Why Did Jesus Send Demons into Pigs? It’s Political Commentary
Diana Butler Bass blew my mind about Luke 8:26–39
This past week, pastors who follow the lectionary preached on one of the most bizarre, puzzling stories of Jesus’ ministry.
In Luke 8:26–39, Jesus exorcizes demons from a man into a herd of pigs. The herd stampedes into the sea, destroying themselves. The man goes from living naked among Gentile tombs, breaking the chains with which locals bound him from time to time, to being “in his right mind,” clothed, and serene. The locals become very afraid and ask Jesus to leave the region.
The Gospels depict Jesus exorcizing other demons but not adding flourishes like traveling to a specific location (Gerasene), expelling demons into animals, or those animals committing suicide. The setting itself begs the questions, “Why did Jews have pigs?” and “Did Jesus go there specifically for this demon-possessed man?”
Religion historian and theologian, Diana Butler Bass, shows that Luke 8:26–39 should be understood as an incisive political commentary and satire.
Then, Bass explains, we can see ourselves in the demon-possessed man bound by chains until set free by Jesus to be who God intended him to be. How does living in Empire affect us?
Setting
The setting is key to the story of Luke 8:26–39.
The town of Gerasa was located in a region known for its assimilation into Greco-Roman culture and its accommodation to the Roman Empire. The Gerasenes raised pigs, sold them to the Roman army, built temples to pagan gods, and even worshipped those gods.
In 66 A.D., a second town also named Gerasa suffered a brutal attack from the Roman army. The Roman soldiers killed over a thousand people. The first generation to hear or read Luke 8:26–39 would have thought of this event.
So, Jesus goes to the poster child for assimilation to non-Jewish cultures, accommodation to the oppression of the Roman Empire, and destruction by that same Empire.
Symbolism
In this story, demon-possession symbolizes Roman occupation.
The name “Gerasa” conjures multiple associations with Rome in the minds of the Jewish audience. The demons occupying the man call themselves “Legion,” the name of the Roman military unit.
The demons request permission to enter pigs raised by Gerasene Jews and sold to the Roman army. Then Jesus grants permission and “dismisses” them. Why have this odd exchange? To mirror military language.
The homeless, nude, raving state of the demon-possessed man symbolizes how occupation strips people of their human dignity. The fate of the demons suggests the eventual self-destruction of the occupiers.
Drowning in water echoes the destruction of the Egyptian army, the keystone moment of God’s deliverance in Israel’s history. The restoration of the demon-possessed man symbolizes the restoration of the Jewish people.
The Gerasenes react with fear of Jesus’ power. They stand in for the Jews who feared mocking the Roman Empire as a demon driven to self-destruction.
Or possibly, they represent the Jews who feared disruption of their comfortable accommodation to the Roman Empire and its pagan culture.
Significance
For the purposes of this essay, I will define “Empire” as systems of dominance.
The story of Luke 8:26–39 challenges us to consider how we may accommodate ourselves to systems of dominance and how that accommodation may affect our spiritual, emotional, and material lives.
Bass writes:
We might think, “No. That’s not us. Things are bad, but they aren’t that bad. We get along.” But maybe that’s exactly what Mark [on which Luke bases his account] is pressing against — those who accommodated to the Roman Empire, who might have thought their lives were good enough.
It’s harder to swim upstream. It’s far easier to go with the flow, to accept the systems of dominance around us, to adapt to them as best we can, and thereby perpetuate them despite their costs.
We can easily think, “My life is good enough,” without realizing that perhaps we’re not becoming the people God intended us to be.
How have I accommodated myself to various systems of dominance? What has been the spiritual, emotional, and material effects? Jesus calls me to liberation and restoration, but how can I hear it? How can I live it?
Reading the story of Legion as political commentary confronts us with those very important questions.
I blog regularly for The Backyard Church, but it’s not just a blog. It’s an online community for people who have faith but can’t, don’t, or won’t go to church.