“Chapter 22: The Man with the Evil Spirits,” New Testament Stories (2005), 54–56
“Chapter 22,” New Testament Stories, 54–56
Chapter 22
The Man with the Evil Spirits
A man who lived in a cemetery by the Sea of Galilee had an evil spirit in him that made him act wild. People bound him with chains to control him, but he broke the chains.
The man spent all day and night in the mountains and caves. He cried all the time and cut himself with stones.
One day Jesus and His disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat. When the Savior left the boat, the man ran to Him.
Jesus told the evil spirit to come out of the man. The evil spirit knew Jesus was the Son of God. He asked Jesus not to hurt him.
When the Savior asked the evil spirit what his name was, he said, “My name is Legion,” which means many. Many evil spirits were in the man. They asked Jesus to let them enter the bodies of some nearby pigs.
Jesus agreed. The evil spirits left the man and went into the bodies of about 2,000 pigs. The pigs ran down a hill into the sea and drowned.
The men who cared for the pigs ran to the city and told people what had happened. The people came and saw Jesus and the wild man. But the man was not wild anymore.
This made the people afraid of Jesus. They asked Him to go away. He went back to the boat.
The man who was healed wanted to go with Him. The Savior told him to go home instead and tell his friends what had happened to him.
The man told his friends, and they were amazed at Jesus’s great power.