Smoodock's Blog

It is recorded in the synoptic Gospels that Jesus cast out a demon or several demons called Legion. The account is found in Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39. This is an account of the healing of a schizophrenic. Notice that only Matthew says that there were two. Yet, it does not say two men. Neither does Matthew say anything concerning the man or men after Legion was cast out, or that Jesus spoke with the man or men. In fact, in Matthew’s account the only word recorded that Jesus spoke is “Go!” On the other hand, in both Mark and Luke, Jesus spoke to a single man, and it is recorded that a single demoniac came running toward Jesus. Afterward the townspeople saw the one who had been possessed in his right mind and speaking with Jesus. When the people of the community asked Jesus to leave, it was this solitary person who sought to go with him.

Furthermore, on the way to this place Jesus and the disciples passed through a storm (Luke 8:22-25). Jesus rebuked the storm and caused a great calm. It is believed by many that this storm was caused by this possessed man. He was exceedingly fierce (Matthew 8:28). This is the kind of persona that causes others to lose their strength in its presence. It is said that Hitler had such a persona, and generals cowered in the presence of the man they privately referred to as the corporal! This demoniac was a dangerous individual. He could not be bound or tamed (Mark 5:3-4). His power reminds me of a person on phencyclidine (angel dust). I have heard it said of cases where men on this drug were so strong that six policemen had trouble binding and capturing a single man in this state. Man is a powerful being. We do not realize the raw power we have. I have heard tell of a man, who in a moment of emergency and without thinking, lifting up the front end of a car to free a trapped person. I remember reading many years ago about a man whose refrigerator caught on fire. Without thinking he lifted it up and carried it outside his home. Later, when the fire was put out, and it was seen that the refrigerator was not destroyed, it took him and several others to carry it back into the house.

As far as the storm is concerned, I can only say that Adam was given authority over all the earth to rule and subdue it. Authority is a spiritual matter. It is not physical. It cannot be tasted, seen, heard, smelled or touched. Nevertheless, it is real. We are the children of Adam, and all that we have in this world has been given to us through him. At times, our inheritance comes in the form of a curse such as birth defects. In other instances we can inherit genius. We range from the very brilliant to the insane, the powerful to the inept, the civilized to the vulgar.

Jesus is called the “last Adam” in 1Corinthians 15:45. Not much is explained in the first few chapters of Genesis, but it seems the authority that was given to Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, was authority that was originally given to Adam, when he was created to be the leader of the human race. Therefore, if Jesus could calm the storm using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is not beyond my belief that a son of Adam, operating in the perverted gifts of Adam’s corrupt spirit, could cause this storm on the Sea of Galilee. There is a great deal we do not know about things such as witchcraft, nor do we need to seek such knowledge. Jesus taught that through faith we could move mountains by speaking to them just as he spoke to a fig tree and to this storm (cf. Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23). Witchcraft would be a perversion of this spiritual gift. Also, it involves prayer and a faith in the power of another world or an unseen realm.