And the demons were begging him and saying, “If you drive us out, allow us to go into that herd of pigs.”
These passages describe the moment when Jesus confronts the demon-possessed men, and the demons, realizing that they must come out of the people, beg to be sent into the herd (group) of pigs. Matthew 8:30 describes that the nearby pigs become part of the story, because the demons see them as an alternative “dwelling place” once they come out of the people. In this verse the demons ask Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. They know that they cannot resist Jesus’ power, so they try to find another way in order to avoid condemnation. Taken together, these passages show that evil spirits recognize Jesus’ divine authority and are aware of their powerlessness before him.