Dave Armstrong Dave Armstrong is a full-time Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981. 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. Does a barbarian benefit from the fast movement ability while wearing medium armor? xvi. She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. 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. There probably were not many who had been told yet of the Messiah, and so were not yet believers. Read the Scripture: Mark 4:35 - 5:20. 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. especially fn. Mark 5:1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. The pleas of Legion were in response to the command of Jesus for the demons to come out of him (verse 8). December 2016 Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? 14). His teachings have inspired great moral reformations such as abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights movement. Lane believes the modern Kersa is the most likely place: The point of arrival is indicated in a general way as the district of the Gerasenes, most probably in reference to a town whose name is preserved in the modern Kersa or Koursi. The New Testament speaks of those who had a spirit, or a demon, or demons, or an unclean spirit, or the spirit of an unclean demon, but chiefly of persons who were demonised. Edersheim, Life and Times, I, p. 479. 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. 116 As Lane observes this title Son of the Most High God, is not a messianic designation but a divine one. Lane, Mark, p. 133, cf. 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). Second, while the death of the pigs is clearly an economic loss for the owner, Jesus is illustrating the infinite value of human life. 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) And Jesus, being a Gentleman, was not about to force Himself on them. And they were afraid. Understand the meaning of Luke 8:37 using all available Bible versions and commentary. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the March 2021 He was a totally safe Person. (5) What our Lord could have given the people of this territory was much greater than what He took away. 7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, b he entered Capernaum. So, they asked Him to leave. It is ironic that while the demons didnt want to leave the country, the dwellers of that land didnt want the Messiah to stay. All Scripture agrees with this, that the judgment of the angels is yet to come (1 Cor. Why as the question? Why did the demons ask to be cast into the herd of pigs, and why did the pigs then run into the water to be drowned? 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. John 8:32; Matthew 11:28-30), or to be the pawns of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2). The people of Gerasenes were willing to live with the devils they knew - quite literally. 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. The country of the Gadarenes (Gergesenes) is one of the few areas Jesus visited where Gentiles (non-Jews) composed the majority of the population. Author of The Gnostic Notebook series, stand-up comedian, and Gnostic. February 2015 Life with him would be heaven on earth. Yes, I know that Easter was weeks ago in April. Demons are highly organized (cf. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. No matter where you are on life's journey. 110 C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1971), p. 3. These people did not want to change. The particular focus of this mans testimony was the Decapolis region. 9. He felt Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder. 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. The demoniac further evidenced demon activity by the depth of his spiritual insight. 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. He pleaded with Jesus not to be tormented. 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. Men in their unbelief suppose that the choice is either to be free (independent of God) or to be the slaves of Christ. Was it fear that a secret sin might be exposed? First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. 22, xvii. Father Macaire, 33, who was ordained fewer than two years ago, was kidnapped the morning of Feb. 7 when he was on his way to his missionary community in Kazal, about 20 miles north of Port-au-Prince. They liked Him and wanted to be with Him. The ego is so impaired that the spirits speak through him. The Lord, in an act of great mercy, freed the Gadarenes' man by casting the demons out of him and allowing them to enter a nearby herd of pigs. 3 When the centurion 2 heard about Jesus, c he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his . To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. August 2021 All of this sure seems perfectly consistent with calling the same area the country (chra) of either the Gerasenes or the Gadarenes, after the two major cities. Although Gadarenes and Gergesenes are derived from a different Greek word, they are essentially referring to the same area. That is why the inhabitants of the area are referred to variously in different Bible manuscripts as Gergasenes, Gadarenes, or Gerasenes. 184-185. Did Jesus command the demon before he fell on his knees in Mark 5:6? One is that he was a fascinating man. I will not ask him to leave. Wikipedia states about it: In the second half of the 1st century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity.. Bill Maher says he's scared of former President Trump "on a very personal level" and "what he would do" to the comedian if he were to win the 2024 White House race. For many Christians today, the horrifying experience of Legion should be sufficient testimony of the reality of the Satanic underworld. 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. This is probably the Gerasa of Mark and Luke. Why did Jesus allow the legion of demons to stay in the area when they begged him? First let us see what the Sacred Texts says: The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! What did we miss because we allowed fear instead of faith to drive our lives? September 2016 Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. The spread of cholera was linked to the movements of . Yet, conversely, the known can be just as scaryif not more. This was a region east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. January 2017 . Here is one of the few times that a miracle drove people away, rather than to draw them to Jesus. At first we may deceive ourselves into thinking that we are controlling them, but the ultimate likelihood is that they will master us. Jesus asked Mary why she was crying at the grave site. Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. The exercising of authority over demons, in the land under another god, was a message. What about us, as Christians, are we afraid of Jesus? The demons freak out that Jesus is there because it's not time for them to be tormented by Him yet. July 2015 What purposes did Mark intend to achieve by the inclusion of this event? They all say country of (in the sense of region, not nation). 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?" . 125 This is the position of Lane, Mark, p. 187. Will they be condemned like unclean animals? Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:12), whose leader and prince is Satan (Matthew 12:24). 606-607. They were not looked upon as necessarily evil in all cases. Another approach is to note the different intentions of the Gospel writers. 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. December 2015 "I am afraid of Trump on a very personal level because I don't think he likes me. 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. 3. April 2018 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. In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear. The choice is to be free by submission to Christ (cf. Cookie Notice Pig carcasses were washing ashore and drifting out to sea. Gadara, though not directly named in Scripture, was part of the Decapolis. Where it falls apart for me is why the Bellonas, knowing that only one person is allowed to survive each duel, take the defeat so personally. As Jesus began to get back into the boat, the delivered demoniac pleaded with Him that he might accompany Him. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned (Luke 8:35-37). February 2017 By His power, we, too, are able to overcome Satans treacheries. 10). Asked October 24 2014 It hit them hard in the pocketbook. In contrast, the people of Gerasene are asking him to leave their place. As has been said before, look for Satans man behind the pulpit. For more information about Glenn Davis see our About Glenn page and/or his Author's Page. So he got into a boat and returned. Why was Jesus going to walk past the disciples as they were rowing on the Sea of Galilee? 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. In fact the region was known as the Gadarenes-Gerasenes region. (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. What did Jesus mean when he said only prayer can cast out this demon? 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. What did Jesus do? "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. Some appeared not to be oppressed by them so much as exploiting their powers (cf. In all three instances the word is chra (Strongs word #5561). Like it or not, demons and demonic activity are likely to become much more of a concern to you in days to come. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another . June 2021 Today, it is identified with El-Koursi or Kursi. With a little knowledge of the geography of the region, this apparent contradiction can be resolved. Thus an economic lose of revenue was involved. No matter who you are. 34When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 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. We should be warned that fooling with these Satanic fronts is like experimenting with drugs. It didnt take long for the word to spread quickly. If they dare to open up their lives to Jesus what will happen? It is even possible that his request was to become one of our Lords disciples.125. vi. 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. "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.
why were the gerasenes afraid
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why were the gerasenes afraid
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