Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. Events that are important to our Church Community, Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac. What would happen to them? 16, x. 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. No matter what men attempted to bind him with, he broke loose. The scene which Mark presents is deliberately dark. March 2018 August 2018 You might be thinking back to Easter and not recall very many hogs showing up except for at Easter supper. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.110. It is a violent tempest, that is, outside of the natural. 10). And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? April 2018 But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. This is probably the Gerasa of Mark and Luke. In Mark 1:5 it is used of the land of Judaea (KJV) and in Acts 10:39, to land of the Jews (KJV). Will they be rejected? Jesus had freed the man and for a reason known only to Himself, He had granted the demons request to go into a nearby herd of pigs rather than go into the Abyss [bottomless pit]. Jesus deserves the benefit of the doubt even when we don't have all the facts. Jude 6), no longer to afflict men or resist God. Life with him would be heaven on earth. 14). 35Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. Far from this, He had stormed the gates of Hell and prevailed. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat August 2022 Jesus asked some crazy questions like "Why are you afraid?" So they refer to Gerasenes. Embedded into both stories are people who were afraid of Jesus. November 2016 That would be a strong message, by allowing them to be possessed and then drowned. July 2021 Fear that you might do something that would embarrass you? Significantly, the demons are called unclean spirits (verse 2,9). If he was a pagan, why did Jesus cast out his demons? What did Jesus mean when he said only prayer can cast out this demon? The region was not poor or economically depressed. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? Flavius Josephus and Steve Mason, Flavius Josephus: Life of Josephus (Boston; Leiden: Brill, 2003), 47. The pig tenders reported it far and wide, in city and country (verse 14). The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. We should know from other Scriptures that our present spiritual experience is one of spiritual warfare. NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. Where did the demons go after they went into the pigs and caused them to jump to their death. How to show that an expression of a finite type must be one of the finitely many possible values? This was surely not so in every case, and perhaps in none. February 2015 March 2020 "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. Subscriber Service CenterAlready a subscriber? xvi. Instantly he recognized the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God (verse 7).116 There was a source of spiritual insight beyond human capabilities here. April 2021 Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. He felt Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder. May 2017 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). xiii. French Monastery Survives War and Famine After 885 Years, the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan, and More Great Links! 4, p. 102. Jesus had simply sailed across the Lake of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. It is now called Jerash and is a deserted ruin. To date they have failed to respond in any way. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. September 2016 Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. I understand why," the HBO "Real Time" host told Jake Tapper on Tuesday as part . He could just as easily commanded them to return to the deepest, darkest pit of Hell. Luke seems to base this fear solely upon what happened to the demoniac, not on the loss of their pigs. February 2022 How do I connect these two faces together? September 2022 115 While Mark and Luke describe only one demoniac, Matthew informs us that there were two. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. I used to want the longest life, perfect health and happiness, but really it is that feeling that I am so glad that this isnt all there is and that we have heaven to wait for, and that well be with Jesus, and there will be no more tears Amber VanVickle (1982-2023), The headquarters of the charity, which serves as a consecrated family to 46 disabled children, were badly damaged in major flooding near Rio de Janeiro last year. Although Gadarenes and Gergesenes are derived from a different Greek word, they are essentially referring to the same area. (it should be added that Plummer himelf does not hold to any of these views.). The occult and every front for demonic influence and activity should be avoided like the plague. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. . September 2021 Those demons were terrified of Him! They are unclean spirits, (vss. 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. Hence there was demon-worship, the worship not necessarily of evil spirits; but of the spirits of those who had existed in the Golden Age. G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Mark (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1927), p. 114. The first two are in the Authorized Version. 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. 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. 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). If it is a feminine spirit, the voice will be a feminine one, if masculine then very manly. Accordingly this was not merely an ordinary form of mental disease as some writers have alleged, but a special phenomenon which was particularly frequent during Jesus earthly sojourn and thus was directly connected with His coming to destroy the power of darkness. 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. The region is located east of the Jordan River and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. The Truth is Jesus is a safe Person Who loves them, values them, wants their best and will never force Himself on them. 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. Yes, I know that Easter was weeks ago in April. art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 15; Mark ix. November 2021 Although it is likely that the larger towns of Galilee were predominantly Gentile, as was the Decapolis, the first-century civilian diet did not . First of all, the EPA would have been investigating the pollution of Lake Galilee with decaying pigs. So who was afraid? 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. He did not appear to rush upon the small group of men to attack them (as he would normally have done), but rather to plead with Jesus. According to another theory, the Chapati movement of 1857 was an attempt to prevent a cholera outbreak in central India. (1) Severe personality change. 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. July 2017 When the pigs were sent into the sea, the people of Gadara lost money. At their request, He left. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. Who was afraid of Jesus and why? 40, vii. What did Jesus do? When Jesus asked the demoniac his name, it was not without significance for He was, I believe, asking the demons to reveal their identity. Neither is it only a kind of physical disease, although spiritual and physical disease often accompany it (e.g. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Women, children and defenceless people all admired Him and felt comfortable in His presence. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Gerasenes could have had a sense of reference to the entire region (as well as to a city: just as New Yorker can refer to the state or city), and Gadarenes likely was a reference to the most prominent city of the region at the time. John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). It was significant. The religious rulers hated Jesus for exposing their hypocrisy and feared the consequences His actions might have with Rome, but they were not afraid of Jesus as a Person. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. The word translated windstorm here, and storm in the KJ, is the word lailaps, which is more than just a storm. Holiness hurts! Vote Up 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. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. Although demon-possession after that time no longer occurs on such a devastating and noticeable scale, the absolute form of demon-possession will appear at the end of the age in the Antichrist and in his followers (2 Thess. Why did Jesus allow the legion of demons to stay in the area when they begged him? print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the Acts 19:16). Many times people - Non-Christians and Christians - push Jesus away because they do not want to change. December 2020 and 1 Kings xxii. I think all these attempts to harmonize what may at first seem like a contradiction are plausible, respectable, and adequate. Why did the demons ask to be cast into the herd of pigs, and why did the pigs then run into the water to be drowned? The man looked out on the Tiberius. 16ff., xix. . The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. Author of The Gnostic Notebook series, stand-up comedian, and Gnostic. April 2020 They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. Mark 5:1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. Like the Samaritans who followed the woman at the well to see this One who had told her all she had done, so these residents came to see for themselves what had happened. Gergesa, also Gergasa ( in Byzantine greek) or the Country of the Gergesenes, is a place on the eastern ( Golan Heights) side of the Sea of Galilee located at some distance to the ancient Decapolis cities of Gadara and Gerasa. It might be better to hide behind masks than risk being hurt again After all, if God rejects youwhere else can you go? And when the man spoke to Jesus, it looks like the demons inside the man were the ones doing the speaking. This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. Now appreciate the reaction - another God was messing with their god - and demonstrating authority! 68f. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear (Luke 8:35-37).
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