Renew or manage your subscription here. And Jesus, being a Gentleman, was not about to force Himself on them. He obviously attracted crowds. They likely were Gentiles and had been under the influence of the demonic principality of the region their whole life. 13ff.). 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. We dismiss it the more readily, that, in our view, it conveys a wrong impression. Luke 8:26And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. Demon-possession is, therefore, not merely a mental state in which someone suffers from a delusion or is subjected to some subjective disturbance of the world of ideas. I was in a dialogue with an atheist regarding what he believes is one of many so-called biblical contradictions. Odd guy that I am, I actually find this sort of thing fun. Privacy Policy. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. 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. November 2021 Archaeological or Historical Support for the Gerasene Pigs Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. The Gadarene: When Following Jesus Means Going Home What purposes did Mark intend to achieve by the inclusion of this event? Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. - And they came to the other side of the sea.The other side of the sea would be the south-east side of the sea. It was scary. Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20. July 2020 The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. September 2022 Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). The fear of the unknown, the uncontrollableof change. Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. 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. March 2018 Does a barbarian benefit from the fast movement ability while wearing medium armor? The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. 61-62. The word translated windstorm here, and storm in the KJ, is the word lailaps, which is more than just a storm. Ridiculous? Life with him would be heaven on earth. Its ruins include two amphitheaters, a basilica, temple, a hippodrome, aqueducts and colonnades, showing its importance and stature. Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. They were willing to post guards and chain and shackle their neighbor to keep him from hurting someone. You will receive a monthly newsletter with Scriptural teaching plus notifications of any new articles, courses or books. Asked October 24 2014 xiii. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. Matthew 8:4; Luke 8:56). 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. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? Then any greatest of men, like any prophet, hero or king? July 2021 Gergesa - Wikipedia How do I connect these two faces together? The ego is so impaired that the spirits speak through him. Wikipedia states about it: In the second half of the 1st century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity.. February 2016 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. I will not ask him to leave. As has been said before, look for Satans man behind the pulpit. 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. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. I think all these attempts to harmonize what may at first seem like a contradiction are plausible, respectable, and adequate. This reveals to us that demons have an intuitive knowledge of their impending doom.117. Thats just westernised interpretation which simply doesnt work when interpretating a Jewish book. And they were afraid. 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). May 2021 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. 4 Reasons Jesus Cast Demons Into a Herd of Pigs Jesus did say to count the cost [Luke 14:28-33]. Why ChatGPT should be considered a malevolent AI - and be destroyed Today, it is identified with El-Koursi or Kursi. 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. They were afraid and astonished, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey Him?" . So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . And, it can not be understood properly out of this context. April 2022 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]. . Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus? 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.. Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. No matter where you are on life's journey. What about us, as Christians, are we afraid of Jesus? The best human analogy might be in the area of drug abuse. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Cookie Notice Why would the Gerasene people beg Jesus to leave their region - EBible "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. Is there any archaeological evidence for Joshua entering Israel and conquering cities in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age? This was surely not so in every case, and perhaps in none. The region was known also as the Decopolis because ten Greek cities were located in the region. In other words, Jesus had caused a loss to them of 2,000 swine already; what else would His presence cost? Afraid of Jesus? | Sermons | College Park Church They have three sons and a daughter (all homeschooled) and reside in southeast Michigan. Jesus is conscious that He now breaks the power of the devil and his angels because He is the One in whom the dominion of God is present on behalf of humanity. W. Foerster, as quoted by Lane, Mark, fn. It was not the loss of their property or investment that caused them to be afraid of Jesus. Since the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave in their fear, it seems that Jesus' ability to exorcise Legion was disturbing to the people. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. And, lastly, this would allow sufficient time for those miracles which took place on that second day in Capernaum after His return thither. And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another . Jude 6), no longer to afflict men or resist God. His teachings have inspired great moral reformations such as abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights movement. In the third chapter of Marks Gospel, our Lords miraculous works were attributed by His opponents to the power of Satan (verse 22). 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. Vote Up "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." March 2020 (3) Our Lord was moved with compassion by the torment of Legion and the loss of these pigs should in no way dim our view of the deliverance of the demoniac. 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. Mark 3:14). She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. Pigs were specifically set aside as the animal used in sacrifices to their god. Mark 5:1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 8; Mark vi. The passage in Daniel especially suggests specific geographical boundaries within which spirit beings must abide. Why is Darrow's victory in the Passage taken so personally? Unbelieving men may not rave and carry on like the Gerasene demoniac, but they are nevertheless under Satans control, doing his bidding. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? The region is located east of the Jordan River and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. 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. The best known Gerasa was a Greek city nearly forty miles southeast of the lake (modern village of Khersa, on the east shore of the lake. They are unclean spirits, (vss. With a little knowledge of the geography of the region, this apparent contradiction can be resolved. September 2018 Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. The region and polygon don't match. 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. November 2017 January 2018 Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. "The trains were . 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. and thank you for your contribution. However, the point was clearly made; Jesus, the Son of God, has power over all things, including the powers of darkness. Just imagine, a man in a cinema, having bought popcorn and cola and watching an action movie, with a lot of violence and harsh language in it, and then he sees suddenly that a saintly bishop is sitting just next to his seat, not watching the movie, but reading silently psalms with a countenance radiating a deep contemplation; will not the first man be upset and lose all pleasure of watching the movie? Other demoniacs described in Scripture were bent on self-destruction as well (cf. Luke 7 - And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." | ESV.org November 2020 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 3 When the centurion 2 heard about Jesus, c he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his . Matthew 12:43-45). So who was afraid? He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. They liked Him and wanted to be with Him. If an Israelite, why was he in Gerasene in the first place and why was he living so near a large herd of swine? 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. In contrast, the people of Gerasene are asking him to leave their place. I understand why," the HBO "Real Time" host told Jake Tapper on Tuesday as part . Why Darth Sidious Was AFRAID of General Grievous - YouTube 22ff. PDF A Legion of Fears More from Medium Jameson Steward in. Some of the proposed answers to this question are totally unacceptable to an orthodox, evangelical Christian.123 By way of explanation, there are several factors which should be given serious consideration. Dr. Thomson discovered on the eastern shore the ruins of a village called Khersa. 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. Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight.". No! Why are you Afraid? | Mark 4:35 - 5:20 | RayStedman.org 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 did Jesus allow the legion of demons to stay in the area when they begged him? 16, x. August 2015 Jesus had just performed an incredible miracleand one they desperately needed, at that! Some illicitly use drugs, supposing that they have them completely under their control. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than the Gergesenes. 2). The commission of our Lord is considerably different from His instructions to the Israelites whom He had delivered. The first two are in the Authorized Version. 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. It might be better to hide behind masks than risk being hurt again After all, if God rejects youwhere else can you go? 2 Now a centurion had a servant 1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. December 2014 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. Bill Maher: 'I am afraid of Trump on a very personal level' 18). In addition, Matthew includes the comment, Have You come here to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29). 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. Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? He brought up the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into pigs, which promptly ran over a cliff into the sea. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. 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. The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus? 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. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. Fear that you would not be in control? This story is a little bit of an Easter story. December 2022 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. The people (nations) were divided up, and boundaries allocated' and the sons of god were put over these nations. His greatest impact would be on those who knew his former state. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. So he got into the boat and left., Luke 8:37, NIV, great fear [KJV] thoroughly frightened [Phillips]gripped with great fear [NASB]. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. In other words, even though he set the bar extremely high, he seemed to be a fascinating man. 5:5). In this context, however, he insists that legion has nothing of its usual Roman military overtones, but is the designation of numerous powers which oppose themselves to Jesus as the embodiment of the power of God. Lane, Mark, fn. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. We should be warned that fooling with these Satanic fronts is like experimenting with drugs. The man, who was naked when he saw Jesus, had the added ability of enduring both freezing and sweltering temperatures as well as pain he inflicted upon himself! Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. But having recalled a passage in Ephesians, I realize now that this man is a reminder of the dilemma of every man, woman, and child who have not come to a saving dependence upon the work of Jesus Christ for sinners on the cross. Others cited unfaithfulness, lack of seriousness, and the lack of confidence to sustain a relationship. June 2020 August 2021 I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. Although God's word does not name which cities were considered part of this region, Pliny's Natural History (c. 77 A.D.) lists these cities as Gerasa, Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Capitolias (Dion), Canatha, Raphana and Damascus. It is Geldenhuys who gives us the most concise description of demon-possession: in the New Testament demon-possession means that a person is dominated by the spirit of a demon and tormented by him. Why is this even an issue, I wonder? Where did the demons go after they went into the pigs and caused them to jump to their death. Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. xii. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the 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). The lose of the pigs meant loose of partial income in the area. The subject of demons and demon possession has always seemed somewhat remote and academic to sophisticated 20th century Americans. DEUT 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of God. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. Sproul says in his commentary on Mark, When the Holy One is manifest in the midst of unholy people, the only appropriate human response is dread.. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known.. In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. November 2022 21,22). 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). It only takes a minute to sign up. Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20 December 2017 Wasn't the answer obvious? Holiness hurts! It hit them hard in the pocketbook. ESV - From this it is clear that demon-possession is a phenomenon which occurred almost exclusively, but then to be sure on an amazing scale, during Jesus appearance on earth and to a lesser extent during the activity of the apostles. The lectionary reading for Trinity 1, Year C, is Luke's version of Jesus meeting and healing the demon-possessed man in the 'region of the Gerasenes' (Luke 8.26-39). Confusion, fear in moments after crash "There were many big pieces of steel," said Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who said he was one of the first people on the scene. . (2) Anti-social behavior. The US Congress is currently debating whether TikTok should be banned for everyone in the US, not just government officials. Why did Jesus have the authority to forgive sins, why did the scribes take it as a blasphemy, and was this authority also given to men in general? The drowning of the swine was an accident, possibly simultaneous with the healing, and report mixed up the two incidents. 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. Neither is it only a kind of physical disease, although spiritual and physical disease often accompany it (e.g.
Mirar Negative Tu Command,
Who Is Liz Allison Married To,
Articles W
why were the gerasenes afraid