(Cf. It is almost 20 miles from Amman (Philadelphia), and 22 from Fahil (Pella). Also, the wholesale slaughter of these pigs dramatically illustrated the destructive purposes of the demons. and 1 Kings xxii. Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. In this immediate area, steep hills come down to the shoreline and fit the story of the swine rushing headlong into the sea. The choice is to be free by submission to Christ (cf. Gergesa is located, with relative certainty, midway along the E bank of the Sea of Galilee; Gadara is six m. SE from the S end of the Sea of Galilee; and Gerasa is some thirty-five m. SE. Joseph blessed his 12 sons and prophesied over each. By His power, we, too, are able to overcome Satans treacheries. The crowd's murmuring crescendoed into anxious pleas: "Please leave! A Jewish exorcist with such authority in the region, risked to damage the beliefs and reputation of the local pagan inhabitants. Those demons were terrified of Him! At Luke 8:27, the gospel writer notes that the demoniac wore no clothes. It is a fascinating by Matt Slick | Apr 4, 2023 | Genesis - Deuteronomy, Bible Difficulties. The Greek word in Matthew 8:28, however, reveals that Jesus went to the country of the Gadarenes (p. 23). 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. [3] This interpretation has been shared by a long line of commentators up to the present day, including I. Howard Marshall and Mark Driscoll. There is no contradiction, therefore, in the evangelists. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! The next allusion to Gerasa concerns its capture during Vespasians campaign. What is the 'age of accountability' and is it Biblical. He wasn't very big. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! how many times did jesus go to gerasenes [1] Jesus, now about 30 years old (Lk 3:23) travels from his home-town of Nazareth in Galilee. The 'before' and 'after' descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. recognizes the military background of the term, pointing out that in the imperial period a legion consisted of 6000 foot soldiers, 120 horsemen and technical personnel. Here in Mark, he purposely set out to travel into another land. john kiuta masuka, December 19 2016 Pliny described it as a city of the Decapolis founded after the Rom. 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). This request was granted and the entire herd rushed headlong to their own destruction. The forum, with a semicircle of columns still standing, was paved with large cut stones. We'd love to keep you up to date with what is happening at CARM. As a herdsman recounted what happened, they kept looking at him and then to Jesus. 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. In retaliation for the massacre of the Jews at Caesarea, the Jews sent several raiding parties into the Gentile cities of the Decapolis. The words "return to your home" must have made this man's heart sink. 3. Josephus mentions it with Pella and Golan as being taken by storm during Alexander Jannaeus campaign E of the Jordan in about 83 b.c. 6:1-13. Five squad cars converged on it. If Mark or Luke said that only one demoniac came to Jesus while Matthew says that two came out, that would be a contradiction. The Synoptic Gospels record one episode of Jesus calming a violent storm: "Then [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him. A city in Transjordania, situated about thirty-five m. SE of the S end of the Sea of Galilee, one of the cities of the Decapolis; the inhabitants of the city. This reversal of the scapegoat mechanism by Jesus is central to Girard's entire reading of Christianity, and this reversal is on display in this story as well. 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. Matt 8:28). Yet how did the Gerasene people respond? All accounts involve Jesus exorcising demons, identified collectively in Mark and Luke as "Legion". 9:10-17. Such an entreaty can be addressed by them to only God. 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]. The Madman. The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. He recognized most of them. A spiritual battle ensued, which ended with Jesus casting a whole legion of demons out of the man and sending them into a herd of pigs. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. What was it that they saw? Their first question is a rather pragmatic one, namely, How can demons possess animals? To this we must confess that we know too little to understand the mechanism of demon possession but the reality is very evident. 8:28, "And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road.". They were sacrificed by being thrown off a cliff. 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. 84,145). [citation needed]. If we had a video livestream of a clock being sent to Mars, what would we see? There is no true freedom and fulfillment apart from Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of men. But Jesus motioned to Peter to ready the boat. 5 1-5 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. 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. HDB, II, p. 158, 159 for a detailed description.). 14:22-36. The story of Jesus casting out the demons from a human and into a herd of swine is well-known, but where it happened, and what it means, are more contentious questions and deserve fuller analysis and discussion. 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. The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. And now here was someone even more powerful. At first we may deceive ourselves into thinking that we are controlling them, but the ultimate likelihood is that they will master us. Once naked, he is now clothed. 5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. The commission of our Lord is considerably different from His instructions to the Israelites whom He had delivered. They were jumping to the wrong conclusions. 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. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? 14:13-21. (3) Spiritual insight. Here the slopes descend swiftly almost into the sea, and animals, once started on the downward run, could not avoid plunging into the depths. 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. No men would have written in this manner but those who were acquainted with the facts (1949, p. 91). Pigs were specifically set aside as the animal used in sacrifices to their god. It's a curious passage with many unanswered questions. Youngblood, Ronald F., ed. 68f. And, Gerasene was one. Home was a place of memories so dark and pain-filled that he likely just wanted to escape them and never go back. John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). 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. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. A few men went on to survey the dead floating herd. 2. I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. Metzger, Bruce M. (1975 corrected edition), A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York, NY: United Bible Societies). Nevertheless, for consideration. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. His lucid mind mulled over the words, "Son of the Most High God.". The ruins of the town are not considerable; but there are remains of a strong wall which must have surrounded the place. 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. 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. They include several splendid temples, theaters, basilica, palaces and baths, with hippodrome and naumachia. I know this, yet, like the people in the story, I can hesitate. None of the accounts indicate why Jesus allowed the demons to go into the swine, but certainly it was better that they go into the pigs than into people. Ananias and Sapphira did so by allowing their greed to grip their hearts (cf. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), p. 174. A small crowd of people was approaching, with the pig herdsmen leading the way. The demoniacs frightened the swine, and the transfer of demons from them to the swine was imagined. 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. Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. In this instance, each writer intended to draw attention to an area close to the Sea of Galilee. Box 1353 |Nampa, ID 83653 USA1-800-803-8093, If you have any issues, please call the office at 385-246-1048 or email us at. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. As if he is trying to avoid being expelled and stoned in reality, the possessed brings about his own expulsion and stoning; he provides a spectacular mime of all the stages of punishment that Middle Eastern societies inflict on criminals whom they consider completely defiled and irredeemable. In this context, however, he insists that legion has nothing of its usual Roman military overtones, but is the designation of numerous powers which oppose themselves to Jesus as the embodiment of the power of God. Lane, Mark, fn. 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). But dont mess with my whole life. 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. is there such a thing as "right to be heard"? Such was the case with this man (cf. And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. In this light, Matthew identified the exorcism with the local center of power, Gadara, located about ten kilometres southeast of Sea of Galilee, whereas Mark identified the event with the regional center of power, Gerasa, located further inland. In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. There seems to be no excuse here for the charge of contradiction. The Cross And Separation From The World (1 Peter 4:1-6), 7. Evil is self-defeating in the end. But the most strangely wonderful thing of all was his sense of cleanness. He felt Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder. Jesus' visits to the Decapolis can help us understand some aspects of his ministry that would not be as clear if they had occurred in Jerusalem, Capernaum, or some other "orthodox" Jewish site. Archeologists identify it with the modern Jarash. William of Tyre calls the city Jarras, and places it 16 miles East of Jordan (Hist, xii, 16). Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. 0 Responses 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. The word translated windstorm here, and storm in the KJ, is the word lailaps, which is more than just a storm. If it is a feminine spirit, the voice will be a feminine one, if masculine then very manly. He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. about a.d. 65. The NT references (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26; cf. He said he had come to the house of Israel, not to the gentiles. Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). Matt. 4, p. 102. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. Matt. But sometimes, like the man in Luke 8:26-39, the more difficult call is to go back home. The presence of a copious spring of sweet water makes it probable that the site has been occupied from olden time; but no trace remains of any ancient city. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. He was leaving! Asked December 18 2016 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. So Jesus had to cross the lake twice. 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. 22, xvii. 1 THEY CAME to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gerasenes. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? The gospels. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Matthew 8:4; Luke 8:56). The tomb-man felt confusion and grief. Another reason could be as Dr. R.C. 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. ", Jesus looked hard at him without speaking. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. These forces plundered Gerasa, Philadelphia, Pella, and others (Jos. Perhaps they clenched their fists or picked up driftwood with which to defend themselves. Such seems to be a similar case with Judas (John 13:1-2). . But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Exorcism_of_the_Gerasene_demoniac&oldid=1143355181, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2019, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from March 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 7 March 2023, at 07:06. What happened to the evil spirits Jesus cast out of the man named "Legion" after the swine drowned? He was used to seeing fear in their eyes. What is this brick with a round back and a stud on the side used for? GERASA, GERASENES (, ). But I know there are ways I do this all the time. Ewing. xvii. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. Two men: Matt. "[15], The story is the origin of the English proverbial adjective Gadarene, meaning "involving or engaged in a headlong or potentially disastrous rush to do something".[16]. 1 Response ), you also need to understand the significance of this - to the people in Gerasene. 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. The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. 1. He had thought he'd been living in hell already. (1995), New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Nelson). I am wondering if the demoniac was pagan or an Israelite. [2] It has been a point of contention in discussions of Christianity and animal rights. And, lastly, this would allow sufficient time for those miracles which took place on that second day in Capernaum after His return thither. Did they open their hearts to hear the good news of the kingdom of God? By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. 123 1. 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. It only takes a minute to sign up. Learn more about these miraculous stories found in the Bible. 3. As soon as Jesus disembarked from the boat that carried him here, a man possessed by demons approached, shrieking and falling before him. Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. v. 37) describe Jesus' healing of the demoniac "Legion" and . The confrontation between the powers of heaven and hell are nowhere seen in better perspective than in Marks account of the encounter of the Gerasene demoniac with our Lord Jesus Christ. The demonically possessed man who came to Jesus cried out his name was Legion. 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. Then he put his reassuring hand on the man's shoulder again and said, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.". As you heal me, as you empower me, as you use me for your purposes, my life will never be the same. My office mate of several years back was interrupted by a young and very zealous new Christian teacher accompanied by a student from whom she wanted my friend to cast out a demon. The ruins are wide and imposing and are better preserved than any others on the East of Jordan. The Response of the People - Mt. went through a storm to help one person, that is, the wild man of Gadara. How Many Times Did Jesus Go To Gerasenes. (Jos. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. No! Its architecture was of the Corinthian order, quite lavish and imposing, with columns from three to four ft. in diameter and about thirty ft. high. Short story about swapping bodies as a job; the person who hires the main character misuses his body, English version of Russian proverb "The hedgehogs got pricked, cried, but continued to eat the cactus". To the evildoer, anonymity is always preferable to identification. 1. Gergesa, Gerasa, or Gadara? By your Spirit, help me to welcome you into my life, all of you. Reland (Pal, II, 806) notes certain extant coins of Gerasa, from which it is clear that in the 2nd century it was a center of the worship of Artemis. The people were afraid when they saw the possessed man healed. 8:28-29 but only one is Mk. It was Jesus they were afraid of. Spam, December 19 2016 This fact probably accounts for the presence of a large herd of swine near Gadara when Jesus visited that region to heal the demon-possessed men (Matthew 8:30-33; Mark 5:1-17). But let us return to the gist of the matter: if Christ showed them His Divinity through the reason given above, is it easy to be in the presence of God? No rage. Just as demons desire to possess persons through whom they can exhibit their personalities, so the Spirit of God indwells man, imparting new life, and progressively gaining control so that the character of God is exhibited, but not in such a way as to hinder our individuality and identity. May the Spirit of God be so evident in us that men may see God in our lives. 8:28, Mark 5:1-2, Luke 8:26-27. It is something like the behavior and personality change in a man who is totally intoxicated. There is no conflict, however, for Mark and Luke have apparently focused their attention on the most striking of the two. Lane believes the modern Kersa is the most likely place: The point of arrival is indicated in a general way as the district of the Gerasenes, most probably in reference to a town whose name is preserved in the modern Kersa or Koursi. It is ironic that while the demons didnt want to leave the country, the dwellers of that land didnt want the Messiah to stay. In his description of the boundaries of Perea, Josephus mentions Gerasa as one of the cities on the eastern boundary between Perea and Arabia, the other border cities being Philadelphia and Sebonitus (Jos. Clarify 1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. [3], The earliest account, assuming the theory of Marcan priority is correct, is in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 5:120). He dispatched Lucius Annius with a force of cavalry and an army of foot soldiers, who took the city on the first attack, slaughtering a thousand young men, taking their families captive, plundering and burning the city and the surrounding towns (Jos. 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. CARM |P.O. The story of the Gerasene demoniac is surely one of the strangest in the Gospels. In the past several weeks, there has come to light the case of a man arrested for various crimes who has several of the symptoms of demon possession, including multiple personalities, even multiple IQs. or by some form of self-emptying (such as various forms of eastern meditation) in my opinion, they are in a precarious position. Classical theological commentary cited this story to argue that animals have no moral importance in Christianity. Who would have thought that the Son of God looked so much like other Jewish men? REPRODUCTION & DISCLAIMERS: We are happy to grant permission for this article to be reproduced in part or in its entirety, as long as our stipulations are observed. Following Jesus with you wherever he calls. (1) Severe personality change. 7. DEUT 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of God. 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 . 16, x. AMP - 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. Therefore, Jesus Christ for demons is God and thus even demons inadvertently reveal themselves as being better theologians than Arians and their modern day heirs - Jehovawitnesians and all different breeds of Unitarians - their name being legion! Son of God was their term. But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. For these demons to be sent out of the country would have meant that they would then be confined along with other fallen angels (cf. Their answer is: 'No, we do not want to stone you because we want to keep you near us. The triumphal arch to the South of the city is almost entire. This is when the storm arose which threatened to destroy the ship (Mark 4:35-41). Holiness hurts! [4], The Gospel of Matthew shortens the story dramatically (Matthew 8:2834) and writes not of one possessed man, but of two. It is noteworthy that it is distinguished (especially in the Gospel of the physician, Luke) from cases of ordinary sickness, insanity (lunacy), leprosy, blindness, lameness, deafness and other natural defects and diseases (cf. The before and after descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. Further, the conclusion seems warranted that there was confusion in some MSS of Gerasa with the more likely site for the miracle near Gergesa. May I open all that I am to you, boldly trusting you. Traces of ancient buildings in the vicinity show that there must have been a fairly numerous population in the district.2. How many men came out to meet Jesus in Gerasene? The Good Shepherd will walk with you and protect you on the darkest road (Psalm 23:4). But the rest stopped some twenty feet away. A noise made them all turn back toward the hill. 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. 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).

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