If they would just listen to what he had to say. First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. 1), and apparently occupied these cities with Jewish patriots. 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. 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. The typical explanation for the petition of the residents that Christ leave their country is that they were motivated by materialistic considerations. 21,22). (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, 1950), fn. 3. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More. This incident in the Gerasenes requires some entry understanding. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. The ruins are wide and imposing and are better preserved than any others on the East of Jordan. Theology of Work Project Online Materials by The High Calling are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. xx. In this instance, each writer intended to draw attention to an area close to the Sea of Galilee. But about a mile further south there is a fairly steep slope within forty yards from the shore, and about two miles from there cavern tombs are found which appear to have been used for dwellings. William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), p.181. Now he knew better. Gerasa. The particular focus of this mans testimony was the Decapolis region. As C. S. Lewis aptly put it: There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. 1 Response By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. If we put ourselves in their place, and use empathy to feel how we might have reacted if we were confronted with the loss of our next year's source of feeding our families, it will be easier to understand that they were afraid to suffer any other loss that might result if Jesus stayed in their area. 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 Greek word in Matthew 8:28, however, reveals that Jesus went to the country of the Gadarenes (p. 23). It should also be observed that nowhere in the Old Testament (except in I Sam. Such an entreaty can be addressed by them to only God. Thank you for setting the demoniac free. A miracle performed by Jesus according to the New Testament. [9], The revealing of the demon's name has parallels with other examples in Jewish exorcism lore in the Second Temple period. Youngblood, Ronald F., ed. 17, pp. Such must have been the response of those with our Lord. Gerasa itself is probably represented by the ruins of Kurseh on the South side of Wady Semak, just where it opens on the seashore. [11] Further possible echoes include Isaiah 65:4 with parallels to both graves and swine:[12]. When Jesus asked the demoniac his name, it was not without significance for He was, I believe, asking the demons to reveal their identity. What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? 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. Then the Livestock Association and consumer groups would have been greatly distressed over the sudden decrease in the pig population and the resulting impact on pork prices. (Jos. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How do you respond to this story in Luke? You are being sent because there are other tomb-people to free. 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. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. And, lastly, this would allow sufficient time for those miracles which took place on that second day in Capernaum after His return thither. xviii. 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. 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). get to know the Bible better! From this disaster it appears soon to have recovered, and the period of its greatest prosperity lay, probably, in the 2nd and 3nd centuries of our era. Initially, the possessed man has been expelled from the human racethat is, he is no better off than an animal without clothingbut, after his exorcism, his humanity is fully restored and he rejoins the human race, clothed and in his right mind (Luke 8:35). It shows that the writers had not agreed to impose on the world; for if they had, they would have mentioned the same city; and it shows, also, they were familiar with the country. Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. Spam, July 19 2021 I felt somewhat guilty, particularly fearing that I may have created an unintentional hardship for some classmate. 113 According to the Talmud there were four characteristics of madness: walking abroad at night; spending the night on a grave; tearing ones clothes and destroying what one was given. ix. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but . 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome June 15, 2004. AMP - Matthew 12:43-45). Fellowship is an irreplaceable means of grace in the Christian life and offers us two priceless joys: receiving Gods grace through the helping words of others and giving his grace to others through our own. So Jesus had to cross the lake twice. This describes the district in which Christ met and healed the . It was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and must have been a locality where the steep edges of the Bashan plateau drop close upon the brink of the lake. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. 4. May the Spirit of God be so evident in us that men may see God in our lives. Once naked, he is now clothed. When the pigs were sent into the sea, the people of Gadara lost money. 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). The simple fact is that Matthew mentions two of the demoniacs while Mark and Luke only mention one. By His power, we, too, are able to overcome Satans treacheries. Generic Doubly-Linked-Lists C implementation, Understanding the probability of measurement w.r.t. This makes sense, I couldn't believe they asked Jesus to leave. With these, however, the Gerasenes dealt mercifully, letting such as wished go free, and escorting them to the border (BJ, II, xviii, 1, 5). You should not suggest in any way that The High Calling or Theology of Work endorses you or your use of the work. What is the 'age of accountability' and is it Biblical. Now appreciate the reaction - another God was messing with their god - and demonstrating authority! The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. Demon-possession is, therefore, not merely a mental state in which someone suffers from a delusion or is subjected to some subjective disturbance of the world of ideas. Asked December 18 2016 Josephus names it as marking the eastern limit of Peraea (BJ, III, iii, 3). [5] In this version, Jesus does not ask for the demon's name, which is considered an important element of traditional exorcism practice. We are not by Matt Slick | Apr 6, 2023 | Bible Studies. John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). From this it is clear that demon-possession is a phenomenon which occurred almost exclusively, but then to be sure on an amazing scale, during Jesus appearance on earth and to a lesser extent during the activity of the apostles. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. The whole story is a myth. 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. How many demons possessed the man in Mark 5:6? 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. Jon Bloom serves as teacher and cofounder of Desiring God. The NT references (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26; cf. Also, frequently associated with demon possession was a super-human strength (cf. The demonically possessed man who came to Jesus cried out his name was Legion. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Although the Gospels give us little information as to how individuals become targets of Satanic control, I would suggest for your consideration that they sometimes do so by leaving themselves open to Satanic influence. But sometimes, like the man in Luke 8:26-39, the more difficult call is to go back home. The distance is about 19 miles from the river. He calls the inhabitants Syrians, when, at the beginning of the Jewish revolt, the district round Gerasa was laid waste. Finally, there is in demon possession a counterpart to the filling (or control) of the Holy Spirit. Pig carcasses were washing ashore and drifting out to sea. 2,8) who can possess men and animals. Gergesa (). 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). 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. But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. (3) Spiritual insight. Here in Mark, he purposely set out to travel into another land. 2. Jesus was potently kind. [14], Similarly, Thomas Aquinas argued that Jesus allowed the demons to destroy the pigs in order to make the point that his purpose was primarily for the good of men's souls, not their bodies or property (including their animals). Satans most effective tool is not the demoniac wandering about the desolate places. The price tag of possession was high, for those who fell victim to the demons agonized in constant torment. No men would have written in this manner but those who were acquainted with the facts (1949, p. 91). Capernaum. And, it can not be understood properly out of this context. In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. 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. Far from this, He had stormed the gates of Hell and prevailed. 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. As I have been studying this account through the week, it has seemed to me a rather bizarre and remote situation, the liberation of this Gerasene demoniac. Their mitigated violence is an ineffective protest. Second (and primarily), Mark employs this event to authenticate the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God and Israels Messiah. He lived there among the tombs and graves. Soon, they gathered around Jesus and the man who had been set free from the demons. Jesus' power was clean, holy. Another indication of demonic control is the fact that this man was continually doing harm to himself by gashing himself with stones (verse 5). As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. [10], It has been widely accepted by scholars that several motifs throughout the account refer to the Roman legion. May I never send you away from me, even in small things. 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. Thats just westernised interpretation which simply doesnt work when interpretating a Jewish book. In addition, Matthew includes the comment, Have You come here to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29). Origen says this is a good example of how Biblical writers simply were not concerned to precisely identify certain sites. Matt.
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