The Gadarene Demoniacs
28 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way. 29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them. 31 The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.” 32 He said to them, “Go!” They came out and went into the herd of pigs; and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water. 33 Those who fed them fled and went away into the city and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons. 34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
Two men rather than one, no aftermath, and a town that would rather have its pigs than its neighbors sane.
When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
The account is far shorter than the earlier one Mark 5:1–20, which gives the chains, the self-harm among the tombs, the name Legion, and the healed man sent home to tell what had been done for him. Matthew keeps the exchange and drops the rest.
The visible difference is the number. Where the other tellings have one man, this has two — and Matthew does the same at Jericho with the blind men Matthew 20:30 and has two donkeys at the entry Matthew 21:2. The simplest account is that Matthew, writing for readers who knew the rule that a matter is established by two witnesses Deuteronomy 19:15, records the second where the others focus on the one who spoke or was most striking. Nothing is contradicted by mentioning a companion the other accounts pass over.
Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
The demons supply the chapter's title before any human being does. They know who he is — the confession the disciples will not manage until chapter fourteen — and they know something else: that there is a time appointed, and that this is not it. Their fear is of the schedule being advanced.
It is worth noting what this says about knowledge. Correct theology is on display here, stated accurately and under duress, by the one party in the Gospel with nothing to gain from it. The sermon has already severed right speech from standing Matthew 7:21, and this is the same point from the other end.
He said to them, “Go!” They came out and went into the herd of pigs; and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water.
The destruction of the herd is reported without justification. Pigs were unclean and this is Gentile territory, and the cost is real — somebody's livelihood went over the cliff.
Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
The town's response is the reason the account is here. Two violent men are sane and the community's request is that the man responsible leave. They have counted what his presence costs and decided against it — which is the same calculation as the wide gate and the buried talent, made by a whole town at once, and politely.
settled What this mark means