7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, b he entered Capernaum. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Such must have been the response of those with our Lord. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. January 2018 September 2018 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. It was scary. As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. They had been unable to control these two men [Luke only mentions one man, but Matthew tells us there were two]. "Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear." (Luke 8:37a) Fear plagues us. (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. Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. 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. Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20. The exercising of authority over demons, in the land under another god, was a message. How Satan blinds our minds! The country of the Gadarenes (Gergesenes) is one of the few areas Jesus visited where Gentiles (non-Jews) composed the majority of the population. Catholic Church. Commentator R. C. H. Lenski states: The distance of these cities from the lake is immaterial for the narrative since this deals with the region that is near the lake and not with the vicinity of either of the cities to the lake.. The story shows Jesus exorcising a demon or demons out of a man and into a herd of swine, causing the swine to run down a hill into a lake and drown . 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. The people were gentiles who had not yet any interest in the Messiah. These men were a danger to themselves and others. The Gospels use different names for the place where this occurred: This is supposedly a contradiction. Gerasa is (as we know) some 30-35 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, but may have also been the name of the larger region. It was greatly influenced by Greek culture.126. ), you also need to understand the significance of this - to the people in Gerasene. Another indication of demonic control is the fact that this man was continually doing harm to himself by gashing himself with stones (verse 5). The lectionary reading for Trinity 1, Year C, is Luke's version of Jesus meeting and healing the demon-possessed man in the 'region of the Gerasenes' (Luke 8.26-39). In Luke 2:8 it is applied to the city of Bethlehem; in Acts 18:23 to Galatia and Phrygia. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Why as the question? Mark 3:14). The Lord, in an act of great mercy, freed the Gadarenes' man by casting the demons out of him and allowing them to enter a nearby herd of pigs. 34When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. So, they asked Him to leave. and thank you for your contribution. July 2022 Neither is it only a kind of physical disease, although spiritual and physical disease often accompany it (e.g. Have you even been in a service where the Spirit of God was moving and felt fear? man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus (Luke 8:26-39, NIV) But the distance is so short that, even making allowance for the delay by the tempest, the passage could scarcely have occupied the whole night. EIN 27-4581132 According to another theory, the Chapati movement of 1857 was an attempt to prevent a cholera outbreak in central India. The time of this event was before Jesus' crucifixion, and before the gentiles were grafted in to the promise (Acts 10). In this story, we have a demon-possessed Gadarene who saw Jesus from a distance, and immediately he appeared to have felt a strong compulsion to run up to Jesus and bow down before him. 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. He was Someone Who could control the spirit realm. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The destructive desires of the demons were dramatically carried out in the drowning of the swine. Instead of opening themselves up to Jesus and receiving His love and forgiveness, they allowed fear to drive a wedge between them. Non-Christians can often experience this fear of Jesus as well. December 2017 His website/blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, has been online since March 1997. 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. ii. May 2022 August 2015 They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. I will not ask him to leave. We should know from other Scriptures that our present spiritual experience is one of spiritual warfare. They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. Matthew 9:2-8 Why was "This man is blaspheming" considered an evil thought without knowing Jesus' identity? 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. 1) He Exposes Evil (v 28-30) . March 2018 Therefore, Jesus Christ for demons is God and thus even demons inadvertently reveal themselves as being better theologians than Arians and their modern day heirs - Jehovawitnesians and all different breeds of Unitarians - their name being legion! T. H. Huxley, in his Essays upon some Controverted Questions (1892), made merry over the escapade of the Gadarene swine, running the seven miles between Gadar and the lake of Galilee, crossing the deep river Yarmuk en route. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. Embedded into both stories are people who were afraid of Jesus. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.110. No! There was no such danger in Perea, and thus the mercy of the Lord was to be heralded. December 2015 The demoniac was uncontrollable by any of the normal means of human confinement. Even in our sophisticated times, there is an intense interest in the supernatural and the occult. The before and after descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. No! November 2021 61-62. . Evil is self-defeating in the end. 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. The region was not poor or economically depressed. But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. December 2014 So much pain, so much sin. The difference between the phonemes /p/ and /b/ in Japanese, Is there a solutiuon to add special characters from software and how to do it. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. We are seeking a replacement and hope to have it in your newspaper soon. Small sins lead to big sins, and big sins bring about a terrible spiritual darkness. May 2015 In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. (4) Super-human strength. Why did Jesus have the authority to forgive sins, why did the scribes take it as a blasphemy, and was this authority also given to men in general? People who have no appr I am wondering if the demoniac was pagan or an Israelite. October 2021 Jesus had been performing miracles in Gods nation - Israel. That the unclean spirits were personal beings is evident from what is related about their leaving a possessed person, talking or crying out, possessing knowledge concerning Jesus, as well as other supernatural knowledgeshowing fear, and the like. Why would God tell King David to take a census of the people in verses one through nine, and then cast judgment on him because he did what he told him to do? When the Gadarenes saw what Christ was capable of, they panicked. 2 Now a centurion had a servant 1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. Like it or not, demons and demonic activity are likely to become much more of a concern to you in days to come. 26). Events that are important to our Church Community, Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac. Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:12), whose leader and prince is Satan (Matthew 12:24). Gadara is about six miles from the sea. The region is located east of the Jordan River and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Anonymous, October 25 2014 Bible-believing Christians have always accepted the fact of demons and their activity in New Testament times, but most of us are inclined to relegate demonic activity in these days to pagan lands and missionary experiences. The healing of the demoniacs and the repulse of the Healer by the inhabitants are historical, but the incident of the swine is a later figment. When Jesus and his disciples come to the mostly-Gentile region of the Gerasenes, they are met by a man whose life has been destroyed by demonic infestation. It is mentioned in some ancient manuscripts of the . Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. 118 H. No! One is that he was a fascinating man. (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) In Gerasenes in place of Gadarenes. They were willing to post guards and chain and shackle their neighbor to keep him from hurting someone. 2,8) who can possess men and animals. While he was once wild and uncontrollable, he was sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus. All of this sure seems perfectly consistent with calling the same area the country (chra) of either the Gerasenes or the Gadarenes, after the two major cities. Such was the case with this man (cf. For example, He didnt condemn a prostitute for her actions, He saw a daughter of God who was valuable beyond measure and only needed genuine love and forgiveness. If he was a pagan, why did Jesus cast out his demons? Why is that. "The name "Gerasenes" is to be associated with the modern city of Jerash, located in Transjordan, 22 miles N of Amman." John McRay, "Gerasenes," ed. November 2015 August 2020 Another approach is to note the different intentions of the Gospel writers. A word of clarification is in order here for we must recognize that in this account the dark side of Satan is exposed, but this is perhaps the more unusual side of Satan. The region was known also as the Decopolis because ten Greek cities were located in the region. The demons in the man recognize Jesus and the man bows before him. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. 2). They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. 18). So they refer to Gerasenes. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. They are unclean spirits, (vss. Far from this, He had stormed the gates of Hell and prevailed. (6) Tendency towards self-destruction. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. Demon possession, such as that of the Gerasene demoniac is the crudest and cruelest form of Satanic control, but by and large also one of the less common manifestations of Satans work in the world today. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. "They sailed to the country of the Gerasenes which is opposite Galilee. John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). 606-607. For these demons to be sent out of the country would have meant that they would then be confined along with other fallen angels (cf. But here we speak not about a bishop, but about Christ who made His Godhead revealed through devils beseeching Him not to cast them to hell but enter the swine. Earles comments are helpful: The difference in names for the destination on the east side of the take has caused considerable comment. Gergesenes is also in some manuscripts (Khersa or Gersa was a town actually on the shore of the sea). July 2016 Brazilian Charity Caring for Children Who Survived Abortions Issues Urgent Appeal, Memento Mori: Remember You Are Going to Die, The Meat of the Matter: St. Patricks Day and the Lenten Fast. 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. Just imagine, a man in a cinema, having bought popcorn and cola and watching an action movie, with a lot of violence and harsh language in it, and then he sees suddenly that a saintly bishop is sitting just next to his seat, not watching the movie, but reading silently psalms with a countenance radiating a deep contemplation; will not the first man be upset and lose all pleasure of watching the movie? They came face-to-face with the Son of God, the Being with the power to change their world forever, and they said, "Please leave." Why? She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. This was a federation of ten cities (deka = ten, polis = city). The people of Gerasenes were willing to live with the devils they knew - quite literally. February 2018 Jesus did say to count the cost [Luke 14:28-33]. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . xiii. It is amazing to think that people could be fearful of Jesus. 114 We are indebted to Edersheim, who reminds us that the expression demon possession never occurs in the New Testament: The term demoniacal possession occurs not in the New Testament. Jesus had just performed an incredible miracleand one they desperately needed, at that! For the Christian, there are two extremes which must be avoided with reference to Satanic activity. May 2016 Sproul says in his commentary on Mark, When the Holy One is manifest in the midst of unholy people, the only appropriate human response is dread.. I think all these attempts to harmonize what may at first seem like a contradiction are plausible, respectable, and adequate.