Sometimes rest is hard to come by. It had been a busy day and eventful night and was about to be a memorable morning. No sooner had Jesus stepped out of the boat, on the other side of the sea, than a strange man came out to meet him.

There was definitely something not right about this man. He lived among the tombs, like his home was a graveyard. He made loud screams. He cut himself with stones. He tore chains apart and was so strong that no one could keep him under control.

You might think this man just needed a good night’s sleep or a better diet or maybe some medicine. But he had more serious problems. This man had an unclean spirit. That doesn’t mean he needed to wash his hands and brush his teeth (even though those are good ideas). It means the devil had taken control of his life.

When the man saw Jesus, he cried out in a loud voice, “What are you doing, Jesus? You are the Son of the Most High God! Stay away from me!” Even though the disciples didn’t know who Jesus was, the demons did. They understood that Jesus was God’s Son, that Jesus was powerful, and that because they were evil, Jesus was their enemy.

But Jesus did not want to hurt this scared and scary man. Jesus was out to get the devil, which is why he kept saying, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

Jesus then turned to the shrieking man and asked him his name. “My name is Legion,” the man answered, “for we are many.” A legion was a gathering of troops. The demons were saying to Jesus, “There are thousands of us, and we are in a battle against God and the people he made!”

Now you might think that thousands of demons against Jesus was hardly a fair fight. And you’d be right. The demons didn’t stand a chance. They begged the Snake Crusher to be nice to them. Jesus did not send them out of the country, but he sent them into a herd of pigs instead. The poor pigs rushed down a big hill and fell into the sea.

You might feel bad for the pigs, but the demons killed the pigs, not Jesus. And even though we want to be kind to animals, the life of a human being is always more important.

The demons were gone. The pigs had been lost. But one man had been saved. He wasn’t scared or scary anymore. He went home to his friends and told them what the Lord had done for him, and everyone was amazed.