To suggest God retracts or repeals laws tarnishes His Dignity. Lastly, based on culture, human-nature and most importantly, on specific Scripture passages, we know the demoniac could not have been a Gentile but was most assuredly, Yet a complete interpretation of Mark 5 needs to clear up one last point: the pigs were forbidden but did they, Christ kept kosher and cleaned up the town, I can of Myself do nothing. Because the writer of the story wanted to make sure that everyone would know that the Garasenes were not Jewish. Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." John Oxenham1 wrote a poem about this passage. [Israels] real enemy isnt Rome, which barely figures into the gospel story. Part of the reason for such a short list is due to the fact that Gods People are special (Exodus 19:5-6) and separate (Deuteronomy 7:6) and unique from others on the earth (1 Peter 2:9). Matt 8:28). And he was the one who said that the Father doesnt miss the falling of a sparrow. Oops. Scripture also makes it abundantly clear that God Almighty cannot change, and no one, not even the Lord's Anointed Messiah can change the Law which they both wrote. III. Well the first thing I want you to see is this picture of a person in the thrall of sin. 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 And John nicely parallels Jesus who said, not the smallest letter nor the smallest comma will pass away from the Law (Matthew 5:18). in which he transferred the demons afflicting a man to a number of swine, that thereupon James Gibson. I agree the counter-arguments look flawless on the surface and that will be partially exposed now. They belonged to God. Instead, his conscious act of casting the demons into the swine resulted in the entire herds destruction. But are these good pastors on the right track? The last now appears. Most translations interpret the Hebrew to say. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. Just remember the wonderful folks in Jesuss hometown? And why werent they demanding compensation for their pigs? So you not only see the power of Christ over Satan in this passage in the miracle that He performs in casting these demons out of this man, but you also see Jesus compassion towards sinners. Over the years, Ive had to prove all this to myself first, and it took soul-searching and tons of Scripture research. What do you love? Three witnesses! What does it say? Nevertheless, the interconnections within Scripture, from the beginning, to the middle, and to the very end, are wonderful to see, just like a beautiful flower. That fact must be kept in mind in our ethical discussions. (Sidebar: During the whole Rob Bell Love Wins craze, I had a friend who claimed to believe the Bible, but denied that demons exist. Such a conclusion will annoy a lot of people, even funny, leaky dispensationalists like John MacArthur. Will the demons come back? WebThe meaning of GENTILE is a person of a non-Jewish nation or of non-Jewish faith; especially : a Christian as distinguished from a Jew. And in Malachi 4:4, why did God say remember the Law of Moses if God had His own law? 15:24), but He was concerned for all peoples. And opposite to normal flowers, our lovely Scripture-flower will never dry out or wither away (Isaiah 40:8). Perhaps that is his point. Israel doesnt [need] a savior who can fight off a legion of Roman soldiers. He's not only a person extraordinarily under bondage to demonic activity, but he's actually a picture of everyone who is in the thrall of sin. I would have wanted a herd of swine had I been an Israelite in the desert. Jesus is the lover of our souls. The three passages that describe the incident with the demoniacs in the country of the Gerasenes, also called Gadarenes, are Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. Gods Law even has two commands that equate domestic livestock with wild animals. After a dramatic journey across the lake (Luke 8:22-25), Jesus steps for the first and last time into Gentile territory. The story of the Gerasene demoniac thereby foreshadows the mission to the Gentiles that would begin in full force with the conversion of the Apostle Paul and Peter's ministry to Cornelius (Acts 910). JESUS DIDNT SEND THE DEMONS INTO THE DEEP; WebThey land in the country of the Gadarenes which is on the North-east shore of the Sea of Galilee about 6 miles southeast across the sea from Capernaum. Because of his righteousness and his love for God, Peter and Andrew and John and thousands more loved Jesus and followed him. Gods Law has a law that you cannot change Gods Law. 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 8.2639). (This sad fact may have something to do with Christians telling Jews to junk the Law which they love and to just believe and receive.) It was exactly due to his righteousness and his love for God that he killed two thousand pigs. War I. iv. Gentile And sadly, neither of the two Johns considered Gods extreme love for His Creation when giving their interpretations. The bottom line is, I don't know why Jesus did that and neither do you and neither does anyone else. You don't have to look very far. For one, Remember that the Law reveals to us the mind and personality of God. The fact anyone dreamed up dispensationalism, They say, None, but Jesus, kept the Law perfectly. War II. Do you remember when a serpent, an animal, came and exercised authority over God's man and woman, Adam and Eve, who had been made in His image so that instead of them ruling over the animals, the animals ruled over them? It was part of the Greco-Roman region known as the Decapolis, or ten towns. or ten Without a doubt, both men know God never came up with the line, Put pork on your fork. The next allusion to Gerasa concerns its capture during Vespasians campaign. Additionally, it would have been foolish for the Apostles to claim hundreds and thousands of witnesses (1 Cor 15:1-6). This town is not to be confused with either Gerasa or Gadara. He is the freest man in the world. But today, if you said to anybody, Tiger Woods is a slave to his desires, they would recognize it. Jesus is going to tell him, You can't come with Me, but I do want you to go back and tell them what great things God has done for you. There are echoes of exodus in Marks story, and echoes of Davids battle with Goliath. In the three Synoptic Gospels and, None of the verses below refute any of the. And at the end of the passage, look how he is described. Actually, killing the pigs was also out of his mercy because instead of judging the farmers directly, the Messiah threw his anger against the pigs. Matthew 12:43 and Luke 11:24 mention demons going to a dry place. And what about just sending the killers into the air (Ephesians 2:2)? If you eat a swine/hog that has killed eaten a poisonous snake and you eat that hog, you will be poisoned and die. You can bet your bottom drachma there is. Sinai. The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. One day the prophet Samuel angrily told his king that God would not go back on His decision. Gerasene Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster Please note how John repeats the commands, adding a zinger curse to both. Reading the Word of God is wonderful. It deeply disturbed Bertrand Russell that Jesus allowed a herd of two thousand pigs to be destroyed. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. No, at the very best, Scripture is a dazzling lily that started out as a small flower bud, grew and expanded overtime, until finally it opened to show us all its beauty, a beauty that there inside the bud since the beginning, but not fully shown. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Can you handle the (barometric) pressure? And based roughly on current prices, Jesus caused hundred of thousands of dollars in damages. Why explain something that is as plain as the nose on your face? WATER DESTROYED HER!!!! : A similar remark came from Mosess lips when he described God as eternally faithful and then connected Gods faithfulness to His faithful love. And from what I have heard, preferrably pig blood. Many of the events are corroborated by other authors. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. At the beginning of the gospel, he wins these victories with acts of visible, recognizable power. The Son of God mercifully cast thousands of defiling demons out of a lost Jew and purposefully launched the legion killers into two thousand defiling swine. being the holy Messiah of Israel, Jesus wants the swine out of The Land as much as he wants unclean spirits out of The People, and. xviii. All we know now is that the demoniac could have been either: Jew or Gentile. So He got into the boat and returned. Gerasa is mentioned next by Josephus in connection with the Jewish rebellion against the Romans in a.d. 70. WebGadarenes. The Jewish Messiah rid himself of two defiling groups in one blow. Some will respond to my rhetorical question, Why on earth would Jesus come to earth, by giving me the usual pat answer, None can keep the nasty old Law, so Jesus came to fulfill it perfectly, and now I dont have to do anything, at all, whatsoever, just believe, hallelujah! It may well be a picture of the reverse of what happened in the Garden of Eden. Now not only did the Jewish people not eat bacon, and not only were they forbidden by Moses to eat bacon, but they were not allowed to raise bacon even to sell it to the Gentiles. We come to understand that the God of the Universe is willing to wait and to stall our own behaviour so as to give mother cows and mother sheep more time together with their babies. The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. The Gemara on the passage gives a historical foundation for the practise in the times of Aristobulus. As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of Him. 4 ) As R. Sol Urbin Ohel Moed teaches us, Technically, the greek word for swine is choiros, which many people think means swine, but in the Akkadian, and so with the Syriac, it really refers to an indigenous type of little lamb owned by sea-faring peasants, suitable for pets, grazing, shishkabob and MLT (Mutton, Lettuce and Tomato) sandwiches., 3 ) Pigs?? When Jesus and his disciples landed on the other side, it was in a region known as the Gerasenes, Gentile territory. 8:513) and the Syrophoenician woman whose daughter was possessed (Mark 7:2430), the Jews received the bulk of His attention, and He spent most of His time in the predominantly Jewish regions of Galilee and Judea. That was a very large farming operation, even by the modern European and North American standards of today which typically do not have such giant herds. He doesnt want to connect the dots and he doesn't want us to either. Yet being part of the Godhead means Messiah cannot not flip-flop his opinions. He was possessed of extraordinary strength but he was aware that there was a man of God in his presence. --ED.). If the interpretation from one vague verse contradicts several unambiguous verses, which is wrong? With such a track record, what difference would Legions size or strength make? But Jesus still ministered to them: crowds from Tyre and Sidon came to see and listen to Him ( Mark 3:78 ). Dictionaries Encyclopedias Lexicons. This has been a long blog thanks for sticking with it but because Im going to ruffle feathers, Ive gone the extra mile to explain myself clearly and to plug any holes in my argument. Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. Logically we understand that no person on Earth could say something in strong terms over and over, and then just one day say, Oops, can I retract that? So could or would God Almighty flip flop? Oops! Be this as it may, the district was He has stabbed the heads of many lands. Look at what he first says when Jesus meets him in verse 28 What do you have to do with me, Jesus? Last Update: Jan 03, 2023 Commentary on Luke 8:26-39 - Working Preacher from Luther Amen. The Greeks were believers in the spirit In, David was a good example of what Jesus meant by , Sadly, our two good pastors seem oblivious to the fact that under the Law of Moses, animals have benefits too, and this fact should have bearing on any interpretation of Mark 5. (Please dont hold up Mark 7:19b, Jesus made all food clean. Relying on that isolated, half-verse with textual problems makes God look flippant, and therefore, unpredictable and untrustworthy. First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus ( Matthew 8; Mark 5; Luke 8) in which he transferred the demons *sigh*). We "are of more value than many sparrows" (Matt. The mountainside has caves and hewn tombs where, according to Mark and Luke, the demoniac had taken shelter. In the Book of Acts, Chapter Nineteen, we read about Demetrius, a Greek silver-statue maker, who was connecting a few dots of his own and had reasoned that a certain big-mouthed Jew was bad for business. The list in the first chapter of Leviticus contains only bovine, sheep, goats and pigeons; all typified later, in Leviticus 11, as clean/pure animals. 141-144). The Gadarenes Rejection | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals An inscr. 7 ) The pigs werent for eating. All Rights Reserved. I beg You, do not torment me. For He (that is, Jesus) had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. As to the second question, there is no doubt of the illegality, from a ritual point of view, of Jews keeping swine (B. But the height of ignorance, the most foolhardy statement is, Jesus fulfilled the whole Law so we dont have to. Only a person who knows absolutely zero about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy would say such a thing. Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, and the President of RTS Jackson.
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