The Mark 5 story, where Jesus casts out a legion of demons, raises doubts about his goodness. We're going to look at a story where Jesus helps a man, but it seems like something darker was actually going on. Jesus does not come out of this story looking good.
The story in question is of Jesus casting out a group of demons and sending them into a herd of pigs, as recounted in the Gospel of Mark. This is significant because Mark was the first Gospel, the earliest version we have, and the others copied it.
New International Version (NIV) – Mark
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.When Jesus got out of the boat...
The Gerasenes were about 60 km inland, so Jesus couldn’t have arrived there by boat. Matthew changes the wording to “the region of the Gadarenes.” Christians often suppose this was an early copyist error, but if Mark made this mistake, he wouldn’t have been the first to get something so wrong, especially considering he knew better. Strangely, Luke—who claimed to have done careful research—wrote that it was the Gerasenes too (see Luke 8:26).
Even with the Gadarenes, the pigs would have had to travel quite a distance to get to the water. "Gadara itself, or anywhere relatively close to it, is still quite a distance—a number of miles/kilometers. The pigs would have had to be long-distance runners—not the picture painted for us in Mark or Luke, where the herd is on a hillside close to the water" (source: biblicalhistoricalcontext.com).
The argument that the location mentioned (Gerasenes vs. Gadarenes) is a critical error could be overstated. It's true that Mark refers to "Gerasenes" and Matthew uses "Gadarenes," but scholars note that in the ancient world, names for places could vary due to local dialects, the translation of terms, or the confusion over specific towns or regions. The discrepancy is typically understood as a minor textual issue rather than a major contradiction.
I wish to say that in such a serious claim and without proof that dialects were to blame it is safe to assume there is no overstating.
Now back to Mark's story. My comments follow each quote.
"A man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him."
The man goes to meet Jesus—strange behavior for someone who’s supposed to be possessed. It makes as much sense as someone who wants to stay sick going to the doctor.
"This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him."
This implies the man would need to be killed in self-defense. And surely he would have been a danger and shot with an arrow or a lance fired.
And, the fact that God allows a possession to go that far is worrying.
"Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him."
How did this man know that Jesus was to be worshipped? The demons must have told him. That could suggest that Jesus and the demons were on the one side.
It is impossible to believe that the man, while possessed, runs to Jesus and honors him by kneeling!
"He shouted at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name, don’t torture me!' For Jesus had said to him, 'Come out of this man, you impure spirit!'."
Jesus tells the spirit to depart—but it ignores him. That’s hardly encouraging if you want to believe Jesus had such power that demons fled at his command.
Then, the man—not the spirit—replies. He claims that the exorcism is cruel and torments him. He may have meant that it tortures him, not just the demons.
Religion often doesn't want to admit that exorcism is violent and abusive, so it says the man somehow is the demons, yet they remain distinct from him. They seem to be distinct but not separate. Some argue that the demons are speaking to Jesus, but we must remember that it's the man who protests the prospect of torture.
The simplest interpretation is likely the best: Jesus was a threat to the man.
"Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' 'My name is Legion,' he replied, 'for we are many.' And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area."
It could be argued that the “he” here does not mean the man personally; it means the man as possessed. It's not the man speaking, but rather the demons. Jesus even refers to it as a demon and then demons, almost as if you have something like the Trinity, where one person is three persons at the same time.
Jesus assumes there is one demon, but the “he” in “he replied” must refer to the man himself. He didn’t want the demons to leave—he was speaking in their name.
It's interesting that Jesus tells the spirit to come out, and only afterward finds out that it is not just one spirit but a legion of demonic companions. Does he not know what he’s doing? Did more demons enter when he told the first one to leave? Maybe Jesus was only pretending to want them gone.
Exorcists are supposed to identify how many demons, if any, are present first. It seems Jesus doesn’t even have the responsibility to attempt an assessment.
The most sensible interpretation is that, instead of the demon obeying Jesus and leaving, it summoned hundreds of other demons.
What on earth was so special about the area? Are the demons still there today? It's strange that the demons pleaded to stay locally. If Jesus really had power over them, surely they would have wanted to put as much distance between themselves and him as possible.
"A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, 'Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.' He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned."
So a herd of pigs were kept near a dangerous man? Another lie.
Obviously, Jesus' permission decides who is going to be possessed or not! It's really Jesus who should be exorcised from people, not the demons! Also, the message here is clear: demons can kill, or God kills possessed entities to save them. The implication is that, in some cases, it might be right to murder possession victims.
The story says that Jesus put the demons into pigs. The pigs then drowned themselves under the control of the demons. This is sometimes said to be a sign of how demons destroy whatever they inhabit. But then, why didn’t they destroy the man? Did they get him to murder people? Imagine the dangers if murderers could start blaming the devil for their crimes!
A Catholic book claims that the pigs did this because they saw the demonized man and were scared. That's nonsense. They did it because the demons were in them. If the man had scared them, they might have drowned themselves already. And why did they all drown? Mere fear can't explain that. Another interpretation is that possession by something so evil makes you want to kill yourself. This could even be a stab at victims of suicide.
The cursed pigs had to travel a long way to find water—miles and miles. They showed strength in doing so, but that only emphasizes their strength. Jesus didn’t cast the demons out of Legion; he simply transferred them. The animals died unnecessarily, painfully, and not for food.
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
The pig tenders wouldn’t have been there either - if the man had been as dangerous and roaming free as the start of the story suggests. And if they were so surprised to see the man normal, it would imply that he had been constantly possessed before. He must have been possessed when he worshipped Jesus too.
"When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid."
Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well.
Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
No wonder! He had done black magic and unnecessarily hurt the pigs. Why didn’t they ever beg the possessed man to leave? What was it about Jesus that unsettled them? The answer is obvious!
"As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, 'Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'"
Again, the sea was miles away. This is a lie. God is the one who caused the possession by withholding mercy.
"So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
All the people must have been gullible. Even if the story were true, it doesn't mean that everyone should have been so uncritical and amazed.
More Thoughts
The New Testament says that Jesus cast demons out of a man. Jesus said that demons, when expelled from one person, will return if they can't find another host. This is a strange doctrine. A host being hard to find seems improbable, especially if animals would suffice.
Jesus is making an excuse for a person supposedly freed from demons showing signs of possession again.
To naïve people, it looked like Jesus put demons into pigs and rid the world of them when the pigs rushed to their deaths. But that would only leave the demons free to possess people elsewhere! Jesus didn’t save the pigs, despite having the power to do so, and his alleged power could have stopped the demons from driving the animals mad. The whole thing was about fooling people to get followers for Jesus.
What was supposed to happen to the demons after the pigs died? Where did they go? What was the point?
I wonder, did the demons then return to the man after all—maybe not immediately, but later?
FINALLY
The story of Jesus casting out a legion of demons in Mark 5 raises troubling questions about his actions and intentions. While often viewed as a miraculous act of mercy, the narrative reveals a darker side. The man, despite being possessed, runs to Jesus, and the demons beg him not to expel them, suggesting an unsettling connection between Jesus and the demonic forces. The transfer of demons into the pigs, leading to their mass suicide, feels unnecessary and violent, raising doubts about Jesus’ true motivations. Instead of liberating the man, Jesus’ actions cause widespread destruction and fear, leaving the demons free to roam. The local people, disturbed by what happened, ask Jesus to leave, further hinting that his power may have been more about spectacle than salvation. This story challenges the portrayal of Jesus as purely good, inviting deeper reflection on the ethical implications of his actions.
It was cruel of Jesus to send the demons into the pigs, especially knowing their intent. If the demons were going to harm the pigs, then Jesus, by allowing it, shares as much blame as they do—if not more. He was the one who chose to transfer them.
Jesus' exorcisms often seem more about spectacle than genuine deliverance. If demons truly wanted to stay in a person, why would they make their presence so overtly destructive? A subtler, more manipulative approach would be far more effective in leading people astray.
The story attempts to demonstrate Jesus' power over demons, but it fails to do so convincingly. His actions seem erratic, and he doesn’t even seem to know whether he's dealing with one demon or many.
Instead of healing the man, he simply shifts the possession to a herd of pigs. And after one of the demons calls him the “Holy One of God,” he still allows the situation to escalate into chaos.
The demons didn’t need the pigs; they just wanted bodies. But perhaps they drove the pigs to madness and suicide to create a dramatic spectacle, reinforcing Jesus' authority and spreading his fame.
The narrative feels more like a staged performance to elevate Jesus’ status than a compassionate act. It’s less about saving the man and more about asserting power over demons, all for the benefit of his followers. This doesn’t read as a holy miracle but more like a dark magic show.