Muse: Pigs and Demons

Matthew 8:28-34 goes as follows:

"²⁸ And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region."

Parallel narratives in the Gospels of Mark and Luke only make mention of one of the two demon-possessed men - he who came to sit at Jesus' feet (cf. Luke 8:35) - and do not elaborate on the second one. Nevertheless, we know from Matthew's gospel that there were...

...two equally possessed men (possessed by a Legion, per Mark and Luke)
...two equally tormented men (the man that Mark and Luke described wore no clothes and lived among the tombs; was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles but would break the bonds and be driven by the demon(s) into the desert and on the mountains; and was always crying out and cutting himself with stones)
...two equally condemned men (they were possessed by unclean spirits, feared and therefore lived where nobody ventured)
....but then again, two men equally delivered by the Lord.

Oh, yes... and the pigs flew. Sort of. 

Bible interpreters debate on... 

...why Jesus let the demons have what they wanted (to be sent away into the herd of about two thousand pigs - cf. Mk 5:13 - if they were to be exorcised)
...whether the story was a political allegory or literal history
...the many inconsistencies (textual, scientific, cultural and theological) that complicate our reading of the story
...and etcetera.  

Very, very intriguing stuff.

Without making things too complicated, I'd like to take the story as literal history, and therefore...

...I agree with the view that the demons had wanted to hinder Jesus' ministry in the region, especially among the Gentiles (who had no problems with pig farming as the Jews did) by the massive destruction of their lifestock. They dreaded the Son of God and knew that He would unsettle them; they wanted to escape His wrath, but it is hard to believe that they had begged for His mercy without any conflict of interests. Additionally, they knew that He could not torment them "before the time" (Matt 8:29). Their begging appeared to pay off quite well; the tell-tale herdsmen got "all the city" to come out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him, it appears that they begged Him to leave their region for the sake of their precious pigs - rather than rejoice over the deliverance of the demon-possessed men. Ironic stuff.

But... why would Jesus allow this? Interpreters focus on Jesus wanting to demonstrate His sovereign authority over the spiritual realm regardless of the degree and stage of malignancy among other more far-fetched reasons (for example, to educate the Sadducees regarding the existence of spirits, and to punish those who kept unclean animals that the pigs were to the Jews). I would go with the consensus that Jesus was putting on a show. Of course, it was primarily out of His compassion for the tormented men - but then again, He could also have delivered them without provoking such an uproar. He did not have to fulfill the request of the demons. I don't think Jesus was encouraging cruelty to animals either, least of all to pigs. The pigs came to be in the picture only because "...now, a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them." (Matt 8:30) They happened to be there. The region could have been peppered with pig farms for all we know, since it was a Gentile controlled area, being part of the Decapolis ("Ten Cities" originally inhabited by the Greeks after the conquest of Alexander the Great). 

A show for who... and why? 

Was Jesus really going to give His opportunity to minister to the people in that region a miss? 

Food for thought. What do you think?

I suppose that the incident would have spoken deeply into the souls of the Gentiles who were genuinely hungry for the things of God. The "Son of God", as those terrible demons called the Jewish Man, could deliver humans from demonic possession. He had authority over those that could enter the human body supernaturally... and take over the mind, physical capabilities and will of the person for evil purposes.

He had authority over those that could steal, kill and destroy. The most fearsome things ever. Wouldn't you want to know the "Son of God"? Wouldn't you be at least curious about He whom you found so inconvenient - and wanted so badly out of your region?

I would. My "God-shaped void" (per St. Augustine) would have pulsated in strange anticipation. No amount of denial would have hushed it. 

Jesus, after all, had come to give life - not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. His heart was for all nations (cf. Matt 28:18-20).

Perhaps, another of Jesus' purposes for His action was for it to be a visual parable to the people of Gadarene - one that embodied rhetorically the sinful condition of the human heart that cared more about worldly riches than the welfare of a fellow human being... or one's spiritual condition for that matter. 

To me, the story additionally expresses the essence of Imago Dei - what it means to be human made in God's image, with God-given dominion (and thus, God's priority) over all of His creation (cf. Psalms 8:4-8)... and worth in that God chooses to bestow His unconditional love in Christ upon man that even sin or the vilest, most jealous evil cannot undo.