From his lair this madman rushed upon Jesus to avenge this invasion of his domains. But suddenly he stopped, seemed bewildered, terrified, and, falling upon his knees, gazed upon the approaching stranger with speechless astonishment. Calmly Jesus addressed him, saying, “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit!” Then ensued the following very singular colloquy:―― The demoniac, with a loud voice, cried out, “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.” Jesus replied, “What is thy name?” “My name is Legion,” answered the demoniac; “for we are many.” The devils then besought Jesus that they might not be sent out of the country, so congenial to them, of desolation, rocks, and deserted tombs. Upon one of the cliffs which bordered the lake there was a herd of swine, nearly two thousand in number: “So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.” Jesus said unto them, “Go. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were choked in the sea.” It is, perhaps, not strange that these demons should, under the circumstances, have conducted in a manner to us utterly inexplicable. Certainly no attempts, thus far, to show the reasonableness of their course, have proved successful. The keepers of the swine fled, reporting throughout the region the disaster which had befallen them, doubtless much more impressed by the loss of the swine than by the restoration of their brother-man from the possession of demons. The desolate country on this side of the lake was inhabited by a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. As the Jews were forbidden by their own laws to keep swine, the keepers were either engaged in illegal business, or were Gentiles. Not far from the scene of this miracle was the small city of Gergasa. The report soon reached its streets. An immense multitude, “the whole city,” flocked out “to see what was done.” They found the man, whose maniacal fury had been the terror of the whole community, sitting calm and peaceful, “in his right mind,” conversing with Jesus. But they mourned the loss of the swine. Still they stood in such fear of the power of Jesus, that they did not dare to molest him, but, with one accord, entreated him to depart out of their coasts. Jesus responded to their wishes by re-entering the ship, and returning to the other side of the lake. The grateful man, who had been thus miraculously delivered from the most awful doom, begged for permission to accompany him; but Jesus withheld his consent, saying,―― “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”[14]