Mark: Enemy Territory

When Pigs Fly

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)

The Book of Mark is a fast-paced, exciting narrative epic intended to persuade its audience that Jesus is Judaism’s Messiah. The early part of the story establishes this claim by recounting examples of Jesus’ power and authority in a variety of situations.

This story involves an excursion out of the Jewish setting of Galilee and into the territory of the Gentiles. The presence of a nearby herd of pigs, unclean animals to the Jews, emphasizes this. The demons identify themselves as “Legion”, a word referring to the largest military unit of the Roman army. In the 1st-century listeners this would have evoked a strong image of their Roman oppressors. They would not have seen the exorcism of the demons as simply a healing, but as alluding to the defeat of a brutal foreign power. The demon is sent into a herd of pigs and destroyed. The man, presumably a Gentile, is completely restored and enlisted to become a messenger of the gospel to to his people. The imagery of deliverance of all people from oppression would have been unmistakable.

While we may miss the immediacy of the imagery of oppression in this story, we too need to hear this message of deliverance. We look around at our society and lament what we see as a decline in the overall “goodness” of behavior. We are mostly not oppressed, but we do need to be freed from our own sinfulness. This story is good news for us all; those who are suffering personal trails, and those who are feeling our general cultural malaise. Messiah Jesus is able to deliver even us.