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 inhabitants of the city. His fellow citizens tried to restrain him in chains a horrible way to treat mental illness, by the way but he always broke free. Two thousand pigs dead for one person to live is not an even tradeand that is the point. Racism: Not a modern invention . (For many a time it had seized him. Plus, these additions by John connect back to other passages in interesting ways. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. When Eve said that she and hubby were not allowed to touch the [Good and Evil Knowledge Tree] or they would die, she was lying (Genesis 3:3 and Jewish explanation). What need have we of further witnesses? Seven Forgotten Facts clarify our interpretation, One possible reason the Son of David chose the pigs was that he had, But this view is shocking because it places Gods Son on an equal footing with the unclean spirits and thus flies in the face of the normal presentation of Jesus in the Gospels. 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. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. And they are no more capable of liberating themselves than this man was capable of liberating himself from this host of demons. Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." Jews don't get the joke either because they don't read the New Testament much given the fact Christians have turned them off of Jesus. So why were these pig owners on the east side of the lake afraid? You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 15:24), but He was concerned for all peoples. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged Him to let them enter these. And what does the Law say about pigs? Since these events were supposedly witnessed by hundreds (and even thousands of people), it would have been very easy for 1st century critics to debunk it as non-historical. Will the demons come back? All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat Perhaps that is his point. Almost there. Doesn't Jesus Treat Animals as Property? In York, T.; Alexis-Baker, A.; Bekoff, M.; McLaren, B. This mother-baby law actually takes priority over another command which requires all first-born calves and lambs to be offered up to God on His altar (Numbers 18:17; Deuteronomy 15:19.) 10:31). And Christ went sadly.He had wrought for them a signOf Love, and Hope, and Tenderness divine;They wantedswine.Christ stands without _your_ door and gently knocks;But if your gold, or swine, the entrance blocks,He forces no man's holdhe will depart,And leave you to the treasures of your heart. At best, Malachi 4:4 should read as, Remember the Law of Moses, but mine's better. Every place the Master went on his travels it was to minister to a Jew, just as Paul said, To the Jew first (Romans 1:16 and Romans 2:9-10; ever notice that the New Testament never mentions Christians, just Jews and Gentiles?! The Bible doesnt say. For one, Leviticus 22:28 forbids righteous farmers from killing a cow and its calf on the same day. WebThe terrified Gerasenes beseeching Jesus to leave them. Search the web and you will find many opinions about why the pigs died. absolutely anne..there are a few scenarios..nothing more exciting than digging into the Word of God!! They even allowed themselves to go ballistic on the Sabbath, which shows how angry they really were. The Catholic Church's interpretation of this verse is sheer nonsense, because the weight of Scripture contradicts it, so true Reformers need to re-read their Bibles. In a, If Paul got himself into hot water because of a Gentile, To top it off, Jesuss farmers see Jesus and see their property floating belly up in the surf, but they dont throw him after them! There's nothing that they can do to restrain His mighty arm. Commentary on Luke 8:26-39 - Working Preacher from Luther Were in the same story. Demons, Jesus, and the Pigs The Outlaw Bible Student, http://www.linearconcepts.com/archives/2011. GotQuestions has three articles alone on the subject: here is their best. I cannot offer you a proof-text for this observation. That is exactly what is happening here. Jesus then asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him. All of these commandments and more are still taken literally by many Jews today. He was getting everyone on board with what was started at Sinai. That fact must be kept in mind in our ethical discussions. Even so, the Bible never puts the worth of animals on the same level as the worth of human And was the Master doing the right thing sacrificing someone elses pigs. III. Originally published in Tabletalk, our daily Bible study magazine. 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. 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. So how on earth could they dictate to the Son of God where they wished to go? What happened to the demons when the pigs died? Seen in this light, Jesuss actions against the herd were more than appropriate and neither Matthew, Mark nor Luke bothered to explain or rationalize the Masters actions. Again, these classifications come from God, not man, and show up in Scripture as early as Genesis 7:1-9. They were wise enough to figure out if Jesus in His authority over them would allow them to exit of their choosing, they would select the black pigs often used in sacrifice to Baal. Thou lovest men, we love swine. They do not bother mentioning Scriptures emphasis on being holy before God. No Jewish farmer would keep swine, and no Jewish region would tolerate the presence of pigs, let alone two thousand of them (Mark 5:13). People of the same race and same religion but they still wanted to do him some serious pain. The best text in Matthew reads Gadarenes, in Mark and Luke it reads Gerasenes, whereas some MSS preserve Gergesenes and Gergustenes (cf. We said the last time that we were together that in Luke 8 you begin four miracle stories, all of which either happen in Galilee or in Gentile lands. This made them fit for consumption. For the moment, Jesus was just being ironic. I wonder why?). The thinking behind each chart is contrary to the unity and oneness of God. We know that two thousand pigs go over the cliff. The story is about the power of Jesus and, even his name, to rid humans of demons and also to show that his power was for Gentiles as well. Most translations interpret the Hebrew to say. Thus, in him, God found a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and 1 Samuel 16:1). None of the verses below refute any of the Seven Forgotten Facts above. There are echoes of exodus in Marks story, and echoes of Davids battle with Goliath. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books. Gergesa (). Over the years, Ive had to prove all this to myself first, and it took soul-searching and tons of Scripture research. When Jesus and his disciples landed on the other side, it was in a region known as the Gerasenes, Gentile territory. He was incapable of changing his circumstances. Sinai. Gerasa is identified from various sources as a city in Arabia, Decapolis, Gilead, or Perea. He's set free. Despite all the dangers to himself, David wouldnt allow any to be hurt. 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. It is true that we discover new thoughts or extra meaning over time, but Gods Word is permanent and cannot change. Peaceable Kingdom Series. Gods Everlasting Word is not something evolving or morphing into a strange new unusual thing, like some rose turning into a radish, or a carrot into a carnation. Since I believe the word of God is our playbook for life, what is Jesus telling us? Jerash (aka Gerasa, Gerash or Gerasha) is the capital and the largest city of the Jerash Governorate in Jordan, but in ancient times it was one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the ancient Near East.Settled by humans as early as the Neolithic period (c. 7500-5500 BCE) and founded as a Hellenistic city in the 2nd century BCE, Jerash is Don't be surprised if none of them want the spotl One goose, two geese. This was the authentic Messiah that the Jews were waiting for. Well this is a taste of the profound arguments that you will find in that book. Was it correct to destroy so many for just one (or two men). However, the silversmith was a smart cookie and knew that the more people bought into Pauls line of thinking, Note: Demetrius was angry only because of, Therefore, were those cool-headed pig-farmers really Gentiles? Dr. Ligon Duncan | December 13, 2009. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan. And so they begin crying out, Don't cast us into the abyss.. WebThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. WebBlog Uncategorized were the gerasenes gentiles Uncategorized were the gerasenes gentiles That amazing phrase, all of you be holy for I am holy did not start with Peter (1 Peter 1:16), because the apostle is quoting Leviticus. And there's a lesson in each of these things for all of us. Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity. So I don't know how seventeen interpretations of this particular story got circulated. Fourthly, Jesus specifically went to the land of the Gentile Gadarenes or Gerasenes, east of the Sea of Galilee, to minister to them. Scripture presents us with all we need to know. Hello, I dont know the real answer but I have heard from others that Jesus has authority over any demonic presence and there were many in this man (other Gospel says two men), so it clearly shows Jesus Power and Authority and that is probably the main point to show the people and the demon possessed at that time that it doesnt matter how many of you there are your not staying and your leaving now because I say so and you cant do anything and because I say so you can go into them pigs because you are unclean, so it was a demonstration for all, including his Disciples who were with him, I do believe that Jesus went there for that purpose because of his Love for us, Jesus knows why He did it, maybe one day He will tell us or not ? Look again at John 15:10. That is, they appear contrary, except for one thing: Gods Law forbids righteous people from eating pork. The Greeks were believers in the spirit He was constrained to act just like the other prophets before him. to biblical Galilee, regarded, in opposition to Judaea, as a country of Gentiles (as in Matthew 4:15) What was Jairus occupation? When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons. Gods altar was also separate and distinct and holy. He says that the demon expulsions are just unenlightened men of the first century trying to explain illnesses being healed. It's just 8 or 9 verses before this passage. Every creature on land, or in the water, or in the air is classified by either the Hebrew term, (tahor), meaning ritually clean/pure, or by the term, (tameh), unclean/defiling. To save this word, you'll need to log in. And were you aware that the New Testament repeats the same two commands from Deuteronomy? On the other hand, the Masters usually thick-headed students, the Tedious Twelve, didnt question him about this! In a similar way, we see that Scripture is the same; it doesnt change. Jewish rabbis, when interpreting the Word of God, follow an important principle: no word in Gods Word is superfluous or pointless. 8 ) Their pork was kosher, kept out of the camp for 7 days, and circumcised. Now that's interesting isn't it? James Gibson. in which he transferred the demons afflicting a man to a number of swine, that thereupon rushed down a steep hill and perished. You don't have to look very far. II. 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. Remember the story of Jesus casting demons out of the crazy man in Luke 8? Two thousand pigs together is quiet unimaginable. Sproul also agrees with this preference of people over pigs when he writes, a man is worth more than 2,000 pigs.. And John nicely parallels Jesus who said, not the smallest letter nor the smallest comma will pass away from the Law (Matthew 5:18). Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than Who were the gerasenes in the bible?