Note: This series is written as a first-person narrative in order to present Jesus in the context he walked with the unknown disciple that narrates presenting my thoughts and sparking more thoughts with his questions. Enjoy!
We arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When we stepped ashore, Jesus was met by two men coming from the tombs. They screeched and were naked except for the broken chains they dragged with them. I fell down backing up, tripping over my own feet.
“Lord…” Judas said.
Jesus commanded the demons to leave.
When they saw Jesus, they cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of their voices, “What do you want with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”
A man in the distance shouted, “Many times demons have seized them, and though they were chained hand and foot and kept under guard, they had broken their chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.”
“Broken their chains?” I scooted back more.
Jesus asked one of the demon-possessed men, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied because many demons had gone into them. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
The Abyss is where spirits are bound. I heard a squeal. I looked.
A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
“Can demons be bound to bodies or under water?” John asked.
“I think so,” James answered.
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off. One of the formerly possessed men ran off, cheering. The other stayed. Matthew said, “He looks to be my size.”
He went to the boat, rummaged around and got him some clothes from his sack.
Soon we heard a crowd coming. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to him speak, dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
“Is he a sorcerer?” I heard one ask. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
From a distance, one shouted, “Please leave. We don’t want any trouble.”
“Don’t they know who he is?” Nathaniel asked.
“No,” Peter replied. “They’re not Jewish like us, they don’t understand the Scriptures. Instead, they see him as a magician.” Jesus turned and went back towards the boat.
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away to tell all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Luke 8:26-39
Matthew 8:28-34