Legion Among the Pigs
(This three-part series was inspired by the sermon "A Human Haunted House" by Dr. Charlie Dates)
Last week we met “a man with an unclean spirit who lived among the tombs.” And we saw Jesus go out of His way to meet this man and set Him free. Jesus haunts the haunted places and sends the demons away. He is greater-than and He is not afraid.
But we see in the story that this fellow had another problem, related to his demon-possession. This fellow was filled with demons, but he was also filled with pig.
He lived in a region that had huge herds of pigs (vv. 11-13). What were pigs doing in the Promised Land? They were being raised to feed the nearby legion of Roman soldiers. Pigs were good cheap meat. But they were out of bounds for a Jewish person to eat. They were not just a socially inferior meat, but they were an “unclean animal” according to the dietary laws of the Old Testament. By the first century they were a symbol for Jews of Gentile uncleanness.
The text doesn’t say that the demon-possessed man was eating bacon, but as he likely didn’t hold down a job (being naked and howling most of the time) and yet he had to eat, he probably was stealing and eating pigs. He probably wasn’t foraging for nutrient dense roughage.
So our fellow here is defiled and unclean and undoubtedly reeked. He had no self-respect, no dignity or honor. He was naked, wounded, filthy, disgusting.
But then, Christ got rid of the demons. And Christ got rid of the pigs. (v. 13) We see the fellow a few minutes later “sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.” (v. 15) Demons were removed and the stain and shame of pig washed away.
I wonder if he ever ate pig again?
Part of this man’s transformation involved washing away the stain and stink of pig. In the same way, part of our transformation involves ridding ourselves of what previously defined us. The habits, ways of life, and practices of our possession, our time apart from Christ and conformed to the world, are not those of our salvation, our life together with Christ.
So also all the “pig flesh” that helped us live worldly lives, that fed our demons (so to speak), we are to “put off.” “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” (Eph 4:22)
We have been restored to dignity and honor, clothed by the righteousness of Christ, renewed in the image of our Creator, and have the mind of Christ. We too are clothed and in our right minds. The habits, ways, and practices of New Life are ours. We are filled with the Spirit. So we should feed the work of the Spirit. What we hear, see, listen to, pay attention to, think about, and speak of, should be things that the Spirit can use to secure our identity to Christ and to establish us in the way of Christ.
Christ can set you free. Christ has set you free. For freedom you have been set free. (Gal 5:1) Stand firm in your freedom. Don’t feed the demons, feed the work of the Spirit. Put the pigs away. You are clothed and in your right mind. Live free.
