The Legion that enters the swines

  • Thread starter Thread starter anon64704623
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

anon64704623

Guest
As you know, Jesus allows the legion of evil spirits to enter the herd of swines. But why did the swines ran down the hill to die? Might as well request Jesus to just allow them to leave the body of the possessed man right?
 
I always figured that having evil spirits invade their minds made the pigs go insane. Could be they didn’t even know where they were running till it was too late.
 
I agree. Or the evil spirits entered the swine in a rush causing chaos. Also, this episode occurred in the Decapolis, which was mostly pagan and this may have been a sign intended to show the power and reach of Jesus outside Judaism as Jews would always stay away from swine.
 
Or… and I am only guessing here… that whenever Jesus exorcise the possessed he always tells the evil spirit in them to “go to hell”. So the Legion is scared and that is why they rather escape via the swine instead of being sent to hell?
 
From Matthew 8:
“8:29 And behold [the demons] cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
8:30 And there was, not far from them, a herd of many swine feeding.
8:31 And the devils besought him, saying: If thou cast us out hence, send us into the herd of swine.
8:32 And he said to them: Go. But they going out went into the swine, and behold the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea: and they perished in the waters.”
Click to expand...
It looks like they asked Jesus to let them possess the swine. Why? Haydock’s commentary offers a couple reasons why:
  • They cannot move against God’s will.
  • To show the greatness of His power (that He is God).
  • To punish Jewish citizens who ate pork despite its prohibition.
  • To show how demons dwell in those who live lives saturated in lust.
 
I consider this one of the strangest stories in the Gospels. Is it even read at Mass? I think it would be difficult for most priests to build a relevant homily around it since it is such a simultaneously terrifying and comedic passage. To be quite honest, this passage is so bizarre that it must be true, otherwise (according to the theory that St. Mark wrote his Gospel first) Sts. Matthew and Luke may have excised it without a second thought.
 
Jesus had crossed to a gentile community of Greeks on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The swine are a clue since Jews of that time had nothing to do with swine or pork which were considered unclean. The swine are chosen at the request of the demons. Jesus merely grants the request. No doubt, this miracle was meant to reveal Christ to the Gentiles live there. The man who was healed likely told his story to many. But the farmer, who lost the swine, was probably not rejoicing in the Gospel that day.
 
But why did the Legion wants to kill themselves by drowning in the sea later? Are they not happy in the body of swines? Are they trying to avoid Jesus from sending them directly to hell?
 
We may never know, but I’m not convinced the demons or even Jesus were in control of these terrified pigs. Pigs are fully capable of running off of a cliff when frightened. I’ve see deer do this in my life. It’s not a pretty sight.
 
My guess? I’m not sure why it is. Pigs are infamous for how much food they eat, right? Hogs will even eat people. Perhaps it’s a nod towards how far it seems hogs will go to satisfy their appetites.
 
anon64704623 said:
Are they not happy in the body of swines?
Click to expand...
Demons are not capable of happiness, none of the Damned are. They are forever tormented by the fires of Hell, no matter where they geographically may be. The fires of Hell are spiritual pains, coming as a result of their own pride. When a proud soul sees God, it will not be able to cope, and rather than rejoicing in God’s greatness, it will despair at it’s own comparable lowliness.

Therefore, when a demon finds someone smaller than itself, it will be of some comfort to their pride if they exercise their superior power to control them. This does not necessarily mean possession, as that is but one of many ways demons manipulate us.

Animals meet the same criteria of being lesser than demons, but because of their pride a demon will never bother tormenting an animal except when doing so can be useful in tormenting a person. So when Legion entered the swine their purpose was never to live peacefully as simple pigs, but to torment humans.

They probably knew, like Jesus, that the herd would be driven mad by their possession, and if it was not the pigs themselves that ran of the cliff then I’m sure the demons would have done so anyway. They asked Jesus to let them do this last act of malice, showing us that no one, not even demons, can act without the permission of God.

And Jesus let them, and though we do not know why, it is not hard to think of possible answers. This story tells us much of what we need to know about demonology, and a prayerful meditation on this text will give many insights into how God views those that reject him.
 
We will never fully know the reason for this unless we know the context of the Jews in that area at that time.

What did the demons mean by “it is not their time”?

Why did they want to go inside the swines?

It looks like when the time comes, they will be consigned to their place. Will it be hell? And in the mean time, they roam about devouring their victims like a roaring lion.

Why would they need to be in some living things (swines, because they were around that moment). It is anybody guess but I think the demons, like parasites, would rather have a place of their own instead of wandering aimlessly in the world. That makes them very dangerous because their favoured hosts are humans.
 
Perhaps it was for a proof that it really was a case of demon possession…
 
5 And now, you rich people, listen to me!
Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you!
Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths.
Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you
and will eat up your flesh like FIRE.

You have piled up riches in these last days.
You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields.
Listen to their complaints!
The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.
Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure.
You have made yourselves fat ( as pigs at the trough ) for the day of slaughter.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top