For the reason why this is so we refer the reader to the introduction preceding the exposition of verses 33-7. 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). . March 2021 June 2015 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. He said unexpected things and lived by a high ethical standard. They greatly desire to enter and control a physical body, whereby they may reflect their character and attributes. Can devils entreat in such a manner any highest of angels, be he Michael, Gabriel or Raphael, or any greatest cherub or seraph? 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. There probably were not many who had been told yet of the Messiah, and so were not yet believers. (it should be added that Plummer himelf does not hold to any of these views.). . If they dare to open up their lives to Jesus what will happen? Jesus asked a sick man if he wanted to get well. Who do you care more about, people or pigs? Was there some sort of unwritten rule that Darrow (or any non-Bellona) was supposed to throw the fight? The conduct of this pathetic individual was obviously anti-social. Jesus had simply sailed across the Lake of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. 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). 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. I will not ask him to leave. 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. 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. 21,22). He was a totally safe Person. 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. Thus, all the circumstances lead us to regard the healing of the demonized at Gerasa as a night scene, immediately on Christs arrival from Capernaum, and after the calming of the storm at sea. Alford Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), I, pp. The people who witnessed this are . Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. (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. June 2020 xii. As has been said before, look for Satans man behind the pulpit. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. 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? The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. The Truth is Jesus is a safe Person Who loves them, values them, wants their best and will never force Himself on them. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 2ff., xvv. 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). Dave Armstrong Dave Armstrong is a full-time Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981. They were sacrificed by being thrown off a cliff. 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. Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized . 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. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. They look forward to their future with great dread. The region and polygon don't match. March 2015 So who was afraid? Now they were delivered and ready to be productive members of society. Why would God tell King David to take a census of the people in verses one through nine, and then cast judgment on him because he did what he told him to do? Jude 6), no longer to afflict men or resist God. February 2021 Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? Based on all the evidence we have seen over the past four months with regards to ChatGPT and how it can be manipulated or even how it will lie . In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. It's a curious passage with many unanswered questions. Wasn't the answer obvious? (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) In Gerasenes in place of Gadarenes. Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. December 2016 Then any greatest of men, like any prophet, hero or king? 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? They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. The drowning of these pigs has caused a great deal of discussion amongst Bible students, for as a friend of mine once observed, Thats a lot of pork chops! Had our Lord achieved such a miracle today He would have been in deep trouble. And, it can not be understood properly out of this context. Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. 117 so that, by their own confession, a time is coming when there shall be an entire victory of the kingdom of light over that of darkness (Rev. The Lord, in an act of great mercy, freed the Gadarenes' man by casting the demons out of him and allowing them to enter a nearby herd of pigs. Fear that you might do something that would embarrass you? The Politics of Luke 8:26-39. Why do people like Jesus a lot? April 2021 July 2020 Jesus never interacted with people as they were, but as He knew they were created to be. Holy Communion From the Chalice Reintroduced in the UK: What About the US? October 2020 That is not the choice at all. Nevertheless, for consideration. It should also be observed that nowhere in the Old Testament (except in I Sam. 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. (1) As Lord of all, God has the right to make use of His creation any way that He deems best, and this includes not only pigs, but people (cf. 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. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 991. . How do I connect these two faces together? You will receive a monthly newsletter with Scriptural teaching plus notifications of any new articles, courses or books. Whenever a man, woman, or child surrenders control of himself either to fleshly desires (anger, lust, passion, etc.) The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. June 2016 22, xvii. Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. Jesus asked some crazy questions like "Why are you afraid?" I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. Luke 8 4, p. 180. "The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 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. September 2020 And, yes, Dana did just read us something about a man possessed by a whole bunch of demons that later go and possess a bunch of hogs. One is that he was a fascinating man. February 2016 There seems to be no excuse here for the charge of contradiction. 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. 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. 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. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the Matthew 12:43-45). 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. This request was granted and the entire herd rushed headlong to their own destruction. No matter where you are on life's journey. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. 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. 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. For more information, please see our 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. There is no true freedom and fulfillment apart from Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of men. Why was Jesus going to walk past the disciples as they were rowing on the Sea of Galilee? Matthew 8:4; Luke 8:56). 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. Demon possession, such as that of the Gerasene demoniac is the crudest and cruelest form of Satanic control, but by and large also one of the less common manifestations of Satans work in the world today. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. These people did not want to change. At their request, He left. 5. May 2020 They ask Him if they can enter some nearby pigs, and He lets them. And they were afraid. 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. 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. Then the SPCA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals. In the third chapter of Marks Gospel, our Lords miraculous works were attributed by His opponents to the power of Satan (verse 22). They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.110. We owe it to Josephus, from whom it has passed into ecclesiastical language. xx. Well, it is because atheists, in their zealous rush to make fun of Christians, Christianity, and the Bible, start to lose their logical rigor and rationality, leading them to contend for implausible things: as presently. 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. And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat September 2021 e.g., Matt. November 2014. This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. 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.
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