Another approach is to note the different intentions of the Gospel writers. 22, xvii. Why are you Afraid? | Mark 4:35 - 5:20 | RayStedman.org We owe it to Josephus, from whom it has passed into ecclesiastical language. The pleas of Legion were in response to the command of Jesus for the demons to come out of him (verse 8). That is not the choice at all. We dismiss it the more readily, that, in our view, it conveys a wrong impression. Then the SPCA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals. Luke 8:26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. The Lord granted the only request of these residents, which was for Him to leave. NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. 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. 21,22). But, Im telling you. Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. It is not difficult to imagine what was going through the minds of the disciples as their ship landed and as these two demon possessed men rushed to them. They were content where they were. 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. 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. Winthrop Congregational Church, UCC No matter who you are. and 1 Kings xxii. 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). June 2017 Vote Up The difference between the phonemes /p/ and /b/ in Japanese, Is there a solutiuon to add special characters from software and how to do it. The Politics of Luke 8:26-39. 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. Matt. The scene which Mark presents is deliberately dark. In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. It is amazing to think that people could be fearful of Jesus. So who was afraid? For those near by the local name would be used; but in writing to a distant people, as the Greeks and Romans, the more comprehensive and general name would be given.. Jesus deserves the benefit of the doubt even when we don't have all the facts. April 2018 Jude 6), no longer to afflict men or resist God. French Monastery Survives War and Famine After 885 Years, the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan, and More Great Links! Note: 'had the legion', i.e., the many unclean spirits inhabiting him. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. xii. 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, And the people there were scared, they recognised this, but more, they realised the significance of this. 3 When the centurion 2 heard about Jesus, c he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his . April 2015 Afraid of Jesus | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org Other demoniacs described in Scripture were bent on self-destruction as well (cf. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. To date they have failed to respond in any way. Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8 | Psephizo Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. So he got into the boat and left. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). June 2015 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. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. Luke 8:26-39 Mark 5:1-20 ESV - 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. Mark 5:1 On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. 16, x. He said he had come to the house of Israel, not to the gentiles. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? March 2017 Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat Those possessed are depicted throughout as unfortunate sufferers who by no fault of their own are dominated by evil spirits and who, when the spirits are cast out by Jesus, accept their deliverance with joy and gratitude (Mark v. 18-20, Luke viii. The typical explanation for the petition of the residents that Christ leave their country is that they were motivated by materialistic considerations. October 2020 He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. We're no longer publishing the comic strip 'Dilbert.' Here's why 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. Why would Jesus ask, "Who touched Me?" The conduct of this pathetic individual was obviously anti-social. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. March 2022 The destructive desires of the demons were dramatically carried out in the drowning of the swine. They were sacrificed by being thrown off a cliff. In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. EWTN News, Inc. is the worlds largest Catholic news organization, comprised of television, radio, The capital of the region was Gerasa, and the largest city in the region was Gadera. 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. 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. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Is there any archaeological evidence for Joshua entering Israel and conquering cities in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age? When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). October 2018 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. 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. People who have no appr Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. It was greatly influenced by Greek culture.126. 13; Luke iv. The time of this event was before Jesus' crucifixion, and before the gentiles were grafted in to the promise (Acts 10). Since the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave in their fear, it seems that Jesus' ability to exorcise Legion was disturbing to the people. If an Israelite, why was he in Gerasene in the first place and why was he living so near a large herd of swine? 36Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. August 2016 Acts 16:16), while others were the virtual pawns of these spirits, losing their own identity and autonomy. He had only known Jesus for a few hours, but had already determined to be Jesus' disciple for life. Instead of opening themselves up to Jesus and receiving His love and forgiveness, they allowed fear to drive a wedge between them. They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. August 2017 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. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. Gergesenes is also in some manuscripts (Khersa or Gersa was a town actually on the shore of the sea). How much more sinful than Peter were the Geraseneans, who because of love of money did not shun even to engage in a non-Jew business of herding swine; how much more unbearable and dreadful must have been for them the Lords presence! All of this sure seems perfectly consistent with calling the same area the country (chra) of either the Gerasenes or the Gadarenes, after the two major cities. 2. Another indication of demonic control is the fact that this man was continually doing harm to himself by gashing himself with stones (verse 5). And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned (Luke 8:35-37). Afraid of Jesus? | Sermons | College Park Church 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. when He was the only One Who truly knew what had happened. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. November 2016 Thus, it is not always used of one specific country (nation), but rather, usually to regions or areas of either small (Bethlehem) or large (Judaea and Samaria) size, including regions surrounding large cities. 116 As Lane observes this title Son of the Most High God, is not a messianic designation but a divine one. Lane, Mark, p. 133, cf. In Mark 1:5 it is used of the land of Judaea (KJV) and in Acts 10:39, to land of the Jews (KJV). Once naked, he is now clothed. Romans 9:19-23). Crazy question or.? 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. 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. The most likely answer is to the country of the Gerasenes: i.e., Gerasa, a Greek town thought to be the same as the similarly-named Kersa on the east shore of Lake Tiberias. EIN 27-4581132 The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. 0 Responses Holiness hurts! This was a federation of ten cities (deka = ten, polis = city). Another reason they may have been afraid of Jesus was the realization that if they accepted Him, it would mean a radical change of lifestyle. 122 Quoted by Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to Saint Luke, (Edinburg: T. and T. Clark, 5th ed., 1969): p. 228. seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Acts 5:1-6). Jesus was saying, (demonstrating) that He had all authority, in any land. For more information, please see our Chapati Movement 1857: Why were the British afraid of the Roti? They were willing to post guards and chain and shackle their neighbor to keep him from hurting someone. ), you also need to understand the significance of this - to the people in Gerasene. The price tag of possession was high, for those who fell victim to the demons agonized in constant torment. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known. It is in no way certain, however, that the pig raisers were Jews. The reference could hardly be to the better known Gerasa (Jerash) between thirty and forty miles southeast from the lake. Wasn't the answer obvious? man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus (Luke 8:26-39, NIV) Why Darth Sidious Was AFRAID of General Grievous - YouTube The Gadarenes was the place where Jesus confronted a man whose possession by demons gave him a level of superhuman strength like Samson (Mark 5:3 - 5, Luke 8:27).