Why is the story of Legion important in the gospels?

Answer 1

The story of Jesus casting the demons out of Legion is the longest miracle story in Mark's Gospel, demonstrating that no number of demons could prevail against Jesus. It is also important because it forms a pair with the story of blind Bartimaeus in the framework structure of Mark. As well as simply forming a chiastic pair, there are similarities in the two accounts, so that for an early Greek reader of the gospel, this story introduces the theologically important story of Bartimaeus.

A parallel structure, like a chiastic structure, is a sequence in which an opening set of events is contrasted with another set of events that mirrors the first. The purpose of a parallel structure is to link, by association, the two events of each pair in the minds of the readers, in order to create emphasis or develop a theme that would otherwise not be apparent. The two stories comprise pair L in the following summary of the framework structure of Mark:

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)

The demoniac in the first story calls out to Jesus not to torment him. Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy, as if asking not to be tormented, rather than beg to be allowed to see, as we would expect. The demoniac Legion is naked. Bartimaeus casts off his garment (although possibly retaining other clothing).

In both cases when we expect to be told the character's name, he is left nameless. In verse 5:9 Jesus asks the demoniac his name, the only occasion in the gospel where he does so, yet we are never told his name. The demons answer, saying, "My name is Legion, for we are many." Bartimaeus is not a personal name, but means 'son of Timaeus', which was repeated in Greek (translated into English).

Timaeus is an unlikely name for a Jew, as Timaeus must have been a Jew (hence Bartimaeus), but it is a Greek name. Plato wrote an important Dialogue called Timaeus, about nature and creation. Furthermore, Dennis R MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) provides credible evidence that the story of Legion was inspired by Homer's epics, the Iliad and The Odyssey. When we have two gospel stories that form a matching pair in the parallel structure, have features in common and one appears to be based on the great Greek classics, it seems likely that the second story was also inspired by another of the great Greek classics. There is also a parallel between Bartimaeus and blind Tiresias in the Odyssey, but the main effect of this parallel is to confirm the association to the story of Legion, since both have parallels in the Odyssey.

Greeks learnt to read by studying the works of Homer and Plato, so when reading the story of Legion would have noticed parallels to Homer. When they then saw the story of Bartimaeus in a similar context, this would have brought to mind Plato's Timaeus. Having just read the story (event K') of James and John seeking to sit on the right hand and left hand of Jesus, as Castor and Polydeuces sat on the right hand and left hand of Zeus, they might well have wondered whether Plato was talking about Jesus.