1 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs. 3 He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains, 4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him. 5 Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him, 7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.” 8 For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

9 He asked him, “What is your name?”

He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding. 12 All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”

13 At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea. 14 Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country.

The people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs. 17 They began to beg him to depart from their region.

18 As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.”

20 He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.

Mark 5:1-20 - World English Bible

The exorcism of the demonic from Garderenes placed the Jewish sense of kosher in the background of a Gentile neighborhood. Gadarenes sat on the eastern shore of the Jordan river, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. The town of Gadara itself lies on a ridge that slopes gently to the east, but falls steeply on the other three sides (the west side faced water, see 5:13). This area was part of the Decapolis, or "Ten Cities" in Greek; Romans and Greeks settled the region, so this was Gentile territory.

Jesus and his disciples arrived to evangelize among the Gentiles, but an uncontrollable demonic greeted them. The phrase "man with an unclean spirit" set the tone form the rest of the passage. The man clearly had a severe mental illness, with self destructive tendencies (which violated the Torah; see Leviticus 19:28). The fact that the man could not be contained symbolized evil run amok; Mark's gospel heighten the sense of chaos with two details: he lived among the dead (forbidden in Numbers 19:13) and he broke any type of restrain, even ones that seemed impossible to destroy. This man, then, exemplified the terms "possessed" and "unclean."

Notice the reaction of the man to the sight of Jesus; the demonic came to worship him and beg for mercy (5:6). While Jesus did exorcise the demons out of the man (they were "legion" in 6:9), the evil spirits wanted to go from one unclean vessel into others; hence, they possessed a herd of pigs (the definition of non-kosher animals) who continued the same self destructive behavior the man had. After the suicide of the pigs, the news spread about the miracle; the man was now sane, but the pigs were dead. The crowd reacted strangely in the same way the demonic did; they begged Jesus to leave because they feared the change (the torment?) he might bring. In the end, the man wanted to travel with Jesus (and leave an area he feared might not accept him), but Jesus turned him down. Instead, the former demonic was to return home and evangelize his family and friends.

Everyone has their "demons." How has God helped you with yours?