Gospel of Matthew 8:28-34
Jesus Casts Demons into the Herd of Swine
When he had come to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee] into the country of the Gadarenes, Jesus met two men possessed by demons, who came out of the tombs with great ferocity, so that nobody could get past them. They cried out to him, "What have we to do with you, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"
Now, there was a large herd of swine feeding in the distance. And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." And he said, "Go." And they came out, and went into the swine: and the whole herd rushed down the slope into the sea, and died in the water.
The people tending the swine fled to the city, and told everything that had happened to the men that were possessed with demons. And all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they asked him to leave their lands.
Comment on the Lesson
As outlined in yesterday's geographical comment, the city dwellers had similar Semitic roots to Christ and his company but were more sophisticated, having generally adopted Greek culture. They ate pork and were more likely to speak Greek; some of them would have had mixed emotions about the incident, perhaps like a New York City merchant seeing a religious group from Peoria smashing sex shops in Times Square; the great herd of pigs was enormously valuable, but many residents would find them distasteful or even repugnant. The upshot is that Christ is asked to "get out of town", but not imprisoned or fined.
This wonderful story has many layers of meaning. A great herd of swine, meant for food, would have physically embodied the repudiation of God's word to the band of Hebrews. (Even today, not eating pork may be the most widely-known religious practice associated with Jews, especially among people who aren't very familiar with Judaism.) The destruction of the herd foretells a day of judgment to come. The demons appear to understand the coming judgment, because they complain that Christ is casting them out "before the time", that is, before the day appointed for judgment.
At the same time, Christ has, symbolically and perhaps literally, saved the souls of the two men who had been possessed. He has shown love both in healing the possessed men, and in destroying the symbol of sinful disobediance to Hebrew dietary laws. But his love also contains a warning of destruction and death to those who ignore God's laws.
