What scared them was a power so fierce it could free a man. Catholic Church. 115 While Mark and Luke describe only one demoniac, Matthew informs us that there were two. or by some form of self-emptying (such as various forms of eastern meditation) in my opinion, they are in a precarious position. November 2020 Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. You are welcome here. "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. Non-Christians can often experience this fear of Jesus as well. 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. Thats why also Peter having realized who Christ was, was dreaded and asked Him to leave him for he said to be a sinful man (Luke 5:8). It only takes a minute to sign up. Evil is self-defeating in the end. April 2021 18). The scene which Mark presents is deliberately dark. Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant. What was it that caused these people to react in such a way? Cookie Notice If they dare to open up their lives to Jesus what will happen? Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. A word of clarification is in order here for we must recognize that in this account the dark side of Satan is exposed, but this is perhaps the more unusual side of Satan. In other words, even though he set the bar extremely high, he seemed to be a fascinating man. Yet, conversely, the known can be just as scaryif not more. Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. Rather, they attributed the power of Jesus to Satan (Mark 3:22). Jesus was saying, (demonstrating) that He had all authority, in any land. 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. 13ff.). The fear of the unknown, the uncontrollableof change. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. August 2015 This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We owe it to Josephus, from whom it has passed into ecclesiastical language. In contrast, the people of Gerasene are asking him to leave their place. Another reason could be as Dr. R.C. What did Jesus do? Gadara is about six miles from the sea. Some appeared not to be oppressed by them so much as exploiting their powers (cf. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. April 2018 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. Such an entreaty can be addressed by them to only God. That is why the inhabitants of the area are referred to variously in different Bible manuscripts as Gergasenes, Gadarenes, or Gerasenes. Then the Livestock Association and consumer groups would have been greatly distressed over the sudden decrease in the pig population and the resulting impact on pork prices. e.g., Matt. It is ironic that while the demons didnt want to leave the country, the dwellers of that land didnt want the Messiah to stay. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. The conduct of this pathetic individual was obviously anti-social. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. Romans 9:19-23). Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. 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 destructive desires of the demons were dramatically carried out in the drowning of the swine. Having been properly warned of the demonic underworld, let us not fall into the opposite error of absolute paranoia. Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. The confrontation between the powers of heaven and hell are nowhere seen in better perspective than in Marks account of the encounter of the Gerasene demoniac with our Lord Jesus Christ. Why would Jesus ask, "Who touched Me?" The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. This reveals to us that demons have an intuitive knowledge of their impending doom.117. To the evildoer, anonymity is always preferable to identification. For those who are shaken like leaves in the wind at the mention of demons, let us remember from this story that demons cannot even possess pigs without prior permission from our Lord. Pigs were specifically set aside as the animal used in sacrifices to their god. Jesus had simply sailed across the Lake of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. The Truth is Jesus is a safe Person Who loves them, values them, wants their best and will never force Himself on them. Was it fear that a secret sin might be exposed? 2). The sons of god ended up becoming the gods of these nations. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus among them? vi. 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. They likely were Gentiles and had been under the influence of the demonic principality of the region their whole life. July 2018 While the Jews had not denied the works of Jesus were supernatural, they had declined to admit they established His deity. And they were afraid. Does a barbarian benefit from the fast movement ability while wearing medium armor? February 2015 Jesus asked some pretty crazy questions like What Things Happened? Or they are too afraid of what the change might bring. 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. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 40, vii. 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. August 2020 What did we miss because we allowed fear instead of faith to drive our lives? The region was not poor or economically depressed. I asked why people are afraid of commitment and relationships and some said they are afraid because they fear being hurt again. It is in no way certain, however, that the pig raisers were Jews. Other demoniacs described in Scripture were bent on self-destruction as well (cf. October 2021 Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. A crowd had come to see what had happened for themselves. Nor was it the Jewish population of Galilee. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? What about us, as Christians, are we afraid of Jesus? Why did Jesus not allow demons to proclaim his name, Archaeological or Historical Support for the Gerasene Pigs. 9. Jesus did say to count the cost [Luke 14:28-33]. April 2017 Why as the question? 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). 3 When the centurion 2 heard about Jesus, c he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his . I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. According to another theory, the Chapati movement of 1857 was an attempt to prevent a cholera outbreak in central India. 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 . 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. They were content where they were. The country of the Gadarenes (Gergesenes) is one of the few areas Jesus visited where Gentiles (non-Jews) composed the majority of the population. What purposes did Mark intend to achieve by the inclusion of this event? Ridiculous? Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Nevertheless, for consideration. Spam. Paul tells us that our struggle is, at bottom, a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:12). Then any greatest of men, like any prophet, hero or king? For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. He brought up the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into pigs, which promptly ran over a cliff into the sea. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. It is noteworthy that it is distinguished (especially in the Gospel of the physician, Luke) from cases of ordinary sickness, insanity (lunacy), leprosy, blindness, lameness, deafness and other natural defects and diseases (cf. 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? 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. 124 Augustine: The devils were driven out and permitted to go into the swine; and Aquinas: But that the swine were driven into the sea was no work of the divine miracle, but was the work of the devils by divine permission. Quoted by Trench, Miracles, fn. The region was known also as the Decopolis because ten Greek cities were located in the region. when He was the only One Who truly knew what had happened. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. 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.
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