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. Why typically people don't use biases in attention mechanism? Jesus wasn't anything like the demons. The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. This condition is fulfilled only by the district immediately South of Wady Semak, North of Qal `at el-Chucn. Let me say as graciously as I can, Satan does not need to work on us in those areas as we are doing very well without his exploitation. Some appeared not to be oppressed by them so much as exploiting their powers (cf. 32, after Passover. 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. Gerasa was a city situated near the Jabbok River about eighteen m. E of the Jordan, about twenty m. SE of Pella, and twenty m. N of Philadelphia. We read at Mk 5:14-17 (NRSVCE), the immediate after-effects of the driving out of evil spirits by Jesus at Gerasene by allowing them to enter pigs: The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. Are there things that perplex you? Mark 3:14). June 15, 2004. (1) Severe personality change. A contradiction occurs only when one statement makes the other impossible. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat 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 scene which Mark presents is deliberately dark. [5] In this version, Jesus does not ask for the demon's name, which is considered an important element of traditional exorcism practice. The stamp of a ship on Gadarene coins suggests that the region called Gadara probably extended to Galilee (McGarvey, n.d., p. 344; McClintock and Strong, 1969, 3: 706). What scares you away from being fully sold-out as a disciple of Jesus? We greatly appreciate your consideration! The whole story is a myth. He could just as easily commanded them to return to the deepest, darkest pit of Hell. 22ff. The man jumped up and said to him, "Sir, please, may I go with you? The writers were not confused about Palestinian geography. 6:45-56 6:14-21. This account is recorded in all three of the synoptic gospel accounts, but with two different renderings of the name of the place where the miracles occurred. john kiuta masuka, December 19 2016 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. Once a menace to society, now a messenger with words of deliverance and healing. 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.. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. The story of the Gerasene demoniac is surely one of the strangest in the Gospels. ix. Their mitigated violence is an ineffective protest. 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. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but . Spam, Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army, Raised Lutheran MD former Family Physician. As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. Clothing is an important prop in the Lucan narrative (see Biblical clothing), which in this scene portrays the demoniacs development from his animal-like state to his restoration as a human being. Moreover, this story challenges us to examine our own reaction to Jesus. 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 . If you have any issues, please call the office at 385-246-1048 or email us at [emailprotected], by Matt Slick | Apr 13, 2023 | Bible Studies. 111 Edersheim maintains that it must have been late the same night of the storm: Most writers have, indeed, suggested, that the healing of the demonized on the other side took place at early dawn of the day following the storm on the lake. Luke 8:26 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. The confrontation of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac made it clear that Jesus was no servant of Satan. (2) Anti-social behavior. Immediately, as this weary group disembarked from the ship, they were met by what appeared to be a madman. War IV. xvi. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. Did they bring their sick to Jesus so that he might heal them? You are being sent because there are other tomb-people to free. No other place on the E side of the sea fits this requirement of the story. 17, pp. The crowd should remain on top of the cliff and the victim fall over; instead, in this case, the crowd plunges and the victim is saved. 9. The people were gentiles who had not yet any interest in the Messiah. If an Israelite, why was he in Gerasene in the first place and why was he living so near a large herd of swine? And that Jesus did not actually "send" the devils into the pigs, He merely allowed the demons to go where they themselves chose to go.[3][13][14]. Yet, on a deeper level, they we afraid of how Jesus might impact their lives. When our Lord confronted the demons, they had to submit to His power and authority. Spam, July 19 2021 Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. 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. by Matt Slick | Mar 5, 2009 | Bible Difficulties, Matthew - Mark, The Bible. Do not be afraid. Start for FREE. Vector Projections/Dot Product properties. This man demonstrated all four characteristics. Lane, Mark, p. 182, fn. In recent years the matter has been getting uncomfortably close to home. Matthew recorded that Jesus commanded demons to come out of two men (8:29). 5:2-3? 8:28-29 but only one is Mk. Gerasa, one of the cities of Decapolis and the capital of the country of the Gerasenes, lay around 37 miles/60 kilometres away from the Sea of Galilee in what is today the city of Jerash in Jordan.3The country of the Gerasenes did not reach the Sea of Galilee (an important point that we'll get to in a bit). It hit them hard in the pocketbook. 28); Mark the country of the Gerasenes (v. 1), and Luke, probably, the country of the Gergesenes (viii. The forum, with a semicircle of columns still standing, was paved with large cut stones. Since all of these areas overlap, one may take the references as meaning the same place. One problem was this man's racehe was a Gentile, whereas Jesus had been sent to the nation of Israel (cf. 6:30-44. 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. Putting all of these factors together the term demon-possessed inplies too much. 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. John imagines what the back-story of this man might have been and explores themes of redemption and reconciliation. 61-62. 18). 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. The demonically possessed man who came to Jesus cried out his name was Legion. Rev. His lucid mind mulled over the words, "Son of the Most High God.". When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). 2. This request was granted and the entire herd rushed headlong to their own destruction. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Learn more about these miraculous stories found in the Bible. Normal relationships are reversed. Ewing. The Matthew account mentions two demon-possessed men, while Mark and Luke only mention one. The New Testament writers chose to refer to the area in different ways. 15; Mark ix. On the other hand, the scene gains in grandeurhas, so to speak, a fitting backgroundif we suppose the Saviour and His disciples to have landed on the other side late in the evening, when perhaps the silvery moon was shedding her pale light on the weird scene, and laying her halo around the shadows cast upon the sea by the steep cliff down which the herd of swine hurried and fell. ", Jesus looked hard at him without speaking. The miracle of Gerasa reverses the universal schema of violence fundamental to all societies of the world. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. (4) Super-human strength. War III. 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. Romans 6 speaks about our identification with Christ in baptism and being dead to sin and alive in Christ. In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. This incident in the Gerasenes requires some entry understanding. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. He is the author of. Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. [14][3] Such alternative readings include arguments that the swine were meant to represent the Roman army or "unclean and unfaithful" people because pigs were considered "unclean" for the Jews in this image, and the loss of these animals was not dangerous. Life with him would be heaven on earth. PRAYER: Dear Lord, first of all, I want to thank you for your healing, restoring power. 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. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), p. 174. He seemed to view Jesus approach as the launching of a direct attack on the demonic forces. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Thank you for your interest in supporting CARM. (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. Lenski, Robert C.H. Two men: Matt. Acts 16:16), while others were the virtual pawns of these spirits, losing their own identity and autonomy. 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. The exercising of authority over demons, in the land under another god, was a message. 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. It became the seat of a bishopric, and one of its bishops attended the Council of Chalcedon. Says he is "the bread of life"; many are stumbled and leave 6:22-71. Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. William of Tyre calls the city Jarras, and places it 16 miles East of Jordan (Hist, xii, 16). Description:Modern Jerash lies on both banks of Wady Jerash, about 6 miles from its confluence with Wady ez-Zerqa (the Jabbok).
