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Earlier Miracles

After Jesus’ baptism, he returned to Galilee, where he gathered supporters and started his work in earnest. And some of the earliest miracles he’s said to have performed were also amongst the most controversial – his exorcisms.

On the shores of the Sea of Galilee is a place traditionally associated with one of Jesus’ more disturbing miracles. In Jesus’ time this site was known as Gergasa. Nothing remains from the first century of the place where Jesus is believed to have performed a violent and dramatic miracle. The Gospels tell the story of a man known as Legion, a man so tormented by evil spirits he was driven to acts of self mutilation. The possessed were social outcasts, forbidden to marry. They were forced to live outside of towns and villages. And Jews believed that to come into contact with them made you impure.  

By coming here, Jesus was to encounter dangerous forces believed to be the enemies of the Jewish God and his people. And yet surprisingly, he chose to approach the man, and he also chose to heal him.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Legion; for we are many.”

And the way he did it would have shocked those who were watching.

“Get out! Unclean spirit, get out!”

“Do not torment me.”

“Unclean spirit, get out!”

Jesus differed from other exorcists because he didn’t use elaborate spells. He shouted directly at the demons. And the violence of his approach was so great, that even those who were sympathetic to him, felt he was deranged. The Gospels say that, so effective were Jesus’ exorcisms, his enemies believed it was a sign that he was in collusion with Satan.

Exorcisms still happen today and they’re still controversial. Many believe that such people aren’t possessed but are gripped by depression or mental illness. For them, there's nothing supernatural about exorcism, it's just the moments when a troubled mind has its burden lifted. Perhaps that's where Jesus' skill lay, in reaching out to a man in distress. Whatever really happened, the exorcism exposes something far deeper and rather disturbing about Jesus' identity. It's revealed in the strange fate of the demons.

As they left Legion they didn't just disappear. They were forced into a herd of pigs. The shocked animals then rushed into the sea - and were drowned. And for those watching, this would have been no surprise. Every first century Jew knew the ancient scriptures so they were well aware that the sea was home to a dangerous force; it was the dwelling place of Satan.

The Hebrew Bible speaks of Leviathan, a terrifying monster, the personification of evil, who lurked in these waters. Now, in this context, it makes perfect sense for the pigs (possessed by evil spirits) to plunge into the sea, because the demons were returning to their original habitat. At Gergasa, it seems, Jesus took on Satan's powers and won. And for the disciples, this victory was full of meaning. They knew that to triumph over evil signalled something extraordinary. To find out what, we have to travel 100 miles south of Galilee to the shores of the Dead Sea. Documents found near these ruins at Qumran may hold the key to understanding how the disciples thought.

Miracles of Jesus

Part 2   Signs of Divinity?  5

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