His animal-like shrieks must have sent chills up the spines of any who were nearby. Asked October 24 2014 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. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 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. It indicates full and permanent control. This was surely not so in every case, and perhaps in none. The drowning of the swine was an accident, possibly simultaneous with the healing, and report mixed up the two incidents. November 2021 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. March 2016 What scared them was a power so fierce it could free a man. People who have no appr 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? How Can a Person Get Rid of Evil Spirits. It is amazing to think that people could be fearful of Jesus. (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, 1950), fn. Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. What was it that caused these people to react in such a way? The ego is so impaired that the spirits speak through him. Pastor Chrissy is a native of East Tennessee. vi. May 2021 Dave Armstrong Dave Armstrong is a full-time Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981. 2). Five squad cars converged on it. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than the Gergesenes. Here is one of the few times that a miracle drove people away, rather than to draw them to Jesus. As always, we must begin with the principle: Interpretation is one, application is many. 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 would have to trust Jesus. Renew or manage your subscription here. He was a totally safe Person. December 2016 Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. 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. As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. It was opposite Galilee. She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. 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? And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? October 2020 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. But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. These men were a danger to themselves and others. This suggests that whoever was the customer for the swineherder in the "region of the Gerasenes", it was not the Roman army to any significant extent. Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? 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. 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. Yes, I know that Easter was weeks ago in April. They found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Demonized individuals are not to be viewed so much as a pigeon hole category, as they are a continuem. 3. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. So who was afraid? Give a Gift SubscriptionBless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. I was in a dialogue with an atheist regarding what he believes is one of many so-called biblical contradictions. Odd guy that I am, I actually find this sort of thing fun. For more information, please see our ii. It is Geldenhuys who gives us the most concise description of demon-possession: in the New Testament demon-possession means that a person is dominated by the spirit of a demon and tormented by him. And when the man spoke to Jesus, it looks like the demons inside the man were the ones doing the speaking. It is mentioned in some ancient manuscripts of the . Second, while the death of the pigs is clearly an economic loss for the owner, Jesus is illustrating the infinite value of human life. For those who are shaken like leaves in the wind at the mention of demons, let us remember from this story that demons cannot even possess pigs without prior permission from our Lord. Why is this sentence from The Great Gatsby grammatical? Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. Acts 16:16), while others were the virtual pawns of these spirits, losing their own identity and autonomy. . August 2015 Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. But as Gergesa was a small village, and little known, the evangelists, who wrote for more distant readers, spoke of the event as taking place in the country of the Gadarenes, so named from its largest city, Gadara; and this country included the country of the Gergesenes as a state includes a county. Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Is there any archaeological evidence for Joshua entering Israel and conquering cities in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age? 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? This incident in the Gerasenes requires some entry understanding. 16, x. How do I connect these two faces together? Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. Life with him would be heaven on earth. By His power, we, too, are able to overcome Satans treacheries. May 2018 In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. Jesus had actually helped them. The center of personality, the volitional and active ego, is impaired by alien powers which seek to ruin the man and sometimes drive him to self-destruction (Mk. Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. The demoniac was uncontrollable by any of the normal means of human confinement. 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.. Some of the proposed answers to this question are totally unacceptable to an orthodox, evangelical Christian.123 By way of explanation, there are several factors which should be given serious consideration. Known as the Judas Iscariot of Gnosticism for revealing that which is not to be revealed. 2. HELPING CHRISTIANS BUILD POSITIVE, GODLY FAMILIES, CHURCHES, AND NATIONS, Follow us on social media for daily Scripture comments and more at. You might be thinking back to Easter and not recall very many hogs showing up except for at Easter supper. His greatest impact would be on those who knew his former state. Note: 'had the legion', i.e., the many unclean spirits inhabiting him. That is not the choice at all. 26). He obviously attracted crowds. Its ruins include two amphitheaters, a basilica, temple, a hippodrome, aqueducts and colonnades, showing its importance and stature. November 2022 Lukes reading Gergesenes may represent even more accurately the ancient name of this place, as Origen knew of a Gergesa on the lake of Galilee. Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20. First of all the Scriptures do not say that the local Pagans were afraid of Jesus, but that they merely begged him to leave their neighbourhood. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Jesus asked Mary why she was crying at the grave site. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. Can devils entreat in such a manner any highest of angels, be he Michael, Gabriel or Raphael, or any greatest cherub or seraph? The commission of our Lord is considerably different from His instructions to the Israelites whom He had delivered. Follow Up: struct sockaddr storage initialization by network format-string, How do you get out of a corner when plotting yourself into a corner, Movie with vikings/warriors fighting an alien that looks like a wolf with tentacles. 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). The subject of demons and demon possession has always seemed somewhat remote and academic to sophisticated 20th century Americans. So he got into the boat and left., Luke 8:37, NIV, great fear [KJV] thoroughly frightened [Phillips]gripped with great fear [NASB]. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. But for most of us, the world and the flesh are all that are necessary to cause us to stumble. 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.. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known.. "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. 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. 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 should also be observed that nowhere in the Old Testament (except in I Sam. Thats just westernised interpretation which simply doesnt work when interpretating a Jewish book. Like it or not, demons and demonic activity are likely to become much more of a concern to you in days to come. Jesus deserves the benefit of the doubt even when we don't have all the facts. December 2022 print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the The sons of god ended up becoming the gods of these nations. Dr. Thomson discovered on the eastern shore the ruins of a village called Khersa. As the world's top superpower, how unsure of itself can the US be to . Whenever a man, woman, or child surrenders control of himself either to fleshly desires (anger, lust, passion, etc.) I think the coup de grce is to look up the Greek word for country in these passages, to see what latitude of meaning it has. What purposes did Mark intend to achieve by the inclusion of this event? Order Bulk SubscriptionsGet a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization Will they be rejected? French Monastery Survives War and Famine After 885 Years, the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan, and More Great Links! Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. Thayers Greek Lexicon defines it as the space lying between two places or limits region or country. The Sea of Galilee was clearly one of the limits. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. But, the pigs were a part of their economic wealth. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. What they were not willing to accept was the frightening power that could cure him. July 2018 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 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. As He had landed with His disciples He had been confronted with a demon-possessed man - a man that no one had been able to control. 127 The view of Greek philosophy was that these were the spirits of those who lived in the Golden Age. Do roots of these polynomials approach the negative of the Euler-Mascheroni constant? Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. They were content where they were. Does a barbarian benefit from the fast movement ability while wearing medium armor? 122 Quoted by Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to Saint Luke, (Edinburg: T. and T. Clark, 5th ed., 1969): p. 228. They all say country of (in the sense of region, not nation). Once naked, he is now clothed. If Jesus had that kind of power, then He could not be controlled. Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? Top Ten Reasons Why There Were Pigs In Gerasenes Remember the story of Jesus casting demons out of the crazy man in Luke 8? What sort of strategies would a medieval military use against a fantasy giant? The Politics of Luke 8:26-39. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. June 2022 COMMENTARY: Atheism is generally the expression of a moral attitude more than a real intellectual conviction based on evidence thought through. 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. Lets learn why. With a little knowledge of the geography of the region, this apparent contradiction can be resolved. Now they were delivered and ready to be productive members of society. More than this, however, is the fact that the mans own identity and individuality were swallowed up by the demons with him. They liked Him and wanted to be with Him. and thank you for your contribution. As these people began to piece together the previous events, not only of the destruction of the pigs, but also the deliverance of Legion, they began to sense that there was One far more awesome, much more to be feared, than Legion. And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 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. Have you even been in a service where the Spirit of God was moving and felt fear? They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. . But notice, even though Jesus permitted them to enter the swine, they were unable to overcome their evil impulses and drove the swine over the cliff to their death. Why do people like Jesus a lot? One is that he was a fascinating man. The pig shepherds had gone and spread the news of what had happened all around. As C. S. Lewis aptly put it: There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. It is something like the behavior and personality change in a man who is totally intoxicated. Jesus had just performed an incredible miracleand one they desperately needed, at that! A land that was essentially under another god (lower case g). It was like being attacked by two Hulks. They probably thought of quickly getting aboard ship and pushing off. Lets face it, we all like to be in control. 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. Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight.". 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. Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. It's a curious passage with many unanswered questions. It hit them hard in the pocketbook. The region was not poor or economically depressed. (it should be added that Plummer himelf does not hold to any of these views.). Satan loves those Christians. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/gerasene-or-gadarene-swine, What Archaeology Tells Us About Joshuas Conquest, 50 Verses to Help You Prepare for Pentecost, St. Polycarp, Who Learned the Faith From an Apostle, Did Not Believe in Faith Alone, The Three Kinds of Atheists, and How to Respond to Them, We Know That Hes in Heaven: Thousands Gather for Funeral of Bishop David OConnell in Los Angeles, Archbishop Naumann and Bishop Paprocki Speak Out in Support of Traditional Latin Massgoers in Their Dioceses, Survey: Decline in Vocations to the Priesthood Is Worse Where Priests Serve Larger Flocks, God Really Intervened: How a Catholic Priest Escaped From His Kidnappers in Haiti, Amber and Dave VanVickle on Finding God in the Midst of Suffering. That is why he was living in the solitude of the tombs, away from civilization. Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. November 2016 and 1 Kings xxii. If he was a pagan, why did Jesus cast out his demons? When addressed, the person was the mouthpiece of the demon (such as Legion, Mark 5:9). The New Testament speaks of those who had a spirit, or a demon, or demons, or an unclean spirit, or the spirit of an unclean demon, but chiefly of persons who were demonised. Edersheim, Life and Times, I, p. 479.

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