Jesus' Power over a Legion of Demons

On the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus cast many evil spirits out of a severely afflicted man and his life was dramatically transformed in many ways.

After the storm ended, they sailed on to Gerasene country, on the east side of the lake, opposite Galilee. A man tormented by demons lived in a cemetery there. He hadn’t worn clothes or lived in his home for quite a while. Many times, the demons threw the man into convulsions. The people tried to restrain him, securing him with chains and handcuffs, but the demons drove him crazy, and he broke free over and over.

When Jesus stepped out of the boat, this madman met him. Jesus started to order the demons from him, and the man screamed and then fell to his knees.

“What business do we have between us? You’re Jesus, Son of the Most High God! Please don’t punish me!”

“State your name.”

“Legion.” Just as “legion” was used for a body of thousands of Roman soldiers, so they were called legion because many demons tormented this man. They pleaded with Jesus not to order them into the abyss, the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus for permission to enter the pigs. Jesus allowed it. The demons left the man and entered the pigs, which stampeded over a cliff into the lake and drowned.

The ones who were tending the pigs saw it all. They ran off, telling the story to everyone—city and country dwellers alike. So people went out to see what had happened. They found Jesus, and at His feet, the man—formerly demon-possessed, naked, and uncontrollable—sitting there dressed and acting quite normal! Those who had seen it happen told about his transformation.

The people realized that Jesus was more powerful than this demon-possessed man that they had not been able to control for years. That frightened them. So, the majority of the people from the Gerasene countryside got together and asked Jesus to leave.

Jesus got back in the boat to head out. The man whom He had delivered from the demons begged to go along. Jesus refused. “Go back to your family and friends and tell them the great things God did in you.” So he did. This transformed man proclaimed all over town the great things Jesus did in him.

Another time, Jesus delivered a man from a demon that had made the man mute. With the demon gone, the man started talking, which surprised everyone. Some were cynical. “He’s using Satan’s power to cast out these demons.” Other skeptics asked for a sign from Heaven to prove who He was.

Jesus knew their thoughts and challenged their thinking. “Civil war ruins nations. Constantly squabbling families fall to pieces. If Satan casts out demons, he defeats himself. You accuse Me of working with the Devil, the prince of demons, to cast out demons. But if that were the case, what about your own exorcists? How do they do it? But if I cast out demons through God’s power, then know that God's kingdom is here.

“When a fully armed strong man guards his house, his property is safe. But if a stronger man with better weapons challenges him, he is in trouble. He had confidence in his armor, but it’s gone along with his precious possessions.

“There is no neutral ground: If you’re not on my side, you are my enemy; if you’re not helping me bring people to God, you’re pushing them away.

“When a demon is cast out of someone, it is as if it wanders through the desert looking for an oasis: another unsuspecting soul it can possess. If it doesn't find anyone, it goes back to its old ‘house.’ Arriving there, it finds the person swept and in order. It then runs out and gathers seven more demons, more evil than itself, and they all take up residence. That person ends up far worse than if he’d never been freed from the demon in the first place.”