“And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.”
— Mark 5:9
They chained him.
They avoided him.
They feared him.
But they never tried to deliver him.
Until Jesus arrived —
And confronted what no one else would face.
A man tormented.
A soul infested.
A region ruled by a spirit they didn’t want to lose.
And when the demons begged to stay in the land,
they were granted a herd.
But what happened next reveals a truth most miss:
The demons drowned the pigs.
But the people asked Jesus to leave.
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The Story They Don’t Teach in Sunday School
In Mark 5, Jesus arrives in the country of the Gadarenes.
Immediately, a man possessed by a legion of demons runs to meet Him.
This wasn’t ordinary possession.
This was coordinated.
“He had often been bound with fetters and chains… and the chains had been plucked asunder by him.” (Mark 5:4)
He lived among tombs.
Cut himself.
Cried out day and night.
And no one could tame him.
Until the Son of God stepped onto the shore.
And in a moment —
without ritual, incense, or theater —
He cast the demons out.
They entered 2,000 pigs…
who then immediately rushed into the sea and drowned.
And the people’s response?
They didn’t celebrate.
They didn’t worship.
They didn’t even thank Him.
“They began to pray Him to depart out of their coasts.” (Mark 5:17)
They’d rather keep their demons…
than lose their profits.
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Why Did the Demons Choose Pigs?
Demons crave embodiment.
They’re disembodied spirits — restless, wandering, seeking habitation (Matthew 12:43).
But why pigs?
Because pigs were unclean animals according to Jewish law (Leviticus 11:7).
The region was compromised — spiritually and economically.
They raised what God forbade.
They tolerated what God condemned.
The demons weren’t just looking for a body.
They were staying on familiar ground.
“Suffer us to enter into the swine…” (Mark 5:12)
And when Jesus allowed it, the pigs immediately self-destructed — revealing what demons always do when given control.
They devour.
They drown.
They destroy.
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The People Preferred Chains Over Change
This is the heart of the story.
The possessed man was delivered.
Clothed.
Sitting in peace.
But instead of praising God, the people grieved their economic loss.
The pigs were profit.
The demons were tolerated.
Jesus was the disruption.
And that’s still true today.
We live in a culture that would rather legalize demons than lose revenue.
We medicate what we refuse to cast out.
We protect “personal freedom” over spiritual freedom.
And when true deliverance comes — it offends.
Because deliverance comes with a cost.
And Jesus doesn’t bargain with idols.
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Why This Matters Now
The world is full of pig farmers who fear revival.
Full of cities who would rather bury a miracle than admit they were enslaved.
And many churches are no different.
They tolerate unclean spirits — in doctrine, in music, in leadership —
as long as the system keeps running.
But Jesus is still crossing shores.
Still confronting legion.
Still breaking chains.
And the question still echoes:
Will you beg Him to stay?
Or pray Him to leave?
That is so true of our churches and it makes me sad. But yes, I would invite Jesus in!
Really tired of the compromise myself, why do we hold on to systems that clearly don’t work - no one is even happy with the material gain anyway & I know there are many like-minded who have had enough.