Note: this is a re-post of part of the story of Jesus and the disciples as they encountered the demonically possessed man on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The encounter of Jesus with the Gadarene demoniac is one of the most amazing supernatural events in the Bible. What’s interesting about this incident is that everything about it is deliberate from the perspective of Jesus as well as the perspective of the demonic entities. It was a clash between the power of the fallen, demonic realm and the power of God. Jesus came to preach the Kingdom of God and display its complete dominance over the kingdom of the evil one. This clash in the country of the Gadarene was one of the most powerful examples of that dominance evident in the gospels.

When Jesus began his ministry, people were in darkness, completely under the oppression of demonic entities that held them in bondage. People were possessed by demons. Many others had demonically originated afflictions, while others were simply sick with disease or other ailments. They were sitting in the land of darkness, unable to do anything about it. But the King had come to bring the supernatural power of God to bear upon the supernatural power of evil. The great light had come to the land of darkness.

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Matthew 4:16

From that moment, Jesus began to bring healing, deliverance, and truth to defeat the affliction, possession, and lies of the forces of evil and darkness that had held people for so long. The dominance of the darkness was over. From this point on, it would be the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of satan. Remember the temptation of Jesus in the desert when satan offered his kingdom to Messiah? Satan had no idea what was about to happen. His offer was irrelevant. Jesus had come to take it by force.

Crossing the Sea of Galilee to the land of the shadow of death takes the spiritual battle to a new level on the enemy’s own territory. It would be Messiah against thousands of demonic entities. This amazing supernatural incident does not begin with the confrontation between Jesus and the demon possessed men, it actually begins when Jesus orders his disciples into the boats to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus had just finished a teaching of several parables, one of which is the key to understanding the kingdom of God. He had also corrected the Pharisees about who he is, how deliverance from demonic possession works, and what happens to demons when they are cast out. Why was Jesus taking his disciples to the other side of the lake? They must have had the same question. But Messiah knew exactly where he was going, what was waiting on the other side, and what the outcome would be. From a spiritual standpoint, Jesus had not yet faced anything like what he was about to face.

The Decapolis

There are several geographic clues in the synoptic gospels about where this incident takes place. None of the gospels are specific although there is a traditional site you can visit today. This country is identified in the gospel of Matthew as the region of the Gadarenes and in the gospel of Mark and Luke as the region of the Gerasenes. There are a few other geographic clues in the synoptic gospels but suffice to say the region of the Gadarene is the region of the Gerasenes is the region of the decapolis. Its not an inconsistency between the gospels regarding the general area described because its a large area that covers most of the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.

The decapolis area, where the afflicted men roamed, is a pagan, gentile territory, replete with tombs. Many of the tombs date back to the Bronze Age and perhaps earlier, in the form of dolmens which may have served as portals to the underworld to commune with the dead. The region is a necropolis almost the entire length of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This is literally the land of the dead, the stomping grounds of satan…and Jesus is headed there in a boat.

The Opportunity

Satan knew Jesus was coming. We don’t hear too much about satan after the temptation in the desert but the bible does say that he was waiting for another opportunity. So where was he as Messiah began His ministry? I think its safe to assume that satan was there at the baptism of Jesus and had surely been following his ministry after the failed temptation in the desert.

Temptation to win Jesus over to his way of thinking was defeated by the Son of God using the Word of God to nullify the deceptions skillfully used by the evil one. Clearly deception was a failed strategy, so the strategy was now one of destruction. Destroy messiah; destroy his ministry; destroy his followers, destroy God’s redemptive purpose.

Satan’s kingdom had come under direct assault by Jesus who was casting out every single demon He encountered, with 100% effectiveness. He knew things about the fallen realm that nobody else knew. There was, so far, nothing the forces of darkness could do to stop Him…and now he is headed to a satanic stronghold on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Satan knew he was coming.

Now the fact that messiah was in a boat on the water did present an opportunity. The boat was vulnerable and Satan remembered something used against Job’s family. Demonic forces had produced a localized gale force wind to bring down a structure on the heads of Job’s family, killing some of them. So, perhaps conjuring up another gale to overturn the boats in the middle of deep water just might work. Clearly the evil one, the prince of the power of the air, had this ability.

So here is the situation: a gale force wind comes up suddenly (probably conjured by demonic forces) and threatens to overturn the boat. Messiah knows he is crossing into enemy territory and that he will encounter thousands of demons. He is now subjected to an attempt to drown Him and His disciples and the disciples are terrified. His response? Take a nap. Satan is threatening the boat with a conjured up gale in an attempt to terminate the ministry of Messiah and there is Jesus sleeping peacefully.

The disciples, fearing for their lives, awaken Jesus pleading for Him to do something. So He overturns the power of Satan, again, and calms the storm. Its sort of like the sorcery of Pharaoh’s magicians who changed their staffs into snakes. The sorcery is overturned by the power of God through Moses whose staff turns into a snake that devours the snakes of the sorcerers. The gale conjured through sorcery is overturned by the power of God to calm the sea and diminish the wind.

As the boat approaches, the only thing left for Satan to do is send a legion of demons and wait for Jesus to land on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.