Horoscopes and astrological predictions are found in most major newspapers. 1 Response Were the writers of the synoptic gospel accounts confused about where Jesus was when He healed the men? Matthew, Mark, and Luke were writing of the same general area. The tomb-man from Gadara looked up at Jesus again. May the Spirit of God be so evident in us that men may see God in our lives. The Greek word commonly accepted in Mark 5:1 and Luke 8:26 as the basis for the name of the people who inhabited the place where Jesus and the disciples went is rendered Gerasenes in English (Metzger, 1975, pp. Were on a mission to change that. No! The demoniacs frightened the swine, and the transfer of demons from them to the swine was imagined. Declare how much God has done for you. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), p. 174. Joseph blessed his 12 sons and prophesied over each. Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. Although the Gospels give us little information as to how individuals become targets of Satanic control, I would suggest for your consideration that they sometimes do so by leaving themselves open to Satanic influence. To the evildoer, anonymity is always preferable to identification. So Jesus had to cross the lake twice. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. And, Gerasene was one. But Jesus was sleeping. Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Marks Story of Jesus (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988) p. 192; Richard A. Horsley, Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Marks Gospel (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2001); Gerd Thiessen, Miracle Stories of the Early Christian Tradition (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1983); Hollenbach, P. W. (1981). Jesus goes across the sea into the "region of the Gerasenes". The Madman. Cindee Snider Re The longest and nearly detailed account of Jesus and the Gadarene swine is plant in the . At the conclusion of this day of teaching by parables, the Lord had instructed His disciples to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the other side. 40, vii. 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. Our Lord responded sternly by calling this accusation blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and as such was the one unpardonable sin (verses 28-30). Men and women (as well as children) were demonized in that they fell under the influence of these unclean spirits. 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. 22ff. This agrees with the general description of the site (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26). In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Spam, December 19 2016 2,8) who can possess men and animals. 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). Two men: Matt. 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. 15; Mark ix. But for most of us, the world and the flesh are all that are necessary to cause us to stumble. Albert Barnes explained the difference between Gadara and Gerasa: Gadara was a city not far from the Lake Gennesareth, one of the ten cities that were called Decapolis. In all his tormented years, he had never felt anything like the terror that coursed through him when he saw Jesus get out of the boat. Although the manifestations of demonization vary widely, this man 115 evidenced several of the classic symptoms. The man jumped up and said to him, "Sir, please, may I go with you? The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25), Highlights in the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. The confrontation of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac made it clear that Jesus was no servant of Satan. Such seems to be a similar case with Judas (John 13:1-2). 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. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? xvii. Rev. They didn't understand! We see people in other places where he worked miracles, endeavoring to make him their king (Jn 6:15) . But I know there are ways I do this all the time. The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. The man looked out on the Tiberius. 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. The ego is so impaired that the spirits speak through him. Also, frequently associated with demon possession was a super-human strength (cf. At this distance from the Sea of Galilee, Gerasa could not have been the site of the healing of Legion. It is doubtful that Jesus ever visited it. It was a region of 10 Greco-Roman cities, a Gentile region. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? 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. They valued their pigs more than they valued salvation. T. H. Huxley, in his Essays upon some Controverted Questions (1892), made merry over the escapade of the Gadarene swine, running the seven miles between Gadar and the lake of Galilee, crossing the deep river Yarmuk en route. Vector Projections/Dot Product properties. Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? (1946), The Interpretation of St. Marks Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg). But it was different this time. The Lord refused this request and commissioned this delivered man to return to his own people and declare to them what God had done for him. Ewing. 8ff.). (2) Anti-social behavior. But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat It would seem that these people had no Messianic expectations, and therefore wanted nothing to do with One Who had such awesome power, a power over which they had no control. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. 1 Response People had tried to tie him down but he was too strong to be bound, even with chains, for he would always break out of them; night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. But Jesus told him to go back. It was the terror of the damned. Whatever witchcraft Jesus possessed, they wanted it far away from them. This is just five miles from Capernaum, where Jesus had previously been, so it makes sense. Generic Doubly-Linked-Lists C implementation, Understanding the probability of measurement w.r.t. AMP - Says he is "the bread of life"; many are stumbled and leave 6:22-71. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Jesus' arrival on the scene introduced a spiritual power stronger than Legion, which upset the social balance by removing the scapegoat. It was a leading city of Syria in commerce, culture, and religion. Romans Bible Study, Chapter 5 Romans 5 speaks about justification and our relationship to Adam. 3. If there are two demoniacs, there is certainly at least one; therefore, there is no contradiction. It is almost 20 miles from Amman (Philadelphia), and 22 from Fahil (Pella). And the people went out to see what happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. However, the point was clearly made; Jesus, the Son of God, has power over all things, including the powers of darkness. I have never actually begged Jesus to go away and leave me alone. 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. No one could restrain himhe couldn't be chained, couldn't be tied down. Excavations at the modern Jarash (by the British and American Schools of Oriental Research and Yale University) clearly show that Gerasa was a large and important city already in Jesus time. 61-62. [ a] 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus? As a herdsman recounted what happened, they kept looking at him and then to Jesus. 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. 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. It became the seat of a bishopric, and one of its bishops attended the Council of Chalcedon. Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). 2. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, XLIX(4), 567588; Burdon, Christopher. This describes the district in which Christ met and healed the demoniac from the tombs, where also took place the destruction of the swine. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 8:28-29 but only one is Mk. We dismiss it the more readily, that, in our view, it conveys a wrong impression. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy.
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