Orientation

Since many people in the ancient world practiced exorcism, Jesus' ministry of casting out evil was hardly unusual. In fact, if a person with Jesus' unusual abilities had not practiced exorcism, people would have been surprised.

The story of the Gerasene demoniac has several unique features. First, Jesus and the disciples enter the Decapolis, gentile territory which is ritually unclean and impure for Jews. Since the man with an unclean spirit likely symbolizes the uncleanness of the whole Decapolis, his healing may also symbolize the healing of the Decapolis.

Perhaps the more important feature of this story is the collective name of the demons who have invaded this man: Legion--a word which also refers to the main organizational and fighting unit of the Roman army. Because the Decapolis was located on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire, and vulnerable to attack from the Parthian Empire located to the northeast, the emperors permanently stationed Roman troops there. Ever since 6 A.D., the Decapolis had been home to the 10th Legion, one of about 28-30 such legions scattered around the perimeter of the empire. At full strength a legion normally had 5,400 to 6,000 men and a similar number of auxiliary troops; but because most legions were rarely at full strength, "legion" could also refer to a battalion of 2,048 soldiers, close to the number of pigs in this herd. Significantly, the 10th Legion used a boar as the symbol on its standard.

Replicas of a 1st century Roman army tent made of leather, and shields and spears.

This story, therefore, suggests a connection between the Roman military presence in Palestine and demon possession in ordinary people. In a sense, the evil effects of militarism have alienated this man from others and made him unfit for human society. Jesus not only frees him from the power of Rome, but also restores him to his family and friends. In this context, exorcism prefigures the overthrow of militarism and the healing of militarism's deleterious effects on humanity.

This story surely delighted any 1st century Jew who heard it. Empowered by a superior, holy, and clean Spirit, Jesus forces evil Legion (i.e., the power and glory of Rome), into unclean swine and hurls them into the sea, where they are drowned just as Pharaoh's army was drowned in Exodus 14.

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