The passage in Daniel especially suggests specific geographical boundaries within which spirit beings must abide. He had only known Jesus for a few hours, but had already determined to be Jesus' disciple for life. Some illicitly use drugs, supposing that they have them completely under their control. The Cross And Our Response to Trials (1 Peter 4:12-19), 8. The differing geographical references to Gadara and Gerasa can be understood in light of the social, economic, and political influence each city exerted over the region. 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. This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. In recent years the matter has been getting uncomfortably close to home. Luke 4:29), Girard comments: "But in these cases, it is not the scapegoat who goes over the cliff, neither is it a single victim nor a small number of victims, but a whole crowd of demons, two thousand swine possessed by demons. 16, x. Jesus has lead me away from my old life. The before and after descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. The gospels. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. Jesus wasn't anything like the demons. Here the slopes descend swiftly almost into the sea, and animals, once started on the downward run, could not avoid plunging into the depths. Although the manifestations of demonization vary widely, this man115 evidenced several of the classic symptoms. Sometime after the Lord Jesus miraculously calmed the storm, the ship landed, perhaps late in the evening,111 on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gerasenes.112 If, indeed, it was late at night, the scene must have been an eerie one, with the nerves of the disciples already worn thin by the terrifying experience of the storm. So, Jews think that God does not want them to keep pigs. Neither is it only a kind of physical disease, although spiritual and physical disease often accompany it (e.g. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.110. 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. Jesus permitted the *demons to do this. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More. Some have suggested that the words Gergesenes and Gerasenes are not words referring to people from a city other than Gadara, but merely different variations of the word Gadarenes (Youngblood, p. 468; McGarvey, p. 344). 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. Not long after that, while I was still a student in seminary, there was a car parked by the seminary in a somewhat suspicious manner and I called the police to check it out. Gergesa [probably a variation of GerasaCC] was a city about 12 miles to the south-east of Gadara, and about 20 miles to the east of the Jordan. 61-62. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. More than this, however, is the fact that the mans own identity and individuality were swallowed up by the demons with him. Romans 9:19-23). verse 5). Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Who would have thought that the Son of God looked so much like other Jewish men? Modern Jerash lies on both banks of Wady Jerash, about 6 miles from its confluence with Wady ez-Zerqa (the Jabbok). Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man. Their mitigated violence is an ineffective protest. No other place on the E side of the sea fits this requirement of the story. He actually wanted to keep his clothes on. And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned (Luke 8:35-37). 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. The precise place where the miracle occurred is not as essential to our understanding of the narrative as is the realization that Christ has control over the spiritual realm (Lenski, 1946, p. 205). But Jesus motioned to Peter to ready the boat. 4. [10], It has been widely accepted by scholars that several motifs throughout the account refer to the Roman legion. It is even possible that his request was to become one of our Lords disciples.125. As we pass from this section to the next, let us not end on the note of the death of the pigs, but on the deliverance of the demoniac. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. But the people in the town preferred their pigs to Jesus. Luke 8:26 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. At the conclusion of this day of teaching by parables, the Lord had instructed His disciples to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the other side. One problem was this man's racehe was a Gentile, whereas Jesus had been sent to the nation of Israel (cf. 5 1-5 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. Now appreciate the reaction - another God was messing with their god - and demonstrating authority! The herd, about two thousand in number, rush down the steep bank into the sea and are drowned. xvii. We tend to think of following Jesus as leaving behind the familiar for the unfamiliar. When our Lord confronted the demons, they had to submit to His power and authority. It was the terror of the damned. The truth is that I am both drawn to you because of this and also a bit scared. You are free to share (to copy, distribute and transmit the work), and remix (to adapt the work), under the condition that you must give appropriate credit to The High Calling, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. Gadara). The conduct of this pathetic individual was obviously anti-social. The demons beg Jesus not to send them away, but instead to send them into the pigs on a nearby hillside, which he does. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? They look forward to their future with great dread. e.g., Matt. His soul was clean. Jesus' arrival on the scene introduced a spiritual power stronger than Legion, which upset the social balance by removing the scapegoat. 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. The Gospel of Luke's version (Luke 8:2639) is shorter than Mark's, but agrees with most of its details. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. Did they open their hearts to hear the good news of the kingdom of God? The simple fact is that Matthew mentions two of the demoniacs while Mark and Luke only mention one. First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. [citation needed]. The tomb-man from Gadara looked up at Jesus again. I am wondering if the demoniac was pagan or an Israelite. 3. Albert Barnes explained the difference between Gadara and Gerasa: Gadara was a city not far from the Lake Gennesareth, one of the ten cities that were called Decapolis. Another reason could be as Dr. R.C. 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'? 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. Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. The triumphal arch to the South of the city is almost entire. Dr. Thomson discovered on the eastern shore the ruins of a village called Khersa. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 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. In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. No rage. 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]. Then he notes that he was clothed and in his own mind (Luke 8:35). 184-185. Mark 3:14). Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. The Lord refused this request and commissioned this delivered man to return to his own people and declare to them what God had done for him. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. What is the significance of the blind man seeing tree-like people walking in Mark 8:22-25? 128 In most of the stories of possession what is at issue is not merely sickness but a destruction and distortion of the divine likeness of man according to creation. Contrasting the self-destruction of the herd of pigs with the typical motif of an individual evil-doer being pushed over a cliff by an undifferentiated mob (cf. [13] Saint Augustine of Hippo concluded from the story that Christians have no duties towards animals,[2] writing: Christ himself shows that to refrain from the killing of animals and the destroying of plants is the height of superstition, for judging that there are no common rights between us and the beasts and trees, he sent the devils into a herd of swine and with a curse withered the tree on which he found no fruit. 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. 123 1. Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. It is almost 20 miles from Amman (Philadelphia), and 22 from Fahil (Pella). If they would just listen to what he had to say. These ruins date from the 2nd to the 7th centuries and show that the city flourished during this period as a center for religion, culture, and commerce. This town is not to be confused with either Gerasa or Gadara. Then the SPCA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals. But Jesus told him to go back. Life with him would be heaven on earth. When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). 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. In a cemetery on the eastern shore of the lake, He and the twelve meet a wild, dangerous man controlled by a ''legion'' of demons. ger'-a-sa, ger'-a-senz (Gerasa; Gerasenon):1. It hit them hard in the pocketbook. 9. They include several splendid temples, theaters, basilica, palaces and baths, with hippodrome and naumachia. War I. iv. November's featured resource is an Advent poem that John Piper delivered in 1993 at Bethlehem titled "The Gadarene." 5:5). 2. A city in Transjordania, situated about thirty-five m. SE of the S end of the Sea of Galilee, one of the cities of the Decapolis; the inhabitants of the city. This is probably the Gerasa of Mark and Luke. Will a professing Christian go to hell if he never shares the gospel? 5. Other demoniacs described in Scripture were bent on self-destruction as well (cf. What scares you away from being fully sold-out as a disciple of Jesus? Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. Sometimes to follow Jesus means being sent back to a place where we once knew desolation and indescribable pain. Other textual variations include "Gadarenes" and "Gergesenes". It only takes a minute to sign up. Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. Used with Permission. 13ff.). 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 . Normal relationships are reversed. Try Bible Gateway Plus free today. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Acts 16:16), while others were the virtual pawns of these spirits, losing their own identity and autonomy. We dismiss it the more readily, that, in our view, it conveys a wrong impression. Spam, Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army, Raised Lutheran MD former Family Physician. The Madman. Jesus, Demoniacs, and Public Authorities: A Socio-Historical Study. Some would identify the place with RAMOTH-GILEAD, which see.The site is now occupied by a colony of Circassians, and there is reason to fear that, unless something is done to preserve them, many valuable remains of antiquity will perish.W. Ewing. [5] One detail that is unique to Luke's version is a reference to both the demoniacs nakedness and his subsequent clothing. The occult and every front for demonic influence and activity should be avoided like the plague. But it was different this time. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. This is just five miles from Capernaum, where Jesus had previously been, so it makes sense. PRAYER: Dear Lord, first of all, I want to thank you for your healing, restoring power. A contradiction occurs only when one statement makes the other impossible. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? But the city of Gadara owned some territory round about Khersa, so that the district and the pigs could properly also be called Gadarene. F. F. Bruce, Are the New Testament Documents Reliable? The story was interpreted by Saints Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas to mean that Christians have no duties to animals. And now here was someone even more powerful. 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. 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. 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. The confrontation of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac made it clear that Jesus was no servant of Satan. F. F. Bruce adds additional helpful insight: According to the best texts, Matthew calls it the country of the Gadarenes (viii. Coffman, James Burton (1975), Commentary on Mark (Abilene, TX: ACU Press). During the time of Christ, the ten cities of Decapolis and the surrounding region were inhabited mostly by Gentiles, not Jews, and the area had a strong Greek influence. Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). 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. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, XLIX(4), 567588; Burdon, Christopher. Paul says of the former life of the Christian, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 1:1-2). Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. by Matt Slick | Mar 5, 2009 | Bible Difficulties, Matthew - Mark, The Bible. Second (and primarily), Mark employs this event to authenticate the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God and Israels Messiah. As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. 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". Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. (2) Pork was a food forbidden to Jews, and as such, those who raised these pigs may have done so knowingly in violation of divine injunction.
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