Why did the demons beg Jesus?

Answer 1

In Mark 5:1-20, the wild, demon-possessed man, wearing no clothes, cries out that Jesus not torment him and then the demons beg to be sent into a herd of swine, after which the man asks to follow Jesus. There seems no clear reason for the demons to want to be sent into the herd of swine, other than to demonstrate to the audience how numerous they were. In fact, when Jesus asks the man his name, he replies "Legion," reflecting the number of demons possessing him. Moreover, all but the most committed now accept that possession by demons does not really happen.

If the reason for the demons begging Jesus can not be found at the literal level, perhaps there is a literary basis for this narrative. Dennis R. MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) finds that 18 verses have thematic parallels in the Odyssey, 13 of those in exactly the same order. MacDonald makes a compelling case that in Mark, the story of casting the demons into swine is a retelling of the story of Odysseus' men being turned into swine in Homer's epic. In spite of the many improbable coincidences in the two narratives, this must remain only a hypothesis unless we can show that the author of Mark really fabricated this story. This is now possible. It was once thought that we had four independent gospel accounts, a large enough number of independent witnesses to assure us of the reliability of the gospel stories. It is now acknowledged that not only were the four New Testament gospels originally anonymous, but that Mark was the major source for the other gospels, either directly (Matthew, Luke) or indirectly (John). It is in Mark's Gospel that we must find the truth behind this narrative.

The story commences with Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee to the land of the Gerasenes. However, the town of Gerasa is several kilometres from the shore and across a river - in other words, geography tells us Jesus did not cross the sea to the land of the Gerasenes. The author of Matthew recognised this and, when copying this narrative, changed the location from "the land of the Gerasenes: to "the land of the Gadarenes." The translators of the King James Bible then used "Gadarenes" in Mark 5:1, in harmony with Matthew's Gospel, but most other English translations keep the original "Gerasenes." This is not a fatal error, but it begins to point to the story not being historical. . If we look at the structure of Mark's Gospel, we find that the story of the demons and the swine form a pair (pair L) with a remarkably similar account in the parallel structure that comprises the entire gospel. These are the only two instances in which the persons whom Jesus heals are given names, yet Legion and Bartimaeus ('son of Timaeus') are not their real names; they both cry out to Jesus; one has no clothes and the other casts off his cloak; one asks to follow Jesus and the other simply follows after Jesus. One narrative has many parallels to Homer's epic, while the other has parallels to Plato's Dialogue called Timaeus:

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

We are left with no doubt that the narrative, about the demoniac called Legion and the demons who beg to be sent into a herd of swine, is not historical and that MacDonald's thesis is the best explanation. Apart from story development, there is no rational explanation for the demons begging the privilege of being allowed to destroy a herd of swine.