Luke 8:33

‘And the demons came out from the man, and entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep into the lake, and were drowned.'

The reaction was instantaneous. The evil spirits entered the swine. But animals are more conscious of such evil influences than people are (compare Balaam's ass, and the fact that dogs are often said to whimper in the presence of mysterious influences). Thus the pigs, seeking to escape the evil influences, immediately raced down a slope into the sea and were drowned. Even the unclean pigs could not stand the evil spirits. The idea may be that the evil spirits had gone to the Abyss after all. But at least they were no longer around in order to possess men.

The evil spirits had thus failed in their attempts to save themselves, but the progression of their campaign is interesting. Firstly, on His commanding them to go they had indicated that they had nothing in common with Him. He was the Son of the Most High God, Lord of another world. It was not yet time for Him to come and torment them. Let Him leave them alone. Perhaps also they thought that the exposure of His name, which He sought to keep from the people, would ‘frighten Him off'. Then they informed Him that they were an army, a Legion. There were many of them and they were ready to resist. Then as they recognised His insistence and their helplessness they pleaded not to be sent to the Abyss. Then they suggested that they could enter the pigs. Once there they would be ‘out of His territory' in an unclean place. And finally they went to the Abyss, still struggling. Their defeat was total.

We have already considered why Jesus allowed the evil spirits to go into the pigs. It was a rebuke to those who kept pigs in what was once ‘Jewish' territory in open disobedience against God (it had once been ruled by the Jews), it was an indication of God's desire to cleanse the land by removing all uncleanness, it consigned the evil spirits to the sea, and it was especially an indication of God's opinion of evil spirits. They were only fit for ‘unclean' pigs.

Some have asked whether this slaughter of the swine could be justified. But to One Who had such authority anything was surely justified that He decided was best and necessary for the delivery of the man (it is a position where the arguer cannot win. If Jesus was in a position to give this permission to evil spirits then He is above our criticism, if He did not then the question does not arise). And we should note that it was not Jesus but the pigs possessed by the evil spirits who were responsible for the damage. And they had not intended the pigs to drown. Besides being such a large herd He would know that they belonged to a wealthy man who, while he would suffer financially, would not be unduly harmed. (And in the end as Lord of creation they were His anyway).