Neville Goddard on Luke 8:26-39 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Luke 8 in context

Scripture Focus

26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

27And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.

28When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

29(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)

30And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.

31And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

32And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

33Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

34When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.

35Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

36They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.

37Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.

38Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,

39Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Luke 8:26-39

Biblical Context

Jesus arrives in the Gadarenes and heals a man possessed by many demons; the man is restored, clothed and in his right mind, while the community reacts with fear and disruption, and Jesus commissions the healed to share his transformation.

Neville's Inner Vision

Luke 8:26-39 becomes a map of inner geography. The Gadarenes are not distant places but states of consciousness outside the known self. The man’s bondage by many devils is our own belief in limitation, the sense of self as fragmented and driven by fear. When Jesus asks, 'What is thy name?' the answer 'Legion' reveals the multiplicity of thoughts that claim authority in our life. The moment Jesus commands the unclean spirit to come out, notice that the power lies not in destroying but in naming and dissolving the false self. The demons beg not to be sent into the deep, a hint that our fears resist annihilation until we claim dominion of awareness over them. Casting the demons into the swine and their plunge into the lake represents the cleansing of mental garbage that would pollute our life. The healed man sits at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind, a visible sign that a new consciousness has awakened. The villagers' fear is our own resistance to change; Jesus departs, but the inner healing remains as a witness within. The command to 'Return to thine own house' invites you to live from the revelation and tell what God hath done.

Practice This Now

Practice: Close your eyes and imagine you are the healed man, seated at the feet of Jesus, fully clothed in awareness. Feel the new mind arising and quietly affirm: God hath done great things for me.