The city of Gadara and its surrounding area are referred to as the Gadarenes. What sort of strategies would a medieval military use against a fantasy giant? Matthew 9:2-8 Why was "This man is blaspheming" considered an evil thought without knowing Jesus' identity? 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? 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. And when the man spoke to Jesus, it looks like the demons inside the man were the ones doing the speaking. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . 26). I asked why people are afraid of commitment and relationships and some said they are afraid because they fear being hurt again. 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. 112 Skeptics and liberals have made much of the differences between the Gospel writers as to the place Jesus landed with His disciples. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear (Luke 8:35-37). Gerasa, Gadara, Gergesa - from where did the pigs stampede? No matter where you are on life's journey. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? Ouija boards are found in many American homes. 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! The pig tenders reported it far and wide, in city and country (verse 14). As indicated in the textual note, the best Greek text reads Gerasenes in Mark and Luke, Gadarenes in Matthew. The time of this event was before Jesus' crucifixion, and before the gentiles were grafted in to the promise (Acts 10). The demoniacs were mere maniacs, whom Jesus cured by humouring their fancies; and His giving leave to imaginary demons to enter into the swine, produced the story of the disaster to the herd.All these explanations assume that the Gospel narratives are wholly or in part unhistorical. Plummer, Luke, p. 228. Our children would probably understand best if I said that his appearance must have been somewhat like that of the television creation, The Incredible Hulk. He was Someone Who could control the spirit realm. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. How ironic, as others have noted, that the tormentor pleads not to be tormented. NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. 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. I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. Pig carcasses were washing ashore and drifting out to sea. 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 . "The trains were . Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023, Highlights in the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. 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. Life with him would be heaven on earth. Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:12), whose leader and prince is Satan (Matthew 12:24). The drowning of the swine was an accident, possibly simultaneous with the healing, and report mixed up the two incidents. Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? A Lesson From the Gadarenes - Sabbath Thoughts "And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes round about asked him to depart from them, for they were holden with great fear: and he entered into a bo." In any event, they were not Israelites, as indicated by the fact that a herd of swine was being kept nearby, which would have been forbidden by the Mosaic Law, since swine were unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7-8). October 2021 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. February 2021 The demoniacs frightened the swine, and the transfer of demons from them to the swine was imagined. 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. Clarify They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. Ananias and Sapphira did so by allowing their greed to grip their hearts (cf. The Man from the Tombs: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Spiritual The Greeks were believers in the spirit world, but not necessarily convinced that demons were evil.127 As a result, Marks readers needed to be instructed as to the essential nature of demons and demon possession. What purposes did Mark intend to achieve by the inclusion of this event? 111 Edersheim maintains that it must have been late the same night of the storm: Most writers have, indeed, suggested, that the healing of the demonized on the other side took place at early dawn of the day following the storm on the lake. Verse 1. 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. The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. The particular focus of this mans testimony was the Decapolis region. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. NET Bible Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized with great fear. If an Israelite, why was he in Gerasene in the first place and why was he living so near a large herd of swine? More than this, however, is the fact that the mans own identity and individuality were swallowed up by the demons with him. The region and polygon don't match. Bill Maher: 'I am afraid of Trump on a very personal level' Second, while the death of the pigs is clearly an economic loss for the owner, Jesus is illustrating the infinite value of human life. Should TikTok be banned? Your guide to understanding why the platform They had been unable to control these two men [Luke only mentions one man, but Matthew tells us there were two]. August 2020 January 2022 The subject of demons and demon possession has always seemed somewhat remote and academic to sophisticated 20th century Americans. Afraid of Jesus? | Sermons | College Park Church July 2016 184-185. In Galilee and Judea there were Messianic hopes which would have been quickly fanned into flames if the miracles of Jesus were too widely publicized. 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. Give a Gift SubscriptionBless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. 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. 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. . Jesus had been performing miracles in Gods nation - Israel. 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. 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. We will examine two incidents -- the stilling of the storm on the sea of Galilee, and that which follows immediately, the healing of the demoniac. vi. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. Will they be rejected? So who was afraid? Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. The Man Jesus Renamed | Reformed Theological Seminary Jesus had freed the man and for a reason known only to Himself, He had granted the demons request to go into a nearby herd of pigs rather than go into the Abyss [bottomless pit]. (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, 1950), fn. It was significant. Luke 8:26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. Why is this even an issue, I wonder? In the wake of new restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass, two American bishops spoke with EWTNs Raymond Arroyo Thursday about how their dioceses have responded. 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). And they were afraid. November 2014. Archaeological or Historical Support for the Gerasene Pigs EIN 27-4581132 Acts 19:16). 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. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons. December 2014 April 2016 If he was a pagan, why did Jesus cast out his demons? You can like Jesus for two different reasons. First of all, the EPA would have been investigating the pollution of Lake Galilee with decaying pigs. In this story, we have a demon-possessed Gadarene who saw Jesus from a distance, and immediately he appeared to have felt a strong compulsion to run up to Jesus and bow down before him. And, Gerasene was one. Note that the texts dont say Gerasa or Gadara, so they arent necessarily referring just to one of the cities. It only takes a minute to sign up. There probably were not many who had been told yet of the Messiah, and so were not yet believers. A land that was essentially under another god (lower case g). Bible-believing Christians have always accepted the fact of demons and their activity in New Testament times, but most of us are inclined to relegate demonic activity in these days to pagan lands and missionary experiences. On the other hand, Gadara is only six miles from the southern tip of the lake and could easily have given its name to the district. It was like being attacked by two Hulks. They probably thought of quickly getting aboard ship and pushing off. . A crowd had come to see what had happened for themselves. The exercising of authority over demons, in the land under another god, was a message. 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. Let me say as graciously as I can, Satan does not need to work on us in those areas as we are doing very well without his exploitation. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. You can flip a coin hoping for heads, but you know that tails is a very real probability. This supposition would be further confirmed, if the evening when Jesus embarked was what the Jews were wont to call the first evening, that is, the time when the sun was declining in the heaven, but before it had actually set, the latter time being the second evening. For it seems most unlikely that multitudes would have resorted to Jesus at Capernaum after the second evening, or that either the disciples or other boats would have put to sea after nightfall. But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. When Jesus asked the demoniac his name, it was not without significance for He was, I believe, asking the demons to reveal their identity. Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. Accordingly this was not merely an ordinary form of mental disease as some writers have alleged, but a special phenomenon which was particularly frequent during Jesus earthly sojourn and thus was directly connected with His coming to destroy the power of darkness. "I am afraid of Trump on a very personal level because I don't think he likes me. He brought up the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into pigs, which promptly ran over a cliff into the sea. 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. 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. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). 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?