Luke 8:37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked A land that was essentially under another god (lower case g). Region of the Gerasenes - Fire and Light May the Spirit of God be so evident in us that men may see God in our lives. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. 3. You will receive a monthly newsletter with Scriptural teaching plus notifications of any new articles, courses or books. The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. Matthew 8:28 - 29, 31, 34And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. Acts 19:16). Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20. He said he had come to the house of Israel, not to the gentiles. of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were So he got into the boat and left. rev2023.3.3.43278. Then the SPCA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals. Matthew 8:4; Luke 8:56). 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. 14. Who Was Afraid Of Jesus And Why? He felt Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder. Nor was it the Jewish population of Galilee. "Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear." (Luke 8:37a) Fear plagues us. In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. The nearby townspeople, upon hearing of the great miracle (and not wanting to suffer further economic loss), begged Christ to leave the Gadarenes and never come back! 18). It is now called Jerash and is a deserted ruin. February 2018 As C. S. Lewis aptly put it: There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. 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. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. 127 The view of Greek philosophy was that these were the spirits of those who lived in the Golden Age. 22, xvii. Have you even been in a service where the Spirit of God was moving and felt fear? 5:5). Subscriber Service CenterAlready a subscriber? Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. April 2015 Commentator R. C. H. Lenski states: The distance of these cities from the lake is immaterial for the narrative since this deals with the region that is near the lake and not with the vicinity of either of the cities to the lake.. 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. When the Gadarenes saw what Christ was capable of, they panicked. I understand why," the HBO "Real Time" host told Jake Tapper on Tuesday as part . October 2017 And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another . As He had landed with His disciples He had been confronted with a demon-possessed man - a man that no one had been able to control. Why is there a voltage on my HDMI and coaxial cables? The before and after descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. 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. And they were afraid. How ironic, as others have noted, that the tormentor pleads not to be tormented. When the townspeople arrived on the scene, they saw the formerly demon-possessed men, clothed, in their right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus. Preisker, TWNT IV (1942), pp. Many times people - Non-Christians and Christians - push Jesus away because they do not want to change. It was greatly influenced by Greek culture.126. 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! Jesus did say to count the cost [Luke 14:28-33]. 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. From this point on, Jesus began to speak to the crowds in parables in order to veil or conceal the gospel from those who had blasphemed the Holy Spirit (Mark 4:lff). As the world's top superpower, how unsure of itself can the US be to . Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. The house that is left swept and clean is a likely target for Satanic influence (cf. 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. It only takes a minute to sign up. How to show that an expression of a finite type must be one of the finitely many possible values? Embedded into both stories are people who were afraid of Jesus. Jesus asked some pretty crazy questions like What Things Happened? The swine then immediately killed themselves by rushing off a cliff. Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? October 2015 People who have no appr Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. It is ironic that while the demons didnt want to leave the country, the dwellers of that land didnt want the Messiah to stay. When once he was an instrument of Satanic opposition against the Messiah, now he is a witness to His power. 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. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? But, Im telling you. That is not the choice at all. June 2017 The spectrum ranges from those who seem to control the demonic powers to those who are utterly controlled by them. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. This is when the storm arose which threatened to destroy the ship (Mark 4:35-41). The people who witnessed this are . To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. December 2022 16, x. Sign up for 6 Free IssuesTry us out with a free trial subscription. 4. The passage in Daniel especially suggests specific geographical boundaries within which spirit beings must abide. Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). August 2020 Chapati Movement 1857: Why were the British afraid of the Roti? when He was the only One Who truly knew what had happened. 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. That is why he was living in the solitude of the tombs, away from civilization. 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). NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. Luke 8 Some appeared not to be oppressed by them so much as exploiting their powers (cf. Such seems to be a similar case with Judas (John 13:1-2). Order Bulk SubscriptionsGet a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization It might be better to hide behind masks than risk being hurt again After all, if God rejects youwhere else can you go? Only 30 of 175 dioceses ordained an average number of priests at or above replacement level over the five years from 2016 to 2021, according to the report. Why do people like Jesus a lot? This would also give time afterwards for the dispersion, not only into the city, but into the country of them who had fed the swine. 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. How many demons possessed the man in Mark 5:6? His greatest impact would be on those who knew his former state. Matthew 9:2-8 Why was "This man is blaspheming" considered an evil thought without knowing Jesus' identity? 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. 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. Why would the Gerasene people beg Jesus to leave their region after He cast the demons into the pigs? 40, vii. July 2015 May 2022 Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. They came face-to-face with the Son of God, the Being with the power to change their world forever, and they said, "Please leave." Why? They were sacrificed by being thrown off a cliff. For example, He didnt condemn a prostitute for her actions, He saw a daughter of God who was valuable beyond measure and only needed genuine love and forgiveness. The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. December 2020 I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. to sign up for our free Water Of The Word newsletter at the top of any page! verse 5). EIN 27-4581132 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? 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). Top Ten Reasons Why There Were Pigs In Gerasenes Remember the story of Jesus casting demons out of the crazy man in Luke 8? Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. EWTN News, Inc. is the worlds largest Catholic news organization, comprised of television, radio, And he said to them, Where is your faith? 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. There probably were not many who had been told yet of the Messiah, and so were not yet believers. We see people in other places where he worked miracles, endeavoring to make him their king (Jn 6:15) . They all say country of (in the sense of region, not nation). Note that the texts dont say Gerasa or Gadara, so they arent necessarily referring just to one of the cities. March 2015 Understand the meaning of Luke 8:37 using all available Bible versions and commentary. 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. He was also humorous in his answers. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. October 2018 In Luke 2:8 it is applied to the city of Bethlehem; in Acts 18:23 to Galatia and Phrygia. November 2020 Jesus asked some crazy questions like "Why are you afraid?" Jesus has lead me away from my old life. 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! No matter where you are on life's journey you are welcome here! One is that he was a fascinating man. Gergesa, also Gergasa ( in Byzantine greek) or the Country of the Gergesenes, is a place on the eastern ( Golan Heights) side of the Sea of Galilee located at some distance to the ancient Decapolis cities of Gadara and Gerasa. Paul tells us that our struggle is, at bottom, a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:12). This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known.. Also, the wholesale slaughter of these pigs dramatically illustrated the destructive purposes of the demons. . Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 2. Why did the Gerasenes become afraid when they saw that the - Reddit But for most of us, the world and the flesh are all that are necessary to cause us to stumble. April 2021 In contrast, the people of Gerasene are asking him to leave their place. April 2022 It is amazing to think that people could be fearful of Jesus. 4 Reasons Jesus Cast Demons Into a Herd of Pigs November 2015 Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20 (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) In Gerasenes in place of Gadarenes. But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. April 2018 . Was it fear that a secret sin might be exposed? 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. They had been unable to control these two men [Luke only mentions one man, but Matthew tells us there were two]. 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. It became one of the proudest cities of Syria. It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. In that case, of course, it would be in the early morning that the Gerasenes afterwards resorted to Jesus and that He again returned to Capernaum. Where it falls apart for me is why the Bellonas, knowing that only one person is allowed to survive each duel, take the defeat so personally. "The name "Gerasenes" is to be associated with the modern city of Jerash, located in Transjordan, 22 miles N of Amman." John McRay, "Gerasenes," ed. There was no such danger in Perea, and thus the mercy of the Lord was to be heralded. The fear of the unknown, the uncontrollableof change. Gadara is about six miles from the sea. Note: 'had the legion', i.e., the many unclean spirits inhabiting him. There is no true freedom and fulfillment apart from Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of men. Vote Up 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. So much pain, so much sin. 61-62. September 2015 The demoniac was uncontrollable by any of the normal means of human confinement. They have three sons and a daughter (all homeschooled) and reside in southeast Michigan. 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. The Secret behind Jesus Healing the Gerasene Demoniac More from Medium Jameson Steward in. Here is one of the few times that a miracle drove people away, rather than to draw them to Jesus. No matter what men attempted to bind him with, he broke loose. Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. Author of The Gnostic Notebook series, stand-up comedian, and Gnostic. 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. January 2016 Jude 6), no longer to afflict men or resist God. (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, 1950), fn. February 2016 (2) Pork was a food forbidden to Jews, and as such, those who raised these pigs may have done so knowingly in violation of divine injunction. It is something like the behavior and personality change in a man who is totally intoxicated. 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. 9. The Gerasene Demoniac (Mark 5:1-20) | Bible.org So he got into a boat and returned. Small sins lead to big sins, and big sins bring about a terrible spiritual darkness. Your comment will be posted after it is approved. May 2018 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. Gerasa, Gadara, Gergesa - from where did the pigs stampede? The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. xvi. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. Second (and primarily), Mark employs this event to authenticate the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God and Israels Messiah. Bible scholar Gleason Archer (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties) argues similarly, It is entirely possible that the political control of this region was centered in Gadara as the capital city. For more information, please see our What about us, as Christians, are we afraid of Jesus? November 2017 These people from the region of the Gerasenes had undoubtedly felt the anger or disgust of Jews for making a career out of such unclean animals, but Jesus had not criticized them for their profession. No! (6) Tendency towards self-destruction. Who Were The Gerasenes In The Bible? - Mastery Wiki But the distance is so short that, even making allowance for the delay by the tempest, the passage could scarcely have occupied the whole night. The city of Gadara and its surrounding area are referred to as the Gadarenes. Why did Jesus allow the demons to enter the herd of pigs? June 2021 August 2021 Acts 5:1-6). However, the point was clearly made; Jesus, the Son of God, has power over all things, including the powers of darkness. It's a curious passage with many unanswered questions. Far from this, He had stormed the gates of Hell and prevailed. Swine were unclean animals according to the Torah. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. Textual variations have compounded the problem. The man looked out on the Tiberius. Not long after that, while I was still a student in seminary, there was a car parked by the seminary in a somewhat suspicious manner and I called the police to check it out. 2 Now a centurion had a servant 1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. Jesus had been performing miracles in Gods nation - Israel. xx. Women, children and defenceless people all admired Him and felt comfortable in His presence. How to prove that the supernatural or paranormal doesn't exist? 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. 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 our xvii. It should also be observed that nowhere in the Old Testament (except in I Sam. 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.. More than this, however, is the fact that the mans own identity and individuality were swallowed up by the demons with him. Can devils entreat in such a manner any highest of angels, be he Michael, Gabriel or Raphael, or any greatest cherub or seraph? Pastor Chrissy is a native of East Tennessee. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. 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 . Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. The occult and every front for demonic influence and activity should be avoided like the plague. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. Like it or not, demons and demonic activity are likely to become much more of a concern to you in days to come. September 2018 114 We are indebted to Edersheim, who reminds us that the expression demon possession never occurs in the New Testament: The term demoniacal possession occurs not in the New Testament. They are happy in their sin and the consequences seem far away. Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. Thayers Greek Lexicon defines it as the space lying between two places or limits region or country. The Sea of Galilee was clearly one of the limits. Luke 8:26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. 0 Responses Once a menace to society, now a messenger with words of deliverance and healing. "The trains were . 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. Romans 9:19-23). Also, frequently associated with demon possession was a super-human strength (cf. July 2016 Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. I would like to invite you to return to where we left off a few weeks ago in our studies in the gospel of Mark. They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. Instead of opening themselves up to Jesus and receiving His love and forgiveness, they allowed fear to drive a wedge between them. 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. January 2021 Smiths Bible Dictionary provides what I find to be a quite plausible explanation (not special pleading at all), and analogous to how we still use place names today: These three names are used indiscriminately to designate the place where Jesus healed two demoniacs. ), you also need to understand the significance of this - to the people in Gerasene. The scene which Mark presents is deliberately dark. Satan loves those Christians.
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