Anchor My Faith

From Man to Pigs

Scripture: Mark 5:9-13; Luke 8:31

How did Jesus respond to the cry of the demon we encountered in the previous lesson? ^{Mk 5:9} “And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”’ In verse 7, the demon takes control of the man and speaks to Jesus through him. Jesus then asks the demon, through the man’s hearing, what his name is.

^{Mk 5:9} “He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country ^{Lk 8:31} and into the abyss.” The demon answer indicates that he is a spokesman for many other demons also dwelling in the man. He says his “name is Legion, for we are many.” A legion describes the largest unit of the Roman army and at full strength it has 6,000 soldiers. This does not mean there were 6,000 demons in the man, but a large number and as we will see shortly, there were probably about 2,000.

Once the demon gave his name, he made a request of Jesus. Speaking for the many demons, they wanted to remain in the area and not be sent out of the country and especially not to be sent to judgment in the abyss. The abyss is the final destination of Satan and his angels. These demons did not want to go there yet, but to stay on earth for a while longer. With some quick thinking, they saw an opportunity for a place of residence and made a further request.

^{Mk 5:11} “Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged [Jesus], saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ^{Mk 5:13} 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.”

The demons noticed a great herd of pigs feeding there on the hillside and decided it would be better to occupy them than to go to the abyss. Now as a group, they begged Jesus to send them to the pigs, to allow them to enter the pigs. Clearly, they didn’t know what would happen to a pig when a demon comes to live in it. Since there were pigs in the area, it must have been a Gentile region, since pigs were forbidden for Jews.

Jesus grants permission and honors the request for the transfer from the man to the pigs. Since there were about 2,000 pigs and if we assume only one demon to each pig, then there must have been about 2,000 demons. That must have been quite a sight and sound when those demons entered those pigs. The reaction might be like you would get if you hit each pig with a hot poker at the same time. There would have been a great squeal and a quick start in forward motion and with all 2,000 being energized at once, it must have been an impressive sight to experience, especially with them all going forward, downhill and into the sea to drown. The demon’s new housing became quite temporary. What happened to the demons as the pigs perished, we are not told, but their time on earth may have come to an end.

As you might expect, the loss of work by the herdsmen and the loss of income by the owners of the pigs, would cause a reaction toward Jesus. We will cover that reaction in our next lesson.

Prayer

Father, I find it interesting that Jesus was willing to listen to the demon’s request and grant it, knowing that it would destroy the pigs and possibly allow the demons to have further opportunity to cause suffering for others. Maybe the pigs were being raised for the wrong purpose and maybe there were other assignments for these demons to yet accomplish. Jesus was currently using them in his ministry here in this region.