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Legion probably comes from the fact that Roman legions had four to six thousand men in them and this name, Legion, indicates that he is possessed by a host of demons. 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. We do not say that to cast the first stone. 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. They ask Him if they can enter some nearby pigs, and He lets them. Download Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 Framework. It was exactly due to his righteousness and his love for God that he killed two thousand pigs. Jesus ministered to and did miracles for the Gentiles there. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. Wnsche, Neue Beitrge zur Erluterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrasch, p. 119. It was interesting that Palmer had gone out without any announcement but this man knew who he was and he was obviously disturbed that he was there and he began to make threats. When Jesus healed the possessed man, He allowed Legion to possess the nearby herd of swine. Sinai. But what are its implications? Even so, the Bible never puts the worth of animals on the same level as the worth of humanity. 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. 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. The passage appears to be straightforward historical-narrative writing, like the rest of Marks gospel. 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. Reading the whole account in Acts 19:23 to 41, we see that it was not hard for the sore silversmith to drum up anti-Jewish anger in the crowd that day. This, by the way, is Furthermore, the play-by-play presents no reason to be judged as a parable or an allegory. It deeply disturbed Bertrand Russell that Jesus allowed a herd of two thousand pigs to be destroyed. 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. 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)? This agrees with the general description of the site (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26). there was never a prophecy that the kosher laws would be removed, so the verse is coming completely from left field. John Oxenham1 wrote a poem about this passage. Many will rush for cover behind the last four Greek words of this verse, despite all of its textual, translation and interpretation problems. 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. Clearly, Luke is telling you this because he wants you to show the amazing power of Jesus Christ, even over demons. To run Money Maker Software properly, Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1 or higher version is required. WATER DESTROYED HER!!!! So lets have an exquisite examination of Scripture to better appreciate what happened beside the lake and why the pigs ended up in it. Sadly, Luther and other Reformed theologians repeat the same theological rubbish, despite Jesus saying he did not come to destroy the Law. It may well be a picture of the reverse of what happened in the Garden of Eden. These three verse from John really are earth-shattering. Doesnt Pastor MacArthur know his Bible? And he was the one who said that the Father doesnt miss the , Everyone's wondering why the pigs got the raw end of the deal. The pagan religions continued among the Gentile population as is evidenced by the ruins of the temple of Artemis. II. The hard-hearted views of the Bishop of Hippo are not biblical because righteous people are obliged by God to be considerate to all animals, even wild animals, as discussed below. So He gave them permission. Yet they tried to throw one of their own off a cliff (, Now, if a Jew can be treated so badly by fellow Jews, lets put on our thinking caps and imagine what happens to a Jew walking straight into a big group of Gentiles. Secondly, the text is written to show Jesus dunnit. WebGadarenes. Looking back over the entirety of Gods Word, we do indeed notice many plagues rained down on the wicked in other books. The Son of God mercifully cast thousands of. The bottom line is, I don't know why Jesus did that and neither do you and neither does anyone else. We do not find demons under every pew and under every rock. 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). I wonder why?). Racism: Not a modern invention . Pliny described it as a city of the Decapolis founded after the Rom. What pigs?? And what about trees or rocks? Show us the sins of our hearts that we are captive to. So He got into the boat and returned. In fact, they beg Jesus to leave. 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. And he sends out his representative, a man who is known only as the Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dr, the black gate. 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. Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus (Matt. But what does Leviticus says about, And also the pig; although it has a hoof splitting in half and it has a hoof clearly tearing in two, the pig doesn't bring back up its cud to chew. Now what happens in this passage? (For many a time it had seized him. With or without graves? (Quite likely David would have let the lion and the bear free, if not for the fact that they came back at him: 2 Samuel 17:35). You can follow him on Twitter. But MacArthurs logical is funny for another reason. Why? three He will judge the Gentiles, filling places with bodies. IV. His wisecracks are a distraction. But this I do know, when people say that because those pigs died it shows that Jesus was not a good and virtuous man theyre forgetting three things. If a bunch of little children want a ball to play with and I toss them a grenade, am I off the hook if a kid pulls out the pin? 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. These pastors have, Look at the prophets; they also prove Scripture doesnt change. So many beautiful verses and motivating passages are in Scripture. Ba-dum-tsss.). Unfortunately, Pastor John is not alone, joking at the expense of this tragedy. He used another pseudonym, Julian Ross. 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. Therefore, were those cool-headed pig-farmers really Gentiles? WebWhy were there pigs in gerasenes? Notice how Gods, Plus, when Jesus chased the sellers out of the Temple courts (. Since all of these areas overlap, one may take the references as meaning the same place. Why doesn't the good pastor entertain that avenue of possibility or is he too busy making one-liners to connect any dots? Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus ( Matthew 8; Mark 5; Luke 8) in which he transferred the demons 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). At the end of the gospel, however, Jesus tactic changes. 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. This is clearly an extraordinary event. Instead of recklessly freeing the doves into the air (as erroneously shown in The Jesus Film and other Bible movies), Scripture records with precise detail that Jesus only knocked over the chairs of the pigeon owners, and/or told them to take their feathered property and leave (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:16) he didnt use his whip on the birds or fling them into the air to be attacked by falcons or eagles. Seven Biblical facts await you that prove Jesus was obliged to love all creatures, except that a higher command forced him to partially judge the Jews who owned the two thousand poor pigs. Surely He could have demonstrated real power over real demons, right? 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. Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. In Marks thinking, the mans extraordinary strength is evidence of supernatural bondage. But Jesus still ministered to them: crowds from Tyre and Sidon came to see and listen to Him ( Mark 3:78 ). And guess what this week's focus is on? SO Jesu said later in the NT, that meats going in the mouth does not defile because we excrete it out in the draught, solid and liquids, so physically our body cleans itself if there were toxins, and It is whatever comes out of the mind, is what taints a person, whatever he or she thinks. (Jos. Further, the conclusion seems warranted that there was confusion in some MSS of Gerasa with the more likely site for the miracle near Gergesa. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! But when Jesus explained that the commandment was the old one from Leviticus, Love one another, they signed with relief, seeing how he was just underscoring the command that God already gave (Leviticus 19:18). Our ways are not as Thine. Jesus was upholding all the kosher laws within the Land of Israel it was part of his job description. The entire herd ran straight off a cliff and drowned. Gods Law even has two commands that equate domestic livestock with wild animals. 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. So why do Christians say no one can when these two did? Do not add upon it and do not reduce it. Most translations interpret the Hebrew to say, Canaanite, but both are more than possible and perhaps the double meaning was intended by the prophet. In retaliation for the massacre of the Jews at Caesarea, the Jews sent several raiding parties into the Gentile cities of the Decapolis. Herod had massive building projects all over Israel. HDB, II, p. 158, 159 for a detailed description.). (eds.). Paul himself said the doers of the Law will be made righteous (Romans 2:13), and that the Law is holy (Romans 7:12) and that the Law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). Luke means it to be an extraordinary event. Well the first thing I want you to see is this picture of a person in the thrall of sin. What about sheep? 2023. Pig meat, according to Scripture, is as, Suddenly, Mark 5 is clear. His poetry includes Bees in Amber: a little book of thoughtful verse (1913) which became a bestseller. Last week, we were crossing over with Jesus to the other side, weathering a fierce storm until he woke up and calmed the sea. Late Latin Gerasenus, Gergesenus, from Greek Gerasnos, Gergesnos, from Gerasa, Gergesa ancient town in Palestine. So why were these pig owners on the east side of the lake afraid? Matt 8:28). Gods Word has to agree with Gods Word. For one, Remember that the Law reveals to us the mind and personality of God. Would you not agree that theres a certain permanent feeling about a law like that? (Matt 15:24). The action is no different than, Lets return again to when Jesus cleaned up the Temple courtyard of merchants and merchandise. On the other hand, the Masters usually thick-headed students, the Tedious Twelve, didnt question him about this! And what does the Law say about pigs? So how on earth could they dictate to the Son of God where they wished to go? They know that Jesus can cast them into the abyss, into the lake of fire, into the bowels of hell, and theyre frightened. Christians never finish reading the chapter. Besides, it was Christmas! We should ask the good pastors if love thy neighbour as thyself has any bearing on killing your neighbours livestock. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Take that, Darwin.). So why did the meek n merciful Son of Man cast countless defiling demons into two thousand piglets, sows and boars? Three witnesses! Also, Orthodox Jews see a clear connection between Deuteronomy 12:32, do not add, and what happened in the Garden of Eden. This is a noteworthy fact because not every event in Jesuss ministry was thrice written down. This location agrees with the description given by the ancient writers. 10 ) It was the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, the area of the Decapolis. 8 ) Their pork was kosher, kept out of the camp for 7 days, and circumcised. Mark and Luke wrote that Jesus /gave the right to them to enter the pigs much stronger wording and more official than allow. In retaliation for the massacre of the Jews at Caesarea, the Jews sent several raiding parties into the Gentile cities of the Decapolis. Well pretend with him that the folks in Gerasenes were placid Gentile farmers happily raising their gentle Gentile pigs. Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. The Gospels tell us that Jesus did most of His work among the Jewish people. If Paul got himself into hot water because of a Gentile speculating about declining silver sales, how could Jesus have avoided a ton of hot water for killing hundreds of Gentile-owned swine? WebAll three Synoptic Gospels ( Mark 5:120; Luke 8:2639; Matthew 8:2834) mention the swine miracle, although with variations. You may simultaneously update Amibroker, Metastock, Ninja Trader & MetaTrader 4 with MoneyMaker Software. 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. The text of Mark 5 says pigs were nearby, but it doesnt say they were the only things nearby. He was incapable of changing his circumstances. Fear and selfishness prompted the prayer. Yet a number of objections immediately spring to mind. The last now appears. And do you believe for one minute that God told us to obey something that He knew full-well we couldnt obey? But once the door is open, well, we see in this story what can happen when you give in, what can happen when the demonic takes over. The demons sent the pigs off the banks of the sea and into the water, where they drowned (Mark 5:1213). Two thousand pigs together is quiet unimaginable. There he meets a man seized with an unclean spirit (Mark) or with demons (Luke). The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. To feed the spectators who came there purposely to see those crazy chain braking tomb dwelling lunatics! This software has many innovative features and you can trap a Bull or Bear in REAL TIME! Mark as quoted by Spalde, Annika; Strindlund, Pelle (2012). God never said dont touch. She added that bit. He should know that centuries before the prophet Isaiah spoke against Jews eating pork and hanging around in tombs. He does. Not that I believe my case has holes. 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. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church took four Greek words torn out of mid-sentence and declared them to mean, the end (read, death) of the law [of Moses], although numerous verses declare the fixed, eternal character of Gods Perfect Law. 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. And the good pastor doesnt give any rationale for a slaughter that huge. But these differences are typical of eye-witness reports and only irritate skeptics. Why should this surprise us? Who owned the pigs? The miracles that are recorded here, just like the one that we saw last week, are seen by that small circle of disciples that is following Jesus around. Therefore, if Paul had taken a single silver goddess Diana doll and tossed it into the Aegean Sea, what kind of a hornets nest of trouble would the apostle have stirred up for himself? And he was the one who said that the Father doesnt miss the falling of a sparrow. Oops. Two thousand pigs dead for one person to live is not an even tradeand that is the point. Theories of men that attack statements made by God evolution for example are sadly creeping into the minds of Christian leaders. Its totally contrary to what we would expect. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. 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. In a recent online essay on the Gospel of Mark, Peter Leithart wrote. 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. What care we for his soul?What good to us that Thou hast made him whole,Since we have lost our swine? This man, when Jesus says, What is your name? effectively says, I do not know my name. The two Johns see more than a hint of what I am talking about in the destruction of the swine and it frightens them so they avoid a serious discussion. And thirdly, they are forgetting the fate of this man with an immortal soul who was in danger not only of a continuous life of torment, but an eternal separation from God. Go be a witness to Me. Over the years, Ive had to prove all this to myself first, and it took soul-searching and tons of Scripture research. Yes, you read that right. Dont demons like sheep? These are tremendously important facts that GotQuestions is ignorant of, or they prefer to spread disinformation about, this important Biblical truth that, in the mind of the Almighty, holiness is bound to what we eat. why do you think there were pigs there?]. If you eat a swine/hog that has killed eaten a poisonous snake and you eat that hog, you will be poisoned and die. As I hear, I judge and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. What good to us that Thou hast made him whole, since we have lost our swine? Is that not a picture of people that love what they have or what they want more than they love the One who loves their souls? In this immediate area, steep hills come down to the shoreline and fit the story of the swine rushing headlong into the sea. For our Creator, one lost person saved is worth the death of many animals. Some of Jesus's reputation for being normally meek and merciful comes from statements like: From Jesus's own mouth, we are informed of Gods special love and attention for defenseless animals and we know Jesus has the same heart for the weak. Pastor MacArthur would do well to learn from his Jewish counterparts. During the time of Christ, the ten cities of Decapolis and the surrounding region were inhabited mostly by Gentiles, not Jews, and the area had a strong Greek influence. Gods Law has a law that you cannot change Gods Law. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, [Let me just pause right there. The normally merciful Messiah destroyed the pigs in accordance with Gods Law about clean and unclean meat. Problem was, not even the pigs could withstand the madness these demonic forces manifested. He had a new name and he had a new nature to go along with it. III. Admittedly the whole event with the demon-crazed pigs is odd you dont see it every day but the writer wanted us to believe it genuinely happened. Cute little silver goddess dolls would have sold for the same price as a full-grown boar or sow in those days. When Jesus asked the mans name always a good way to start a conversation the demons replied, We are Legion, for we are many. A legion is a Roman military unit consisting of four to six thousand soldiers. And as Palmer approached him at the fireside, the man identified Palmer before he got there. Israel was to be a nation of priests, prophets, and missionaries to the world (Exodus 19:46). : A similar remark came from Mosess lips when he described God as eternally faithful and then connected Gods faithfulness to His faithful love. the obscure phrase, (declaring all food clean), is magically transformed by the New International Version into, In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean, or into even lovelier prose like, By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in Gods eyes, by the New Living Translation (talk about making silk purse out of a sows ear). 141-144). Why did these people respond to Jesus this way? 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. 8). This one verse alone, without all the extra proof from Jesuss joke, should convince us that his commandments are the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses. Jesus made him whole. The next allusion to Gerasa concerns its capture during Vespasians campaign. Regrettably, what were about to study the, And he answers him, saying, My name is Legion because there are many of us. Also he begs Jesus many times that he'd not send them away, out of the. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies. 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. War I. iv. In the end, the good pastors assumptions keep us rolling in the aisles. 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. Amen. Something else to ponder about the Son of God is his other title, The Good Shepherd: David, the son of Jesse, was another selfless, compassionate shepherd. They belonged to God. Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. They have therefore made important decisions about the proper treatment of animals. For centuries, land wars are a type of a national sport among Middle Eastern nations. If you watch the short clip (above) and compare it to the one hour source video Dominating Powers, Part 2 (Mark 5:1-20) you will notice how MacArthurs speaking style changes as soon as he addresses the matter of the pigs. May He write its eternal truth upon all our hearts. Dedicated Online Support through Live Chat & Customer Care contact nos. So whats the point because Pastor John Piper feels the pigs were less important and John LOL MacArthur just jokes about the slaughter neither reaction seems sensible. The land of the Gerasenes was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. But are these good pastors on the right track? These demons of the Gadarene Demoniac wanted to stay in this territory where worship of Baal was predominant. The stories in the gospels may or may not have happened but, regardless, they are told in a way that makes a theological point and were never intended to be understood as factual history. And if he missed one, he didnt do it perfectly. Thats why there was a herd of two thousand He doesnt want to connect the dots and he doesn't want us to either. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt. Gerasa is mentioned next by Josephus in connection with the Jewish rebellion against the Romans in a.d. 70. 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. There are echoes of exodus in Marks story, and echoes of Davids battle with Goliath. 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?! Are we with a man, liberated, who trusted Jesus, who begged to be with Jesus and sought to be a disciple at His feet? From the readings of the best texts and from the unsuitability of the locality around Gadara it appears that the proper reading should be "Gerasenes" and the place located at Karsa, on the left bank of the Wadi Samak, near the sea of Galilee. In other words, to paraphrase what Gertrude told Hamlet, Methinks the good pastor doth protest too much.