why were the gerasenes afraid

(4) Super-human strength. Why were the Romans afraid of the Christians? - Sage-Answers And, it can not be understood properly out of this context. 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) COMMENTARY: Atheism is generally the expression of a moral attitude more than a real intellectual conviction based on evidence thought through. This city was better known than Gadara or Gergesa; indeed in the Roman age no city of Palestine was better known. Chapati Movement 1857: Why were the British afraid of the Roti? Satan loves those Christians. Even the demons confessed that He was the Son of the Most High (Mark 5:7). June 2017 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 . Verse 1. Perhaps they clenched their fists or picked up driftwood with which to defend themselves. Those possessed are depicted throughout as unfortunate sufferers who by no fault of their own are dominated by evil spirits and who, when the spirits are cast out by Jesus, accept their deliverance with joy and gratitude (Mark v. 18-20, Luke viii. If anything, that would have made them angry. April 2016 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). Like children convinced there are monsters under our beds, the unknown scares us. Ridiculous? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Though Legion bowed before Jesus (verse 6), it was no act of worship (as the King James Version would seem to indicate). 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. The people were more terrified of Jesus and His authority than they were of this crazed and demonized man living among the tombs. 10). They were willing to post guards and chain and shackle their neighbor to keep him from hurting someone. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. 2 Now a centurion had a servant 1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. And, Gerasene was one. The people were afraid when they saw the possessed man healed. Order Bulk SubscriptionsGet a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization The time of this event was before Jesus' crucifixion, and before the gentiles were grafted in to the promise (Acts 10). No matter what men attempted to bind him with, he broke loose. . Lets learn why. Hence it would be called the land of the Gadarenes.. The region was known also as the Decopolis because ten Greek cities were located in the region. April 2020 Why would the Gerasene people beg Jesus to leave their region - EBible Is it a bug? Why did the demon-possessed Gadarene bow down before Jesus? rev2023.3.3.43278. The entrance of the term into colloquial speech indicates that the Roman occupation was a heavy burden. While the Jews had not denied the works of Jesus were supernatural, they had declined to admit they established His deity. What they were not willing to accept was the frightening power that could cure him. (5) Torment. November 2022 Like the Samaritans who followed the woman at the well to see this One who had told her all she had done, so these residents came to see for themselves what had happened. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. October 2021 17, pp. The people were gentiles who had not yet any interest in the Messiah. 115 While Mark and Luke describe only one demoniac, Matthew informs us that there were two. 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. Luke seems to base this fear solely upon what happened to the demoniac, not on the loss of their pigs. ESV - Here in Mark, he purposely set out to travel into another land. 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. 7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, b he entered Capernaum. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Will they be condemned like unclean animals? 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. where something similar occurs) is a demon-possession mentioned, and that outside the Gospels it is referred to only twice in the New Testament (Acts xvi. 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. 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. 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. to sign up for our free Water Of The Word newsletter at the top of any page! August 2021 Mark 5:16 says the thoughts of the people were on the swine. He who feared His arrival now dreaded His departure. A crowd had come to see what had happened for themselves. Region of the Gerasenes - Fire and Light How do I connect these two faces together? Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Holiness hurts! The region and polygon don't match. As an alternative to confinement, the demons posed the option of being permitted to enter the pigs, some 2,000 in number, feeding nearby. Jesus showed to the local population the inferiority of pagan life. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. They were content where they were. The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. 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. It is even possible that his request was to become one of our Lords disciples.125. January 2016 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? and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. You might be thinking back to Easter and not recall very many hogs showing up except for at Easter supper. Jesus had just performed an incredible miracleand one they desperately needed, at that! 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. 16ff., xix. My office mate of several years back was interrupted by a young and very zealous new Christian teacher accompanied by a student from whom she wanted my friend to cast out a demon. And the people went out to see what happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. Demons are highly organized (cf. It is in no way certain, however, that the pig raisers were Jews. These, however, are not the problem raised by Bible students. They are unclean spirits, (vss. October 2015 in a crowd in a crowd where many people were bumping into Him? Bulk update symbol size units from mm to map units in rule-based symbology. In the King James Version it is called the country of the Gadarenes in Mark and Luke, and of the Gergesenes in Matthew. In recent years the matter has been getting uncomfortably close to home. Jesus never interacted with people as they were, but as He knew they were created to be. Acts 19:16). Jesus heals the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8 | Psephizo https://www.ncregister.com/blog/gerasene-or-gadarene-swine, What Archaeology Tells Us About Joshuas Conquest, 50 Verses to Help You Prepare for Pentecost, St. Polycarp, Who Learned the Faith From an Apostle, Did Not Believe in Faith Alone, The Three Kinds of Atheists, and How to Respond to Them, We Know That Hes in Heaven: Thousands Gather for Funeral of Bishop David OConnell in Los Angeles, Archbishop Naumann and Bishop Paprocki Speak Out in Support of Traditional Latin Massgoers in Their Dioceses, Survey: Decline in Vocations to the Priesthood Is Worse Where Priests Serve Larger Flocks, God Really Intervened: How a Catholic Priest Escaped From His Kidnappers in Haiti, Amber and Dave VanVickle on Finding God in the Midst of Suffering. What were the women in Mark 16:8 afraid of? Series NotesScripture references are based on the King James translation. 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. The expression to be with Jesus is used particularly of His disciples (cf. 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. April 2018 They had heard what had happened to the pigs and knew the Jews considered Gentiles unclean, too. He had only known Jesus for a few hours, but had already determined to be Jesus' disciple for life. All Scripture agrees with this, that the judgment of the angels is yet to come (1 Cor. The Politics of Luke 8:26-39 | Political Theology Network They likely were Gentiles and had been under the influence of the demonic principality of the region their whole life. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. 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. Or they are too afraid of what the change might bring. Who was afraid of Jesus and why? Mark 9:17-29). Train crash in Greece: 43 dead, stationmaster arrested. Live updates. They would have to trust Jesus. What would happen to them? The region was not poor or economically depressed. 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. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, 1950), fn. May 2018 January 2015 As indicated in the textual note, the best Greek text reads Gerasenes in Mark and Luke, Gadarenes in Matthew. You will receive a monthly newsletter with Scriptural teaching plus notifications of any new articles, courses or books. 21,22). (2) Anti-social behavior. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The passage in Daniel especially suggests specific geographical boundaries within which spirit beings must abide. In this story, we have a demon-possessed Gadarene who saw Jesus from a distance, and immediately he appeared to have felt a strong compulsion to run up to Jesus and bow down before him. December 2015 4, p. 180. Author of The Gnostic Notebook series, stand-up comedian, and Gnostic. Second, while the death of the pigs is clearly an economic loss for the owner, Jesus is illustrating the infinite value of human life. 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. It was significant. 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). 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. Clarify They were instructed to keep quiet about what Jesus had done for them (cf. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. When Jesus asked his name the man answered, Legion, for we are many (Mark 5:9). Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. When addressed, the person was the mouthpiece of the demon (such as Legion, Mark 5:9). It hit them hard in the pocketbook. The pleas of Legion were in response to the command of Jesus for the demons to come out of him (verse 8). For the Christian, there are two extremes which must be avoided with reference to Satanic activity. I have always wondered what my Christian brothers had to say to the police officers by way of explanation. The people of Gerasenes were willing to live with the devils they knew - quite literally. 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. November 2015 Why are you Afraid? | Mark 4:35 - 5:20 | RayStedman.org Instead of opening themselves up to Jesus and receiving His love and forgiveness, they allowed fear to drive a wedge between them. 36Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.

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