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That this was the

which he well knew awaited him at last. meaning, appears from the question of alarm recorded by Matthew: "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" This question was spoken in such a manner, and had such a distinct reference to the fate awaiting the fallen angels, that it could not possibly have been suggested by mere lunacy, and plainly indicated, if words have any meaning, the actual presence and agency of devils. The evangelist now states a circumstance which he had not introduced in the order of time, namely, that our Lord had "commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man," previous to his expressing himself to the effect just mentioned. The demoniac, feeling that the command must be obeyed, had time, notwithstanding, to put in the forementioned request. And not only so, but, before the actual dispossession, "Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name?" He who knew all things, could not request an answer to remove any ignorance of his own; but the question was intended and contrived, to elicit important information, for the benefit of men. And the unclean spirit, using the man's organs of speech, "answered, saying (according to Mark), "My name is Legion; for we are many:" or, as in Luke, he said, "Legion: because many devils were entered into him." A legion was a body of Roman soldiers, not always consisting of the same number, though conveying the idea, pretty nearly, of a particular number. As we might say of a regiment of soldiers with us, that it consists of a thousand men, more or less; so we may say of the Roman legion, that it contained six thousand men, more or less. From this question and its answer, we may infer that the fallen angels have proper names; that they are orderly (we read, indeed, of their prince, and of the devil and his angels); that they are arrayed in rebellion against God; and that they are very numerous and powerful. If so many evil spirits as deserved to be called a legion, were associated on this one occasion, their number altogether must be very great, and the subject relating to them must, as considered in itself, appear very alarming.

Luke tells us, in the 31st verse, and, changing the mode of description from the singular to the plural number, that the devils "besought Christ that he would not command them to go out into the deep." The word in our language, which corresponds exactly with the original word here rendered "the deep," is, "the abyss." The word signifies the bottomless place; and is used here as in other places, for hell, or the

bottomless pit. It is the same word which is rendered "the bottomless pit" in the 9th, 11th, 17th, and 20th chapters of the Revelation. In 2 Pet. ii. 4, we read, "God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." And in Jude, 6th verse: "The angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Taking these two passages in connexion with what we read here and elsewhere, of the agency of evil spirits on earth; and especially, considering what is said, in the Revelation, of the old serpent, the devil, or Satan, being at one time bound, and cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up, and at another time "loosed out of his prison:" it appears that, though these fallen spirits are generally confined, yet some of them are occasionally permitted to go forth, and then remanded to prison; and that their final and universal imprisonment, and heaviest punishment, will take place at the day of judgment. These evil spirits, here at large, besought Christ that he would not immediately send them down to hell, but allow them to remain for some time on earth. According to Mark, the unclean spirit besought Christ much "that he would not send them away out of the country;" expressing a wish to continue, not only on earth, but in the particular region where they then were. There are some who, noticing what is said in the 10th chapter of Daniel, are of opinion that there are certain of the holy angels particularly concerned in the affairs of certain countries, under the direction of Michael their prince, or some other leader; and also, certain of the fallen angels, under Satan their prince. Alluding to this opinion, and speaking of the evil spirits mentioned in this passage, Doddridge has this note: "These, who perhaps were spirits of distinguished abilities, might be appointed to reside hereabouts, to oppose as much as possible the beneficial designs of Christ; and having made their observations on the characters and circumstances of the inhabitants, they might be capable of doing more mischief here than elsewhere, and on that account might desire leave to continue on the spot."

While this was passing, there happened to be within their sight, though a good way off from them, "an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain." Mark tells us that "they were about two thousand." The devils, knowing that Christ's permission was necessary, and that they were entirely subject

to his restraint, "besought him that he would suffer them to enter into the swine." In this request, they were, probably, influenced by a propensity to do mischief, and by the expectation of prejudicing the Gadarenes against Christ by the loss of property they would sustain. Our Lord permitted the devils to do as they had requested, saying unto them, "Go." "Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine," &c.; such was the maddening power they exerted, that "the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked" in the waters. This most extraordinary and tremendous result proves, beyond a doubt, that the possession was literal, and that the dispossession was a real and miraculous dispossession, without any deceit or collusion. The result of the miracle which our Lord now performed, cannot but strike the attentive reader as very different from the usual result of his miracles. His miracles were commonly miracles of kindness, in every sense-miracles by which even the temporal situation of men was much improved: but here the result was a great loss of property to the inhabitants of the country. At the same time, there was nothing in this to justify the insinuation of cruelty and injustice which infidels have sometimes thrown out; on the contrary, all this was a display of justice, wisdom, and mercy, on the part of our Lord. Not to insist on the distinction between the mere permission, and the actual agency, in this case (a just and important distinction, however, else how could the character of God be vindicated in his permission of any moral evil?) though our Lord had destroyed this herd himself, and without any diabolical agency, he would have been perfectly justifiable in so doing; for this loss, be it observed, was a righteous punishment of the Gadarenes for their profane and illegal conduct in keeping such animals at all. Swine, you will be aware, were reckoned among the unclean animals by the law of Moses; and the Jews were positively prohibited from eating of their flesh. Their having them was, at least, a temptation to eat them: their keeping them at all, their breeding them, though it were only for the purpose of gain by selling them to Gentiles, was certainly inconsistent, if not with the letter, at least with the spirit, of the divine law; and in fact, there were enactments of the Jewish rulers,* declaring the keeping of swine to be infamous and illegal. The Gadarenes, then, were justly punished on this occasion. Moreover, when we take into view the whole * See proofs of this in Lightfoot's Horæ on Matt. viii. 30.

of this history-the merciful deliverance of the demoniacs, the illustration of the dignity and divine mission of Christ, and the influence which the miracle, with its accompaniments, ought to have had on the Gadarenes, and which it is still calculated to have on all who read it, in leading to saving faith and godly fear-we must perceive that there is here no exception to the usual beneficial tendency of Christ's miracles, but that this too is a miracle of kindness.

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When the swine-feeders “saw what was done,” how the demoniacs were delivered, and the herd destroyed, "they fled, and went and told it in the city, that is, in the town of Gadara," and in the" adjacent "country." On this, many of the people "went out to see" what had happened, and to satisfy themselves by personal observation and inquiry. When they came to Jesus, they found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus," in the calm posture of an humble disciple, listening to his instruction. In the East, the custom was, and still is, for the teacher to take his station in a central position, with the scholars seated on the ground, in a semicircle: of course, the scholars, while learning, would be literally at his feet; and we easily perceive how this way of speaking was adopted. Paul says that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, to intimate that he had been educated by Gamaliel. In the passage under consideration, the attitude may convey, in addition to this, the idea of deep gratitude, reverence, and worship. And whereas formerly, the man tore his garments from off his body, and was in a state of complete frenzy, now they found him decently "clothed, and in his right mind," restored to his senses and composed. When they beheld this, "they were afraid;" they were filled with that alarming amazement which usually comes on the irreligious at the consciousness of the presence of Deity, and the display of divine power. When they further learned, from those who had been present, all the particulars of the dispossession, and also of the destruction of the herd by the agency of the ejected demons, they were still more alarmed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about," together with the whole inhabitants of the city of Gadara, who are expressly mentioned by Matthew as coming out to meet Christ, and putting up this request-instead of being rejoiced at the presence of so glorious a person, and beseeching him to remain with them, that they might learn of him the way of life eternal; preferring their worldly and sordid gain to the good of their

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souls, grieved and offended at the loss which they had already sustained, and afraid of additional judgments, blindly, ungratefully, and basely, "besought him to depart from them," or, as it is expressed by the other evangelists, "to depart out of their coasts"-to leave their country altogether. This wicked request he, in just judgment, complied with, and immediately went on board the ship, to return to the other side of the lake. Very different was the desire of the man for whom the gracious deliverance was wrought. When he saw Jesus about to cross over, he proposed to accompany him, and besought him that he might be" allowed to continue "with him ;”—influenced, no doubt, both by gratitude for the past, and by a concern for his safety and benefit for the future. Jesus, however, being the best judge of what in such circumstances was most becoming, and best adapted to promote the great design which he had ever in view, did not allow the man to accompany him, but "sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published" not only to his own house, but "throughout the whole city," nay, according to Mark, in all Decapolis-a region in which (as the word signifies) were ten cities-" how great things Jesus had done for him." The people, knowing his former wretched condition, marvelled at the great change effected on him.* Thus, this most miserable, most dreaded, and most abhorred man, became, by divine power and grace, the most interesting and useful person in all the country. He continued a living demonstration of the Saviour's power and mercy, and a constant preacher, so to speak, of his fame; and we may believe that he was the means of gaining for Christ and his disciples a more favourable reception with some of the people, when they next visited those regions.

In reconsidering this part of sacred history, with a view to our own edification, in the present circumstances of the world, it may be observed,

1. That we see, in this miserable demoniac, a striking picture of every man who is under the influence of Satan, in the spiritual sense. It is true that Satan, though he may influence the human body in a way of which we are not aware, is not now permitted to take possession of men in the same known and obvious way as formerly in the days of Christ. But let us beware of the infidel and profane sentiment and conduct of the modern Sadducees, who say that

* Mark.

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