how many times did jesus go to gerasenes

We should be warned that fooling with these Satanic fronts is like experimenting with drugs. In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. Their influence and control leads to untold agony and destruction. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. 4, p. 102. 16, x. It was besieged by Baldwin II, in 1121 A.D. 4, p. 180. Be my Lord! When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). Their mitigated violence is an ineffective protest. And now here was someone even more powerful. Neither is it only a kind of physical disease, although spiritual and physical disease often accompany it (e.g. Gerasa. The before and after descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence. The ruins are wide and imposing and are better preserved than any others on the East of Jordan. The distance is about 19 miles from the river. went through a storm to help one person, that is, the wild man of Gadara. 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. 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. That would be a strong message, by allowing them to be possessed and then drowned. He is the author of. Spam, November 04 2019 These, however, are not the problem raised by Bible students. In a cemetery on the eastern shore of the lake, He and the twelve meet a wild, dangerous man controlled by a ''legion'' of demons. Such seems to be a similar case with Judas (John 13:1-2). 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. 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. 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. Following Jesus with you wherever he calls. The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. Exercising authority in the land allocated to Abraham, for Israel, the land set aside for God and his people. GERASA, GERASENES ( , ). The fact that Matthew places the healing of Legion in the country of the Gadarenes whereas Mark and Luke place it in the country of the Gerasenes may be harmonized on the historical grounds that geographical boundaries overlapped, and on the exegetical consideration that country embraced a wide area around the cities. 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. 8:28, "And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road.". The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. 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 . iv. 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. 6:45-56 6:14-21. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. 127 The view of Greek philosophy was that these were the spirits of those who lived in the Golden Age. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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. density matrix. (4) Our Lord did not command the demons to enter into the pigs and bring about their destruction; He only permitted it.124. 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. and thank you for your contribution. 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. The reply Legion118 may be some kind of evasion, a reluctance on the part of the demons to individually identify themselves. It was the terror of the damned. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. 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. 8:33-34; Mk 5:14-17; Lk 8:34-37 Vote Up Modern Jerash lies on both banks of Wady Jerash, about 6 miles from its confluence with Wady ez-Zerqa (the Jabbok). Matt 8:28). The passage in Daniel especially suggests specific geographical boundaries within which spirit beings must abide. If they would just listen to what he had to say. tar command with and without --absolute-names option. New International Version (NIV), Encyclopedia of The Bible Gerasa, Gerasenes. The demons beg Jesus not to send them away, but instead to send them into the pigs on a nearby hillside, which he does. Mark 3:14). What does it mean that the name of the demon was Legion? Q. Thank you for your interest in supporting CARM. He actually wanted to keep his clothes on. But the rest stopped some twenty feet away. (4) Super-human strength. Lenski, Robert C.H. He came into the region in which the two cities were situated, and one evangelist mentioned one, and the other another. 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. It is in no way certain, however, that the pig raisers were Jews. His soul was clean. 14. It was, in fact, his demons that had recognized Jesus. Contrasting the self-destruction of the herd of pigs with the typical motif of an individual evil-doer being pushed over a cliff by an undifferentiated mob (cf. The crowd should remain on top of the cliff and the victim fall over; instead, in this case, the crowd plunges and the victim is saved. Acts 19:16). It was significant. 4. Why do you think they were unwilling to engage with him? Normal relationships are reversed. But what does that look like practically? And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. A city in Transjordania, situated about thirty-five m. SE of the S end of the Sea of Galilee, one of the cities of the Decapolis; the inhabitants of the city. Until then, we have been commissioned to preach the gospel and declare God's saving gr [3], The earliest account, assuming the theory of Marcan priority is correct, is in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 5:120). (Jos. Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). He could think! The excavations uncovered what is to date the best preserved Rom. Such must have been the response of those with our Lord. In retaliation for the massacre of the Jews at Caesarea, the Jews sent several raiding parties into the Gentile cities of the Decapolis. We tend to think of following Jesus as leaving behind the familiar for the unfamiliar. Hence there was demon-worship, the worship not necessarily of evil spirits; but of the spirits of those who had existed in the Golden Age. G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Mark (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1927), p. 114. No fear. Let's open our Bibles to the 8th chapter of Luke's gospel. In addition, Matthew includes the comment, Have You come here to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29). Metzger, Bruce M. (1975 corrected edition), A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York, NY: United Bible Societies). 15; Mark ix. They had dealt with Legion (I suspect) by forcing him from their presence. Another indication of demonic control is the fact that this man was continually doing harm to himself by gashing himself with stones (verse 5). 28); Mark the country of the Gerasenes (v. 1), and Luke, probably, the country of the Gergesenes (viii. I have never actually begged Jesus to go away and leave me alone. This supposition would be further confirmed, if the evening when Jesus embarked was what the Jews were wont to call the first evening, that is, the time when the sun was declining in the heaven, but before it had actually set, the latter time being the second evening. For it seems most unlikely that multitudes would have resorted to Jesus at Capernaum after the second evening, or that either the disciples or other boats would have put to sea after nightfall. While the Jews had not denied the works of Jesus were supernatural, they had declined to admit they established His deity. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. The differing geographical references to Gadara and Gerasa can be understood in light of the social, economic, and political influence each city exerted over the region. The story was interpreted by Saints Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas to mean that Christians have no duties to animals. 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. They were instructed to keep quiet about what Jesus had done for them (cf. Some would identify the place with RAMOTH-GILEAD, which see.The site is now occupied by a colony of Circassians, and there is reason to fear that, unless something is done to preserve them, many valuable remains of antiquity will perish.W. Origen says this is a good example of how Biblical writers simply were not concerned to precisely identify certain sites. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The textual evidence shows that the MSS preserve three variant spellings of the name in each gospel. 13ff.). Bible-believing Christians have always accepted the fact of demons and their activity in New Testament times, but most of us are inclined to relegate demonic activity in these days to pagan lands and missionary experiences. Here is one of the few times that a miracle drove people away, rather than to draw them to Jesus. November's featured resource is an Advent poem that John Piper delivered in 1993 at Bethlehem titled "The Gadarene." You should not suggest in any way that The High Calling or Theology of Work endorses you or your use of the work. We see people in other places where he worked miracles, endeavoring to make him their king (Jn 6:15) . The truth is that I am both drawn to you because of this and also a bit scared. Gerasa was a city situated near the Jabbok River about eighteen m. E of the Jordan, about twenty m. SE of Pella, and twenty m. N of Philadelphia. The whole story is a myth. Many ancient tombs are to be seen in the face of the hills. One man: Mark 5:1-2, "And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the . But then also Christ will triumph, and finally put an end to the evil one and all his powers of darkness (Rev. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. especially fn. Although his symptoms would have appeared to be those of an insane man,113 the Gospel writers inform us that he was demon-possessed.114. 1 Response The healing of the demoniacs and the repulse of the Healer by the inhabitants are historical, but the incident of the swine is a later figment. The ruins are wide and imposing and are better preserved than any others on the East of Jordan. Are there things that perplex you? 1, pp. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. F. F. Bruce adds additional helpful insight: According to the best texts, Matthew calls it the country of the Gadarenes (viii. As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. Mark 9:17-29). 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. 4.1K views, 50 likes, 28 loves, 154 comments, 48 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from 7th District AME Church: Thursday Morning Opening Session Its important to note that this was the first demonstration of Jesuss authority outside of Canaan. [13] Saint Augustine of Hippo concluded from the story that Christians have no duties towards animals,[2] writing: Christ himself shows that to refrain from the killing of animals and the destroying of plants is the height of superstition, for judging that there are no common rights between us and the beasts and trees, he sent the devils into a herd of swine and with a curse withered the tree on which he found no fruit. The longest and nearly detailed account of Jesus and the Gadarene swine is plant in the . xvii. Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). We are not by Matt Slick | Apr 6, 2023 | Bible Studies. The spectrum ranges from those who seem to control the demonic powers to those who are utterly controlled by them. iii. Clothing is an important prop in the Lucan narrative (see Biblical clothing), which in this scene portrays the demoniacs development from his animal-like state to his restoration as a human being. Ewing. At this distance from the Sea of Galilee, Gerasa could not have been the site of the healing of Legion. It is doubtful that Jesus ever visited it. The Lord Jesus pointed out that "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." This response is probably an allusion to the rejection that occurred the night before by the Scribes and Pharisees and in preparation by the Gentiles of Gadara on the next day. P.S. It was like being attacked by two Hulks. They probably thought of quickly getting aboard ship and pushing off. 32, after Passover. Jesus has lead me away from my old life. He lived there among the tombs and graves. Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. As Christians we believe that the Old Testament is constantly foreshadowing Jesus. What is this brick with a round back and a stud on the side used for? noted the official establishment of Christianity and discontinuance of pagan worship in the 5th cent. Because some confusion exists in the gospel MS evidence and perhaps in other source material, absolute certainty cannot be attained; but the following identification seems correct.

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