why were the gerasenes afraid

The pigs had been driven mad and rushed down a steep slope plunging into the lake and drowning. 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. Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. EIN 27-4581132 14). 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. Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized . December 2021 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's a curious passage with many unanswered questions. verse 5). We see the first reaction to this in the storm MARK 4:7 And a great windstorm arose [snip]. This was a federation of ten cities (deka = ten, polis = city). Even in our sophisticated times, there is an intense interest in the supernatural and the occult. French Monastery Survives War and Famine After 885 Years, the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan, and More Great Links! Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? And they were afraid. 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. This is probably the Gerasa of Mark and Luke. Satans most effective tool is not the demoniac wandering about the desolate places. Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. And Jesus, being a Gentleman, was not about to force Himself on them. Or they are too afraid of what the change might bring. 0 Responses Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. The pig shepherds had gone and spread the news of what had happened all around. No matter where you are on life's journey. Gergesa may have been a variant spelling of Gerasa. Ralph Earle, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 70. e.g., Matt. What about us, as Christians, are we afraid of Jesus? There is no conflict, however, for Mark and Luke have apparently focused their attention on the most striking of the two. Putting all of these factors together the term demon-possessed inplies too much. Satans most useful instrument is the outstanding, outwardly moral and upright religious man, whose good deeds are done independently of God. Another reason they may have been afraid of Jesus was the realization that if they accepted Him, it would mean a radical change of lifestyle. 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. Holy Communion From the Chalice Reintroduced in the UK: What About the US? F. F. Bruce adds additional helpful insight: According to the best texts, Matthew calls it the country of the Gadarenes (viii. 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 November 2016 Anonymous, October 25 2014 Romans 9:19-23). 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. Is there any archaeological evidence for Joshua entering Israel and conquering cities in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age? iv. art thou come hither to torment us before the time? September 2015 We should know from other Scriptures that our present spiritual experience is one of spiritual warfare. They ask Him if they can enter some nearby pigs, and He lets them. As the world's top superpower, how unsure of itself can the US be to . (6) Tendency towards self-destruction. 13; Luke iv. While he was once wild and uncontrollable, he was sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus. The confrontation of Jesus and the Gerasene demoniac made it clear that Jesus was no servant of Satan. No matter where you are on life's journey you are welcome here! 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. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. February 2015 Jesus had simply sailed across the Lake of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. 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. However, the point was clearly made; Jesus, the Son of God, has power over all things, including the powers of darkness. 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. Winthrop Congregational Church, UCC No matter who you are. especially fn. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. Now appreciate the reaction - another God was messing with their god - and demonstrating authority! His website/blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, has been online since March 1997. At the side of Kersa the shore is level, and there are no tombs. And the people there were scared, they recognised this, but more, they realised the significance of this. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. The lesson of this passage is that Satan is a defeated foe. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine . A friend of mine told me later that two students were attempting to cast a demon out of a fellow. Clarify - 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. When the Gadarenes saw what Christ was capable of, they panicked. November 2014. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. May 2017 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. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? Commentator R. C. H. Lenski states: The distance of these cities from the lake is immaterial for the narrative since this deals with the region that is near the lake and not with the vicinity of either of the cities to the lake.. That is why he was living in the solitude of the tombs, away from civilization. Welcome to Biblical Hermeneutics! 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. To understand this event, you need consider the incident at Babel, and Deuteronomy. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. The Politics of Luke 8:26-39. In this account we, by inference, learn much about the demonic spirits. At first we may deceive ourselves into thinking that we are controlling them, but the ultimate likelihood is that they will master us. March 2018 xii. December 2022 October 2018 When addressed, the person was the mouthpiece of the demon (such as Legion, Mark 5:9). In other words, even though he set the bar extremely high, he seemed to be a fascinating man. Jewish theology, at least on this point, seems consistent with biblical revelation. They are happy in their sin and the consequences seem far away. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons. It is ironic that while the demons didnt want to leave the country, the dwellers of that land didnt want the Messiah to stay. Such seems to be a similar case with Judas (John 13:1-2). Some appeared not to be oppressed by them so much as exploiting their powers (cf. August 2017 This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). These people from the region of the Gerasenes had undoubtedly felt the anger or disgust of Jews for making a career out of such unclean animals, but Jesus had not criticized them for their profession. This incident in the Gerasenes requires some entry understanding. 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. But from all of the Gospel accounts, I get the distinct impression that this mans eyes were riveted on Jesus. But for most of us, the world and the flesh are all that are necessary to cause us to stumble. August 2020 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. There seems to be no excuse here for the charge of contradiction. September 2020 July 2017 The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were So he got into the boat and left. NEW STAR WARS MERCH PAGE: https://bit.ly/3baWVZv For all sponsorship and business inquiries please contact: thestupendousscrub@gmail.com NEW CHANNEL: https:/. Jesus asked some pretty crazy questions like What Things Happened? 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. 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. "They sailed to the country of the Gerasenes which is opposite Galilee. May 2016 . The demoniacs were mere maniacs, whom Jesus cured by humouring their fancies; and His giving leave to imaginary demons to enter into the swine, produced the story of the disaster to the herd.All these explanations assume that the Gospel narratives are wholly or in part unhistorical. Plummer, Luke, p. 228. Jesus did say to count the cost [Luke 14:28-33]. 8; Mark vi. It was significant. xvi. 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? Why is that. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1991. As we pass from this section to the next, let us not end on the note of the death of the pigs, but on the deliverance of the demoniac. As these people began to piece together the previous events, not only of the destruction of the pigs, but also the deliverance of Legion, they began to sense that there was One far more awesome, much more to be feared, than Legion. Its important to note that this was the first demonstration of Jesuss authority outside of Canaan. 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.