Matthew 8 tells the time Jesus cast out demons from The Man and they went into a herd of pigs; this narrative is also found in Mark 5 and Luke 8. Yes, the three writers approach this story from slightly different angles, so they are not word for word. One difference is the name of the area, you will find Gadarenes, Gerasenes, and the Ten Cities or Decapolis.

This is not the first time I have written about the “man” in the story, see The Man of the Gadarenes and Me and Me and the Man. But as I read Matthew this time one little word stuck out – If.

Now, “if” starts the second line of dialogue that the demons are saying. In Matthew the first conversation (8:29) is the demons questioning Jesus why He was there and was He going to torture or punish them before “the time”. I looked in the English translations in BibleGateway and the statement about time was consistent in them, which should tell you the demons know what their future is. The first part varied some by the translation, but that is okay.

When I did the same study on 8:31 I was amazed that all of the translations had “If you cast us out…”. My NIV Bible is the 1984/1990 copyright, and I expected it to be different in other translations. The reason for that is I assumed that “if” was not a word by itself in Greek; I was wrong. It is ei, Strong: G1487, and see εἰ | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com. I was surprised. Now, before I studied deeper, I wondered if it was a challenge or were they trying to bargain with Jesus to stay where they were. O, the translation/meaning of εἰ comes from the words around it.

Paul, in Ephesians 6, talks about our struggles with spiritual forces. Jesus did many miracles and healings and some specifically mentioned demons/devils and evil spirits, or unclean spirits. Even Jude talks about demons leaving their authority and their home. Over my years as a Christian, I have seen the topic of demons create a wide range of reactions; from denying that they are a factor today to one is behind everything bad that happens. So, seeing Legion trying to negotiate is not surprising. (To be clear, my thinking is not IF, but WHEN Jesus would cast them out.)

I do not like giving the devil or his minions very much thought-time, but this is a study and it seemed good to know how much they were mentioned in the Gospels. Matthew and Mark had about the same number of references at 27 and 28. (This is from the NASB wordsearch in BibleGateway, I tallied all four categories.) Luke had the most at 39, this is not surprising given the that “Gentiles/Greeks” was his intended audience. John had only 9; these primarily were Jews saying Jesus had demons.

A rabbit-trail I went down briefly, was why are there three different groups of minions? At this point I did not find a good reason. Satan is in rebellion, but he still copies the Father’s plans because they work. So, there is some sort of hierarchy to his followers.

Jesus never was intimidated, nor did He retreat, or have to make a deal with the demons. In Matthew 8, I see a classic deflection tactic, it did not work. In His practices, promises, and prophecies, Jesus extends His authority to us His Church. Luke documents demonic activity in Acts, Paul had authority. It is part of the struggle, but we have victory in Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews included two passages that speak to a future and final end to this: 1:13 and 10:13. When He comes, not if, Jesus will put all of this rebellion under His feet.