One day, however, Mary was determined that no such nuisance should be suffered in the country of the Gadarenes. The man must be clothed, though he was mad and crazy. And if he should at any future time strip himself, tie up his clothes in a bundle, throw them into the river, and tell them to go to see Abraham, he must be tied and taken care of. Well, this was all right—no sooner said than done. But, so soon as the fellow was bound in chains and fetters, Samson-like, he broke the bands asunder, and could not be tamed.
By this time, the devil became offended with the Gadarenes, and in a pout he took the demoniac away, and drove him into the wilderness. He thought the Gadarenes had no business to interfere and meddle with his property; for he had possession of the man. And he knew, that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It is probable that he wanted to send him home; for there was no knowing what might happen now-a-days. But there was too much matter about him to send him as he was; therefore, he thought the best plan would be to persuade him to commit suicide by cutting his throat. But here Satan was at a nonplus—his rope was too short—He could not turn executioner himself, as that would not have answered the design he has in view, when he wants people to commit suicide; for the act would have been his own sin and not the man’s. The poor demoniac, therefore, must go about to hunt a sharp stone, or any thing that he could get. He might have been in search of such an article, when he returned from the wilderness into the city, whence he came when he met the Son of God.
“Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. And when he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee torment me not.”
Here is the devil’s confession of faith. The devils believe and tremble, while men make a mock of sin, and sport on the brink of eternal ruin. To many of the human race, Christ appears as a root out of dry ground. They see in him neither form nor comeliness, and there is no beauty in him that they should desire him. Some said he was the carpenter’s son, and would not believe in him; others said he had a devil, and that it was through Beelzebub the chief of the devils, that he cast out devils; some cried out, Let him be crucified—let him be crucified; and others said, Let his blood be on us and on our children. As the Jews would not have him to reign over them; so many, who call themselves Christians, say that he is a mere man; as such, he has no right to rule over their consciences, and demand their obedience, adoration, and praise. But Diabolus knows better—Jesus is the Son of God most high.
Many of the children of the devil, whose work they do, differ very widely from their father in their sentiments respecting the person of Christ.
“Jesus commanded the legion of unclean spirits to come out of the man.” They knew that out they must go. But they were like Scotchmen—very unwilling to return to their own country. They would rather go into hogs’ skins than to their own country. And he suffered them to go into the herd of swine. Methinks that one of the men who fed the hogs, kept a better look out than the rest of them, and said, “What ail the hogs? Look sharp there, boys—keep them in—make good use of your whips. Why don’t you run? Why, I declare, one of them has gone over the cliff! There goes another! Drive them back.” Never was there such a running, and whipping, and hallooing; but down go the hogs, before they are aware of it. One of them said, “They are all gone!” “No, sure not all gone into the sea!” “Yes, every one of them, the black hog and all! They are all drowned!—the devil is in them! What shall we do now?—what can we say to the owners?” “What can we say?” said another. “We must tell the truth—that is all about it. We did our best—all that was in our power. What could any man do more?”
So they went their way to the city, to tell the masters what had happened. “John, where are you going,” exclaimed one of the masters. “Sir, did you know the demoniac that was among the tombs there?” “Demoniac among the tombs! Where did you leave the hogs?” “That madman, sir—” “Madman!—Why do you come home without the hogs?” “That wild and furious man, sir, that mistress was afraid of so much—” “Why John, I ask you a plain and simple question—why don’t you answer me? Where are the hogs?” “That man who was possessed with the devils, sir—” “Why, sure enough, you are crazy!—you look wild!—tell me your story, if you can, let it be what it may.” “Jesus Christ, sir, has cast out the unclean spirits out of the demoniac; they are gone into the swine; and they are all drowned in the sea; for I saw the tail of the last one!” The Gadarenes went out to see what was done, and finding that it was even so, they were afraid, and besought Jesus to depart from them.
How awful must be the condition of those men who love the things of this world more than Jesus Christ!
The man out of whom the unclean spirits were cast, besought Jesus that he might be with him. But he told him to return to his own house, and show how great things God had done unto him. And he went his way and published throughout the whole city of Decapolis, how great things Jesus had done unto him. The act of Jesus casting so many devils out of him, was sufficient to persuade him that Jesus was God as well as man.
I imagine I see him going through the city, crying—“O yes! O yes! O yes!—Please to take notice of me, the demoniac among the tombs. I am the man who was a terror to the citizens of this place—that wild man, who would wear no clothes, and that no man could bind. Here am I, now, in my right mind. Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, had compassion on me. He remembered me when I was in my low estate—when there was no eye to pity, and no hand to save. He cast out the devils and redeemed my soul from destruction.”