Also, this study shows that Jesuss actions in Mark 5 were on the surface contrary to the deep-rooted Jewish respect for domestic and/or wild animals. The Syrians made reprisals, and took many prisoners. That is, they appear contrary, except for one thing: Gods Law forbids righteous people from eating pork. 1. Incredible. The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. It seems to happen a lot in the gospels. 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. Matt 8:28). There's nothing that they can do to restrain His mighty arm. Such a contradiction in character! R.C. But the Jews were promised and re-promised their land by God throughout the Law: Genesis 15:7, Leviticus 20:24, Numbers 33:52-53, Deuteronomy 1:8 are just a few examples. WebRoman Empire Map - Large Map of the Roman Empire in the Early First Century - Click around on the Places. But the sad thing I want you to see at the end is the reaction of the majority of his countrymen, because unlike him, they do not beg to be with Jesus. Lets re-examine the event in the light of seven important Scriptural facts. ___________________________________________________________________. In turn, they would have a vehicle wherewith to stay in their territory. The action is no different than, Lets return again to when Jesus cleaned up the Temple courtyard of merchants and merchandise. The demons freak out that Jesus is there because its not time for them to be tormented by Him yet. Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture evolves. He is more open with Gentiles because it fits His purpose about revelation to the Gentiles and the new inclusion in the kingdom. If we agree Messiah wrote the Law of God, we should then wonder why on earth he would come to Earth to take what he authored out of circulation or to annul it? What is going to happen, we are told by John the book of Revelation, is that God Himself is going to cast Satan and his demons into the lake of fire. While foretelling death and doom was often, Fifth Fact: The True Author(s) of Scripture. He should know that centuries before the prophet Isaiah spoke against Jews eating pork and hanging around in tombs. In this immediate area, steep hills come down to the shoreline and fit the story of the swine rushing headlong into the sea. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat Plus, when Jesus chased the sellers out of the Temple courts (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:12-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 12:13-16), there is a small, but wonderful, detail that is in complete harmony with Matthew 10:29. Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. And it is a shame that the good pastors dont take these relevant Scripture passage into consideration. The other part of the eastern shoreline was controlled by Og, king of Bashan, but it and sixty walled cities were taken from them by Moses and given to the tribes of Israel (Deuteronomy 3:1-7, 16; compare with 1 Kings 4:13). Be circumspect. The last now appears. These three verse from John really are earth-shattering. 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. James Gibson. The demons are aware that He is there and they are frightened. I will say that I struggled with the title to this sermon. Although He encountered and ministered to Gentiles such as the centurion who had a paralyzed servant (Matt. This, Also, this study shows that Jesuss actions in Mark 5 were on the surface contrary to the deep-rooted Jewish respect for domestic and/or wild animals. 3). WebMany New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than. 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. I trust the Lord Jesus to know what to do with demons and what ought to be done. Jesus then asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him. It was like, Read my lips, Saul! Well that's the first thing we see in this passage. The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. So if you have the ears to hear, the Father and the Son both wrote the Law and gave it to 630,000 men (and women and children) at Mt. For the moment, Jesus was just being ironic. And wild animals are not forget because farmers in the Land of Israel are commanded in Exodus 23:11 to leave parts of their fields for food for wildlife. Amen. The shortest distance between two thoughts. You must there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one thats only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. Thus, we are not surprised that there was "a great herd of pigs" feeding near the tombs where the Gerasene demoniac was living (5:11). 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 So its a fair comparison to place Pauls actions in Ephesians side-by-side with Jesuss actions by the Lake of Galilee. When Jesus and his disciples landed on the other side, it was in a region known as the Gerasenes, Gentile territory. So why pigs? Such a pat answer to such a serious question is as irritating as it is ridiculous. Jesus ministered to and did miracles for the Gentiles there. As was just so elegantly discussed, the destruction of the herd only makes sense if we remember that God never liked unclean food to begin with. Pig meat, according to Scripture, is as unclean as the demons that Jesus sent into the swine. If they did, they would not see the chapter attacking the research in this blog post, theyd see a defense for it! Pigs, of course, were unclean for the Jews (Lev. Most translations interpret the Hebrew to say. John Oxenham1 wrote a poem about this passage. Christ's primary focus was on "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. He used another pseudonym, Julian Ross. Theories of men that attack statements made by God evolution for example are sadly creeping into the minds of Christian leaders. Learn a new word every day. Once there, Jesus encounters a man possessed by demons. He will judge the Gentiles, filling places with bodies. And it's the glorious picture of the value that He puts on an immortal soul. And Jews are forbidden by God and His eternal commands to own pigs. It is repeated over and over. WebAll three Synoptic Gospels ( Mark 5:120; Luke 8:2639; Matthew 8:2834) mention the swine miracle, although with variations. It's a picture of His great commission outreach, not just to Jews but to Gentiles also. And did the Gospels writers believe the explanation was so obvious they didn't need to write one? The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. Because they cared more about what they had lost than what that man had gained or what they could gain in Jesus themselves. So he's drawing our attention to an extraordinary event, but the reason he's drawing our attention to that extraordinary event is because there are actually truths which transfer across the last 2,000 years, right to where we are today, that we are to learn out of this passage. 7). His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. Because of his righteousness and his love for God, Peter and Andrew and John and thousands more loved Jesus and followed him. He specifically banned pig in Leviticus 11:6 but to make sure we heard God repeats the command (Deuteronomy 14:8), adds that eating it makes a person unclean (Leviticus 11:43), adds that touching their carcasses defiles a person (Leviticus 11:28), adds that righteous people must not become defiled (Leviticus 20:25), and then sends His prophet a prophesy like, no one uncircumcised or anything unclean (/tameh) will anymore enter Zion or Jerusalem (Isaiah 52:1), and then openly judges pork-eaters as wicked (Isaiah 65:2-5), and then hotly repeats that identical point (Isaiah 66:15-17), and once more (Ezekiel 44:23-27) and once again, but now in the New Testament (Revelation 21:27), so where is that pastor who dares suppose the Almighty can change His mind about pigs? For these reasons, the writers of the gospels gave no explanation and the Twelve asked no question about why Jesus destroyed all the swine. And Jews are forbidden by God and His eternal commands to own pigs. It was a leading city of Syria in commerce, culture, and religion. This solution is as old as Origen (Commentary on John, VI, 24) who, faced with the textual problem, suggested that the precise site of the healing of Legion was Gergesa, the small town in the territory of Gadara, but hardly in the more remote territory of Gerasa. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of any other person, religious organization or governmental entity. Yet this is exactly what Christians believe; Jesus came to fulfill (but think annul) the Law and then start a whole new religion. And her addition to Gods commandment led to her disobedience and to Adams, and then God added some amazing plagues to mankind, just as John says (Revelation 22:18) will happen to those who add to His Word (and not just the book of Revelation). These pastors have, Look at the prophets; they also prove Scripture doesnt change. And lastly, because the herd was within the Land of Israel and owned by Jews (the joke about Gentiles owning them is cleared up below), the unclean swine had to go and the unclean demons did the work. Not by will, but because they have no choice other than to do as the Administrator of all creation commands them. The first two are in the Authorized Version. Doesnt Pastor MacArthur know his Bible? Lets use his recording to the event as our jumping off point: Every Bible passage is either a historical narrative piece (such as the one we just read), a legal and/or procedural document (the majority of the Five Books of Moses), or it is a poetic passage (like Psalms, Proverbs and much of the Prophets). He also said after much work with people that was possess that most of them dealt in occult practices. He was Jewish and tragically lost. Jesus was teaching the way to live life so demons would not have a place in us to possess. So many beautiful verses and motivating passages are in Scripture. (eds.). viii. Although the Almightys statement is only one sentence in Deuteronomy 12:32, Jews regard it as two different commandments no additions and no subtractions. The pastors precious-people useless-swine principle was previously dreamed up by the 3rd century church father, St. Augustine of Hippo (quoted by Spalde and Strindlund), and he ran with it. This is clearly an extraordinary event. But it was what they loved and they preferred it to everlasting blessing in Jesus Christ. And they are no more capable of liberating themselves than this man was capable of liberating himself from this host of demons. The best text in Matthew reads Gadarenes, in Mark and Luke it reads Gerasenes, whereas some MSS preserve Gergesenes and Gergustenes (cf. Top Ten Reasons Why There Were Pigs in Gerasenes (Lk 8 ) 10 ) It was the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, the area of the Decapolis. Explained by Sharing Culture Expert Answers: Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." But isnt it a funny coincidence that pork happens to be on Gods list of forbidden food. WebThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. What pigs?? WebWho were the gerasenes in the bible? 4. Two Sundays ago Take care then, how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. They thought those pigs were theirs. Am I forgiven by saying, I just, The Land of Israel is/was no place for two thousand pigs. Yet the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke actually report that the towns people many would have been the owners or friends of the pig owners or people who were connected to the trade in the swine were frightened of the Jewish rabbi. Another title that didn't make it was Demons, Pigs, and a Request to Leave. Now I think actually that beautifully outlines what happens in this passage, but for a specific reason I've wanted to zero your attention in on this man, this nameless man, who is afflicted by demons and who is liberated by Jesus Christ because there is a Gospel message for all of us. Its odd that dispensationalist preachers dont preach this obvious, permanent truth. People of the same race and same religion but they still wanted to do him some serious pain. A wonderful verse that reveals Him to us and probably the most heartwarming is the commandment in the Torah that mother animals are allowed to stay with their newborns for at least seven days before the offspring can be taken for food or for sacrifice (Exodus 22:30; Leviticus 22:27). 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. Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus (Matt. Them there pigs were going to try to hog the limelightthat Jesus was famous for but ended up being lost in more ways than one! As out-of-place as the pig-assisted exorcism by the Lake of Galilee was, the awful event is actually recorded in three Gospels; in Matthew 8:2834, Mark 5:120 and Luke 8:2639. founders day speech by students were the gerasenes gentiles. The apostles arent having a pig roast anywhere. Im not saying I totally believed the stories, but I cannot believe that a single other place could not be found to send the legion. Incredible. And he said that a good and virtuous man could not have allowed something like that to happen and therefore, Jesus was not the best and most virtuous of men and therefore Christianity was disproven. Gerasa is mentioned next by Josephus in connection with the Jewish rebellion against the Romans in a.d. 70. First of all theyre forgetting that Jesus Himself has already said that His Heavenly Father cares even about the sparrows that fall from their nests. Fear and selfishness prompted the prayer. And this identical detail was written down in three different texts to remind us of the Son of Mans normally tender nature. (Later, in Genesis 8:20, Noah sacrificed some of the clean animals to God as thank you offerings because their ship had come in! WebHe calls the inhabitants Syrians, when, at the beginning of the Jewish revolt, the district round Gerasa was laid waste. Look at the prophets; they also prove Scripture doesnt change. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. Therefore they should be taken as such. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. Its a weird story, but its in the Gospels a couple of times, so we have to accept it as truth. The Messiah gave every Jew there that day a glimpse of the judgement to come. 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. They do not bother mentioning Scriptures emphasis on being holy before God. In fact, the next thing the name did was to take a steel bar, place it in his teeth, and proceed to bend it with his hands and with his teeth. Obviously the man with the demon was Jewish or Jesus would not have gone there. The passage appears to be straightforward historical-narrative writing, like the rest of Marks gospel. Working with the Law, and not against it, Jesus is shown to be completely in character and not out of his mind. I am but a man possessed by an innumerable host of demons. Maybe it was because they were unclean animals. War III. Remember, Jesus took direct, extensive action against a significant group of Gentile pig farmers he didnt just say something bad against the pigs. Jun 21, 2021. In a similar way, we see that Scripture is the same; it doesnt change. 3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. As for Matthew, he quoted Jesus as commanding the demons, and used the plural form of the verb, go. He showed mercy to the men who were possessed and brought judgement on the pig farmers. Playing with the plain truths of Gods eternal Scriptures means one is playing with fire and such actions will bring unfortunate consequences. After this long, careful study, it should be crystal clear that the heartless Bishop of Hippo was mistaken, as were our two good pastors. This page from an Orthodox website partially shows how Judaism views their responsibility. They cannot cast a spell on Him. B. vii. The demons, who in this man have terrified the whole countryside to the point that they had tried to retrain this man with chains they were so frightened of Him, those demons are now afraid of Jesus because they know who Jesus is and they know where Jesus can cast them. led to the substitute reading Gergesenes, a reading that was suggested by a study of the geography of the area. He dispatched Lucius Annius with a force of cavalry and an army of foot soldiers, who took the city on the first attack, slaughtering a thousand young men, taking their families captive, plundering and burning the city and the surrounding towns (Jos. That's what disciples do, they sit at their master's feet. This Priceless People Interpretation comes from another sunny California pastor, John Piper. That's why Jesus's motivation to kill the herd was more than obvious to the Tedious Twelve and the gospel writers. One unambiguous (but hotly debated) verse that supports this doctrine is, 1 John 5:7: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. So if we agree Messiah is part of the Godhead, then logically we agree Messiah also co-authored, with the Father, the Law of God. Jesus is equating his commandments which can only be the ones in the Law of Moses, because he gave no commandments in the Gospels with his Fathers commandments in the Five Books of Moses. And repeatedly, these miracles will focus us in on Who is Jesus? and What do His deeds tell us about what He has come to do and the power that He has? And so this passage helps us in this way. Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." I beg you, do not torment me. And then the demons beg not to be cast into the abyss. If the pig farmers were Gentile, why would non-Jewish farmers be so gentle with a Jew (who was also an outsider) who was messing around with their farm animals? Origen says this is a good example of how Biblical writers simply were not concerned to precisely identify certain sites. ; Mark v.; Luke viii.) Don't they know their Bibles? Such alternative readings include arguments that the swine were meant to represent the Roman army or "unclean and unfaithful" people; that pigs were considered "unclean", so destroying them might be consistent with care for other animals; and that Jesus did not actually "send" the devils into the pigs. Luke means it to be an extraordinary event. Unsurprisingly in such a place, Jesus finds a man possessed by unclean spirits. Lets return again to when Jesus cleaned up the Temple courtyard of merchants and merchandise. The bottom line is, I don't know why Jesus did that and neither do you and neither does anyone else. Jesus' action also shows the importance of human beings relative to animals. She suffers a more oppressive slavery than ever before not to human rulers but to demons, who are bold enough to enter synagogues on the Sabbat. Oh get you hence, Omnipotence, and take this foul of Thine. The church fathers treated them as literal history. Well, Ill try and explain that before the end of the sermon, but there were several titles that didn't get included in the sermon bulletin today. IV. It pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a, Sixth Fact: True identity of the pig farmers. Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. Instead of Jesus turning water into wine. Interestingly, if you obey the latter, and take just the babies or the eggs but release the dame, God promises you a long and successful life. Somewhere I read that that region actually raised pigs and worshipped them or considered them as idols so study about the region and style of worship for that region. Am I forgiven by saying, I just allowed the kids to have the grenade? Last week we said the focus was on the power and the person of Jesus Christ. Now I must say that that really boggles my mind because Luke's main point is so crystal clear and it's set in the context of three other stories that are crystal clear. (, Therefore you should understand that the LORD your God, Because God is so steady, and doesnt reverse or repeal, He can be trusted to do what He promises; good or, If the Eternal One, blessed be He, had said just, But the Almighty said it so many times. Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus ( Matthew 8; Mark 5; Luke 8) in which he transferred the demons But what does Leviticus says about ham? What need have we of further witnesses? No cumbered chamber will the Master share,But one swept bare By cleansing fires, then plenished fresh and fairWith meekness, and humility, and prayer.There will He come, yet, coming, even thereHe stands and waits, and will no entrance winUntil the latch be lifted from within. It's His person and His power that we're having our attention draw to and there are four things in particular that I want you to see in this passage. Paul talked about going to Spain in Rom 15:24-28, so part of this is certainly within the realm of possibilities. And he is sent out to negotiate with Aragorn and Gandalf, and the others. They, like the demons, are afraid of Him and they beg Him to leave and He does. We pray that he would find liberation in Jesus Christ and see his life and family restored, but my friends, any one of us, any one of us, can be in the same thralldom today. He is a billionaire, he is about to break Jack Nicklaus record, he's married to a model, he has two beautiful children, he has everything that anybody in the world could possibly want to have. The entire herd ran straight off a cliff and drowned. New International Version (NIV), Encyclopedia of The Bible Gerasa, Gerasenes. So much for sola scriptura. ITS LIKE THE WITCH ON TGE WIZARD OF OZ Instead they joke around and give pat answers. This man, when Jesus says, What is your name? effectively says, I do not know my name. He was possessed of extraordinary strength but he was aware that there was a man of God in his presence. Ive not heard that theory before. And so the demons call out His name Jesus, the Son of the Most High God and it has no effect on Him. (, For I tell you truly, until the passing away of Heaven and the Earth, not the smallest letter nor the smallest comma will pass away from the Law until everything has happened. WebThe terrified Gerasenes beseeching Jesus to leave them. Pliny described it as a city of the Decapolis founded after the Rom. Seven facts why Jesus cast the demons to the pigs in Mark 5, but pastors still miss the point, We usually think of Jesus as the loving, forgiving guy from Galilee, right? It was a region of 10 Greco-Roman cities, a Gentile region. Unfortunately, Pastor John is not alone, joking at the expense of this tragedy. His poetry includes Bees in Amber: a little book of thoughtful verse (1913) which became a bestseller. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies. Jesus does not go looking for this demon-possess man, the man comes to Him. In delivering the man from his bondage, Jesus restored creations promise. Secondly, I want you to look at the Lord Jesus Christ Himself because His power over Satan is on display full force in this passage. The Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. Over the centuries, many scribes spent an enormous amount of time, energy and resources copying them, thereby lending credibility to them. This means that these miracles are especially meant to teach believers something. Derek Thomas was reminding me this morning that Ridderbos, in his famous book, The Coming of the Kingdom, records seventeen different interpretations that he had found of this particular parable. What do you love? When this passage begins, we have a man who is possessed by demons who had gone about naked, who had lived in the tombs, who was out of his mind, and who did not even know his name. Many of you have seen, maybe fewer of you have read, a book by the famous British philosopher and skeptic, Bertrand Russell. Im not saying I totally believed the stories, but I cannot believe that a single other place could not be found to send the legion. Did Jesus really sacrifice the swine for the man? This curse should deter makers of dispensational charts from chopping up Scripture because having my share taken from the Book of Life, or my name wiped out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5) doesnt sound very cool. But Christians miss the joke and think he was being serious. The Spectators probably from all over the world! (For many a time it had seized him. Such a statement is irresponsible because the Law was not written for a single person. 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 Land of Israel is/was no place for two thousand pigs. Sadly, the rest of the verse is not quoted in GotQuestions best article and preachers rarely preach it, though it reveals more about the true character of the Messiah. This is the only sensible interpretation which remains consistent with all Scripture. Gods Law has a law that you cannot change Gods Law. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. Perhaps even ask who might that future group of individuals be to whom Jesus will say, Depart, I never knew you (Matthew 7:22) because even though they called him, Lord, Lord [and had gone to seminary and made dispensational charts] they somehow were on the wrong path. Because in all of Holy Writ, the phrase first appears in Leviticus 11 (Leviticus 11:44) right after God talks about clean/pure meats. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. I would have wanted a herd of swine had I been an Israelite in the desert. You can follow him on Twitter. (, Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture. But wait, realize how deep Gods affection for animals goes. Saying God reverses a verdict or compromises a promise soils His Name. But let me just suggest that one thing that might be happening here is a picture of Jesus future judgment on the demonic forces that are arrayed against God. David was a good example of what Jesus meant by the shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Compared to this, Jesuss behaviour toward the pigs appears extremely callous: giving vile demons permission to slaughter swine is not exactly compassionate. Would you not agree that theres a certain permanent feeling about a law like that? But the Almighty said it so many times. They could, at least, admit to the possibility of what has been discussed here and about the other facts. Show us the only hope of deliverance from those sins and teach us these things from this passage.

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