[3] However, other commentators have attempted to make the story consistent with a Jesus who shows "care and concern for animals," as John Austin Baker wrote. Matt 10:5-6; 15:24). The choice is to be free by submission to Christ (cf. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. The mountainside has caves and hewn tombs where, according to Mark and Luke, the demoniac had taken shelter. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but . It is not difficult to imagine what was going through the minds of the disciples as their ship landed and as these two demon possessed men rushed to them. If total energies differ across different software, how do I decide which software to use? Daily Reflection / Produced by The High Calling, 10 Key Points About Work in the Bible Every Christian Should Know, Beyond Rank and Power: What Philemon Tells Us About Leadership, Learning From the Psalms How to Pray Through Your Work, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. First of all, the EPA would have been investigating the pollution of Lake Galilee with decaying pigs. xvi. Do not be afraid. verse 5). In this context, however, he insists that legion has nothing of its usual Roman military overtones, but is the designation of numerous powers which oppose themselves to Jesus as the embodiment of the power of God. Lane, Mark, fn. But Jesus told him to go back. Perhaps they clenched their fists or picked up driftwood with which to defend themselves. went through a storm to help one person, that is, the wild man of Gadara. Thats why also Peter having realized who Christ was, was dreaded and asked Him to leave him for he said to be a sinful man (Luke 5:8). He could think! (Jos. We are not by Matt Slick | Apr 6, 2023 | Bible Studies. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. When addressed, the person was the mouthpiece of the demon (such as Legion, Mark 5:9). It was Jesus they were afraid of. Then any greatest of men, like any prophet, hero or king? I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. 117 so that, by their own confession, a time is coming when there shall be an entire victory of the kingdom of light over that of darkness (Rev. The Synoptic Gospels record one episode of Jesus calming a violent storm: "Then [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Pigs were seen as unclean animals in the eyes of the people of Israel. Jesus is conscious that He now breaks the power of the devil and his angels because He is the One in whom the dominion of God is present on behalf of humanity. W. Foerster, as quoted by Lane, Mark, fn. Here is where Satan can use a man to influence scores of people, blinding minds and hearts to the truths of the Word of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). The people were gentiles who had not yet any interest in the Messiah. The demonically possessed man who came to Jesus cried out his name was Legion. This is just five miles from Capernaum, where Jesus had previously been, so it makes sense. [5] In this version, Jesus does not ask for the demon's name, which is considered an important element of traditional exorcism practice. I know this, yet, like the people in the story, I can hesitate. Also, the wholesale slaughter of these pigs dramatically illustrated the destructive purposes of the demons. There is no contradiction, therefore, in the evangelists. We should know from other Scriptures that our present spiritual experience is one of spiritual warfare. 5:5). My office mate of several years back was interrupted by a young and very zealous new Christian teacher accompanied by a student from whom she wanted my friend to cast out a demon. We come to a riveting, compelling, fascinating, gripping story, an incident in the life of our Lord which introduces us again to His divine power. 32, after Passover. At times, my honest prayer might be: Lord, yes, do in me the things I want you to do. where something similar occurs) is a demon-possession mentioned, and that outside the Gospels it is referred to only twice in the New Testament (Acts xvi. The Roman city Gerasa was a famous city that would have been familiar to a Gentile audience, but Gadara, as the capital city of the Roman province of Perea, was the chief of the ten cities in Decapolis (Lenski, 1946, p. 205; Coffman, 1975, p. 85; Youngblood, 1995, p. 468), so even those who lived in Gerasa could have been called Gadarenes. What was it that they saw? The ego is so impaired that the spirits speak through him. On the other hand, it may be correct to understand that although there were many demons, they had combined as one force to possess this man.119 While Mark records Legions request as one of not being sent out of the country (verse 10), Luke adds a significant explanation by interpreting the meaning behind this request: And they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the abyss (Luke 8:31). There is a lot we do not know about the Decapolis, but we know enough to be enlightened concerning Jesus' visits to this Hellenistic area. This and hundreds of other resources are available free on our site due to the Lord's provision of generous financial supporters. And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Over his son GAD he said: "Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last." Now WHERE in the New Testament do you remember hearing about something like a 'troop'? In this instance, each writer intended to draw attention to an area close to the Sea of Galilee. The three passages that describe the incident with the demoniacs in the country of the Gerasenes, also called Gadarenes, are Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. The tomb-man had beaten off much larger men in his demonic rages. The Greek word in Matthew 8:28, however, reveals that Jesus went to the country of the Gadarenes (p. 23). He was used to seeing fear in their eyes. [8] The city of Gerasa had been a major urban center since its founding and during the Roman period it was the more widely known among the ten-city league known as the Decapolis. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Also, frequently associated with demon possession was a super-human strength (cf. Even in our sophisticated times, there is an intense interest in the supernatural and the occult. Short story about swapping bodies as a job; the person who hires the main character misuses his body, English version of Russian proverb "The hedgehogs got pricked, cried, but continued to eat the cactus". Published iii. 3. His lucid mind mulled over the words, "Son of the Most High God.". The Matthew account mentions two demon-possessed men, while Mark and Luke only mention one. Clarify If they would just listen to what he had to say. Bibliography W. A. Thomson, The Land and the Book (1882), 333-338, 353, 359; C. H. Kraeling, Gerasa, City of the Decapolis (1938); The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible (1946), 64, 117; M. F. Unger, Archaeology and the NT (1962), 139-141; E. Lohmeyer, Das Evangelium des Markus (1963), 93f; C. F. Pfeiffer, The Biblical World (1966), 252-254. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. God has commisioned us to work and create, to develop the resources he has given us and share with those in need. (3) Our Lord was moved with compassion by the torment of Legion and the loss of these pigs should in no way dim our view of the deliverance of the demoniac. The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (Matthew 8.28-34; Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39), frequently known as the Miracle of the (Gadarene) Swine and the exorcism of Legion, is one of the miracles performed by Jesus according to the New Testament. Ouija boards are found in many American homes. recognizes the military background of the term, pointing out that in the imperial period a legion consisted of 6000 foot soldiers, 120 horsemen and technical personnel. 8; Mark vi. Its important to note that this was the first demonstration of Jesuss authority outside of Canaan. Can devils entreat in such a manner any highest of angels, be he Michael, Gabriel or Raphael, or any greatest cherub or seraph? Apologetics Press is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to the defense of New Testament Christianity. A noise made them all turn back toward the hill. But Jesus had other plans. The Madman. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. The drowning of the swine was an accident, possibly simultaneous with the healing, and report mixed up the two incidents. They are unclean spirits, (vss. This reversal of the scapegoat mechanism by Jesus is central to Girard's entire reading of Christianity, and this reversal is on display in this story as well. But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. Romans Bible Study, Chapter 5 Romans 5 speaks about justification and our relationship to Adam. Be my Lord! He had only known Jesus for a few hours, but had already determined to be Jesus' disciple for life. It is almost 20 miles from Amman (Philadelphia), and 22 from Fahil (Pella). What does 'They're at four. The people (nations) were divided up, and boundaries allocated' and the sons of god were put over these nations. 16ff., xix. Gerasa is identified from various sources as a city in Arabia, Decapolis, Gilead, or Perea. It would seem that these people had no Messianic expectations, and therefore wanted nothing to do with One Who had such awesome power, a power over which they had no control. People try to make Jesus king; he walks on sea; heals many. Finally, there is in demon possession a counterpart to the filling (or control) of the Holy Spirit. 16K views, 545 likes, 471 loves, 3K comments, 251 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from EWTN: Starting at 8 a.m. For the reason why this is so we refer the reader to the introduction preceding the exposition of verses 33-7. No fear. No matter what men attempted to bind him with, he broke loose. John imagines what the back-story of this man might have been and explores themes of redemption and reconciliation. Proof of their awareness of their own contradiction lies in the fact that the chains are never strong enough to convince their victim of their good intentions toward him."[15]. Romans 6 speaks about our identification with Christ in baptism and being dead to sin and alive in Christ. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.110. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. They were sacrificed by being thrown off a cliff. 68f. Does a password policy with a restriction of repeated characters increase security? 122 Quoted by Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to Saint Luke, (Edinburg: T. and T. Clark, 5th ed., 1969): p. 228. And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. It is clear that Matthew, Mark, and Luke did not contradict each otherin fact, they complemented each other. As indicated in the textual note, the best Greek text reads Gerasenes in Mark and Luke, Gadarenes in Matthew. Nevertheless, for consideration. He was leaving! (1) As Lord of all, God has the right to make use of His creation any way that He deems best, and this includes not only pigs, but people (cf. Girard notes that, in the demoniac's self-mutilation, he seems to imitate the stoning that the local villagers would likely have attempted to use against him to cast him out of their society, while the villagers themselves show by their reaction to Jesus that they are not primarily concerned with the good of the man possessed by demons: Notice the mimetic character of this behavior. In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. It is Geldenhuys who gives us the most concise description of demon-possession: in the New Testament demon-possession means that a person is dominated by the spirit of a demon and tormented by him. 8ff.). With your gift of any size, youll enable us to continue equipping Christians with high-quality biblically-based content. The ruins of the town are not considerable; but there are remains of a strong wall which must have surrounded the place. [11] Further possible echoes include Isaiah 65:4 with parallels to both graves and swine:[12]. And, Gerasene was one. Satans most useful instrument is the outstanding, outwardly moral and upright religious man, whose good deeds are done independently of God. But, the pigs were a part of their economic wealth. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! xii. No! On the other hand, Gadara is only six miles from the southern tip of the lake and could easily have given its name to the district. The drowning of these pigs has caused a great deal of discussion amongst Bible students, for as a friend of mine once observed, Thats a lot of pork chops! Had our Lord achieved such a miracle today He would have been in deep trouble. Demonic influence further destroys mans reflection of God as originally designed.128 Demons have great spiritual insight and reluctantly submit to Jesus as Lord of all. tar command with and without --absolute-names option. How Satan blinds our minds! In the Gospel of Mark, why does Jesus heal this blind man twice? By your Spirit, help me to welcome you into my life, all of you. The sultan of Damascus is said to have fortified it; but there is nothing to show that the Moslems occupied it for any length of time.3. Soon, they gathered around Jesus and the man who had been set free from the demons. 5. It is almost 20 miles from Amman (Philadelphia), and 22 from Fahil (Pella). Horoscopes and astrological predictions are found in most major newspapers. War II. Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. The best known Gerasa was a Greek city nearly forty miles southeast of the lake (modern village of Khersa, on the east shore of the lake. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. [a] There, a man "possessed by a demon" comes from the caves to meet him. But it was different this time. On Girard's account, then, the uneasy truce that the Gaderenes and the demoniac had worked out was that the evil power in him was contained and thereby neutralized. Did they cease to exist? But I know there are ways I do this all the time. The whole story is a myth. In all his tormented years, he had never felt anything like the terror that coursed through him when he saw Jesus get out of the boat. They didn't understand! When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Country of the Gerasenes:The town itself is not named in Scripture, and is referred to only in the expression, "country of the Gerasenes" (Mark 5:1 Luke 8:26, 37; see Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Appendix, 11). 2. xvii. DEUT 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of God. The presence of holiness and, moreover, the most intense divine holiness is undesirable; I mean, unless you are an angel or a saintly recluse in his ascetic toils in a cave or a top of a pillar. 9. Those possessed are depicted throughout as unfortunate sufferers who by no fault of their own are dominated by evil spirits and who, when the spirits are cast out by Jesus, accept their deliverance with joy and gratitude (Mark v. 18-20, Luke viii. Why typically people don't use biases in attention mechanism? Afterwards, the man Jesus had rescued from the demons wanted to go with Him, but Jesus sent him to share the good news of the gospel with his own people: "Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you." He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. It appears that is because the CARM is a nonprofit, non-denominational, multi-staffed Christian Apologetics Ministry that supports evangelism, radio outreach, and provides full-time support for several foreign missionaries. Those demons were terrified of Him! Jesus, Go Away! 112 Skeptics and liberals have made much of the differences between the Gospel writers as to the place Jesus landed with His disciples. I have never actually begged Jesus to go away and leave me alone. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. He was sitting at Jesus feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane (8:35), thus serving as a vivid demonstration of the saving, healing power of Jesus. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The word translated windstorm here, and storm in the KJ, is the word lailaps, which is more than just a storm. 120 The request is in both cases the same; for, according to Jewish notions, certain countries being assigned to evil as well as to good spirits, whose limits they were unable to overpass, to be sent out of their own country, no other being open to them, implied being sent into the abyss, or bottomless pit, since that remains for them alone. Trench, Miracles , p. 101. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man. 124 Augustine: The devils were driven out and permitted to go into the swine; and Aquinas: But that the swine were driven into the sea was no work of the divine miracle, but was the work of the devils by divine permission. Quoted by Trench, Miracles, fn. Luke seems to base this fear solely upon what happened to the demoniac, not on the loss of their pigs. 8:28-29 but only one is Mk. How ironic, as others have noted, that the tormentor pleads not to be tormented. A miracle performed by Jesus according to the New Testament. The man looked out on the Tiberius. Used with Permission. They were instructed to keep quiet about what Jesus had done for them (cf. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? (no date), The Fourfold Gospel (Cincinnati, OH: Standard). When the pigs were sent into the sea, the people of Gadara lost money. The most likely answer is to the country of the Gerasenes: i.e., Gerasa, a Greek town thought to be the same as the similarly-named Kersa on the east shore of Lake Tiberias. Whatever witchcraft Jesus possessed, they wanted it far away from them. The fact that Matthew places the healing of Legion in the country of the Gadarenes whereas Mark and Luke place it in the country of the Gerasenes may be harmonized on the historical grounds that geographical boundaries overlapped, and on the exegetical consideration that country embraced a wide area around the cities. The Syrians made reprisals, and took many prisoners. May I never send you away from me, even in small things. I am wondering if the demoniac was pagan or an Israelite. On one level, they may have been afraid that Jesus would send their herds into the sea. As always, we must begin with the principle: Interpretation is one, application is many. Why does Jesus tell several people that He heals not to tell anyone, but in John 8:39 He tells the man healed of a legion to go and tell everyone? There is, as we know, the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Because some confusion exists in the gospel MS evidence and perhaps in other source material, absolute certainty cannot be attained; but the following identification seems correct. They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. The modern village Jarash is situated on the hillside above the ruins, built with stones from the ruins. So Jesus had to cross the lake twice. The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. In the past several weeks, there has come to light the case of a man arrested for various crimes who has several of the symptoms of demon possession, including multiple personalities, even multiple IQs. Who would have thought that the Son of God looked so much like other Jewish men? In his description of the boundaries of Perea, Josephus mentions Gerasa as one of the cities on the eastern boundary between Perea and Arabia, the other border cities being Philadelphia and Sebonitus (Jos. 84,145). This makes sense, I couldn't believe they asked Jesus to leave. HDB, II, p. 158, 159 for a detailed description.). The demoniac was uncontrollable by any of the normal means of human confinement. Another reason could be as Dr. R.C. Classical theological commentary cited this story to argue that animals have no moral importance in Christianity. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Be my helper. [3], The earliest account, assuming the theory of Marcan priority is correct, is in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 5:120). The words "return to your home" must have made this man's heart sink. Why was God angry with Balaam for going with the Moabites. One is to disbelieve in their existence. He recognized most of them. The ruins also show evidence of a dozen churches, dating in the Byzantine period (4th-7th centuries) indicating that this once was a large Christian community. Jesus was potently kind. He dispatched Lucius Annius with a force of cavalry and an army of foot soldiers, who took the city on the first attack, slaughtering a thousand young men, taking their families captive, plundering and burning the city and the surrounding towns (Jos. The second question is an ethical one: What right had the Lord to inflict this loss on the owners of the swine?121 Put even more crassly, Huxley censored this act with these words: the wanton destruction of other peoples property is a misdemeanour of evil example.122. A spiritual battle ensued, which ended with Jesus casting a whole legion of demons out of the man and sending them into a herd of pigs. When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). Immediately, the pigs ran into the lake. Jesus' power was clean, holy. Although his symptoms would have appeared to be those of an insane man,113 the Gospel writers inform us that he was demon-possessed.114. It was, in fact, his demons that had recognized Jesus. But let us return to the gist of the matter: if Christ showed them His Divinity through the reason given above, is it easy to be in the presence of God? Life with him would be heaven on earth. And now here was someone even more powerful. Coffman, James Burton (1975), Commentary on Mark (Abilene, TX: ACU Press). Dr. Thomson discovered on the eastern shore the ruins of a village called Khersa. You are being sent because there are other tomb-people to free. The typical explanation for the petition of the residents that Christ leave their country is that they were motivated by materialistic considerations. (Cf. What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? Journal of the American Academy of Religion, XLIX(4), 567588; Burdon, Christopher. All Scripture agrees with this, that the judgment of the angels is yet to come (1 Cor. Gergesa, Gerasa, or Gadara? The man is now seen, dressed and restored to sanity: he asks to be included among the disciples who travel with Jesus, but he is refused and instructed to remain in the Decapolis region, to tell of "the great things the Lord has done and [how he] has had compassion on you". Another indication of demonic control is the fact that this man was continually doing harm to himself by gashing himself with stones (verse 5).
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