The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39), frequently known as the Miracle of the (Gadarene) Swine and the exorcism of Legion, is one of the miracles performed by Jesus according to the New Testament. [1] The story shows Jesus exorcising a demon or demons out of a man and into a herd of swine, causing the swine to run down a hill into a lake and drown themselves.
The story appears in the three Synoptic Gospels, but not the Gospel of John. All accounts involve Jesus exorcising demons, identified collectively in Mark and Luke as "Legion".
The story was interpreted by Saints Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas to mean that Christians have no duties to animals. [2] It has been a point of contention in discussions of Christianity and animal rights. [3]
The earliest account, assuming the theory of Marcan priority is correct, is in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 5:1–20). Jesus goes across the sea into the "region of the Gerasenes". [lower-alpha 1] There, a man "possessed by a demon" comes from the caves to meet him. People had tried to tie him down but he was too strong to be bound, even with chains, for he would always break out of them; night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Jesus approaches and calls the demon to come out of the man, who replies "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of God never to torment me!". Jesus asks the demon for his name and is told "My name is Legion, for we are many". The demons beg Jesus not to send them away, but instead to send them into the pigs on a nearby hillside, which he does. The herd, about two thousand in number, rush down the steep bank into the sea and are drowned. The man is now seen, dressed and restored to sanity: he asks to be included among the disciples who travel with Jesus, but he is refused and instructed to remain in the Decapolis region, to tell of "the great things the Lord has done ... and [how he] has had compassion on you". Theologian Tom Wright calls him "the first apostle to the gentiles". [4]
The Gospel of Matthew shortens the story dramatically (Matthew 8:28–34) and writes not of one possessed man, but of two. [5] In this version, Jesus does not ask for the demon's name, which is considered an important element of traditional exorcism practice. [6]
The location is also changed to the region of the "Gadarenes" (Gadara) as in most Bible translations. The King James Version in (Matthew 8:28) has the location as "Gergesenes" which corresponds to the modern "Kursi" (Kheras), the most plausible location of the Gospel event.[ citation needed ]
The Gospel of Luke's version (Luke 8:26–39) is shorter than Mark's, but agrees with most of its details. [5] One detail that is unique to Luke's version is a reference to both the demoniac’s nakedness and his subsequent clothing. At Luke 8:27, the gospel writer notes that the demoniac wore no clothes. Then he notes that he “was clothed and in his own mind” (Luke 8:35). Clothing is an important prop in the Lucan narrative (see Biblical clothing), which in this scene portrays the demoniac’s development from his animal-like state to his restoration as a human being. Initially, the possessed man has been expelled from the human race—that is, he is no better off than an animal without clothing—but, after his exorcism, his humanity is fully restored and he rejoins the human race, “clothed and in his right mind” (Luke 8:35).
The story appears to be set close to the Sea of Galilee, since it takes place as soon as Jesus gets out of the boat, but neither Gadara nor Gerasa is nearby; both cities are southeast of the lake, Gadara 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away or a two-hour walking distance, and Gerasa well over twice as far. Origen (Commentary on John 6:24 §41 [on John 1:28]) cited a local tradition that there had been a town called "Gergasa" on the lake shore. [7]
The differing geographical references to Gadara and Gerasa can be understood in light of the social, economic, and political influence each city exerted over the region. In this light, Matthew identified the exorcism with the local center of power, Gadara, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) southeast of Sea of Galilee, whereas Mark identified the event with the regional center of power, Gerasa, located further inland. [8] The city of Gerasa had been a major urban center since its founding and during the Roman period it was the more widely known among the ten-city league known as the Decapolis.
As to the candidate for the location of the Gospel event, the most common consensus [ weasel words ] is that the miracle took place near the town of Gergesa, the modern Kursi, close by the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and therefore in the country of Gergesenes. [9]
The revealing of the demon's name has parallels with other examples in Jewish exorcism lore in the Second Temple period. [10]
It has been widely accepted by scholars that several motifs throughout the account refer to the Roman legion. [11] Further possible echoes include Isaiah 65:4 with parallels to both graves and swine: [12]
Classical theological commentary cited this story to argue that animals have no moral importance in Christianity. [13] Saint Augustine of Hippo concluded from the story that Christians have no duties towards animals, [2] writing:
Christ himself shows that to refrain from the killing of animals and the destroying of plants is the height of superstition, for judging that there are no common rights between us and the beasts and trees, he sent the devils into a herd of swine and with a curse withered the tree on which he found no fruit. [14]
Similarly, Thomas Aquinas argued that Jesus allowed the demons to destroy the pigs in order to make the point that his purpose was primarily for the good of men's souls, not their bodies or property (including their animals). [3] This interpretation has been shared by a long line of commentators up to the present day, including I. Howard Marshall and Mark Driscoll. [3] However, other commentators have attempted to make the story consistent with a Jesus who shows "care and concern for animals," as John Austin Baker wrote. [14] [3] Such alternative readings include arguments that the swine were meant to represent the Roman army or "unclean and unfaithful" people because pigs were considered "unclean" for the Jews in this image, and the loss of these animals was not dangerous. And that Jesus did not actually "send" the devils into the pigs, He merely allowed the demons to go where they themselves chose to go. [3] [13] [14]
This episode plays a key role in the literary critic René Girard's theory of the Scapegoat. [15] In his analysis, the opposition of the entire city to the one man possessed by demons is the typical template for a scapegoat. Girard notes that, in the demoniac's self-mutilation, he seems to imitate the stoning that the local villagers would likely have attempted to use against him to cast him out of their society, while the villagers themselves show by their reaction to Jesus that they are not primarily concerned with the good of the man possessed by demons:
Notice the mimetic character of this behavior. As if he is trying to avoid being expelled and stoned in reality, the possessed brings about his own expulsion and stoning; he provides a spectacular mime of all the stages of punishment that Middle Eastern societies inflict on criminals whom they consider completely defiled and irredeemable. First, the man is hunted, then stoned, and finally he is killed; this is why the possessed lived among the tombs. The Gerasenes must have had some understanding of why they are reproached or they would not respond as they do. Their mitigated violence is an ineffective protest. Their answer is: 'No, we do not want to stone you because we want to keep you near us. No ostracism hangs over you.' Unfortunately, like anyone who feels wrongfully yet feasibly accused, the Gerasenes protest violently, they protest their good faith with violence, thereby reinforcing the terror of the possessed. Proof of their awareness of their own contradiction lies in the fact that the chains are never strong enough to convince their victim of their good intentions toward him." [15]
On Girard's account, then, the uneasy truce that the Gaderenes and the demoniac had worked out was that the evil power in him was contained and thereby neutralized. Jesus' arrival on the scene introduced a spiritual power stronger than Legion, which upset the social balance by removing the scapegoat. This reversal of the scapegoat mechanism by Jesus is central to Girard's entire reading of Christianity, and this reversal is on display in this story as well. Contrasting the self-destruction of the herd of pigs with the typical motif of an individual evil-doer being pushed over a cliff by an undifferentiated mob (cf. Luke 4:29), Girard comments:
"But in these cases, it is not the scapegoat who goes over the cliff, neither is it a single victim nor a small number of victims, but a whole crowd of demons, two thousand swine possessed by demons. Normal relationships are reversed. The crowd should remain on top of the cliff and the victim fall over; instead, in this case, the crowd plunges and the victim is saved. The miracle of Gerasa reverses the universal schema of violence fundamental to all societies of the world." [15]
The story is the origin of the English proverbial adjective Gadarene, meaning "involving or engaged in a headlong or potentially disastrous rush to do something". [16]
Christian demonology is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible, the interpretation of these scriptures, the writings of early Christianity philosophers, hermits, and the associated traditions and legends incorporated from other beliefs.
The miracles of Jesus are miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature.
Gergesa, also Gergasa or the Country of the Gergesenes, is a place on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee located at some distance to the ancient Decapolis cities of Gadara and Gerasa. Today, it is identified with El-Koursi or Kursi. It is mentioned in some ancient manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew as the place where the Miracle of the Swine took place, a miracle performed by Jesus who drove demons out of a[matthew 8:28 says 2 men, messianic translation,Jewish bible;kda] possessed man and into a herd of pigs. All three Synoptic Gospels mention this miracle, Matthew writes about two possessed men instead of just one, and only some manuscripts of his Gospel name the location as Gergesa, while the other copies, as well as all versions of Luke and Mark, mention either Gadara or Gerasa. The "Gerasa" reading is problematic, because Gerasa is neither near a sea nor does it border Galilee.
Legion means a large group or in another parlance it may mean "many". In the Christian Bible, it is used to refer to the group of demons, particularly those in two of three versions of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac, an account in the New Testament of an incident in which Jesus performs an exorcism.
Mark 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the parable of the Sower, with its explanation, and the parable of the Mustard Seed. Both of these parables are paralleled in Matthew and Luke, but this chapter also has a parable unique to Mark, the Seed Growing Secretly. The chapter ends with Jesus calming the storm.
Mark 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Taken with the calming of the sea in Mark 4:35–41, there are "four striking works [which] follow each other without a break": an exorcism, a healing, and the raising of Jairus' daughter.
The New Testament narrative of the life of Jesus refers to a number of locations in the Holy Land and a Flight into Egypt. In these accounts the principal locations for the ministry of Jesus were Galilee and Judea, with activities also taking place in surrounding areas such as Perea and Samaria.
Matthew 8 is the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and continues the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee previously described in Matthew 4:23–25. It follows on from the Sermon on the Mount, noting in its opening verse that Jesus had come down from the mountain where he had been teaching. There is a renewed focus in this chapter on Jesus' ministry of healing.
Matthew 9 is the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and continues the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee as he ministers to the public, working miracles, and going through all the cities and towns of the area, preaching the gospel, and healing every disease. This chapter opens with Jesus back in "his own town", i.e. Capernaum.
Luke 8 is the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys, composed both this Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. This chapter mentions the women who supported Jesus and records some of the great miracles he performed, as well as several parables told by him.
Matthew 8:28 is the 28th verse in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
Matthew 8:32 is the 32nd verse in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
Kursi is an archaeological site in the Golan Heights containing the ruins of a Byzantine monastery and identified by tradition as the site of Jesus' "Miracle of the Swine". Part of the archaeological site is now an Israeli national park. Kursi takes its name from the Talmudic site. A marble slab with Aramaic text discovered in December 2015 seems to indicate that the settlement had, as of ca. 500 CE, a Jewish or Judeo-Christian population.
In English translations of the Bible, unclean spirit is a common rendering of Greek pneuma akatharton, which in its single occurrence in the Septuagint translates Hebrew ruaḥ tum'ah.
The exorcism of a boy possessed by a demon, or a boy with a mute spirit, is one of the miracles attributed to Jesus reported in the synoptic Gospels, involving the healing of a demonically possessed boy through exorcism. It is in all Synoptic Gospels: Mark 9:17-29, Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 9:40-44. In the Gospel narratives, this healing takes place following the Transfiguration.
Exorcising the blind and mute man is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. It appears in Matthew 12:22-32, Luke 11:14-23 and Mark 3:20-30.
The Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels and is recounted in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 7 and in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 15. In Matthew, the story is recounted as the healing of a Canaanite woman's daughter. According to both accounts, Jesus exorcised the woman's daughter whilst travelling in the region of Tyre and Sidon, on account of the faith shown by the woman.
The synoptic gospels portray Jesus exorcising at sunset just after he had healed the mother of Peter's wife, in Matthew 8:16–17, Mark 1:32–34 and Luke 4:40–41.
In Christianity, exorcism involves the practice of casting out one or more demons from a person whom they are believed to have possessed. The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, or amulets. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus, angels and archangels, and various saints to aid with the exorcism. Christian exorcists most commonly cast out demons in Jesus' name.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia articles on the life and influence of Jesus.
To force him to surrender his name is to make him more vulnerable to the grasp of the exorcist. Now the name that the demon surrenders to Jesus is a collective singular: "Legion is my name", — (5:9). This name (although in the singular) is a multiplying term.