delighted that Jesus not only healed a Gentile but gave him a ministry. They would have wanted all the information they could get about this specific man and his state before encountering Jesus because possibly some of them came to know Jesus through this man’s testimony.
And this man had a powerful testimony. He had been in a wretched state, one in which he had no control over his own actions. No one could help him or restrain him. He was violent, frightening, and harmful to himself and others. But how did he and, possibly to a lesser extent, his friend get into such a state? One can become a victim of demon possession by involvement in any occult activity or in any false religion, practicing sexual sin, allowing pride or anger to rule one’s life, or by using mind-altering drugs. One can also become to unfortunate victim of spiritual oppression by being cursed by others who are involved in occult activity.4
The Promised Land, the area God gave Israel, the area that by Jesus’ time would have been divided into Phoenicia, Galilee, Samaria, Judea, Perea, and Decapolis, was originally an area of much wickedness. God took steps to protect His people from the damaging effects of the evil which originally dwelt in their land. He instructed them, “‘When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you’” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).
God’s people were to have nothing to do with such practices. In fact, God said, “’If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones’” (Deuteronomy 17:2-5). This was serious business because God knew to what such practices would lead.
Unfortunately, the Israelites did not obey the LORD. They did not annihilate the wickedness and false religion from the land God gave them. Instead, they accepted it and even joined in with the evil practices. It was for this reason that God allowed Israel to be overtaken by other nations. It was why, when Jesus walked the earth, Israel did not rule themselves and all of the Promised Land didn’t belong to Israel. And it is why people, like this man, his friend, and his community members had access to such evil and suffered so horribly from the influence of Satan.
This tormented man is an example of the extent to which one can fall if one gets involved with the evil practices which God expressly forbids or when one is a victim in a society saturated with Satanic influence. This man had many demons (see Luke 8:30). Together they called themselves Legion (see Mark 5:9). A Roman legion was between 4,000 and 6,000 soldiers. My mind cannot fathom with what this man could have dabbled, or to what extent he had been abused, to end up in such a mess. Yet, Jesus had mercy on him (see Mark 5:19).
This man’s story proves no one is too far gone or has gotten so mixed up with Satan that he or she cannot get free. It is all a matter of whether one desires to be free. Even in his demon-possessed state, this man “when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before Him” (Mark 5:6). Coming to Jesus for His deliverance is the only way to find spiritual freedom.
Jesus is the One who has ultimate authority over all evil. Satan and God are not opposite but equal forces; God is far superior. Demons know this. The legion of demons recognized Jesus and His right to torture them (see Mark 5:7). Demons know they must obey Jesus. They know, at a time which suits God, they will be eternally punished (see Luke 8:3 & Revelation 20:10). This legion of demons was audacious enough to beg Him for kindness, but Jesus did not have to give it. He did give them mercy, but it was to His discretion. Satan and his demons are allowed to continue to wreak havoc but only for a limited time and only in a limited capacity. They are subject to the words of Jesus, or those to whom He has given the authority. The words, “‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’” (Mark 5:8) send demons packing whenever and wherever God wants.
This man’s story also proves that no one has made so many mistakes that he or she cannot be an effective testimony of the power of Jesus. Many times, it is not only in spite of the mistakes one has made but because of them, that he or she can have a particular ministry. Jesus gave this man a ministry to his own friends and community because this man’s experience would speak most loudly to these people. Not everyone can minister to everyone. Even Jesus was not the best One to minister at this time to this community. The people of the Decapolis were too afraid of Jesus. They were more comfortable dealing with the fear that they knew than the One they didn’t (see Mark 5:15b-17). Because he had experienced both the destructive power of the demonic and the healing power of God, this man could connect the two in a way that his audience could understand and accept. This man took the ministry that Jesus gave him and “went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:18-20).
It appears that Jesus made a point to cross the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee for the purpose of freeing this man and giving this man a specific ministry. Perhaps Satan even cooked up that storm in an attempt to keep Jesus from reaching this man but to no avail. Jesus was victorious. He came “to proclaim liberty to the captives and … to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). I have no idea what storms you have been through and what influence Satan has had over you, but you can be sure Jesus is making His way to you, too. He is able to give you freedom and bless you with a fruitful ministry because you have experienced difficulties. “All things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose … in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us … [nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:28, 37 & 39). Praise God.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2“two demon-possessed men” (Matthew 8:28)
3https://www.gotquestions.org/one-two-demoniacs.html
4Please refer to Freedom in Christ Ministries, http://freedominchrist.com, for resources by Neil T. Anderson on these subjects and how to find freedom from their influence.