To live one’s life by the command of another man, fulfilling the dreams of another, fleshing out the hopes of a particular group etc. is to lose one’s own life in the process. Jesus values and respects our lives as we are, so we can never lose our lives, while serving him (Mark 8:35). Nevertheless, loving this world, its institutions, its politics or even its religious institutions, to the extent that you end up giving your life for their hopes and their goals (John 12:25), is the same as building one’s life upon the sand (cp. Matthew 7:26-27). Ultimately, all of man’s labors come to nothing. Neither he nor his labors in this world are able to continue forever.
In the context of the demoniac of the Gadarenes, his labor among folks who predominantly opposed him failed, and he was often chained as a result (Mark 5:4). Perhaps he saw new hope for those goals, when he saw Jesus coming toward him (Mark 5:6), but to his surprise Jesus rebuked his spirit (Mark 5:8). Therefore, the man cried out to him in the name of the God of Israel, the God of the Messiah, that he wouldn’t destroy him (Mark 5:7). It seems, therefore, the man for the first time began to see his own nakedness (Luke 8:27), because he understood his Messiah disapproved of him and what he was doing (Mark 5:7-8). In other words, if one wanted to see what a repentant demoniac looked like, this is it. He wanted his Messiah to approve of him, but he was confused over giving his whole life to what he assumed was true but saw in Jesus that it was not. Therefore, he pleaded for mercy: “in the name of the Most High God… torment me not” (Mark 5:8). Not knowing where else to turn (John 12:34), he placed his fate in the hands of the Lord (cp. 2Samuel 24:14). Therefore, Jesus asked for his name, to which the demoniac replied “my name is Legion (a Roman military term), for we are many” (Mark 5:9), thus, indicating it was a politically motivated labor that possessed him. Not only so, but the fact that he claimed to be many and that he was often bound (Mark 5:4) seems to substantiate what Jesus claimed earlier about the strong man (cp. Mark 3:27 and Matthew 12:43-45).
It may be true the man was “exorcised” on more than one occasion by Jewish leaders, but he was now more possessed of his rebellious spirit than ever before. How would Jesus’ labor in exorcising him be any different than those who ‘bound’ him in the past, and, if it were different, how could the man know the evil spirit wouldn’t return to torment him all over again (cp. Mark 5:5)? Therefore, the demoniac asked that Jesus not simply cast the evil spirit out into an unseen place far away (Mark 5:10). Rather, the demonic asked for a sign. Let the evil within him be cast into the nearby heard of swine (Mark 5:11-12), so he could see the evil go away and be comforted that it wouldn’t return.
Jesus complied, doing as the man asked, which begs the question, if demons are really evil spirits, having a life of their own apart from humans, why would Jesus be merciful to such evil, unrepentant and rebellious creatures? On the contrary, Jesus was merciful to a man who lived in torment, which only got worse each time he or others labored to make it better.
Mark tells us that Jesus exorcised a legion of evil spirits and sent them into a herd of about 2000 swine. A Roman legion was comprised of a varied number of military personnel.[1] In Matthew’s account there were two demoniacs but no mention of the number of the heard (Matthew 8:28-32). While this is an interesting story, some things simply don’t add up. What I believe is that Matthew and Mark unveil what occurred through their use of numbers.
In Genesis God created two people, but the two had to become one in their labors (Genesis 2:21-24). So, while one may indicate an exclusion of all differences, the number two embraces difference and division, whether for good or for evil. In the context of the demoniac, it was for evil, because he was a divided soul. He was in the state of confusion, but the Lord is able to bring order out of chaos (cp. Genesis 1:2).
On the other hand, the number 10 represents divine perfection or order. There are the 10 commandments (the whole Law). The tithe (one-tenth of all) that supported the whole Levitical system of education and service. Job’s friends wholly made themselves strangers unto him by reproaching him ten times, and Israel presented herself as wholly rebellious, when she tempted the Lord ten times (Numbers 14:22). One thousand is 10 x 10 x 10, which is used to emphasize perfection or completeness, but 1000 x 2 could be understood as division, imperfection or incomplete. Therefore, in the context of the demoniac’s many evil spirits being cast into the 2000 swine, the story seems to represent the restoration of divine order in that the whole divided spirit left the man, which he witnessed in the destruction of the herd of swine (Mark 5:13). The man asked for a sign that this exorcism would be his complete healing (Mark 5:7), and Jesus mercifully granted his request (verse-13).
_________________________________________________________
[1] Throughout its history the number of military men in the Roman legion varied from about 1500 to over 5000 men. With the use of 2000 swine, Mark seems to place this over against the words many and legion. Thus, we are meant to consider their number.
Smoodock's Blog 