The strange scene where Jesus healed the possessed man and drove the demons into the swine needs to be understood in its context. The Gerasene territory was on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is, in Gentile territory. Any Jewish people who lived there would have somewhat fallen away from traditional practice — hence, the raising of pigs. After the healing, Jesus commissioned the the man who had been possessed to “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” He went into the Decapolis, that is Greek cities. All of which says, that Jesus kept expanding his vision of his mission to include more than the “lost sheep of Israel.”
