Gerasene Demoniac
- This page was created and is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan
- ANCIENT SOURCES: see Gerasene Demoniac (sources)
- LIST OF SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Gerasene Demoniac (subject)
The Gerasene Demoniac was one of the Miracles of Jesus, according to the Gospels of Mark (5:1-20), Matthew (8:28-34), and Luke (8:26-39).
Overview
The Gospels of Mark and Luke define the location of the narrative as "the country of the Gerasenes," which in Matthew is more properly specified as "the country of the Gadarenes." Gerasa was a major center of the Decapolis, but Gadara was the nearest city. The geography of the event, however, most likely refers to the city of Hippos on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The contrast between the Jewish side and the Gentile side could not have been sharper.
In spite of the spectacular narrative, the (first?) excursion of Jesus in pagan land was hardly a success. The reference to the evil spirits as a "(Roman) Legion" was offensive to Roman ears. As a result of the loss of "a great herd of swine" (obviously the property of some pagan owner), the local (Jewish?) population did not welcome Jesus friendly and "beg him to leave their neighborhood." Jesus had to get into the boat and returned to Capernaum.
The anti-Roman implication of the original narrative are obvious. Jesus crosses the border between Galilee and the Decapolis, between Jewish land and Gentile land. There he found not just a man or some people who were possessed by evil spirits; it was the entire country that was possessed by evil foreign powers who have turned the land into a cemetery and forced the Jewish inhabitants to a condition of impurity. Jesus symbolically exorcised the country from its Roman rulers, turning them into swines destined to perish.
Out of its original geographical context, the narrative lost most of its strength. It became one of the many healing stories involving Jesus, and as such was reported in Mark and Luke. For Matthew's Palestinian community, however, this was still a sensitive issue; the gospel prefers to erase the most disturbing elements in a changed time in which Gentiles are now welcome in the Church.