why were the gerasenes afraid

Matthew 12:43-45). Life with him would be heaven on earth. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus? 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. January 2015 1) He Exposes Evil (v 28-30) . The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. Pigs were specifically set aside as the animal used in sacrifices to their god. Second (and primarily), Mark employs this event to authenticate the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God and Israels Messiah. January 2022 The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. Gerasa, Gadara, Gergesa - from where did the pigs stampede? May 2022 Matthew 9:2-8 Why was "This man is blaspheming" considered an evil thought without knowing Jesus' identity? 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. Jesus had just performed an incredible miracleand one they desperately needed, at that! 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. (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. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. They liked Him and wanted to be with Him. I felt somewhat guilty, particularly fearing that I may have created an unintentional hardship for some classmate. February 2022 We are seeking a replacement and hope to have it in your newspaper soon. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. PDF A Legion of Fears Men and women (as well as children) were demonized in that they fell under the influence of these unclean spirits. Who Were The Gerasenes In The Bible? - Mastery Wiki Luke 8:37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked The fear of the unknown, the uncontrollableof change. 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. When the pigs were sent into the sea, the people of Gadara lost money. "The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. Jesus asked some pretty crazy questions like What Things Happened? . As the servant of Elisha was told, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them (2 Kings 6:16). First let us see what the Sacred Texts says: The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Whereas he had been a slave, he was now delivered from demon possession. The lose of the pigs meant loose of partial income in the area. March 2015 For some people, the cost is too high. 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). On several occasions, when Jesus forgave someone, He specifically said, Go and sin no more. That only works for people who are sick of their sin and want to change. No matter who you are. What scared them was a power so fierce it could free a man. Slain Los Angeles auxiliary bishop was remembered at the Mass of Christian burial as friend of Jesus Christ and of Mary, our Blessed Mother.. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), p. 174. Why is Darrow's victory in the Passage taken so personally? In addition, Matthew includes the comment, Have You come here to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29). And the people there were scared, they recognised this, but more, they realised the significance of this. The account occurs in all three Synoptic gospels; in Mark (the shortest gospel) the story is in the longest and most detailed version; Matthew 8.28-34 is the shortest, 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. 40, vii. The pleas of Legion were in response to the command of Jesus for the demons to come out of him (verse 8). 115 While Mark and Luke describe only one demoniac, Matthew informs us that there were two. The people who witnessed this are . But as Gergesa was a small village, and little known, the evangelists, who wrote for more distant readers, spoke of the event as taking place in the country of the Gadarenes, so named from its largest city, Gadara; and this country included the country of the Gergesenes as a state includes a county. August 2020 Many times people - Non-Christians and Christians - push Jesus away because they do not want to change. January 2021 The confrontation of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac made it clear that Jesus was no servant of Satan. 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. or by some form of self-emptying (such as various forms of eastern meditation) in my opinion, they are in a precarious position. 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? Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized . January 2017 By His power, we, too, are able to overcome Satans treacheries. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. The drowning of the swine was an accident, possibly simultaneous with the healing, and report mixed up the two incidents. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . It is something like the behavior and personality change in a man who is totally intoxicated. His website/blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, has been online since March 1997. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known. Archaeological or Historical Support for the Gerasene Pigs 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). Holy Communion From the Chalice Reintroduced in the UK: What About the US? 4. September 2021 The choice is to be free by submission to Christ (cf. No! At first we may deceive ourselves into thinking that we are controlling them, but the ultimate likelihood is that they will master us. 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. 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. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. For more information, please see our The demoniacs frightened the swine, and the transfer of demons from them to the swine was imagined. Bill Maher: 'I am afraid of Trump on a very personal level' Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. Will they be condemned like unclean animals? John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). That is why the inhabitants of the area are referred to variously in different Bible manuscripts as Gergasenes, Gadarenes, or Gerasenes. Why is this even an issue, I wonder? rev2023.3.3.43278. Preisker, TWNT IV (1942), pp. 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. When Jesus asked the demoniac his name, it was not without significance for He was, I believe, asking the demons to reveal their identity. Another approach is to note the different intentions of the Gospel writers. November 2022 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. Why is there a voltage on my HDMI and coaxial cables? It hit them hard in the pocketbook. e.g., Matt. EIN 27-4581132 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 . Gospel Parallels: The Gerasene Demoniac - READ-SCRIPTURE.COM He felt Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder. And he said to them, Where is your faith? 16, x. The city of Gadara and its surrounding area are referred to as the Gadarenes. 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. People who have no appr Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. They likely were Gentiles and had been under the influence of the demonic principality of the region their whole life. 9. The Gerasene Demoniac (Mark 5:1-20) | Bible.org 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. These, however, are not the problem raised by Bible students. 127 The view of Greek philosophy was that these were the spirits of those who lived in the Golden Age. Although it is likely that the larger towns of Galilee were predominantly Gentile, as was the Decapolis, the first-century civilian diet did not . When addressed, the person was the mouthpiece of the demon (such as Legion, Mark 5:9). July 2016 Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1991. 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. Demonic influence further destroys mans reflection of God as originally designed.128 Demons have great spiritual insight and reluctantly submit to Jesus as Lord of all. 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. Is it a bug? Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:12), whose leader and prince is Satan (Matthew 12:24). 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. (2) Anti-social behavior. Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. But for most of us, the world and the flesh are all that are necessary to cause us to stumble. Like children convinced there are monsters under our beds, the unknown scares us. He seemed to view Jesus approach as the launching of a direct attack on the demonic forces. May 2015 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. Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). And, Gerasene was one. 1, pp. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. March 2022 July 2021 October 2020 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.. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. Spam. I think that this story is a little bit of an Easter story. Subscriber Service CenterAlready a subscriber? Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or The US Congress is currently debating whether TikTok should be banned for everyone in the US, not just government officials. 606-607. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known.. 5:5). 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. It only takes a minute to sign up. Known as the Judas Iscariot of Gnosticism for revealing that which is not to be revealed. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. How Satan blinds our minds! It is very appropriate that these two incidents . Now they would deal with this One greater than he by doing likewise. July 2015 Why ChatGPT should be considered a malevolent AI - and be destroyed He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. September 2018 9. Top Ten Reasons Why There Were Pigs In Gerasenes 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. 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. The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. Holiness hurts! vi. Verse 1. In Acts 8:1 we have the regions of Judaea and Samaria (KJV), and in Acts 16:6, Galatia alone. Most people confessed to having the fear of things not working out, an inability to trust and others said they . Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. to men facing fear and death. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 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. Who do you care more about, people or pigs? 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 2014. Perhaps they clenched their fists or picked up driftwood with which to defend themselves. When you get a chance, please take the, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. Mark 9:17-29). Then people came to see what it was that had happened. So, they asked Him to leave. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. Note that the texts dont say Gerasa or Gadara, so they arent necessarily referring just to one of the cities. August 2017 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! Some today have given demons far more than their due by blaming demons for every malady of mankind. The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. Just as demons desire to possess persons through whom they can exhibit their personalities, so the Spirit of God indwells man, imparting new life, and progressively gaining control so that the character of God is exhibited, but not in such a way as to hinder our individuality and identity. Cookie Notice To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. August 2016 The district of the Gerasenes probably included that of the Gadarenes; so that the demoniac of Gergesa belonged to the country of the Gadarenes and also to that of the Gerasenes, as the same person may, with equal truth, be said to live in the city or the state, or in the United States. No matter where you are on life's journey. Dr. Thomson discovered on the eastern shore the ruins of a village called Khersa. Fear that you might do something that would embarrass you? Luke 8:37Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them: for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. At their request, He left. There is the so-called demon of doubt, of anger, of overindulgence, of drunkenness, laziness and so on. You might be thinking back to Easter and not recall very many hogs showing up except for at Easter supper. Gadara is about six miles from the sea. That is why he was living in the solitude of the tombs, away from civilization. Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? 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. 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. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Why did Jesus allow the legion of demons to stay in the area when they begged him? 26). While the Jews had not denied the works of Jesus were supernatural, they had declined to admit they established His deity. There was no such danger in Perea, and thus the mercy of the Lord was to be heralded. Putting all of these factors together the term demon-possessed inplies too much. 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. 122 Quoted by Alfred Plummer, The Gospel According to Saint Luke, (Edinburg: T. and T. Clark, 5th ed., 1969): p. 228. However, the point was clearly made; Jesus, the Son of God, has power over all things, including the powers of darkness. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. Jesus asked some crazy questions like "Why are you afraid?" The house that is left swept and clean is a likely target for Satanic influence (cf. 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. Why were the people of Gerasene afraid of the presence of Jesus - Quora Similar to the storm we see in the book of Job that killed Jobs sons - and Satan was the instigator of that as well. The people were afraid when they saw the possessed man healed. 18). Luke 7 - And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." | ESV.org (3) Spiritual insight. They were willing to post guards and chain and shackle their neighbor to keep him from hurting someone. Welcome to Biblical Hermeneutics! Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? May 2016 It might be better to hide behind masks than risk being hurt again After all, if God rejects youwhere else can you go? 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. Where did the demons go after they went into the pigs and caused them to jump to their death. Clarify Your comment will be posted after it is approved. October 2022 They would have to trust Jesus. April 2015 Gadara, though not directly named in Scripture, was part of the Decapolis. Who was afraid of Jesus and why? November 2020 June 2015 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. But the city of Gadara owned some territory round about Khersa, so that the district and the pigs could properly also be called Gadarene. F. F. Bruce, Are the New Testament Documents Reliable? Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than the Gergesenes. Sermon for July 26, 2020: Why Were They So Afraid: Mark 5:1-20 xii. December 2016 As indicated in the textual note, the best Greek text reads Gerasenes in Mark and Luke, Gadarenes in Matthew. 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. 4 Reasons Jesus Cast Demons Into a Herd of Pigs 2ff., xvv. man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus (Luke 8:26-39, NIV) T. H. Huxley, in his Essays upon some Controverted Questions (1892), made merry over the escapade of the Gadarene swine, running the seven miles between Gadar and the lake of Galilee, crossing the deep river Yarmuk en route. Then any greatest of men, like any prophet, hero or king? At the conclusion of this day of teaching by parables, the Lord had instructed His disciples to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the other side. 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. Mark 5:1 On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of And they were afraid. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. This is when the storm arose which threatened to destroy the ship (Mark 4:35-41). He said unexpected things and lived by a high ethical standard. Yet, conversely, the known can be just as scaryif not more. As C. S. Lewis aptly put it: There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. Rev. It didnt take long for the word to spread quickly. How much more sinful than Peter were the Geraseneans, who because of love of money did not shun even to engage in a non-Jew business of herding swine; how much more unbearable and dreadful must have been for them the Lords presence! This makes sense, I couldn't believe they asked Jesus to leave. August 2018 We owe it to Josephus, from whom it has passed into ecclesiastical language. 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. Train crash in Greece: 43 dead, stationmaster arrested. Live updates. 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. Once naked, he is now clothed. "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. Whenever a man, woman, or child surrenders control of himself either to fleshly desires (anger, lust, passion, etc.) Who Was Afraid Of Jesus And Why? Acts 19:16). July 2022 7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, b he entered Capernaum. 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. As has been said before, look for Satans man behind the pulpit. 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. Why would Jesus ask, "Who touched Me?" January 2023 Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. (it should be added that Plummer himelf does not hold to any of these views.). Gerasenes could have had a sense of reference to the entire region (as well as to a city: just as New Yorker can refer to the state or city), and Gadarenes likely was a reference to the most prominent city of the region at the time. Paul tells us that our struggle is, at bottom, a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:12). Dave Armstrong Dave Armstrong is a full-time Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981. Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. Should TikTok be banned? Your guide to understanding why the platform 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. In Mark 1:5 it is used of the land of Judaea (KJV) and in Acts 10:39, to land of the Jews (KJV). Have we stepped back, in effect asking Jesus to leave us alone, only to discover, as a Gentleman, He did? For more information about Glenn Davis see our About Glenn page and/or his Author's Page. So who was afraid? So he got into a boat and returned. 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. We see the first reaction to this in the storm MARK 4:7 And a great windstorm arose [snip]. Into the country of the Gadarenes, or rather, Gera-senes, which is now generally admitted to be the true reading, from Gerasa, Gersa, or Kersa.There was another Gerasa, situated at some distance from the sea, on the borders of Arabia Petraea. . I used to want the longest life, perfect health and happiness, but really it is that feeling that I am so glad that this isnt all there is and that we have heaven to wait for, and that well be with Jesus, and there will be no more tears Amber VanVickle (1982-2023), The headquarters of the charity, which serves as a consecrated family to 46 disabled children, were badly damaged in major flooding near Rio de Janeiro last year.