Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39
And they sailed down, and they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Garasenes (and) Gadarenes, that is across from Galilee. And coming out of the boat onto the land, immediately a certain two men met Him from the city, coming out of the tombs, being demon-possessed, (one) with (an) unclean spirit for a long time, and was not clothed with a garment, and was not abiding in a house, but who had been dwelling in the tombs.
They were very fierce, so that no one was able to pass by that road. For many times it had caught him, and not even with chains was anyone able to bind him [any longer]C, And he had been bound many times, guarded with fetters and chains, and bursting through the bonds, the
chains were pulled to pieces by him, and the fetters crushed, and no one was able to tame him. He was driven by the demon into the wilderness. And through every night and day in the tombs in the mountains, he was crying and gashing himself with stones.
And seeing Jesus from afar, he ran and he bowed, (and) he fell before Him. And behold, they cried out in a loud voice saying, “What do we have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the most high God? Have You come here to torment us before the time? I implore You by God, do not torment me.” For He commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man.”
And Jesus asked him, saying “What is your name?”
And answering he said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many,” for many demons had entered him. And they were entreating Him earnestly not to send them to depart out of the country, into the abyss.
But there was far from them a large herd of many hogs feeding there on the mountain. And [all]T the demons entreated Him to permit them to enter the hogs, saying, “If you are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of hogs, so that we may enter them,” and He gave them permission. And He said to them, “Go away.” And the unclean demon spirits came out from the man, and entered the [herd of]T hogs. And behold the entire herd rushed down the precipice into the sea, about two thousand of them, and they were drowned, and they died in the waters.
But when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and went in the city, and out in the country. They reported everything about the demon-possessed ones. And the people went out to see what had happened.
And they came to Jesus, and found the man being demon-possessed, the very man who had the legion, from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, and clothed, and in his right mind, and they became frightened. And those who had also seen it reported to them, how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, how he had been made well, and all about the hogs.
And behold, the entire city, and all the multitude of the region of the Garasenes round about, came out to meet Jesus, and seeing Him, they beseeched Him, so that He might depart from their region, for they were gripped with great fear.
And as He was getting into the boat, and returned, the man who had been demon-possessed, from whom the demons had gone out, was begging Him that he might accompany Him.
And He did not let him, but Jesus sent him away. He said to him, “Go home to your people. Return to your house, and report to them, and declare what great things the Lord God has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away, and began to proclaim throughout the whole city (and) in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone marveled. And [it came to pass]T, when Jesus had crossed over again (and) returned in the boat to the other side, a
great crowd gathered about Him and welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. He stayed by the seashore.
Number of Fish: 2
Total Fish: 40
This note from the Merged Gospels explains why there were two demoniacs in this account:
In the story of the Gerasene demoniacs The Merged Gospels merges three versions of the same account. Matthew identifies two demonized men (Man 1 and Man 2), whereas Mark and Luke focus their attention only on Man 1. In understanding the text, it must be remembered that Man 1 is the only one possessed by many demons. As the story develops, Man 1 starts out being described as having only one demon until it is revealed that he actually has many demons. Moreover, in this story, these demons speak sometimes as many entities and sometimes as only one entity. Additionally, while the story only describes the cleansing of Man 1, MT 8:33 suggests that both were actually cleansed.
153 Fish 