How Jesus turned demons into pigs. Psychology of the Gospel parable about the herd of pigs

Polina asks:.What kind of abyss are we talking about? Why did Jesus allow the demons to enter the pigs, i.e., fulfill their request? Of course, the Lord knew that the pigs would die, then why did He bring loss to anyone?

Hello, Polina!

This is the story you are asking about.

“And they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which lies opposite Galilee.

When He came ashore, He was met by a man from the city, possessed by demons for a long time, who had not put on clothes, and who lived not in a house, but in tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him and said in a loud voice: What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me. For [Jesus] commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, because he for a long time tormented him so that they tied him with chains and bonds, saving him; but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.

Jesus asked him: What is your name? He said: legion, because many demons entered into it. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. There was also a large herd of pigs grazing on the mountain; and [the demons] asked Him to allow them to enter into them. He let them.

The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep slope into the lake and drowned.

The shepherds, seeing what had happened, ran and told it in the city and in the villages. And they came out to see what had happened; and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and were horrified. Those who saw them told them how the demoniac was healed.

And all the people of the Gadarene region asked Him to leave them, because they were seized with great fear. He entered the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had come out asked Him to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your house and tell us what God has done for you.” He went and preached throughout the whole city what Jesus had done for him" ().

It’s interesting to think about what, why they are really shocked. Look: before them is a miracle that has never happened - a man, tormented by demons for a long time, and tormenting all the inhabitants of this country with his presence, suddenly turned out to be completely normal. Of course, this could shake everyone to the core, especially those who had been trying to bind him with chains and bonds for a long time in the hope of somehow improving the situation both for him and for themselves. But let’s take a closer look at what was happening: « The shepherds, seeing what had happened, ran and told it in the city and villages. ... Those who saw them told them how the demoniac was healed.”

Who testified? Shepherds. About what? About the fact that the demoniac was healed and that this healing took place due to the destruction of a large herd of pigs. Question: Why was Jesus asked to leave the city limits? Was it because He could heal those who were possessed or because by healing He thereby destroyed the well-being of the city’s inhabitants? The answer, it seems to me, is obvious. Everyone wants to be healed, but no one wants to lose earthly goods.

So, Jesus, it seems to us, acted very wisely:

1) followed the lead of the demons and thereby
2) blocked His opportunity to preach in the cities of the Gadarene country.

But we know that Jesus is the embodiment of Divine wisdom and love, which means that everything He did was absolutely right.

So what should we see in this story?

That Satan can never deceive or overpower Christ.

Cunning demons, intending to block Jesus’ path to salvation for the people living in the Gadarene country and knowing how greedy these people were, asked to enter the herd of pigs. I suppose they were surprised by Christ's calm consent. Then they carried out their plan - they destroyed the pigs. But Satan can never see the whole picture! But Jesus can and, thanks to Him, we can.

What happened was a lesson for all of Christ’s disciples (and we, too, are His disciples) about what Satan wants to do to man: “and the herd rushed down a steep slope and drowned”. The demoniac was always protected by God, preventing Satan from destroying his life, but with the pigs, for the sake of the “experiment,” God completely removed His protection, and the result was instant uncontrollable death, what would have happened to all of us if God had given us over completely. ransom to Satan.

What happened is also a lesson for all of us about what our essence is. We are all, figuratively speaking, residents of the country of Gadarene, who, knowing or suspecting about the capabilities of God, are shocked not by them, but by the fact that if we accept Him, we will have to part with our beloved “pigs.”

Yes, each of us has our own herd of “pigs,” unclean animals, which we ourselves eat and sell to others. What kind of pigs are these? Smoking, alcohol, any food or drink that causes, albeit minor, damage to our health, fashion is full of “pigs” that cripple our consciousness and our finances, the desire for comfort and tranquility is filled to the brim with “pigs” that eat our families and relationships with people ... This is just the beginning of the list. Do you understand now why few accept Jesus into their homes, why we all, one way or another, ask Him to leave us? We are gripped by “great fear” - after all, we could lose all the “pigs”!

What happened was the beginning of preparing the ground for preaching the Gospel in the country of the Gadarenes. Remember the words of Jesus that the grain of the saving Word can fall on different soils ()? So, the soil of human souls in the Gadarene land was not yet ready to receive the seed, but with the release of the demoniac and the death of a huge herd of pigs, this preparation began.

If you read the next verses of this story, you will see: “The man from whom the demons had come out asked Him to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying: return to your house and tell me what God has done for you. He went and preached all over the city what Jesus did for him"(). It turns out that Jesus, by His short presence, was able to prepare the missionaries: the former possessed man and the shepherds, who, spreading the news of what He had done, would prepare the way for His next visit to this place. And this visit will already bear fruit!

Thus, we have 4 main reasons why Jesus allowed demons to enter the pigs.

You also ask about what the “abyss” is. “Jesus asked him: What is your name? He said: legion, because many demons entered into it. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss” ().

In my opinion, this is a kind of spiritual space that now surrounds us. We know that Satan and fallen angels were driven to earth, so their habitat is now right here, next to us. In they are called spirits of wickedness in high places, i.e. they are located and act under the heavens, where we are located.

We also know that they are all somehow “connected” in their actions (), so I believe that if they are in the “abyss”, they seem to have less ability to act, they just wander the earth, trying to “find a job ", i.e. trying to find a person who will let them in. “When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through waterless places, seeking peace...” () These “waterless places,” in my opinion, are the “abyss” into which demons do not want to go. They might as well be pigs, just to “work” longer and bring more misfortunes.

Sincerely,
Sasha.

Read more on the topic “Interpretation of Scripture”:

There is a famous parable in the Gospels about how Jesus healed a demoniac by transferring demons from a man to a herd of pigs, which then rushed into the sea. This part of the Gospel is canonically read over those who, according to the Church, are possessed by an evil spirit or an incomprehensible disease, an ailment caused by the possession of demons in a person. Almost pure psychiatry early stages of its origin. And almost the same as modern psychiatry– all attempts to help are often in vain. Why? Could it be different? Is it possible to alleviate the suffering of the sick? Yes, it can, yes, it can. And why it often happens “differently” - that’s what we’ll talk about. And what needs to be done for this - in order to still help - you will understand after reading my psychological considerations.

This parable seems strange and incomprehensible to many people, and the actions of Jesus seem almost unfair and evil - for many reasons. Atheists generally laugh at this parable, showing by its example how asocial Christianity is.

Today we will try to understand this parable by analyzing all the incomprehensible places in it and connecting the Jungian theory of the group unconscious to its interpretation. So, first things first.

Let's start with the gospel story itself

Possessed Near a certain village, on the outskirts of all decent citizens, he lived possessed man from the same village. The demons tormented him so much that he no longer wore any clothes and slept in coffins, evicted from the village not so much by people as by his illness.

He ran out to Jesus, and Jesus said to the demons inside him, “Get out of this man.” A public herd of pigs was grazing nearby. The demons asked Jesus to put them in these pigs. Jesus allowed. Demons moved into the pigs, the pigs, going mad, rushed from the cliff into the sea, and... this abyss swallowed them up without a trace.

Seeing this, the swine herders ran quickly to the village to report what had happened to the owners of the missing animals.

The population of the town came out to Jesus, saw how the former demoniac was sitting, washed and dressed at the feet of Christ, in their right mind and with bright eyes, they did not see their pigs and told Jesus to leave their place.

That's all.

Pig-piggy bank: Historical context of the “problem of wealth and luck” This gospel story is very well understood without any interpretation - by old-school village people, but it completely eludes the understanding of the “city people”, who think that buns grow on trees.

What is a pig for former times and, above all, for a village resident? The pig is a symbol of wealth and good luck. “Du hast Schwein” – the Germans still say. That is, literally: “You have a pig.” What would that mean? And the fact that: “You’re lucky, lucky one.”

When a fattened pig is slaughtered in November-December, its owner receives a lot of money - you never dreamed of so much. This is similar to annual bonuses for the top management of a good company. And if the peasant does not receive money, then he receives abundant food for himself, his children and his household - for the whole year.

The beauty of a pig is that it almost doesn’t need any special feeding at all; everyone, even the “city dwellers,” knows that the pig was traditionally fed with waste from the dinner table, the so-called slop. And she magically grew fat on them.

And a pig is dirty, it doesn’t need to be washed and groomed like a cow, it likes to be dirty, that’s its essence. A pig is about as dirty as money.

But let's get back to our pigs. The attractiveness of pig farming lies in the fact that, with almost no special effort, in a year you get a mind-boggling profit on your farm - a pig weighing under a ton is like a bag of gold on the threshold of your house... And dress up, and take a walk, and not worry about what will you live on all year...

“The rich get even richer” or Porkiness - as it is. Why else is a pig a traditional (but forgotten by us) symbol of wealth and good luck? There is, therefore, one more tricky point here... The whole point is that in order to get such a profit at the end of the year, the peasant himself must already be initially - a little rich, according to at least, not exactly poor.

Judge for yourself - if the peasant is poor and undernourished himself, then where will he get the delicious, abundant slop from the table to pour it into the pig’s trough?

That is, the pig feeds on the owner from excess, and only the one who is already wealthy, stands firmly on his feet, even rich, she rewards even more, fabulously. Well, for those who are poor - excuse me. A beggar cannot afford to keep a pig. Traditionally, poor villagers sought a compromise - they released their pigs to graze in the forests, but risked getting caught by the lord who owned the forest or... by a wolf. Pigs spoiled the forest, that's a fact. Yes, and on free grazing a pig, although it will feel healthy, will not get as fat as on home slops.

It is clear that if a peasant decided to fatten a pig, he trembled for it more than we tremble for our cars, taken on credit.

That is why, from time immemorial, two strange sayings have developed among the people. When gloomy peasants wanted to complain about their lives and talk about their poverty, they said this: “What kind of pigs do we have? We ourselves... are like pigs!

As you can now guess, the peasants did not mean that they were dirty or boorish. They meant that they had to eat up the scraps from their meager table to the bottom, rake out every crumb themselves - what usually, in generous times, is taken to the pig barn, and they cook fresh for themselves.

And the second saying. When someone wanted to speak bitterly about the callousness of the local population, he said this:

“The local peasant would rather feed a pig than give a piece to the poor.”

When, as a child, I encountered this sentence, I thought that in this way the evil and greedy peasant kulaks expressed subtle disrespect for their neighbors who stood below them on the ladder of fortune. Like, I won’t give it to you, a fool, but I’ll give it to a pig.

Only now did I understand what these peasants’ real reason was. The whole horror is that they are far from idle people, they had no intention of “subtly insulting” anyone!

On the contrary, they acted as reasonable, “adults,” serious people - fathers and mothers of families, owners, concerned about their home and its well-being.

In fact, the real owner counts every piece. And a piece of scraps served to a pig goes into action - for next year the pig will be slaughtered, there will be something to eat, and the children will have new clothes. Why give a piece of food to the poor? What good can this do?.. Unless in heaven? But the tight-fisted peasant didn’t really believe in Heaven. His thinking was concrete and material.

However, modern people with higher education and abstract thinking - not far removed from the peasant kulak of fabulous times.

And so we gradually return to the parable about the demoniac and Jesus...

Cursed treasure Everyone knows from fairy tales and legends of the Renaissance that treasures and treasures, gold and gems– cursed and guarded by devils. Because they are usually obtained in a way that it is better not to tell children about at night.

Murders, ruin of widows, sinking of ships. The curses and torments of the dying fall on what has been taken away and cry out to heaven. Gold absorbs stories. The stories are mostly scary, and at least one is funny...

Famous jewelry, passing from hand to hand, attracted murders and crimes.

Cursed treasures, chests of goods, a winning lottery ticket... Husbands quarreled with their wives, innkeepers killed a guest. Sole owners barricaded themselves against thieves and went crazy.

For a peasant, far from luxury, culture and civilization, rubies and diamonds are worth nothing. He has “one currency” and one understanding of “treasure” - a pig. Therefore, what for a “cultured” person is embodied in a savings book or in a pot-bellied chest with beads and pearls – for a collective farmer living on subsistence farming is embodied in the well-fed figure of a pig.

The pig is a prototype of a bank deposit with interest, a living piggy bank.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when Jesus infused demons into a herd of pigs grazing nearby and they died by throwing themselves off a cliff into the sea, the peasants asked Jesus... to leave. It's strange that they didn't kill him.

And now we will consistently answer a number of important, summing up questions.

Question No. 1 Why did the demons ask Jesus to move them into a herd of pigs? And I’ll answer you with a counter question: “How many people do you think the peasants turned away before in order to better feed their fattening pig?”

For a peasant, we repeat, a pig is the same as for a city dweller - his passbook or a rare diamond. Why shouldn’t a pig begin to attract “evil” to itself, just as the townspeople’s treasures do?

Why did the demons ask Jesus to place them in a herd of pigs? Because like attracts like. They are already accustomed to guarding treasures. Money, gold, property - acquired unjustly, with insults to others, this is that familiar, convenient “hotel” for them, in which demons “stay” when descending to earth.

Question No. 2 Where do sick people come from and what is the group unconscious? Here we come to the most subtle theory, which was once casually formulated by Carl Gustav Jung. The group unconscious is an invisible superstructure over a small group of people. “The mutual responsibility smears like tar.” Invisible tar. Invisible - for the time being... Until someone gets sick - incurably and eloquently. Who will become a mirror of the sins of the community.

When Jesus asked the demons, “How many of you?” the demons answered: “Legion.” Legion of sins and evil deeds...

The sins of the community were cast in the body of the poor demoniac, a neighbor in the group unconscious. As if in a magic mirror, he showed his fellow villagers the state of health of the entire village as a whole. The curse has almost fallen on the village, but no one has realized this yet. Now, if their cattle started dying, their children getting sick, their houses burning...

In the meantime, one demon-possessed person was resettled in the catacombs and quickly forgotten about him, just as one forgets about other people’s troubles. Are they strangers?..

Question #3 What did Jesus do? Imagine that Jesus came to us, modern people and he said, having gathered you and me, thus.

There is one person whom you all know very well. So, he got very sick. Do you know how he suffers? You say: “We know, we heard, poor, poor thing.”

And Jesus continues: “Would you like him to be completely healed?” You and I answer: “Yes, yes! What a question! He is such a good person!

And then Jesus tells us: “And you know, he has already been healed, I healed him!” and shows us a video to make us believe. And in the video, the one who could no longer be looked at is smiling and waving, plump, tanned, somewhere at sea, abroad, in a sanatorium and sending us greetings.”

And then Jesus says: “Do you know how I healed him? Listen."

Here you have a granny’s apartment, which you rent out to tenants, and you have shares. And you were appointed boss, given your own office and increased your salary.

And you have a book and there are 300 thousand on it. And you have the latest iPhone. But you have a very interesting gift - to charm all men, your friends are surprised. And you know how to walk the catwalk and wear any clothes like a royal robe.

So, I looked at you and saw that you had long been using all these gifts that, by the way, I allowed you to have, but it was of no use to those around you except yourself. You took everything for yourself. You were proud and offended people. You did not give a piece of bread to the one who asked. You stopped communicating with poor relatives. Can I not remind you how you got your grandmother’s apartment? Can I not tell you what your iPhone means to you?

In general, all these things that you have, they have so much evil attached to them, you won’t believe it.

And so, when I drove out the disease, it rushed to where it was most comfortable - dirt reaches out to dirt. I didn't want it to spill over your heads. Or it has devoured your only dwellings in which you live. I chose your pigs.

Will you be very upset if I tell you the last thing now: an apartment, an iPhone, 300 thousand on a book and a talent for charm - drowned in the sea after throwing yourself off a cliff? Want to talk on Skype with your friend who can now talk and smile?

We were silent and said to Jesus: “Get out of our village. Please go away." And turning around, they walked away to their empty barns.

Matt. VIII, 28-34: 28 And when He arrived on the other side in the country of Gergesin, He was met by two demoniacs who came out of the tombs, very fierce, so that no one dared to pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out: What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here ahead of time to torment us. 30 And at a distance from them there was a large herd of swine grazing. 31 And the demons asked Him: If you drive us out, then send us into the herd of swine. 32 And He said to them, Go. And they went out and went into the swine herd. And so, the entire herd of pigs rushed down a steep slope into the sea and died in the water. 33 But the shepherds ran and came into the city and told about everything, and about what had happened to the demon-possessed. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they asked Him to depart from their borders.

Mk. V, 1-20:1 And they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He came out of the boat, immediately a man coming out of the tombs met Him, obsessed an unclean spirit, 3 he had a dwelling in tombs, and no one could bind him even with chains, 4 because he was bound with fetters and chains many times, but he broke the chains and broke the fetters, and no one was able to tame him; 5 always, night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, he screamed and beat himself against the stones; 6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him, 7 and cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” I conjure You by God, do not torment me! 8 For Jesus He said to him, “Come out, O unclean spirit, from this man.” 9 And he asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered and said, My name is Legion, for we are many. 10 And they asked Him many things, that He would not send them out of that country. 11 And there was a large herd of swine grazing there by the mountain. 12 And all the demons besought Him, saying, Send us among the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 Jesus immediately allowed them. And the unclean spirits came out and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and there were about two thousand of them; and drowned in the sea. 14 And those who were tending the swine ran and told it in the city and in the villages. AND residents went out to see what happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw that the demoniac, in whom the legion was, was sitting and clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who saw it told them how it happened to the demon-possessed man, and about the pigs. 17 And they began to ask Him to depart from their borders. 18 And when He entered the boat, the demoniac asked Him to be with Him. 19 But Jesus did not allow him, but said, “Go home to your people and tell them what the Lord has done to you and How had mercy on you. 20 And he went and began to preach in the Decapolis what Jesus had done to him; and everyone marveled.

OK. VIII, 26-39:26 And they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which lies opposite Galilee. 27 When He came ashore, a man from the city met Him, possessed by demons for a long time, and not wearing clothes, and living not in a house, but in tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” I beg You, do not torment me. 29 For Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of this man, because it had tormented him for a long time, so that he was bound with chains and bonds, saving him; but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert. 30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said: legion, because many demons entered into it. 31 And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. 32 And there was a large herd of pigs grazing on the mountain; And demons They asked Him to let them enter into them. He let them. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep slope into the lake and drowned. 34 When the shepherds saw what had happened, they ran and told it in the city and in the villages. 35 And they went out to see what had happened; and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and were horrified. 36 And those who saw them told them how the demoniac was healed. 37 And all the people of the Gadarene region asked Him to withdraw from them, because they were seized with great fear. He entered the boat and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out asked Him to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying: 39 Return to your house and tell what God has done for you. He went and preached throughout the whole city what Jesus had done for him.

A Guide to Studying the Four Gospels

Archbishop Averky (Taushev) (1906-1976)
Guide to Study Holy Scripture New Testament. Four Gospels. Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, 1954.

20. Expulsion of the legion of demons in the country of the Gadarenes

(Matt. VIII, 28-34; Mark V, 1-20; Luke VIII, 26-40)

Having crossed the lake, Jesus and His disciples arrived in a country lying on its eastern shore, which the Evangelists Mark and Luke call the Gadarenes, after the name of the city of Gadara, located in it, and Ev. Matthew - Gergesinskaya, named after another city of Gergesy: both of these cities were among the cities of the Decapolis. On the shore they were met by a demoniac possessed by an unclean spirit. Evangelists Mark and Luke talk about one demoniac, and Ev. Matthew is about two. This is probably because one possessed person was a well-known man, a resident of the city of Gadara, and was in a particularly terrible state of possession, while the other, in comparison, remained barely noticed. The essence of possession is that demons, depriving a person of personal consciousness and suppressing his own mind, control his body and the forces of his soul, causing him incredible torment through his own actions. The greatness and omnipotence of the Son of God, hidden for human eyes, - for unclean spirits who possessed more perfect spiritual vision, were obvious and brought them into horror and awe. And so the demoniacs begin to scream, confessing Jesus as the Son of God and begging Him not to inflict the unbearable torment that His proximity caused them. According to Ev. To Mark and Luke, the more fierce of them, when Jesus asked what his name was, answered: “Legion,” thereby indicating the dwelling of a huge number of unclean spirits in it. The demons asked Jesus for permission not to go into the abyss and not to leave “that country,” but to enter into a large herd of pigs grazing nearby on a mountain. We do not know enough about the nature of evil spirits to understand why they needed to dwell in living beings, but it is characteristic that of all living beings they themselves chose for their dwelling the most unclean animal, the most despicable in the eyes of the Jews, so that the Lord would not drive out them from that country and did not thereby deprive them of the opportunity to act in it. The Lord allowed them to enter the pigs, and the herd, enraged, rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned. Having allowed this, the Lord obviously wanted to enlighten the Gadarenes, who, contrary to the prohibition of the Law of Moses, raised pigs, and even in such huge quantities, according to St. Mark, about 2,000. At the same time, this circumstance attracted Special attention inhabitants of this country, who saw the terrible demon-possessed man known to them, healthy and sitting at the feet of Jesus. But what happened, apparently, did not enlighten them: they were attacked only by unaccountable horror and, in all likelihood, fear that the Lord’s continued stay with them would bring them new losses. Their pity for the dead pigs prevailed over their seemingly natural feeling of gratitude to the Lord for miraculous deliverance their country from a terrible demoniac, and they asked the Lord to leave them. What is the foolishness of these people who do not want to have within their borders the One who came to destroy the works of the devil! Contrary to the Lord’s usual prohibition from disclosing the miracles He performs, this time the Lord, on the contrary, orders the healed demoniac to return to his home and “tell him what God has done to him.” Presumably, this is because the Lord did not have the same fears in this country that He had in Galilee and Judea, where there were misconceptions about the Messiah as the earthly leader of Israel, and the Lord did not want His Name to be associated with political lusts Jewish patriots who dreamed of overthrowing Roman rule. In addition, as can be seen, the Gadarenes were distinguished by a special religious and moral coarsening and savagery, and the Lord wanted to awaken their hearts through preaching about Him and His deeds of the most blessed demoniac who had been healed by Him, who, indeed, as St. Mark began to preach about Him throughout the Decapolis, and thereby prepared this country for subsequent apostolic preaching and conversion to Christ.

A. V. Ivanov (1837-1912)
A Guide to Studying the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. Four Gospels. St. Petersburg, 1914.

Healing the possessed

(Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)

In the land of the Gadarenes or Gergesenes (known to Strabo for its hot springs)*, lying on the Eastern shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus Christ was met by two demoniacs who were distinguished by their indomitable ferocity. These unfortunates, tormented by demons, tore their clothes, broke the iron chains with which they were supposed to bind and hold them, fled into the desert, hid in caves (coffins), beat themselves against stones and instilled fear in those passing by, so that they did not power anyone for a minute in this way . But Jesus Christ, despite the cries of demons, drives them out of people, although one of them had a whole legion, and commands them, at their request, to enter the pigs, from which the pig herd rushes into the water and all perishes in the waves of the lake. Having learned from the shepherds about the death of the flock, the frightened inhabitants of Gadara ask the great Wonderworker to leave their country, and He, moving away from there, leaves them preachers of His glory in the person of the healed demoniacs.

In the story about the Gadarene demoniacs, the evangelists let us notice:

a) The extraordinary cruelty of the possessed, especially one of them, on whom the Evangelists Mark and Luke exclusively focus their attention, without even mentioning the other comrade of his misfortune;

b) Recognition by demons of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and their foreknowledge of their future fate;

c) Healing of the demoniacs themselves, which revealed the presence in one of them
a whole legion of demons;

d) The request of the demons and the command of Jesus Christ to go into the herd of swine;

e) The request of the inhabitants of Gadara to Jesus Christ to leave their country;

f) The request of the healed demoniac to follow Jesus and the command of Jesus to stay in the country and preach about his healing.

a) The demons cry out: what is it to us and to you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here before the time to torment us? This involuntary recognition of the presence of Divine power in Jesus Christ - repeatedly tested by the demons themselves when expelled from those possessed by them - is nothing more than a repetition of the common belief of people who saw the miracles of the Savior; but it could not be a direct and confident recognition by demons in Jesus Christ of the real Son of God, because no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3) and because the mystery of the appearance of the Son of God in the face of Jesus, according to the teaching of the Saints the father was hidden from the devil until the time of His descent into hell.

Demons call the limitation of their power over people torture, and they call such a limitation temporary because it had to take place before the victory of the Seed of the woman over their ruler and before their final condemnation at the last Judgment. From which it is clear that demons believe the word of the Lord Judge, who cursed the ancient serpent and promised to strike him in the head, and tremble (James 2:19), fearing His coming to Earth, both for victory over the devil and for Judgment over him and his angels.

b) Many of modern doctors and thinkers consider it impossible for the presence of evil spirits in man, and those mentioned in holy books and other narratives, possession is classified as epilepsy, insanity, and mental illness in general. Healings from these diseases with spells, prayers and the like are considered among those successful devices that are used by some skillful doctors in order to influence the imagination of the patient, and which consist in the fact that the doctor, apparently, recognizes the reality of the patient’s suffering from known cause and according to the imaginary illness, he uses treatment that eliminates the illness; for example, from a person who imagines that there are reptiles in his stomach or in his head, he takes out imaginary animals; casts out demons and the like from the supposedly possessed.

But the healing of the possessed by the evangelists serves as a direct refutation of this opinion. This case, more than other cases, convinces us of the reality of the possession of demons in people and the impossibility of healing them by adapting to popular concepts and views on these diseases and the beliefs of the patients themselves. The unfortunates mentioned here, tormented by demons, display terrible inhuman strength, live far from human habitations and, without a doubt, have not heard or known about Jesus and His miraculous power; but at his first appearance they call Him the Son of God, they talk about hell and the torment in it.

Further, the demons being cast out ask permission to enter the swine herd and, what is especially important, they actually enter the animals and destroy the whole herd. If it can be assumed that the possessed only imagined that demons lived in them, but in fact they only suffered special kind Insanity (daemonomania), then it is absolutely impossible to admit that animals can become infected with such a disease.

c) The demons ask for permission to enter the herd of pigs - either because it was more fitting for unclean creatures to live in unclean animals, or because they wanted to destroy the herd of Gadarenes to annoy the inhabitants and interfere with the preaching of Jesus among them.

d) Breeding herds of unclean animals was prohibited by the Law of Moses, and therefore, if there were swine herds in the Gadarene country, then they either belonged to the pagans, of whom there were many in the Decapolis, or rather, they belonged to the Jews, who carried on a profitable trade in these unclean animals, for which and were punished by deprivation of the animals themselves. The Evangelist directly says that all the people came out to Jesus - that is, both pagans and Jews.

e) In the request of the inhabitants of Gadara, one hears not so much the fear of the presence of the Divine Wonderworker, similar to the fear of Simon, who once asked Christ to leave him, as if I were a sinful husband (Luke 5:8): but rather the fear of losing all their property if the Wonderworker stays with them longer.

f) When leaving the Gadarene country, Jesus Christ leaves a healed sick person as a preacher of the miracle He performed, so that he would serve as a living reproach for their rejection of the Divine Teacher because of selfish goals. In the miracle of the healing of the demon-possessed Gadarene, one can see an image of the Lord’s Divine visit to our soul. One appearance of Him often frees her from a legion of passions and from the influence of an evil spirit. On the other hand, the deprivation of some earthly goods - often unclean and illegally acquired - instead of submission to God's Providence, causes many to regret what was lost and drives away the grace of God from a person.

Being dissatisfied with the loss of their flocks, but at the same time fearing to irritate (judging humanly) the great Wonderworker with their displeasure with Him for taking away their property, the inhabitants of Gadara ask Jesus to move away from their borders. How often selfish calculations and personal displeasures deprive many of the opportunity to enjoy the presence and works of great people and enter into intimate relationships with them!

* This passage should be understood to mean that the Savior came ashore near Gergesa and wanted to head from here along the road to Gadara - if only there was such a Road. Josephus calls Gadara a Greek city. - Ed.

People committed injustice before God, and then became angry with Him. Oh people, Who has the right to be angry with whom?

They shut their godless lips and thought: “Let us not mention the name of God so that it disappears from this world!” Oh, unfortunate people, in this huge world your mouth is in the minority. Haven't you seen and heard how a dam makes a river sound? Without a dam, the river is silent and silent, but the dam loosens its tongue. Every drop begins to sound.

And your dam will do the same: it will loosen the tongues of the dumb and make the dumb speak. If your lips cease to confess the name of God, you will be horrified to hear how it is confessed even by the dumb and speechless. Indeed, if you remain silent, then the stones will cry out. Even if all the people on earth are silent, the grass will speak. Even if all people on earth erase the name of God from their memory, it will be written with a rainbow in the sky and fire on every grain of sand. Then the sand will become people, and people will become sand.

The heavens will tell the glory of God, but the firmament will proclaim His handiwork. Day of days vomits the verb, and night of night the mind proclaims(Ps. 18:2-3). This is what the God-seer and God-singer says. What are you saying? You are contemptuously silent about God - and therefore the stones will speak; and when the stones speak, you will want to speak, but you will not be able to. It will be taken away from you and given to the stones. And the stones will become people, and you will be stones.

It happened in the old days that hard-mouthed people looked at the face of the Son of God and did not recognize Him, and the bonds of their tongue were not loosed in order to glorify Him. Then the Living God opened his mouth to the demons, so that they would shame people by recognizing the Son of God. Demons, which are worse than stones and cheaper than sand, cried out in the presence of the Son of God, while people stood near Him, overcome by muteness. And if that which had completely fallen away from God was forced to confess the name of God, how could sinless stones, blindly submitting to God’s will, not do this!

The Lord instructs people not only through the heavens, filled with angels and decorated with stars, not only through the earth, all covered with signs of the existence of God, but even through demons - just to provide the atheists, who are rapidly descending into hell, with the opportunity to at least be ashamed of something and rebel , and save your souls from the underworld, fire and stench.

Since even the elect who followed Christ on earth showed little faith, the Lord led them to places of the most impenetrable pagan darkness in order to expose and shame them with what would happen. And what happened is described in today's Gospel.

And when He arrived on the other side in the country of Gergesin, He was met by two demoniacs who came out of the graves, very fierce, so that no one dared to pass that way. Gerges and Gadara were cities in the land of the pagans, on the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee. These were two cities among ten that once existed on the shores of this sea. The evangelists Mark and Luke mention Gadara instead of Gergesa: this only means that the two cities were nearby and that the event being described took place not far from both cities. Evangelists Mark and Luke mention one demoniac, while Matthew mentions two. The first mention one of the two, who was more terrible and, as a terror to the whole area, better known, while Matthew mentions both, since both were healed by the Lord. And that one of them was more famous than his comrade is evident from the description of the holy evangelist Luke, who says that this possessed man was from the city - one person from the city. Being a city dweller, he should have been better known in the city than the other demoniac, who, apparently, was from the village. It also follows from Luke’s words that this man was possessed by demons for a long time and that they tormented him for a long time Consequently, he had been ill for a long time and, due to his long-term illness, was well known throughout this area. That he raged much more fiercely and viciously than his comrade is evident from Luke’s remark: people tied him with chains and bonds, but he broke the bonds and was driven by a demon into the desert. So, this is the reason why the evangelists Mark and Luke remember only one demoniac, although there were two of them. Even today we often use a similar method of describing events, remembering, for example, only the leader of a captured band of robbers. And although a whole gang of robbers led by an ataman was caught, we say that such and such an ataman of the robbers was caught. Evangelists do the same. And while Mark and Luke supplement Matthew's narrative with one detail, namely, the description of the main possessed person, Matthew supplements Mark and Luke with another detail - the mention of both possessed persons.

These possessed people lived in coffins, and they came out of the coffins and wandered through the desert, and frightened people in the fields and on the roads, especially on the road near which their coffins were located. Pagans buried their dead most often near paths and roads, which was not uncommon among Jews. Thus, Rachel’s tomb is located on the road leading from Jerusalem to Bethlehem; Manasseh's tomb near the road to Dead Sea.

Having taken possession of two human beings, the demons began to use them as their tools to cause harm to other people. For main feature people who have been possessed by unclean spirits - to do only abominations and evil. They were naked of every good thing. And not wearing clothes, - says one of them. It seems that not only his body was naked, but also his soul was not clothed with any good, nor with any gift of the Spirit of God, but was completely naked and empty of good, which is God’s gift. And both were so cruel and evil that no one dared to pass that way.

And so they cried out: What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here ahead of time to torment us. The most important thing in this demonic cry is that the demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God and confessed it loudly in terrible fear. So that people would be ashamed who looked at the face of the Lord and could not know Him or, having known Him, did not dare to acknowledge and openly confess (“Since both the disciples and the people called Him a man, therefore now demons come and declare His Divinity.” Zigaben). The demons did not actually confess Christ with a feeling of joy and exultation, as a person who has found a great treasure joyfully exclaims, or as the Apostle Peter exclaimed: You are Christ, the Son of the Living God(Matthew 16:16); but they screamed in fear and horror, seeing their Judge in front of them. And yet they shouted and confessed the One whose name they fear most, and hide it from people, and erase it from the heart of man. They screamed in agony and despair, like many people who only in agony and despair open their mouths to utter the name of God.

What do you care about us, Jesus, Son of God?- the demons ask. That is: what is common between You and us? Why Your unexpected and unwanted visit? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial?(2 Cor. 12:7)? No agreement. That is why the servants of Belial, tormentors of people, ask Christ why He came to them? And wherein: it's too early to torture us. So they are waiting doomsday and torment at the end of time. The very presence of Christ means for them a torment more terrible than light for a mole or fire for a spider. In the absence of Christ, demons are so shameless and daring that people possessed by them are placed lower than beasts and fill the entire surrounding area with fear, so no one dared to go that way. And in the presence of Christ, they are not only slavishly afraid, but also cowardly submissive - like any tyrant before his judge - for, behold, they humbly began to ask the Lord not to send them into the abyss. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. No matter what he commands - because, therefore, if He commands them, they will be forced to go. Such is the authority and power of Christ. And the abyss is their true home and the place of their torment. The perspicacious prophet speaks about the prince of demons: How you fell from the sky, Lucifer, son of the dawn! crashed to the ground, trampling the nations. But you are cast into hell, into the depths of the underworld(Is.14:12,15), where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because of human sins, by God's permission, demons enter people. And they feel better in people than in the abyss. For when they are among people, they torment people, and when they are in the abyss, they torment themselves. Being among people, they also experience great torment, but this torment is weakened by the fact that they are shared by someone else. The demon is a dirty trick on the flesh, thorn in the flesh, as the apostle who felt his presence calls him (2 Cor. 12:7). Through the flesh, as if on a ladder, he climbs to the soul, clings to the human heart and mind - until he decomposes, disfigures, and devastates everything, depriving him of Divine beauty and purity, reason and truth, love and faith, hope for good and the will to good. Then the demon will sit in a person, as if on his throne, take both the soul and the human body in his hands - and the person will become for him a cattle on which he rides, a pipe on which he plays, a beast through which he bites. Such were the possessed people spoken of in the Gospel. It is not said that they themselves saw Christ or knew Him, or turned to Him, or that they even had any kind of conversation with Him. All this was done by the demons that possessed them. The possessed do not seem to exist: they are like two dead coffins, which the demons push in front of them and drive them away with their whips. To heal such people means to raise the dead, and Furthermore. For dead man there is a soul separated from the body. If the soul is in the hands of God, He can return it to the body - and the body will come to life. But what happened to these possessed people was that worse than death. Their souls are stolen and enslaved by demons, they are held in the hands of demons. This means that the human soul must be taken away from the demon, the demon must be expelled from the person and his soul must be returned to the person. Therefore, the miracle of the healing of the demoniac is at least equal to the miracle of the resurrection of the dead, if not greater.

"You came here ahead of time torment us! - the demons say to Christ. This means they already know that torture awaits them in the end. Oh, if only sinful people could realize at least this: that torment awaits them too, and no less than that expected by demons! Demons know that in the end the human race, their main prey, will be torn out of their hands, and they will be cast into a dark abyss, where they will only have to gnaw and devour each other. The great prophet speaks of the prince of demons that he will be defeated outside his tomb(that is, outside the body of possessed people), like a despised branch, and further - like a trampled corpse(Isaiah 14:19). And the Lord himself testifies: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning(Luke 10:18). Sinners will also see this in the end, when for their sins they fall along with this lightning into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels(Matthew 25:41).

And while the demons begged Christ with fear and trembling, a large herd of pigs about two thousand, grazing peacefully in the distance on the shore. And the demons asked the Lord: if you drive us out, then send us to the herd of pigs. In other words: just don’t command us to go into the abyss, but let us at least go into the bodies of pigs. If you kick us out! Do not speak from a person, they don’t even want to mention the human name - they hate it so much. For of all the creatures in the universe, demons hate nothing so much as man, and they envy no one and nothing so much as man. And our Lord Jesus Christ specifically emphasizes this word - man: come out, unclean spirit, from this man! They don’t want to leave a person; they would with incomparably greater pleasure remain in people, instead of going into pigs. Why do they need pigs? If demons can turn people into pigs, then what worse can they do to pigs? Otherwise, and when they enter into pigs or some other creature, their malice is directed against man. And through pigs they will try to harm a person; if nothing else, then at least by drowning the pigs and making people angry with God. Therefore, when there is a question about the empty abyss, pigs are preferable to them than the abyss.

And He said to them: Go. And they went out and went into the swine herd. And so, the entire herd of pigs rushed down a steep slope into the sea and died in the water. In the same way, the evil spirits could have forced those two unfortunates to drown themselves in the sea, if the power of God had not prevented them. It happens, however, and quite often, that mentally ill people either fall to their death, throw themselves from a height, or drown themselves, or throw themselves into the fire, or hang themselves. Evil demons force them to do this. For their goal is not only to poison human life, but also to destroy the soul both for this and for that world. However, it often happens that God, for His wise reasons, protects people from such death.

But why did our Lord Jesus Christ send evil spirits specifically to pigs? He could have sent them into trees or stones, but why into pigs? Not to fulfill the desires of demons, but to bring people to their senses. Where there are pigs, there is uncleanness, and unclean spirits love uncleanness; where it does not exist, they create it themselves; where there is little of it, they quickly manage to seduce and cleverly turn the small into the big. And if they move into even the purest person, they will soon pile up swinish filth in him. And by the fact that the pigs immediately rushed into the sea and died, the Lord wants to show us: greed and gluttony are bad helpers in the fight against demonic forces, and to remind us of fasting. Which animal is more greedy and gluttonous than pigs? See how the demons quickly took possession of them and destroyed them! This is what happens to greedy and gluttonous people, who think that through overeating they accumulate strength in themselves. Meanwhile, they accumulate not strength, but weakness - both physical and spiritual. Saint Basil the Great wrote: “I know that doctors do not prescribe various foods to the sick, but abstinence and fasting. Wouldn’t you say that it is easier for sailors to save an overloaded boat than a moderately loaded and light one?” ( Word 10, about fasting).

Gluttons are spineless people, weak in front of people and even weaker in front of demons. There is nothing easier for demons than to push them into the sea of ​​spiritual death and drown them in it! But from all this it is also clear how terrible the power of demons is when God does not restrain it. The demons, who were in just two people, in a few moments took possession of more than two thousand pigs and drowned them all. But first God held them back until Christ came - to show His power and authority over them; and here God allowed them to show their strength. If God had allowed it, in a few moments the demons would have done to all the people on earth the same thing they did to the pigs. But God is a Lover of mankind, and His boundless love keeps us alive and protects us from the most fierce and terrible enemies.

But, someone will say, wasn’t it a pity for the Lord that, firstly, so many pigs died, and secondly, such damage was caused to the inhabitants? It is again the devil who leads people to such thoughts, as if wanting to appear more compassionate than Christ! But what are pigs compared to short-day grass? And if God does not feel sorry for the white lilies of the field, which today are clothed in greater luxury than King Solomon, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, why should He feel sorry for the pigs? Or perhaps it is more difficult for God to create a pig than a lily of the field? But someone will say again: not for the sake of beauty, but for the sake of benefit. But does a pig bring benefit to a person only when it nourishes and fattens his body, but not when it helps to enlighten his soul? After all, here we're talking about just about the latter. You are better than many small birds, - the Lord said to the people. Isn't it better and not people are more important and many pigs - even some two or three thousand pigs? Let everyone think about himself and his own cost, and he will quickly come to the conclusion that the lesson taught to humanity through this incident with the pigs was very cheap. Because it was necessary to clearly - and almost rudely - show the stupefied human race, firstly, the devil's uncleanness and, secondly, the devil's power. No words in the world could express this as clearly as the rabies and death of pigs, which were attacked by evil spirits. And what words could convince the pagans from Gergesa and Gadara, if even such a terrible and obvious proof - not proof, but a demonstration - still could not awaken them from their sinful sleep, stop them from the abyss into which they, like pigs, were mercilessly dragged demons, and teach faith in the almighty Christ!

For this is what happened next: the shepherds ran and they told it in the city and in the villages. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they asked Him to depart from their borders. Fear and trembling gripped both the shepherds and the inhabitants, and they were horrified. They all saw something unprecedented and unheard of: the demoniacs, who had been causing them trouble for years, sat at the feet of Jesus, calm and in their right mind. And they heard from the apostles and from their shepherds the story of how Christ healed people possessed by demons, how a legion of evil spirits shuddered with fear at the very appearance of Christ, how in fear they begged Him to send them at least to the pigs, if they were forbidden to be in people, and finally, like the unclean, like a whirlwind, they took possession of the pigs and threw them into the depths of the sea. They heard all this, they understood all this well, seeing two new people, purified and resurrected, who had just been worse than two dead; and they looked into the face of the Lord, who stood before them, meek and humble, as if it was not He who had performed a miracle greater than if he had raised Mount Gergesin and thrown it into the sea. And out of all this, only one thing stuck in the minds and hearts of the stupefied residents, namely: that their pigs were irretrievably lost. Instead of falling on their knees and thanking the Lord for saving their two brothers, they regret that they lost the pigs! Instead of inviting the Lord to visit, they ask Him to leave as soon as possible. Instead of singing the praises of God, they lament over the pigs. But do not rush to condemn these pig-loving Gergesinians - first take a look at today’s society and count all your pig-loving fellow citizens, who, like the Gergesinians, value their pigs more than the lives of their fellows. Or do you think that there are few people today, even those who make the sign of the cross and confess Christ with their lips and tongue, who would, without hesitation, decide to kill two people in order to acquire two thousand pigs? Or do you think that there are many among you who would sacrifice two thousand pigs to save the lives of two insane people? Oh, let all such people be covered with deep shame, and let them not condemn the Gergesinians before they condemn themselves. If the Gergesinians rose from their graves today and began to count, they would count a huge number of like-minded people in Christian Europe. They, at least, asked Christ to move away from them, and the Europeans are driving Christ away from them - just to remain alone, alone with their pigs and with their rulers - demons!

This whole event, from beginning to end, contains another, even deeper inner meaning. But what we have said is enough to edify, warn and awaken the one who feels in own body like in a coffin; who notices the action of demonic power in his passions, binding him with iron bonds and chains and dragging him into the abyss of destruction; who, despite this, values ​​the person in himself, that is, his soul, above all pigs, all livestock, all earthly possessions and wealth - and is ready to pay the Doctor with all this for healing from his illness.

The Gospel story ends with the words: Then He, getting into the boat, crossed back and arrived at His city. He did not say a word to the Gergesinians. How can words help where such great Divine miracles have not helped? He didn't reproach them. He silently descended from the mountain, entered the boat and sailed away from them. What meekness, what patience, what divine height! How insignificant is the victory of that commander (Caesar) who proudly wrote to his Senate: “I came, I saw, I conquered!” Christ came, saw, conquered and remained silent. And, remaining silent, he made His victory wondrous and eternal. And let the pagans learn from the example of this proud commander; we will learn from the example of the gentle Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't force himself on anyone. But whoever accepts Him, accepts Life, and whoever moves away from Him remains in a pigsty, in eternal madness and eternal death.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners, heal and save us! Honor and glory are due to you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity, Consubstantial and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and forever. Amen.

My friend!

You write: “A moment about casting out a legion of demons. A strange moment. Why was it necessary to cast out demons into pigs? Why was it necessary to destroy animals - as many as two thousand, which served people as food? Why couldn’t the demons simply be cast out? And why in one Gospel "There were two "those buried in coffins" and only one in the other? What did this moment teach the people of this country?"

The fact that one author has two demoniacs, while the other two write about only one, is not an inconsistency in the Gospels, but a short way of narrating one author and strengthening the speech at some point of the other two. Two demoniacs are spoken of only in (Matthew 8:28-34), in the briefest narrative of this incident, as an indication of such an incident. In the other two (Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39), where this incident is described in more detail, showing a very significant feature in the reaction of one of the healed: his appeal to Jesus Christ as to God.
The reaction of Jesus Christ Himself to the faith of this healed man in Him is also significant: instead of allowing him to stay near Him among other disciples to teach him, like other disciples, the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, He sends him to testify about the merciful deeds of God revealed in Jesus Christ , His Son. In other words, Jesus sends the healed man as a ready apostle to testify about Him to other people long before sending two of the 12 apostles.
Extraordinary healing! Healing not only the body and soul, but also communicating the grace of the apostleship to heal the souls of others. Apparently this man was unique: enormous power faith and spirit. And one more point can be noted in this: the unique power of grace is given by God to a person who has undergone unique trials.

Regarding allowing demons to enter a herd of pigs, there are such instructions from the holy fathers.
1) To show the Samaritans, the inhabitants of that country, that the law prohibiting the consumption of pork also applied to them, if they consider themselves children of Jacob. The laws of Moses were given to the Jews so that their consciousness would be constantly aroused to the remembrance of God and His unceasing presence. “Unclean” animals, according to the language of the East, pointed out to a person, called to be faithful to the One God, the unacceptability of concepts that force him to “bow his head to the ground” (like a pig, for example), forgetting about the heavenly; so as not to dig the earth with your nose, immersing your consciousness only in the extraction of temporary goods; don’t eat your own waste, thinking only about the delights material life; and, having been washed (by believing in Jesus Christ), “like a pig, do not return to wallow in the mud,” or, “like a dog, do not return to your vomit,” continuing to live in sins as you lived before.
2) In order to clearly show the insidious nature of demons: the only thing they are capable of is to harm a person in any way. And they pay for the service only with evil.
3) Jesus gives a chance to the inhabitants of that country who saw His two such extraordinary miracles (the healing of the formidable demoniacs and the instant destruction of pigs): by refusing to break the law and adhere to material value, to believe in Jesus Christ as God and desire to remain with Him forever. This is what the inhabitants of another Samaritan village did, where Jesus turned a Samaritan woman to Himself, asking her for water at the well (John 4:7-43). However, the inhabitants of the Gadarene country asked Christ to move away from their places, choosing material wealth instead of spiritual ones.