And, yes, Dana did just read us something about a man possessed by a whole bunch of demons that later go and possess a bunch of hogs. Once a menace to society, now a messenger with words of deliverance and healing. The demonically possessed man who came to Jesus cried out his name was Legion. That is why he was living in the solitude of the tombs, away from civilization. Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. May 2016 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. First of all, the EPA would have been investigating the pollution of Lake Galilee with decaying pigs. March 2015 You might be thinking back to Easter and not recall very many hogs showing up except for at Easter supper. 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. 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). Why is that. They were instructed to keep quiet about what Jesus had done for them (cf. All Scripture agrees with this, that the judgment of the angels is yet to come (1 Cor. His website/blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, has been online since March 1997. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized . Jesus had simply sailed across the Lake of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. He could just as easily commanded them to return to the deepest, darkest pit of Hell. It is amazing to think that people could be fearful of Jesus. As the servant of Elisha was told, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them (2 Kings 6:16). 606-607. The lose of the pigs meant loose of partial income in the area. Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. March 2020 Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. Pope Francis Inexhaustible Font of Words: 10 Gems From the Heart Over 10 Years, Pope Francis, Biden Commend Peacemaker Bishop OConnell as Memorial Services Begin. A friend of mine told me later that two students were attempting to cast a demon out of a fellow. EIN 27-4581132 But, the pigs were a part of their economic wealth. April 2016 . Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. Why did Jesus not allow demons to proclaim his name, Archaeological or Historical Support for the Gerasene Pigs. 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. 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. June 2020 November 2015 May 2018 Renew or manage your subscription here. 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? Most people confessed to having the fear of things not working out, an inability to trust and others said they . and thank you for your contribution. (3) Our Lord was moved with compassion by the torment of Legion and the loss of these pigs should in no way dim our view of the deliverance of the demoniac. The account occurs in all three Synoptic gospels; in Mark (the shortest gospel) the story is in the longest and most detailed version; Matthew 8.28-34 is the shortest, vi. It indicates full and permanent control. Mark 3:14). A land that was essentially under another god (lower case g). 18). And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. November 2017 Winthrop Congregational Church, UCC No matter who you are. The district of the Gerasenes probably included that of the Gadarenes; so that the demoniac of Gergesa belonged to the country of the Gadarenes and also to that of the Gerasenes, as the same person may, with equal truth, be said to live in the city or the state, or in the United States. And the people there were scared, they recognised this, but more, they realised the significance of this. The exercising of authority over demons, in the land under another god, was a message. Like it or not, demons and demonic activity are likely to become much more of a concern to you in days to come. 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. . It was like being attacked by two Hulks. They probably thought of quickly getting aboard ship and pushing off. HELPING CHRISTIANS BUILD POSITIVE, GODLY FAMILIES, CHURCHES, AND NATIONS, Follow us on social media for daily Scripture comments and more at. The time of this event was before Jesus' crucifixion, and before the gentiles were grafted in to the promise (Acts 10). 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. Although his symptoms would have appeared to be those of an insane man,113 the Gospel writers inform us that he was demon-possessed.114. Do roots of these polynomials approach the negative of the Euler-Mascheroni constant? The Gospels use different names for the place where this occurred: This is supposedly a contradiction. Gerasa is (as we know) some 30-35 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, but may have also been the name of the larger region. Second, while the death of the pigs is clearly an economic loss for the owner, Jesus is illustrating the infinite value of human life. 10). The demoniac was uncontrollable by any of the normal means of human confinement. 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. August 2020 It is something like the behavior and personality change in a man who is totally intoxicated. Thats why also Peter having realized who Christ was, was dreaded and asked Him to leave him for he said to be a sinful man (Luke 5:8). July 2016 Was there some sort of unwritten rule that Darrow (or any non-Bellona) was supposed to throw the fight? Gergesenes is also in some manuscripts (Khersa or Gersa was a town actually on the shore of the sea). And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another . 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. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. May 2021 In any event, I love defending the Bible and Christianity. That would be a strong message, by allowing them to be possessed and then drowned. In Luke 2:8 it is applied to the city of Bethlehem; in Acts 18:23 to Galatia and Phrygia. They had been unable to control these two men [Luke only mentions one man, but Matthew tells us there were two]. Non-Christians can often experience this fear of Jesus as well. Although it is often claimed that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor, general dislike for Christians likely arose from their refusal to worship the gods or take part in sacrifice, which was expected of those living in the Roman Empire. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? iv. More than this, however, is the fact that the mans own identity and individuality were swallowed up by the demons with him. The people (nations) were divided up, and boundaries allocated' and the sons of god were put over these nations. July 2021 2. Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023, Highlights in the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 991. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. 2 Now a centurion had a servant 1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. There is no true freedom and fulfillment apart from Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of men. ii. November 2022 9. Also, frequently associated with demon possession was a super-human strength (cf. I am wondering if the demoniac was pagan or an Israelite. 14. Acts 16:16), while others were the virtual pawns of these spirits, losing their own identity and autonomy. There is, as we know, the world, the flesh, and the Devil. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? The region was not poor or economically depressed. But having recalled a passage in Ephesians, I realize now that this man is a reminder of the dilemma of every man, woman, and child who have not come to a saving dependence upon the work of Jesus Christ for sinners on the cross. 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. Well, it is because atheists, in their zealous rush to make fun of Christians, Christianity, and the Bible, start to lose their logical rigor and rationality, leading them to contend for implausible things: as presently. 122 Quoted by Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to Saint Luke, (Edinburg: T. and T. Clark, 5th ed., 1969): p. 228. 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. 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. No! . In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. Why would the Gerasene people beg Jesus to leave their region after He cast the demons into the pigs? What did Jesus mean when he said only prayer can cast out this demon? 123 1. 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. Immediately, as this weary group disembarked from the ship, they were met by what appeared to be a madman. Unbelieving men may not rave and carry on like the Gerasene demoniac, but they are nevertheless under Satans control, doing his bidding. As has been said before, look for Satans man behind the pulpit. February 2017 Oh Hye-son recently published a Korean-language memoir on how she and her husband Thae Yong-ho, then deputy ambassador at North Korea's London embassy, defected in 2016. April 2022 For more information, please see our Although God's word does not name which cities were considered part of this region, Pliny's Natural History (c. 77 A.D.) lists these cities as Gerasa, Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Capitolias (Dion), Canatha, Raphana and Damascus. . The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. January 2022 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Who do you care more about, people or pigs? And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. People who have no appr For the Christian, there are two extremes which must be avoided with reference to Satanic activity. December 2015 Why did Jesus have the authority to forgive sins, why did the scribes take it as a blasphemy, and was this authority also given to men in general? In the form of tongues as of fire, the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of Pentecost and fills them with himself. (CCC 696). And when the man spoke to Jesus, it looks like the demons inside the man were the ones doing the speaking. They would have to trust Jesus. September 2020 This incident in the Gerasenes requires some entry understanding. To the evildoer, anonymity is always preferable to identification. That is not the choice at all. We are seeking a replacement and hope to have it in your newspaper soon. 2,8) who can possess men and animals. So who was afraid? July 2020 monetization of National Catholic Register RSS feeds is strictly prohibited. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. (5) Torment. 16, x. Then the SPCA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals. Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. What would happen to them? The people who witnessed this are . Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. Finally, there is in demon possession a counterpart to the filling (or control) of the Holy Spirit. Some illicitly use drugs, supposing that they have them completely under their control. (1) Severe personality change. At their request, He left. Events that are important to our Church Community, Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac. If an Israelite, why was he in Gerasene in the first place and why was he living so near a large herd of swine? Jesus asked Mary why she was crying at the grave site. December 2020 ESV - Christians are to be a "safe" people - an expression of that love of God so people who do not know Him can be drawn to the Truth. Rather, they attributed the power of Jesus to Satan (Mark 3:22). October 2022 Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. The people were gentiles who had not yet any interest in the Messiah. rev2023.3.3.43278. The people were more terrified of Jesus and His authority than they were of this crazed and demonized man living among the tombs. Now' as to the pigs (an unclean animal, so you know Jesus wasnt in Israel! Those who have witnessed demon possession tell us that each demon has its own distinct personality and that the individual possessed begins to manifest the distinct personality of the demon by which he is possessed. NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. when He was the only One Who truly knew what had happened. They likely were Gentiles and had been under the influence of the demonic principality of the region their whole life. A crowd had come to see what had happened for themselves. xii. 16ff., xix. Satans most effective tool is not the demoniac wandering about the desolate places. Give a Gift SubscriptionBless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. In the third chapter of Marks Gospel, our Lords miraculous works were attributed by His opponents to the power of Satan (verse 22). So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . 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. First let us see what the Sacred Texts says: The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. For the reason why this is so we refer the reader to the introduction preceding the exposition of verses 33-7. 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. We owe it to Josephus, from whom it has passed into ecclesiastical language. I asked why people are afraid of commitment and relationships and some said they are afraid because they fear being hurt again. Matthew 12:43-45). One is to disbelieve in their existence. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Who was afraid of Jesus and why? 17, pp. Will they be rejected? What scared them was a power so fierce it could free a man. One is that he was a fascinating man. They all say country of (in the sense of region, not nation). Women, children and defenceless people all admired Him and felt comfortable in His presence. xiii. seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Even as the purpose of Roman legions was to enforce the will of the emperor, the goal of the multiple evil spirits was to carry out the devil's will of bringing pain, destruction and chaos to humans! Nevertheless, for consideration. 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. If anything, that would have made them angry. Jesus asked a sick man if he wanted to get well. Acts 19:16). Its important to note that this was the first demonstration of Jesuss authority outside of Canaan. . Like children convinced there are monsters under our beds, the unknown scares us. These men were a danger to themselves and others. Author of The Gnostic Notebook series, stand-up comedian, and Gnostic. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 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. The reference could hardly be to the better known Gerasa (Jerash) between thirty and forty miles southeast from the lake. The swine then immediately killed themselves by rushing off a cliff. He said he had come to the house of Israel, not to the gentiles. Until we decide on a new comic, you'll likely see a gray box where "Dilbert" had appeared. So much pain, so much sin. 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. What did we miss because we allowed fear instead of faith to drive our lives? She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction.