LVI.
JESUS HEALS TWO GERGESENE DEMONIACS.
(Gergesa, now called Khersa.)
aMATT. VIII. 28-34; IX.
1; bMARK V. 1-21; cLUKE
VIII. 26-40.
b1 And they came to the
other side of the sea [They left in the "even," an elastic expression.
If they left in the middle of the afternoon and were driven forward by
the storm, they would have reached the far shore several hours before dark],
c26 And they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which
is over against Galilee.
a28 And when he was come into the country of the Gadarenes.
c27 And when he was come forth bout of the boat,
cupon the land [Midway between the north and south ends
of the lake, and directly east across the lake from Magdala, was the little
city of Gergesa. In front and somewhat to the south of this city Jesus
landed. Some sixteen miles away and to the southeast, and seven miles back
from the lake, was the well-known city of Gadara. Further on to the southeast,
on the borders of Arabia, and at least fifty miles from Gergesa, was the
city of Gerasa. The name Gerasenes is, therefore, probably an error of
the transcribers for Gergesenes, as Origen suggested. The region is properly
called "country of the Gadarenes," for Gadara was an important city, and
the stamp of a ship on its coins suggests that its territory extended to
the Lake of Galilee], bstraightway there met him out
of the tombs ca certain man out of the city [Gergesa],
bwith an unclean spirit, cwho had demons;
b3 who had his dwelling in the tombs: cand abode
not in any house, but in the tombs. [The sides of the mountain
near the ruins of Gergesa are studded with natural and artificial caves
which were used as tombs.] band no man could any more bind
him, no, not with a chain; 4 because that
he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been
rent asunder by him, and the [344] fetters
broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him.
5 And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was
crying out, and cutting himself with stones. [The natural spirit of
the man seeking to throw off the dominion of the demons would cry out in
agony, and the demons themselves, in their own misery, would use him as
a vehicle to express their own grief. It would be hard to imagine a more
horrible state] cand for a long time he had worn no clothes,
b6 and when he saw Jesus from afar, che cried out,
bhe ran cand fell down before him, band
worshipped him; 7 and crying out with a
loud voice, he saith, {csaid,} What have I to do with thee
[on this phrase, see page 116],
Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I beseech thee, bI
adjure thee by God, torment me no. c29
For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man.
[The demons showed the supremacy of Jesus not only by their cries to be
let alone, but by the fact that they made no effort to escape from him.
They ran to him, knowing that it was useless to do otherwise.] b8
For he said unto him, Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man.
cFor often-times he had seized him: and he was kept under guard,
and bound with chains and fetters; and breaking the bands asunder, he was
driven of the demon into the deserts.
b9 And he cJesus asked him, What is thy name? bAnd
he saith {csaid} bunto him, My name is Legion: for
we are many. cfor many demons were entered into him. [It
is likely that Jesus asked the sufferer his name wishing to assure
him of sympathy, but the demons in him had the floor and continued
to do the talking. A legion was a division of the Roman army containing
from four to six thousand men. If Jesus asked the demon its name, he did
so that he might disclose this fact to his disciples.]
b10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away
out of the country. [As one mouth entreated for many, Mark uses both
the singular and the plural.] c31
And they entreated him that he would not [345] command
them to depart into the abyss. [The abyss or bottomless pit was the
proper abode of the demons. It is mentioned nine times in Scripture: here
and at Rom. x. 7; Rev. ix. 1, 2, 11; xi. 7; xvii. 8; xx. 1, 3. How these
demons escaped from the abyss is one of the unsolved mysteries of the spirit
world; but we have a parallel in the releasing of Satan--Rev. xx. 1-3.]
a28b And there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth
out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way.
[Matthew tells of two, while Mark and Luke describe only one. They tell
of the principal one--the one who was the fiercer. In order to tell of
two, Matthew had to omit the name "legion," which belonged to one; and
conversely, Mark and Luke, to give the conversation with one, did not confuse
us by telling of two.] 29 And, behold,
they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God?
art thou come hither to torment us before the time? [The judgment-day,
the time of punishment and torment--Matt. xxv. 41; II. Pet. ii. 4; Jude
6.]
b11 Now there was there aafar off from them bon
the mountain side a great herd aof many swine feeding.
31 And the demons besought him, cand they entreated him that
he would give them leave to enter into them. asaying, If thou
cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine. bthat we may
enter into them. 13 And he gave them leave.
a32 And he said unto them, Go. And they bthe unclean
spirits cthe demons came out of the man, and entered aand
went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into
the sea, {cthe lake,} bin number about two
thousand; and they were drowned in the sea. aand perished in
the waters. [About a mile south of Khersa a spur of the mountain thrusts
itself out toward the lake so that its foot is within forty feet of the
water line. This is the only spot on that side of the lake where the mountains
come near the water. The slope is so steep and the ledge at its foot so
narrow that a herd rushing down could not check itself before tumbling
into the water. [346] Skeptics have censured
Jesus for permitting this loss of property. God may recognize our property
rights as against each other, but he nowhere recognizes them in the realm
of nature. What was done to the swine was done by the demons, and the owners
had no more right to complain than they would have had if the herd had
been carried off by murrain, by flood, or by any other natural cause. All
animals have a right to die, either singly or in numbers. The demons evidently
did not intend to destroy the swine. Their desire to have live bodies to
dwell in shows that they did not. But the presence of the demons in their
bodies made the hogs crazy, as it had the demoniac, and they ran the way
their noses were pointed at the moment. For discussion of demoniacal possession,
see page 167.]
c34 And when they that fed them [there being no fences in
Palestine, herds were invariably attended by herdsmen] saw what had
come to pass, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. aand
went away into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to
them that were possessed with demons.
34 And, behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus [it was about half
a mile from Khersa to the seashore]: bAnd they came
{cwent out} bto see what it was that had come to
pass. 15 And they come {ccame}
bto Jesus, cand found {bbehold} cthe
man, bthat was possessed with demons cfrom whom the
demons were gone out, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, beven
him that had the legion [a faint suggestion that there was another]:
cat the feet of Jesus: and they were afraid.
b16 And they saw it [the herdmen] declared unto them
how it befell him that was possessed with demons,
c36 And told them how he that was possessed with demons was
made whole. band concerning the swine. aand when
they saw him, c37 All the people
of the country of the Gerasenes round about asked him
b17 And they began to beseech {abesought} bhim
athat he would depart {bto depart} from their borders.
cfrom them; for they were holden with great fear [The loss
[347] of the swine moved them to a fear a further
loss of property. To them the loss of swine was more important than the
recovery of a man. To this day, worldly interests move men more than acts
of mercy]: and he entered into a boat.
b18 And {c38 But} bas he was entering
into the boat, he that had been possessed with demons cthe man
from whom the demons were gone out prayed him {bbesought him}
that he might be with him. [As a frightened child newly wakened from
a horrible dream clings to its parent, so the man clung to Christ.] cbut
he sent him away, b19 And he
suffered him not, but saith {csaying,} bunto him,
Go c39 Return to thy house,
bunto thy friends, and tell them cand declare how
great things God bthe Lord hath done for thee, and how
he had mercy on thee. [Jesus departed, but left behind him a witness
whose very body was a living monument bearing testimony to Christ's compassion
and power. Jesus revisited this locality some months later. See Mark vii.
31-37.] cand he went his way, publishing
throughout the whole city [Gergesa] how great things Jesus had done
for him. band began to publish in Decapolis how great things
Jesus had done for him [for the cities which constituted Decapolis,
see page 173]: and
all men marvelled. 21 And when Jesus had
crossed over again in the boat unto the other side, a great multitude was
gathered unto him: and he was by the sea.
c40 And as Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed him; for they
were all waiting for him. [They could see the sail of his boat as he
started back.] a1 And he
came into his own city. [Capernaum.] [348]
[FFG 344-348]
