Bible Questions Answered: Demoniacs Of Gadara

Bible Questions Answered:
I see that Matthew 8:28 says two demon possessed men, while Mark 5:2 and Luke 8:27, mention only one, why is this, and what seems to be the point of this story?
Arnold/ Liecester, U.K.

Bible Answers:
Yes, that is true, but it is only because one was violent, only one of the two came rushing out to Jesus.

What a warning this story is about, sin, and doing the bidding of the evil one!

Luke 8:26-39 KJV
26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
27 And when He went forth to land, there met Him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Most High? I beseech thee, torment me not.
29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
31 And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep.
32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought Him that He would suffer them to enter into them. And He suffered them.
33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.
35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and He went up into the ship, and returned back again.
38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought Him that he might be with Him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.


Luke 8:26-39 NLT
26 So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee.
27 As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet Him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.
28 As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of Him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!”
29 For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power.
30 Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, for he was filled with many demons.
31 The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.
32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged Him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission.
33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.
35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.
36 Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
37 And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.
38 The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with Him. But Jesus sent him home, saying,
39 “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.

This story shows us that:

1) The evil spirits, could “not,” enter the swine, unless given divine permission.
They had power over the man, because he had given himself in one form or another, to the devil.

2) A multitude of evil spirits may possess some one.
Luke 8:30 KJV “And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion*: because many devils were entered into him.”

*Legion-Greek-Legeon (Leg-eh-ohn): Regiment. (Abingdon/ Strong)
Legion: “The chief subdivision of the Roman army, containing about six thousand infantry, with a contingent of cavalry.” Smith's Bible Dictionary.

3) It has been said, and no doubt true, that the release of the multitude of demons into the herd of swine, was a punishment for Jews raising
swine, an unclean, animal, something they were forbidden to do.

4) This story also shows how that many have only a heart for financial gain, and not Christ!
The herders of the swine, admonished Jesus to leave them, the one who could have liberated them as well, and given divine grace, cast out.

5) This story shows us that man, may not believe in hell, but demons know about and “fear,” it!
James 2:19 KJV “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

Luke 8:31 KJV “And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep*.”

*Deep-Greek-Abusso (Ab-us-sos): Abyss, deep, bottomless pit.

6) The swine were killed. The devil is a murderer.
John 8:44 KJV
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.


7) In this story we see the “character of the possessed,”

A. The two demoniacs preferred nudity. Luke 8:27 KJV “And when He went forth to land, there met Him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.”

B. The two demoniacs had a preoccupation with death. Luke 8:27 KJV “And when He went forth to land, there met Him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.”

C. Demoniacs possessed Super Natural Strength. Luke 8:29 KJV “For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.”

D. Demoniacs had Super Natural Knowledge. Luke 8:28 KJV “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Most High? I beseech thee, torment me not.”

E. Often the possessed, are “out of their right mind.”
Luke 8:35
"Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."


This story is a picture of what sin will do. Satan, rewards his faithful, with torment!
Bound by something stronger than chains, no one could help the demoniacs, no one until Jesus came.

Luke 8:29 “...he ... commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.”

Through Christ and His power, is deliverance found!

Luke 8:35,36 KJV
35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.

Psalm 44:5 KJV
Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.

Isaiah 42:7 KJV
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Isaiah 58:6-9 KJV
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer..."

Luke 4:18 KJV (Isaiah 61:1)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luke 10:19 NLT
"Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy..."

I John 3:8 KJV
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Revelation 12:11 KJV
"And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony..."