I was at Mass a few days ago, and heard what I found to be a rather shocking Bible passage. I had heard it before but perhaps I had not paid attention to all the details contained within it. It was about a man who was possessed by demons, more specifically "Legion". It is recounted in Mark 5. When I heard the details I was somewhat shocked. I knew there was a possessed man whom Jesus exorcised and the demons ran into some swine and into the ocean. That much I knew, but I wasn't aware of the entire back story. Let's break it down.I will post the entire passage from the Bible down below. But I just want to summarize in my own words. First of all, there is a demon-possessed man from Gerasene.
Where is Gerasene?
I looked up the location of "Gerasene", i.e. where is someone from is they are a Gerasene. Wikipedia says the following:
[The] "country of the Gergesenes/Gadarenes/Gerasenes" in the New Testament Gospels refers to some location on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The name is derived from either a lakeside village, Gergesa, the next larger city, Gadara, or the best-known city in the region, Gerasa.
It shows the following picture. Of note, it is in the region of the Decapolis (a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the southeastern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD.)
So this is where the man was from.
"Lived among the tombs."
Wait, what? He "lived among the tombs."? What does this even mean? He just lived in a graveyard among tombs. Such a strange way to live. Just imagine for a moment a man living in a graveyard all day long. Where does he get food? Where does he sleep? It's so mysterious. Why was he there? I feel he is there because the demons liked to be there around all the death.
"No one could bind him any more, even with a chain."
Wow. "No one" could bind him? That's rather incredible. It seems they had put much effort into constraining this man. His demon-possession seems to have given him extra-human strength. It's another sign of possession. To have this kind of unhuman strength, to be able to break free of fetters and chains? Think about that, it would take physical power many times greater than even the strongest man possesses. Truly incredible strength. Again, this came from the demon possession, which goes to show the power of this type of Satanic interference. This was not mere mental illness. No mentally ill person just suddenly has the strength of 10 or 20 men. This definitely fits the criteria for possession. If you look into some indicators sought out by exorcists, one of them is super-human ability such as impossible strength or ability to know things that are essentially unknowable.
"Bruising himself with stones"
Without all the other factors, this part would seem to indicate some form of self-harm mental illness. However, given the totality of the situation, it is another indicator of Satan's power over this man and his actions. The devil caused him to injure himself. What could this mean? Well, we know evil does damage to us in general, and this is just a more direct and obvious example of it. It is also a sign of possession. God wants to restore and heal us, the Devil wants to harm us and especially wants us to harm ourselves.
"He ran and worshiped him"
Despite his possession, the man immediately recognized Jesus Christ and ran towards him. This was the action and will of the man, who was hidden by his possession, the interior person. Deep down this man sought liberation from this oppression, and upon recognizing Jesus Christ, could do nothing else but run to him like a trusting child. Never doubt or question the power of Our Lord, no matter how strong it seems evil influences are around you.
"My name is Legion"
What does this name indicate? Fr. Hardon, a renowned Catholic scholar, wrote "Some of the possessed were controlled by several demons (Mark 12:43). In one case so many devils possessed a man that their name was Legion."
Contubernium: consisted of 8 men.
Centuria: (century) was made up of 10 contubernium with a total of 80 men commanded by a centurion.
Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centurie, a total of 480 men.
Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts, about 5,000 men.
Eques Legionis: Each legio had a cavarly unit of 120 attached to them.
That was just a little side note there. But it shows the gravity of the situation. It's like saying he was possessed by 5,000 demons. But more important than showing the power of the demons, it shows the power of Christ to overcome evil. No amount is even a tiny blip to Christ. As some saint once put it, God's mercy is like a raging furnace into which a tiny drop of water is thrown. The tiny drop of water represents even the most serious sins.
"And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country."
I honestly do not know what is meant by this, I could not find anything on it. Who is begging him? Why is this being asked? If anyone knows, please comment below!
“Send us to the swine, let us enter them.”
The evil spirits are begging Jesus to send them into the swine. So, Jesus orders them to do so and 2,000 swine run into the sea and are drown. I believe the reason for this is that the demons cannot stand being in the presence of Jesus Christ. They would rather be anywhere else. This is why exorcisms are carried out in the name of Our Lord. The "legion" of demons is begging to be gone from the presence of Our Lord. See, although demons chose to oppose Christ, they are still subject to him, as the Bible says at the name of Jesus EVERY knee shall bend, including those on Earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven and in Hell. They may not want to, but they have no choice.
After this, the herdsmen who were there, ran to tell people from the city what had happened. They all came to see Jesus after this. It indicates they were "afraid". This is a common reaction in the Bible. Usually it's because the power of God is so great that people are overcome with righteous fear of the Lord. It's not a small thing which has occurred and people are enthralled.
However, the passage goes on to say the people demanded Jesus Christ leave their village. What a strange reaction. The only thing I can think of is that people seemed suspicious even when apparently good things happened, such as the casting out of demons. In one part of the Gospel, Jesus even addresses this by asking if God can act against himself, and whether a person who brings healing and miracles can be coming from a bad place? Later, he says those who are not against him are for him. He reminds us also that we will know a person by their fruit. Yet, people in this case are suspicious, with one exception.
The one exception to the suspicion is the man who was healed. He is now clothed and "in his right mind". He asks Jesus to be his follower. Jesus refuses and instead tells the man to go into the Decapolis (see above), and preach what Christ had done for him. They say "all men marveled".
This is a very interesting passage in the Bible. So many contrasts. It's interesting that people are suspicious and tell Christ to leave, but when the man goes into the major cities "all men marveled". What a difference in reaction. Perhaps the people were not willing to believe this man, whom they had known for so many years, was healed by this humble carpenter. It's kind of like when Jesus says a prophet is not accepted by those closest to him. Although the people closest to the possessed man were reluctant and suspicious, those outside the town were much more open to hearing about the miracle which had happened.
Overall, this is an interesting and very powerful part of the Gospel!
Here is the full verse in the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE):
Mark 5: 1-20
Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Ger′asenes.[a] 2 And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him; 7 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.” 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus[b] asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; 12 and they begged him, “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. 17 And they began to beg Jesus[c] to depart from their neighborhood. 18 And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But he refused, and 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decap′olis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.
