When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
Parallel Translations
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When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
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And when he was come to the other syde in to the countre of the Gergesites ther met him two possessed of devylles which came out of the graves and were out of measure fearce so that no man myght go by that waye.
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And when he was come to the other side into ye countrey of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with deuils, which came out of the graues very fierce, so that no man might goe by that way.
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Passages linked to Matthew 8:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 8:26-39 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert. Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss. Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. Then he allowed them. The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed. All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. Then he entered into the boat and returned. But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
- Mark 5:1-20 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs. He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains, because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him. Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.” For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” He asked him, “What is your name?” He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding. All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.” At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea. Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs. They began to beg him to depart from their region. As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.” He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.
- Acts 10:38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
- Matthew 4:24 The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.
- Genesis 10:16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
- Genesis 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
- Judges 5:6 “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Christ came to deliver me from the miserable thraldom…
Christ came to deliver me from the miserable thraldom of Satan: but the world had rather lack Christ, than the vilest and least of their commodities.
Mark 5:1-2; Luke 26:27
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 28 And when he was come to the other…
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Ver. 28. Coming out of the tombs] There the devil kept them, the more to terrify them with the fear of death all their lives long, Heb 2:15. Appius Claudius (as Capella witnesseth) could not abide to hear the Greek Ζητα pronounced, because it represented the gnashing of the teeth of dying men. Chrysostom gives another reason hereof, that the devil hereby sought to persuade silly people that dead men’s souls were turned into devils, and walked (as they call it) especially about tombs and sepulchres. Thus he often appeared to people, in times of Popery, in the shape of some of their dead kindred, and haunted them till he had made them sing a mass for such and such a soul. Melancthon tells a story of an aunt of his, that had her hand burnt to a coal by the devil, appearing to her in the likeness of her deceased husband. And Pareus relates an example (much like this poor demoniac in the text) of a baker’s daughter in their country, possessed and pent up in a cave she had dug, as in a grave, to her dying day.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This history is related by Mar 5:1, &c. and…
This history is related by Mar 5:1, &c. and by Luk 8:26, &c., more largely than by Matthew. The other two evangelists report it to be done in the country of the Gadarenes; Matthew,
in the country of the Gergesenes; they were the same people, sometimes denominated from one great city in their territories, sometimes from another: whoso readeth the story in all three evangelists will easily conclude it the same, though related with different circumstances. Matthew saith there were two of these demoniacs. Mark and Luke mention but one. Luke saith, the man had devils long time, that he wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. Mark saith, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. Matthew saith he came out of the tombs, was exceeding fierce, so as none could pass that way. Divines agree, that the power of the evil angels was not abated by their fall, they were only depraved in their will. That the power of an angel is much more than is here mentioned is out of question. That the evil angels do not exert this power upon us is from the restraining power of God; we live in the air in which the devil hath a principality, Eph 2:2. Why God at that time suffered the devil more to exercise this power over the bodies of men, we probably showed before, upon Mat 4:24. See Poole on "Mat 4:24". The world was grown very ignorant, and wicked, and sottishly superstitious. Besides, he was now come who was to destroy the works of the devil, and was to show his Divine power in casting him out. The Jews buried their dead out of their cities; the richer of them had tombs hewed out of rocks, &c., and those very large, as may be learned from Isa 65:4; Joh 20:6. The devil chose these places, partly to affright persons through the horror of the places, and torment the possessed with the noisomeness of them; partly to cheat men, with an opinion they were the souls of the persons deceased that were there buried.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain We read of few, if any in the Old…
We read of few, if any in the Old Testament, that were possessed with evil spirits; but of many in the New Testament. Our Saviour came into the workd to destroy the works of the devil; therefore he suffered Satan to enter some human bodies, to shew his divine power in casting them out.
Note here, 1. That the evil angels by their fall, lost their purity but not their power.
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2. That they do no oftener exert their power in doing mischief to the bodies and lives of men, is from the restraining power of God. The devils cannot do all the mischief they would, and they shall not do all they can.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We have here the story of Christ's casting the…
We have here the story of Christ's casting the devils out of two men that were possessed. The scope of this chapter is to show the divine power of Christ, by the instances of his dominion over bodily diseases, which to us are irresistible; over winds and waves, which to us are yet more uncontrollable; and lastly, over devils, which to us are most formidable of all. Christ has not only all power in heaven and earth and all deep places, but has the keys of hell too. Principalities and powers were made subject to him, even while he was in his estate of humiliation, as an earnest of what should be at his entrance into his glory (Eph 1:21); he spoiled them, Col 2:15. It was observed in general (Mat 8:16), that Christ cast out the spirits with his word; here we have a particular instance of it, which have some circumstances more remarkable than the rest. This miracle was wrought in the country of the Gergesenes; some think, they were the remains of the old Girgashites, Deu 7:1. Though Christ was sent chiefly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet some sallies he made among the borderers, as here, to gain this victory over Satan, which was a specimen of the conquest of his legions in the Gentile world.
Now, besides the general instance which this gives us of Christ's power over Satan, and his design against him to disarm and dispossess him, we have here especially discovered to us the way and manner of evil spirits in their enmity to man. Observe, concerning this legion of devils, What work they made where they were, and where they went.
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I. What work they made where they were; which appears in the miserable condition of these two that were possessed by them; and some think, these two were man and wife, because the other Evangelists speak but of one.
1. They dwelt among the tombs; thence they came when the met Christ. The devil having the power of death, not as judge, but as executioner, he delighted to converse among the trophies of his victory, the dead bodies of men; but there, where he thought himself in the greatest triumph and elevation, as afterwards in Golgotha, the place of a skull, did Christ conquer and subdue him. Conversing among the graves increased the melancholy and frenzy of the poor possessed creatures, and so strengthened the hold he had of them by their bodily distemper, and also made them more formidable to other people, who generally startle at any thing that stirs among the tombs.
2. They were exceeding fierce; not only ungovernable themselves, but mischievous to others, frightening many, having hurt some; so that no man durst pass that way. Note, The devil bears malice to mankind, and shows it by making men spiteful and malicious one to another. Mutual enmities, where they should be mutual endearments and assistances, are effects and evidences of Satan's enmity to the whole race; he makes one man a wolf, a bear, a devil, to another - Homo homini lupus. Where Satan rules in a man spiritually, by those lusts that war in the members, pride, envy, malice, revenge, they make him as unfit for human society, as unworthy of it, and as much an enemy to the comfort of it, as these poor possessed creatures were.
3. They bid defiance to Jesus Christ, and disclaimed all interest in him, Mat 8:29. It is an instance of the power of God over the devils, that, notwithstanding the mischief they studied to do by and to these poor creatures, yet they could not keep them from meeting Jesus Christ, who ordered the matter so as to meet them. It was his overpowering hand that dragged these unclean spirits into his presence, which they dreaded more than any thing else: his chains could hold them, when the chains that men made for them could not. But being brought before him, they protested against his jurisdiction, and broke out into a rage, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Here is,
(1.) One word that the devil spoke like a saint; he addressed himself to Christ as Jesus the Son of God; a good word, and at this time, when it was a truth but in the proving, it was a great word too, what flesh and blood did not reveal to Peter, Mat 16:17. Even the devils know, and believe, and confess Christ to be the Son of God, and yet they are devils still, which makes their enmity to Christ so much the more wicked, and indeed a perfect torment to themselves; for how can it be otherwise, to oppose one they know to be the Son of God? Note, It is not knowledge, but love, that distinguishes saints from devils. He is the first-born of hell, that knows Christ and yet hates him, and will not be subject to him and his law. We may remember that not long since the devil made a doubt whether Christ were the Son of God or not, and would have persuaded him to question it (Mat 4:3), but now he readily owns it. Note, Though God's children may be much disquieted in an hour of temptation, by Satan's questioning their relation to God as a Father, yet the Spirit of adoption shall at length clear it up to them so much to their satisfaction, as to set it even above the devil's contradiction.
(2.) Two words that he said like a devil, like himself.
[1.] A word of defiance; What have we to do with thee? Now, First, It is true that the devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Saviour, for he took not on him the nature of the angels that fell, nor did he lay hold on them (Heb 2:16); they are in no relation to him, they neither have, nor hope for, any benefit by him. O the depth of this mystery of divine love, that fallen man hath so much to do with Christ, when fallen angels have nothing to do with him! Surely here was torment enough before the time, to be forced to own the excellency that is in Christ, and yet that he has no interest in him. Note, It is possible for me to call Jesus the Son of God, and yet have nothing to do with him. Secondly, It is as true, that the devils desire not to have any thing to do with Christ as a Ruler; they hate him, they are filled with enmity against him, they stand in opposition to him, and are in open rebellion against his crown and dignity. See whose language they speak, that will have nothing to do with the gospel of Christ, with his laws and ordinances, that throw off his yoke, that break his bands in sunder, and will not have him to reign over them; that say to the Almighty Jesus, Depart from us: they are of their father the devil, they do his lusts, and speak his language. Thirdly, But it is not true, that the devils have nothing to do with Christ as a Judge, for they have, and they know it. These devils could not say, What hast thou to do with us? could not deny that the Son of God is the Judge of devils; to his judgment they are bound over in chains of darkness, which they would fain shake off, and shake off the thought of.
[2.] A word of dread and deprecation; "Art thou come hither to torment us - to cast us out from these men, and to restrain us from doing the hurt we would do?" Note, To be turned out, and tied up, from doing mischief, is a torment to the devil, all whose comfort and satisfaction are man's misery and destruction. Should not we then count it our heaven to be doing well, and reckon that our torment, whether within or without, that hinders us from well-doing? Now must we be tormented by thee before the time; Note, First, There is a time in which devils will be more tormented than they are, and they know it. The great assize at the last day is the time fixed for their complete torture, in that Tophet which is ordained of old for the king, for the prince of the devils, and his angels (Isa 30:33; Mat 25:41); for the judgment of that day they are reserved, Pe2 2:4. Those malignant spirits that are, by the divine permission, prisoners at large, walking to and fro through the earth (Job 1:7), are even now in a chain; hitherto shall their power reach, and no further; they will then be made close prisoners: they have now some ease; they will then be in torment without ease. This they here take for granted, and ask not never to be tormented (despair of relief is the misery of their case), but they beg that they may not be tormented before the time; for though they knew not when the day of judgment should be, they knew it should not be yet. Secondly, The devils have a certain fearful looking for of that judgment and fiery indignation, upon every approach of Christ, and every check that is given to their power and rage. The very sight of Christ and his word of command to come out of the man, made them thus apprehensive of their torment. Thus the devils believe, and tremble, Jam 2:19. It is their own enmity to God and man that puts them upon the rack, and torments them before the time. The most desperate sinners, whose damnation is sealed, yet cannot quite harden their hearts against the surprise of fearfulness, when they see the day approaching.
II. Let us now see what work they made where they went, when they were turned out of the men possessed, and that was into a herd of swine, which was a good way off, Mat 8:30. These Gergesenes, though living on the other side Jordan, were Jews. What had they to do with swine, which by the law were unclean, and not to be eaten nor touched? Probably, lying in the outskirts of the land, there were many Gentiles among them, to whom this herd of swine belonged: or they kept them to be sold, or bartered, to the Romans, with whom they had now great dealings, and who were admirers of swine's flesh. Now observe,
1. How the devils seized the swine. Though they were a good way off, and, one would think, out of danger, yet the devils had an eye upon them, to do them a mischief: for they go up and down, seeking to devour, seeking an opportunity; and they seek not long but they find. Now here,
(1.) They asked leave to enter into the swine (Mat 8:31); they besought him, with all earnestness, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. Hereby, [1.] They discover their own inclination to do mischief, and what a pleasure it is to them; those, therefore, are their children, and resemble them, whose sleep departeth from them, except they cause some to fall, Pro 4:16. "Let us go into the herd of swine, any where rather than into the place of torment, any where to do mischief." If they might not be suffered to hurt men in their bodies, they would hurt them in their goods, and in that too they intend hurt to their souls, by making Christ a burthen to them: such malicious devices hath that old subtle serpent! [2.] They own Christ's power over them; that, without his sufferance and permission, they could not so much as hurt a swine. This is comfortable to all the Lord's people, that, though the devil's power be very great, yet it is limited, and not equal to his malice (what would become of us, if it were?) especially that it is under the control of our Lord Jesus, our most faithful, powerful friend and Saviour; that Satan and his instruments can go no further than he is pleased to permit; here shall their proud waves be stayed.
(2.) They had leave. Christ said unto them, Go (Mat 8:32), as God did to Satan, when he desired leave to afflict Job. Note, God does often, for wise and holy ends, permit the efforts of Satan's rage, and suffer him to do the mischief he would, and even by it serve his own purposes. The devils are not only Christ's captives, but his vassals; his dominion over them appears in the harm they do, as well as in the hindrance of them from doing more. Thus even their wrath is made to praise Christ, and the remainder of it he does and will restrain. Christ permitted this, [1.] For the conviction of the Sadducees that were then among the Jews, who denied the existence of spirits, and would not own that there were such beings, because they could not see them. Now Christ would, by this, bring it as near as might be to an ocular demonstration of the being, multitude, power, and malice, of evil spirits, that, if they were not hereby convinced, they might be left inexcusable in their infidelity. We see not the wind, but it would be absurd to deny it, when we see trees and houses blown down by it. [2.] For the punishment of the Gadarenes, who perhaps, though Jews, took a liberty to eat swine's flesh, contrary to the law: however, their keeping swine bordered upon evil; and Christ would also show what a hellish crew they were delivered fRom. which, if he had permitted it, would soon have choked them, as they did their swine. The devils, in obedience to Christ's command, came out of the men, and having permission, when they were come out, immediately they went into the herd of swine. See what an industrious enemy Satan is, and how expeditious; he will lose no time in doing mischief. Observe,
2. Whither they hurried them, when they had seized them. They were not bid to save their lives, and, therefore, they were made to run violently down a steep place into the sea, where they all perished, to the number of about two thousand, Mar 5:13. Note, The possession which the devil gets is for destruction. Thus the devil hurries people to sin, hurries them to that which they have resolved against, and which they know will be shame and grief to them: with what a force doth the evil spirit work in the children of disobedience, when by so many foolish and hurtful lusts they are brought to act in direct contradiction, not only to religion, but to right reason, and their interest in this world! Thus, likewise, he hurries them to ruin, for he is Apollyon and Abaddon, the great destroyer. By his lusts which men do, they are drowned in destruction and perdition. This is Satan's will, to swallow up and to devour; miserable then is the condition of those that are led captive by him at his will. They are hurried into a worse lake than this, a lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Observe,
3. What effect this had upon the owners. The report of it was soon brought them by the swine-herds, who seemed to be more concerned for the loss of the swine than any thing else, for they went not to tell what was befallen to the possessed of the devils, till the swine were lost, Mat 8:33. Christ went not into the city, but the news of his being there did, by which he was willing to feel how their pulse beat, and what influence it had upon them, and then act accordingly.
Now, (1.) Their curiosity brought them out to see Jesus. The whole city came out to meet him, that they might be able to say, they had seen a man who did such wonderful works. Thus many go out, in profession, to meet Christ for company, that have no real affection for him, nor desire to know him.
(2.) Their covetousness made them willing to be rid of him. Instead of inviting him into their city, or bringing their sick to him to be healed, they desired him to depart out of their coasts, as if they had borrowed the words of the devils, What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God? And now the devils had what they aimed at in drowning the swine; they did it, and then made the people believe that Christ had done it, and so prejudiced them against him. He seduced our first parents, by possessing them with hard thoughts of God, and kept the Gadarenes from Christ, by suggesting that he came into their country to destroy their cattle, and that he would do more hurt than good; for though he had cured two men, yet he had drowned two thousand swine. Thus the devil sows tares in God's field, does mischief in the Christian church, and then lays the blame upon Christianity, and incenses men against that. They besought him that he would depart, lest, like Moses in Egypt, he should proceed to some other plague. Note, There are a great many who prefer their swine before their Saviour, and so come short of Christ, and salvation by him. They desire Christ to depart out of their hearts, and will not suffer his word to have a place in them, because he and his word will be the destruction of their brutish lusts - those swine which they give up themselves to feed. And justly will Christ forsake those that thus are weary of him, and say to them hereafter, Depart, ye cursed, who now say to the Almighty, Depart from us.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And behold they cried out, saying,.... This is an…
And behold they cried out, saying,.... This is an instance and proof, of the wonderful power of Christ over the devils; and has therefore the note of admiration, "behold!" prefixed to it, that the devils themselves who had took possession of these men, and made them so fierce and cruel, and outrageous, that there was no passing the way for them; yet upon the sight of Christ, and especially at hearing his orders to come out from them, not only say, but cry out, as being in great consternation, horror, and fear, and with the utmost subjection to him,
what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? They had nothing indeed to do with him; they had no interest in his grace, blood, righteousness, and salvation; he was no Saviour for them: but he had to do with them, and that was what they dreaded; and therefore mean, that he would let them alone, in the quiet possession of these men, and not disturb and dislodge them; for they knew that he was Jesus, the Saviour of sinful men, though none of their's, the true Messiah; and that he was also "the Son of God", a divine person, possessed of almighty power, and so an overmatch for them; at whose presence they trembled, and whose all commanding voice they were obliged to obey, though sorely against their wills.
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Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? This question implies the apprehension the devils had of Christ as a judge, and their sense of his authority, and power, to punish them; as also that they deserved it, and expected it, nor do they say anything against it; only imagine that the time of their full torment was not yet come; which is generally referred unto the day of judgment, to which they were reserved by the appointment of God; which they had some notion of, and as at a distance; and therefore complain of Christ's coming to them now, and expostulate with him about it: though it may be understood of the time they had proposed to themselves, to abide in the men they had possessed, and which they concluded they had a permission for; and nothing could give more torment, pain, and uneasiness, than to be turned out, and remanded to their prison, and restrained from doing more mischief to the bodies and souls of men. Or whether this may not have some respect to the time of the preaching of the Gospel, and setting up the kingdom of Christ among the Gentiles, the devils might have some hint of, as not yet to be, I leave to be considered, with this observation; that there seems to be a considerable "emphasis" on the word "hither", meaning the country of the Gergesenes, an Heathen country, at least where many Gentiles inhabited: and it is as if they had said, is it not enough, that thou turnest us out of the land of Judea, and hast dispossessed us out of the bodies of men dwelling there; but thou pursuest us hither also, and will not let us have any rest, even in this Heathenish land; though the time is not yet come, for the dissolution of our empire and government in the Gentile world?
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The country of the Gergesenes - Or of the…
The country of the Gergesenes - Or of the Gadarenes - Gergesa and Gadara were towns near each other. Hence the country between them took its name, sometimes from the one, sometimes from the other. There met him two demoniacs - St. Mark and St. Luke mention only one, who was probably the fiercer of the two, and the person who spoke to our Lord first. But this is no way inconsistent with the account which St. Matthew gives. The tombs - Doubtless those malevolent spirits love such tokens of death and destruction. Tombs were usually in those days in desert places, at a distance from towns, and were often made in the sides of caves, in the rocks and mountains. No one could pass - Safely. Mark v, 1; Luke viii, 26.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 28. The country of the Gergesenes] This word…
Verse 28. The country of the Gergesenes] This word is variously written in the MSS, and versions; Gergasenes, Gerasenes, Gadarenes, Gergesions, and Gersedonians, The three first are supported by the greater authorities. They might have all been names of the same place or district; but, if we depend on what Origen says, the people mentioned here could not have been the inhabitants of Gerasa, which, says he, is a city of Arabia, ουτε θαλασσαν, ουτε λιμνην πλησιον εχοντα, which has neither sea nor lake nigh to it. "Gadara was, according to Josephus, the metropolis of Perea, or the region beyond Jordan: both the city and villages belonging to it lay in the country of the Gergasenes; whence Christ going into the country of the Gadarenes, Mr 5:1, is said to go into the region of the Gergasenes, Mt 8:28." WHITBY.
Two possessed with devils] Persons possessed by evil demons. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac, probably the fiercer of the two.
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Coming out of the tombs] It is pretty evident that cupolas were generally builded over the graves among the Jews, and that these demoniacs had their dwellings under such: the evil spirits which were in them delighting more in these abodes of desolation and ruin, as being more congenial to their fierce and diabolic nature, and therefore would drive the possessed into them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 8:28. And when he was come to the…
Mat 8:28. And when he was come to the other side, &c. — This history is related by Mar 5:1-4, &c.; and by Luk 8:26-27, more at large than here by Matthew: and they report it to be done in the country of the Gadarenes, who, it is evident, were the same people with those called here Gergesenes; Gadara and Gergesa being towns near each other, and the country between them taking its name indifferently from either place. There met him two possessed with devils — St. Mark and St. Luke mention only one, who was probably the fiercer of the two, and the person who spoke to our Lord first. But this is no way inconsistent with the account which St. Matthew gives. The tombs — Doubtless those malevolent spirits love such tokens of death and destruction. Tombs were usually in those days in desert places, at a distance from towns, and were often made in the sides of caves, in the rocks and mountains. No one could pass — Safely. And behold, they cried out — Namely, the devils, using the man’s tongue, What have we to do with thee — Why dost thou concern thyself about us? — It is a Hebrew phrase, made use of when men wish not to be troubled with the company or importunity of others. Jesus, thou Son of God — The devils knew him to be the Son of God, though the Jews would not believe that he was. Art thou come to torment us before the time — Before the great day of judgment?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The same account of the demoniacs substantially is found…
The same account of the demoniacs substantially is found in Mark 5:1-20, and Luk 8:26-38.
Mat 8:28
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The other side - The other side of the Sea of Tiberias.
Country of the Gergesenes - Mark Mar 5:1 says that he came into the country of the “Gadarenes.” This difference is only apparent.
“Gadara” was a city not far from the Lake Gennesareth, one of the ten cities that were called “Decapolis.” See the notes at Mat 4:25. “Gergesa” was a city about 12 miles to the southeast of Gadara, and about 20 miles to the east of the Jordan. There is no contradiction, therefore, in the evangelists. He came into the region in which the two cities were situated, and one evangelist mentioned one, and the other another. It shows that the writers had not agreed to impose on the world; for if they had, they would have mentioned the same city; and it shows. also, they were familiar with the country. No men would have written in this manner but those who were acquainted with the facts. Impostors do not mention places or homes if they can avoid it.
There met him two - Mark and Luke speak of only one that met him. “There met him out of the tombs a man,” Mar 5:2. “There met him out of the tombs a certain man,” Luk 8:27. This difference of statement has given rise to considerable difficulty. It is to be observed, however, that neither Mark nor Luke say that there was no more than one. For particular reasons, they might have been led to fix their attention on the one that was more notorious, and furious, and difficult to be managed. Had they denied plainly that there was more than one, and had Matthew affirmed that there were two, there would have been an irreconcilable contradiction. As it is, they relate the affair as other people would. It shows that they were honest witnesses. Had they been impostors; had Matthew and Luke agreed to write books to deceive the world, they would have agreed exactly in a case so easy as this. They would have told the story with the same circumstances. Witnesses in courts of law often differ in unimportant matters; and, provided the main narrative coincides, their testimony is thought to be more valuable.
Luke has given us a hint why he recorded only the cure of one of them. He says there met him “out of the city, a man, etc.; or, as it should be rendered, “a man of the city” a citizen. Yet the man did not dwell in the city, for he adds in the same verse, “neither abode he in any house, but in the tombs.” The truth of the case was, that he was born and educated in the city. He had probably been a man of wealth and eminence; he was well known, and the people felt a deep interest in the case. Luke was therefore particularly struck with his case; and as his cure fully established the power of Jesus, he recorded it. The other person that Matthew mentions was probably a stranger, or one less notorious as a maniac, and he felt less interest in the cure. Let two persons go into a lunatic asylum and meet two insane persons, one of whom should be exceedingly fierce and ungovernable, and well known as having been a man of worth and standing; let them converse with them, and let the more violent one attract the principal attention, and they would very likely give the same account that Matthew and Luke do, and no one would doubt the statement was correct.
Possessed with devils - See the notes at Mat 4:24.
Coming out of the tombs - Mark and Luke say that they lived among the tombs. The sepulchres of the Jews were frequently caves beyond the walls of the cities in which they dwelt, or excavations made in the sides of hills, or sometimes in solid rocks. These caves or excavations were sometimes of great extent. They descended to them by flights of steps. These graves were not in the midst of cities, but in groves, and mountains, and solitudes. They afforded, therefore, to insane persons and demoniacs a place of retreat and shelter. They delighted in these gloomy and melancholy recesses, as being congenial to the wretched state of their minds. Josephus also states that these sepulchres were the haunts and lurking-places of those desperate bands of robbers that infested Judea. For further illustration of this subject see my notes at Isa 14:9; Isa 22:16; Isa 65:4. The ancient Gadara is commonly supposed to be the present Umkeis. “Near there Burckhardt reports that he found many sepulchres in the rocks, showing how naturally the conditions of the narrative respecting the demoniacs could have been fulfilled in that region. Reliable writers state that they have seen lunatics occupying such abodes of corruption and death.” - Hackett’s “Illustrations of Scripture,” p. 109.
Dr. Thomson, however (“The Land and the Book,” vol. ii. pp. 34-37), maintains that Gadara could not have been the place of the miracle, since that place is about “three hours” (some 10 or 12 miles) to the south of the extreme shore of the lake in that direction. He supposes that the miracle occurred at a place now called “Kerza” or “Gersa.” which he supposes was the ancient “Gergesa.” Of this place he says: “In this Gersa or Chersa we have a position which fulfills every requirement of the narratives, and with a name so near that in Matthew as to be in itself a strong corroboration of the truth of this identification. It is, within a few rods of the shore, and an immense mountain rises directly above it, in which are ancient tombs, out of some of which the two men possessed of the devils may have issued to meet Jesus. The lake is so near the base of the mountain that the swine, rushing madly down it, could not stop, but would be hurried on into the water and drowned. The place is one which our Lord would be likely to visit, having Capernaum in full view to the north, and Galilee ‘over against it,’ as Luke says it was. The name, however, pronounced by Bedouin Arabs is so similar to Gergesa, that, to all my inquiries for this place, they invariably said it was at Chersa, and they insisted that they were identical, and I agree with them in this opinion.”
Mat 8:29
What have we to do with thee? - This might have been translated with great propriety, What hast thou to do with us? The meaning is “Why dost thou trouble or disturb us?” See 2Sa 16:10; 2Ki 9:18; Ezr 4:3.
Son of God - The title, “Son of God,” is often given to Christ. People are sometimes called sons, or children of God, to denote their adoption into his family, 1Jo 3:1. But the title given to Christ denotes his superiority to the prophets Heb 1:1; to Moses, the founder of the Jewish economy Heb 3:6; it denotes his unique and near relation to the Father, as evinced by his resurrection Psa 2:7; Act 13:33; it denotes his special relation to God from his miraculous conception Luk 1:35; and is equivalent to a declaration that he is divine, or equal to the Father. See the notes at Joh 10:36.
Art thou come hither to torment us? ... - By “the time” here mentioned is meant the day of judgment. The Bible reveals the doctrine that evil spirits are not now bound as they will be after that day; that they are permitted to tempt and afflict people, but that in the day of judgment they also will be condemned to everlasting punishment with all the wicked, 2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:6. These spirits seemed to be apprised of that, and were alarmed lest the day that they feared had come. They besought him, therefore, not to send them out of that country, not to consign them then to hell, but to put off the day of their final punishment.
Mark and Luke say that Jesus inquired the name of the principal demoniac, and that he called his name “Legion, for they were many.” The name legion was given to a division in the Roman army. It did not always denote the same number, but in the time of Christ it consisted of 6,000 to 3,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 horsemen. It came, therefore, to signify “a large number,” without specifying the exact amount.
Mat 8:30
A herd of many swine - The word “herd,” here applied to swine, is now commonly given to “cattle.” Formerly, it signified any collection of beasts, or even of people.
The number that composed this “herd” was 2,000, Mar 5:13.
Mat 8:33
They that kept them fled - These swine were doubtless owned by the inhabitants of the country.
Whether they were Jews or Gentiles is not certainly known. It was not properly in the territory of Judea; but, as it was on its borders, it is probable that the inhabitants were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. Swine were to Jews unclean animals, and it was unlawful for Jews to eat them, Lev 11:7. They were forbidden by their own laws to keep them, even for the purpose of traffic. Either, therefore, they had expressly violated the law, or these swine were owned by the Gentiles.
The keepers fled in consternation. They were amazed at the power of Jesus. Perhaps they feared a further destruction of property; or, more likely they were acquainted with the laws of the Jews, and regarded this as a judgment of heaven for keeping forbidden animals, and for tempting the Jews to violate the commands of God.
This is the only one of our Saviour’s miracles, except the case of the fig-tree that he cursed Mat 21:18-20, in which he caused any destruction of property. It is a striking proof of his benevolence, that his miracles tended directly to the comfort of mankind. It was a proof of goodness added to the direct purpose for which his miracles were performed. That purpose was to confirm his divine mission; and it might have been as fully done by splitting rocks, or removing mountains, or causing water to run up steep hills, as by any other display of power. He chose to exhibit the proof of his divine power, however, in such a way as to benefit mankind.
Infidels have objected to this whole narrative. They have said that this was a wanton and unauthorized violation of private rights in the destruction of property. They have said, also, that the account of devils going into swine, and destroying them, was ridiculous. In regard to these objections the narrative is easily vindicated.
1. If Christ, as the Bible declares, is divine as well as human - God as well as man - then he had an original right to that and all other property, and might dispose of it as he pleased, Psa 50:10-12. If God had destroyed the herd of swine by pestilence or by lightning, by an inundation or by an earthquake, neither the owners or anyone else would have had reason to complain. No one now feels that he has a right to complain if God destroys a thousand times the amount of this property by overturning a city by an earthquake. Why, then, should complaints be brought against him if he should do the same thing in another way?
2. If this property was held “by the Jews,” it was a violation of their law, and it was right that they should suffer the loss; if “by the Gentiles,” it was known also to be a violation of the law of the people among whom they lived; a temptation and a snare to them; an abomination in their sight; and it was proper that the nuisance should be removed.
3. The cure of two men, one of whom was probably a man of distinction and property, was of far more consequence than the amount of property destroyed. To restore a “deranged” man now would be an act for which “property” could not compensate, and which could not be measured in value by any pecuniary consideration. But,
4. Jesus was not at all answerable for this destruction of property. He did not “command,” he only “suffered” or “permitted” the devils to go into the swine. He commanded them merely to “come out of the magi.” They originated the purpose of destroying the property, doubtless for the sake of doing as much mischief as possible, and of destroying the effect of the miracle of Christ. In this they seem to have had most disastrous success, and they only are responsible.
5. If it should be said that Christ permitted this, when he might have prevented it, it may be replied that the difficulty does not stop there. He permits all the evil that exists, when he might prevent it. He permits men to do much evil, when he might prevent it. He permits one bad man to injure the person and property of another bad man. He permits the bad to injure the good. He often permits a wicked man to fire a city, or to plunder a dwelling, or to rob a traveler, destroying property of many times the amount that was lost on this occasion. Why is it any more absurd to suffer a wicked spirit to do injury than a wicked man? or to suffer a “legion of devils” to destroy a herd of swine, than for “legions of men” to desolate nations, and cover fields and towns with ruin and slaughter.
Mat 8:34
The whole city came out - The people of the city probably came with a view of arresting him for the injury done to the property; but, seeing him, and being awed by his presence, they only besought him to leave them.
Out of their coasts - Out of their country.
This shows:
That the design of Satan is to prejudice people against the Saviour, and even to make what Christ does an occasion why they should desire him t leave them. The power of avarice. These people preferred their property to the Saviour. They loved it so much that they were blind to the evidence of the miracle, and to the good he had done to the miserable people whom he had healed.
It is no uncommon thing for people to love the world so much; to love property - even like that owned by the people of Gadara so much as to see no beauty in religion and no excellence in the Saviour; and, rather than part with it, to beseech Jesus to withdraw from them. The most grovelling employment, the most abandoned sins, the most loathsome vices, are often loved more than the presence of Jesus, and more than all the blessings of his salvation.
Remarks On Matthew 8
1. The leprosy, the disease mentioned in this chapter, is a suitable representation of the nature of sin. Like that, sin is loathsome; it is deep fixed in the frame; penetrating every part of the system; working its way to the surface imperceptibly, but surely; loosing the joints, and consuming the sinews of moral action; and adhering to the system until it terminates in eternal death. It goes down from age to age. It shuts out men from the society of the pure in heaven; nor can man be admitted there until God has cleansed the soul by his Spirit, and man is made pure and whole.
2. The case of the centurion is a strong instance of the nature and value of humility, Mat 8:5-10. He sustained a fair character, and had done much for the Jews. Yet he had no exalted conception of himself. Compared with the Saviour, he felt that he was unworthy that he should come to his dwelling. So feels every humble soul. “Humility is an estimate of ourselves as we are.” It is a willingness to be known, and talked of, and treated just according to truth. It is a view of ourselves as lost, poor, and wandering creatures. Compared with other people with angels, with Jesus, and with God - it is a feeling by which we regard ourselves as unworthy of notice. It is a readiness to occupy our appropriate station in the universe, and to put on humbleness of mind as our proper array, 1Pe 5:5.
3. We have in the case of the centurion an equally beautiful exhibition of “faith.” He had unwavering confidence in the power of Jesus. He did not doubt at all that he was able to do for him just what he “needed, and what he wished him to do.” This is faith; and every man who has this “trust” or confidence in Christ for salvation, has “saving faith.”
4. Humility and faith are always connected. The one prepares the mind for the other. Having a deep sense of our weakness and unworthiness, we are prepared to look to Him who has strength. Faith also produces humility. Jesus was humble; and believing on him, we catch his spirit and learn of him, Mat 11:28-30. Compared with him, we see our unworthiness. Seeing his “strength,” we see our “feebleness;” seeing “his” strength exerted to save creatures impure and ungrateful as we are, we sink away into an increased sense of our unfitness for his favor.
5. We see the compassion and kindness of Jesus, Mat 8:16-17. He has borne “our” heavy griefs. He provides comfort for us in sickness and sustains us in dying. But for his merciful arm, we should sink; and dying, we should die without hope. But:
“Jesus can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are;
While on his breast we lean our head,
And breathe our life out sweetly there.”
6. We are forcibly struck with his condescension, Mat 8:19-20. People of wickedness and crime dwell in splendid mansions, and stretch themselves on couches of ease; when afflicted, they recline on beds of down; but Jesus had no home and no pillow. The birds that fill the air with music and warble in the groves, nay, the very foxes, have homes and a shelter from the storms and elements; but He that made them, clothed in human flesh, was a wanderer, and had nowhere to lay his head. His sorrows he bore alone; his dwelling was in the mountains. In the palaces of the people for whom he toiled, and for whom he was about to bleed on a cross, he found no home and no sympathy. Surely this was compassion worthy of a God.
7. It is no disgrace to be poor. The Son of God was poor, and it is no dishonor to be like him. If our Maker, then, has cast our lot in poverty; if he takes away by sickness or calamity the fruits of our toils; if he clothes us in homely and coarse apparel; if he bids the winds of heaven to howl around our open and lonely dwellings, let us remember that the Redeemer of mankind trod the same humble path, and that it can be no dishonor to be likened to him who was the beloved Son of God.
8. We should be willing to embrace the gospel without hope of earthly reward, Mat 8:19-23. Religion promises no earthly honors or wealth. It bids its disciples to look beyond the grave for its highest rewards. It requires people to love religion “for its own sake;” to love the Saviour, even when poor, and cast out, and suffering, “because he is worthy of love;” and to be willing to forsake all the allurements which the world holds out to us for the sake of the purity and peace of the gospel.
9. We learn the necessity of forsaking all for the sake of the gospel. Our first duty is to God, our Creator and Saviour; our second, to friends, to our relations, and to our country, Mat 8:22. When God commands we must follow him, nor should any consideration of ease, or safety, or imaginary duty deter us. To us it is of no consequence what people say or think of us. Let the will of God be prayerfully ascertained, and then let it be done though it carry us through ridicule and flames.
10. Jesus can preserve us in the time of danger, Mat 8:23-27. He hushed the storm and his disciples were safe. His life was also in danger with theirs. Had the ship sunk, without a miracle he would have perished with them. So in every storm of trial or persecution, in every heaving sea of calamity, he is united to his followers. His interest and theirs is the same. He feels for them, he is touched with their infirmities, and he will sustain them. Because I live, says he, ye shall live also. Never, never, then, shall man or devil pluck one of his faithful followers from his hand, Joh 10:27-28.
11. All that can disturb or injure us is under the control of the Christian’s Friend, Mat 8:28-32. The very inhabitants of hell are bound, and beyond his permission they can never injure us. In spite, then, of all the malice of malignant beings, the friends of Jesus are safe.
12. It is no uncommon thing for people to desire Jesus to depart from them, Mat 8:34. Though he is ready to confer on them important favors, yet they hold His favors to be of far less consequence than some unimportant earthly possession. Sinners never love him, and always wish him away from their dwellings.
13. It is no uncommon thing for Jesus to take people at their word, and leave them. He gives them over to worldly thoughts and pursuits; he suffers them to sink into crime, and they perish forever. Alas, how many are there, like the dwellers in the country of the Gergesenes, that ask him to depart; that see him go without a sigh; and that never, never again behold him coming to bless them with salvation!
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Two that were possessed with devils. St. Mark (chap.…
Two that were possessed with devils. St. Mark (chap. v.) and St. Luke (chap. viii.), in the same passage, mentions but one man, who is also said to be possessed with a legion of devils. Those evangelists seem to make mention only of one of them, because he might be much more fierce and famous than the other. (Witham) --- These sepulchres were caverns excavated in the rocks, which served them as places of retreat. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Christ healing the demoniacs who profess His name; banished…
IV
Christ healing the demoniacs who profess His name; banished from Gadara; He restores the paralytic, and is accused of blasphemy,—or, the blessed working of the Lord despite the contradiction of the kingdom of darkness.
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Mat_8:28-34, Mat_9:1-8
( Mat_9:1-8 the Gospel for the 19th Sunday after Trinity.—Parallels: Mar_5:1-20; Luk_8:26-39, Mar_2:1-12; Luk_5:17-26.)
28And when he was [had] come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes [Gadarenes],25 there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man [one] might [could, or was able to, ὥστε μὴ ἰσχύειν] passby that way. 29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee,30Jesus,26 thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding. 31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away [send us away]27 intothe herd of swine. 32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine [into the swine];28 and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently [rushed] down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.33And they that kept them [the herdsmen, οἱ βόσκοντες] fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to [had befallen] the possessedof [with] the devils. 34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts [borders].
Mat_9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be3[are] forgiven29 thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This4man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing30 their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil5in your hearts? For whether [which] is easier, to say, Thy sins be [are] forgiven thee;or to say, Arise, and walk? 6But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thybed, and go31 unto thine [to thy] house. 7And he arose, and departed to his house. 8But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled [feared]32, and glorified God, which [who] had given such power unto men.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat_8:28. On the discussion about the readings, Γεργεσηνῶν, Γαδαοηνῶν, Γερασηνῶν, comp. the Commentaries.—Bleek (Beiträge zur Evangelienkritik, 1:26): “From Orig. (in Joh. Tom. 6:24), we may infer with tolerable certainty, that, at the time of that Father, Γεργεσηνῶν was not found in any of the MSS. of the Gospels then current. He only mentions it as a conjecture, that this may have been an older reading. From that time it seems to have been introduced into manuscripts. Origen found that the common reading was Γερασηνῶν, that of Γαδαρηνῶν also occurring. The change of the former into the latter word is easily accounted for, but not the reverse. Hence the writer has always been of opinion, that Γερασηνῶν, which Lachmann also has adopted, is the correct reading in all the three Gospels. But as the town of Gerasa, in Arabia, could not possibly be meant, we suppose that the name was incorrectly written by the Evangelists, and that they probably meant the town of Gergesa, as Origen suggests.” Accordingly, we drop the reading Γεργεσηνῶν, and only retain thus much, that Origen was exegetically right in maintaining that Jesus landed in the district of the Gergesenes, whose name at least (Γεργεσαῖοι, Gen_15:21; Deu_7:1; Jos_24:11) is mentioned by Josephus (Ant. i. 6, 2). But the MSS. are divided between the readings Gadara and Gerasa. Hence, judging from the circumstances of this narrative, we are warranted in fixing upon the adjoining Gadara, which was the capital of Peræa, rather than on the distant Gerasa, which lay on the eastern boundary of Peræa, and indeed was considered by some geographers to have been situate in Arabia. So also Winer and Meyer. Besides, the expulsion of the Lord is represented as an event of considerable importance, which would not have been the case had He been banished from Gerasa, and not from the capital of Peræa. Expulsion from a village by the sea-shore would only have induced Him to go farther inland; but banishment from the capital of the district rendered at least a temporary removal absolutely necessary. The pagan character of the district (swine, raging demons) may have led to the evangelical tradition, by which the scene of this narrative was transferred from Gadara to Gerasa. Gadara, the capital of Peræa (Joseph. Bell. Jud. iv. 8, 3), situated to the southeast of the southern end of the Lake of Gennesareth, south of the river Hieromax, sixty stadia from Tiberias, upon a mountain, inhabited chiefly by Gentiles (according to Seetzen and Burckhardt). It is supposed to have been the modern Omkeis (but comp. Ebrard, who places Gadara only one hour from the lake). See Winer and the Encyclops. and von Raumer’s Palestine. On the eastern shore of the lake, comp. Ritter’s Palestine. Ebrard suggests, that there had been a village called Gerasa in the neighborhood of Gadara. Euseb. Onomasticon refers to such a village under the article Gergesa, without, however, pronouncing decidedly on the point.
Two possessed with devils.—Mark and Luke speak only of one. Strauss and de Wette hold, that the account of Matthew is the authentic narrative; Weisse and others prefer that of Mark and Luke. Ebrard suggests, that Matthew joined the account of the possessed at Gadara with that in Mar_1:23; others fancy, that our Evangelist is in the habit of speaking of two individuals when there was only one. Meyer leaves the difficulty unsolved; while Augustine, Calvin, and Chrysostom suppose that one of the demoniacs is specially mentioned, as the principal personage and the greater sufferer. This idea is confirmed by the consideration, that two demoniacs would not have associated, unless the one had been dependent upon the other. For the details of the narrative, the parallel passages in the other Gospels must be consulted.
Coming out of the tombs.—This was their abode, the only one left them, after they had withdrawn from human supervision and society. We conjecture that they chose this haunt not merely from melancholy, but rather from a morbid craving for the terrible. These tombs were either natural or artificial caves in the rocks, or built in the ground. The calcareous mountain on which Gadara was situated, was specially suited for such sepulchres. Even Epiphanius (adv. Hœres. i. 131) mentions these rocky caves near Gadara, which were called πολυάνδρια and τύμβοι.
Mat_8:29. What have we to do with Thee? מָה לָנוּ וָלָךְ, 2Sa_16:10, etc. Grotius remarks ad loc.: “Hoc si ex usu Latini sermonis interpreteris, contemtum videtur inducere. Ita enim Latini aiunt: Quid tibi mecum est? At Hebrœis aliud significat, nimirum cur mihi molestiam exhibes?”33 The ordinary consciousness of the demoniacs was always affected by, and mixed up with, their morbid consciousness. Hence their power of anticipation was morbidly developed. By virtue of this faculty they now recognized the Divine power and majesty of the Lord (comp. Luk_4:34). Hence the question, whether πρὸκαι ρο ῦ means: before the judgment of the Messiah, as de Wette and Meyer suppose. Perhaps they also anticipated that the work of Jesus in the district would be interrupted by them, and that it was not ready for the reception of the Messiah.
To torment us.—The apparent contradiction in the conduct of the demoniacs affords a striking confirmation of the truthfulness of this narrative. On the one hand, they seem to have felt the power of the Lord; they hastened to meet Him; their fierceness was kept in check, and they humbly entreated. But on the other hand, they identified themselves with the demons under whose power they were; they, so to speak, appeared as their representatives, and in that capacity complained that Jesus was about to torment them by healing the demoniacs,—i. e., that He was about to send the demons to the place of torment. De Wette: “Torment us,” by disturbing our stay and rule in man.
Mat_8:30. A herd of many swine.—The Jews were prohibited from keeping swine, which were unclean animals (Lightfoot, 315; Eisenmenger, Entdektes Judenthum, i. 704). The herd must therefore have belonged to pagans, or else have been kept for purposes of traffic. In any case, it might serve as evidence of the legal uncleanness of the people, and of their essentially Gentile disposition.
Mat_8:31. Probably the request was expressed in such terms as “Send us, ἀπόστειλον ἡμᾶς,” but the assent of the Lord was couched in the form of a permission, or even of a sentence of banishment. Hence the other reading of the Received Text. The request shows that these demons were antinomian, not Pharisaical; hence their choice of the swine. Possibly, there was also the malicious design latent, in this manner to put an end to the work of the Lord in the district. But in that case, the compliance of the Lord must be regarded as an evidence that at that time the awakening of terror was a sufficient effect. Lastly, the request of the demons implies that they were many (Meyer), which indeed is expressly mentioned in Mark and Luke.
Mat_8:32. Go, ὑπάγετε.—The emphasis rests on the command to go. Strauss and others have raised an objection, on the ground that Jesus here interfered with the property of others. In reply, Ebrard appeals to the divinity and the absolute power of Christ. He also reminds us of the casting out of those who bought and sold in the temple; which, however, is scarcely a case in point, as every Jew might claim the right of reproving and opposing open and daring iniquity. Probably the conduct of Christ, in the case of so manifest a contravention of Mosaic ordinances, might be vindicated on the same ground, as simply the privilege of every zealous Israelite.34 But the text does not oblige us to suppose that Jesus interfered at all with the here of swine. He neither administered justice, nor enforced police regulations, nor took oversight of the herds of swine of Gadara. His only object was to cure the demoniacs, which He did by commanding the demons simply to go. Other objections—such as, that the demons would have acted foolishly by driving the swine into the sea—are scarcely worth repeating. Any such difficulty would arise from the false assumption that demons can never be stupid. It must be admitted that certain morbid states, such as derangement of the nervous system, madness, idiocy, raving, etc., formed the natural substratum of demoniac possessions. Hence there is a marked difference between the possessed, and those who, like Judas and the Pharisees, voluntarily surrendered themselves to the power of evil, as there is also between the demons themselves, and Satan, or between the renunciation of Satan in Christian baptism, and exorcism,—a rite which originally was only applied in the case of the possessed, and only introduced into the ordinary ritual of baptism and confirmation of catechumens generally when spiritual knowledge was obscured in the Church. The demoniacs were destitute of freedom, not merely on account of the psychical ailment under which they labored, but because, while thus suffering, they were possessed by unclean spirits (πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα). The idea of bodily possession, or the indwelling of the evil spirit in the physical frame of the diseased, was merely the popular notion. The main point was, that they were under the power of some special demoniac influence, or of a number of such influences, which proceeded from real demons, and were so strong, that the persons possessed identified themselves in their own minds with the demons. But it is quite possible that such influences may have proceeded not merely from the kingdom of Satan, in the narrowest sense, but also from the spirits of the departed. Hence Josephus (De Bello Jud. vii. 6, 3) held, that the demons were the spirits of wicked men; an opinion which was shared by some of the oldest of the Fathers, such as Justin Martyr and Athenagoras. Tertullian was the first to turn the current of opinion on the subject, and ultimately, on the authority of Chrysostom, the old idea of the spirits of departed and lost men was discarded, and that of devils adopted. But a closer inquiry into the character of sympathetic influences will show, that while the question, whence these demoniac influences proceeded, is of secondary importance, such influences—even to literal bodily possession—are quite possible, whether the party affected was conscious of them or not. From this it follows, that a demoniac might feel himself under the influence of a whole legion of unclean spirits, as, from the account in the other Gospels, appears to have been the case in the present instance. Hence we must beware of the common mistake, of putting the guilt of the demoniacs on the same level with that of wilful slaves of Satan. In our view, the blame attachable to such persons varied from the minimum, in the case of idiots, to a maximum. The common characteristic of all was cowardice,—a cowardly surrender of a weakened and lowered consciousness to wicked influences. The same remarks apply to the moral aspect of madness generally; and we would adopt the idea, that all madness was connected with a kind of demoniac influence, rather than the view, that the demoniacs of Scripture were merely lunatics, or even that of older orthodox interpreters, who regarded them as a class of persons possessed by the devil,—God allowing it at the time of Christ, and then only, for the purpose of glorifying His name. We do not, however, deny, that at that period, when all human corruption had reached its climax, these demoniac possessions also appeared in a more full and patent manner. But if we consider that the evil primarily depended upon moral cowardice and non-resistance to evil, we shall understand all the better the method of cure adopted by the Lord. The thunderbolt of His power and divine rebuke would once more kindle the ray of life and strength in the soul, fill the spirits who possessed the demoniac with fear, and thus break the fetters by which they held their victims. It snapped, so to speak, the connection between the diseased mind, deprived of its freedom, and the demon; while at the same time the soul was brought under the influence of the Divine Being. Such was the deliverance from the δαίμων, who, although a personal being, is designated as δαιμόνιον, in allusion to the impersonality of the relationship.
They went into the herd of swine.—Of course the demons, not the demoniacs. The commotion in the herd, by which they rushed down a steep place into the sea, is readily accounted for from the well-known sympathy existing among gregarious animals. If one of the herd was seized with terror, all the others would be affected. Probably the horse is, of all animals, most liable to sudden fright, especially from spectral apparitions; but swine are also subject to such wild frights (comp. Scheitlin’s Thierseelenkunde, vol. ii. 486). Perhaps the reason why swine were Levitically unclean, may have been not merely their outward conformation, but their susceptibility for impure psychical impressions. The circumstance, that the demons went into the swine, seems indeed mysterious; but the fright of these animals arose probably from the last terrible paroxysm, which ordinarily accompanied the healing of the possessed (Mar_1:26; Luk_4:35; Mar_9:26, etc.).
Όρμᾷν, cum impetu ferri, irruere, Act_19:29.—Olshausen suggests, that the demons drove down the herd; Henneberg, Neander, and others, that they were impelled by an unknown, but accidental cause; while Meyer regards this as a mythical addition. We prefer leaving it unexplained, as belonging to the mysterious connection between the world of spirit and nature.
Mat_8:34. The whole city.—For the moment, the terror produced by this miracle proved even stronger than the indignation excited by the loss sustained. Accordingly, as the heathen were wont to go in solemn procession to the altars of the gods in order to avert calamities, so the people of Gadara went out to meet Christ, humbly beseeching Him to depart from their coasts. They evidently feared, lest, if He remained, they should sustain yet greater damage. The cure of two furious demoniacs, involving the loss of a herd of swine, appears a calamity in a district where swine have their keepers, but men are left uncared for. Jesus departs; but those who have been restored are left behind—more especially he who would fain have followed Him—to bear witness it Decapolis of the power and grace of Christ.
Footnotes:
[25] Mat_8:28.—Γαδαρηνῶν according to B., C., M., al. Griesbach, Scholz, Tischendorf [Tregelles, Alford, Conant].—Γεργεσηνῶν C. codd. minusc., versions, Origen.—Γερασηνῶν, the ruling lectio at the time of Origen; several ancient versions, Lachmann. [Dr. Lange reads Gadarenes. Cod. Sinait.: γαζορηνων. See Com.—]
[26] Mat_8:29.—Ἰησοῦ is omitted in B., C., L. [Cod. Sinait.], etc. Borrowed from Mar_5:7; Luk_8:28.
[27] Mat_8:31.—Ἀπόστειλον ἠμᾶς, in Cod. B., [Cod. Sinait.], most of the versions, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf Tregelles, Alford, Conant]. The lectio recepta, ἐπίτρεψον ἡμῖν ἀπελθεῖν, is probably taken from Luk_8:32, and explanatory.
[28] Mat_8:32.—Εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, B., C., [Cod. Sinait.], Lachmann [for εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην τῶν χοίρων]. Probably taken from the parallel passages.
[29]Ch. 9, Mat_8:2.—[Ἀφέωνται is the indicative, either the present tense and equivalent to ἀφῶνται (as Homer uses ἀφέῃ for ἀφῇ), or more probably the perf. pass. (Doric form) for ἀφεῖνται, remissa sunt. Comp. Winer, Grammat., etc., 6th Germ. ed., 1855, p. 74. Lachmann and Tregelles read ἀφίενται, remittuntur, with Cod. B., Cod. Sinait., and the Latin Vulgate.—P. S.]
[30] Mat_8:4.—Lachmann, following B., M., reads εἰδώς instead of ἰσών of the Received Text.
[31] Mat_8:6.—[Cod. Sinait. reads πορεύου, for ὕπαγε.—P. S.]
[32] Mat_8:8.—Ἐφοβήθησαν, they feared, is much better supported than ἐθαύμασον, they marvelled. [It is sustained by the newly discovered Cod. Sinaitces and adopted in all the modern critical editions, except the Gr. Test. of Stier, and Wordsworth who adhere to the Received Text.—P. S.]
[33][Comp. Comment. on Joh_2:4. where Christ uses this phrase in speaking to His mother.—P. S.]
[34][Dr. Alford thus disposes of this difficulty: “The destruction of the swine is not for a moment to be thought of in the matter, as if that were an act repugnant to the merciful character of our Lord’s miracles. It finds its parallel in the cursing of the fig-tree ( Mat_21:17-22); and we may well think that, if God has appointed so many animals daily to be slaughtered for the sustenance of men’s bodies, He may also be pleased to destroy animal life when He sees fit for the liberation or instruction of their souls. Besides, if the confessedly far greater evil of the possession of men by evil spirits, and all the misery thereupon attendant, was permitted in God’s Inscrutable purposes, surely much more this lesser one. Whether there may have been special reasons in this case, such as the contempt of the Mosaic law by the keepers of the swine, we have no means of judging; but it is at least possible.”—P. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain § 42. — FIFTH MIRACLE — DISPOSSESSING TWO DEMONIACS,…
§ 42. — FIFTH MIRACLE — DISPOSSESSING TWO DEMONIACS, Mat_8:28-34.
Matthew pursues our Lord’s course across the lake, in order to narrate a miracle which displays our Lord’s authority over the powers of hell, as this shows his command over the elements of the earth.
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This miracle is more fully narrated by Mark, to whose account, and our notes thereon, the reader is referred.
It may be proper here to note, however, that between the two accounts there is a difference in regard to the number of demoniacs dispossessed. Matthew mentions two; Mark and Luke note but one. Here is variation, but not contradiction. He who says there is two of course includes the one. He who mentions the one does not deny the other. The two evangelists doubtless specify the one which was the more bold and prominent. There was a second less marked, whom they pass over, but Matthew mentions.
CHAPTER 9.
In this chapter the group of TEN SPECIMEN MIRACLES given by Matthew is completed. They are selected from different periods of our Lord’s ministry, and their place in order of time will be found by referring to the Historical Synopsis. The miracles of the present chapter are five, namely: 1. The paralytic; 2. The infirm woman; 3. The ruler’s daughter; 4. The two blind, 5. The dumb demoniac.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 28. Gergesenes] The readings vary between Gerasenes, Gadarenes and…
28. Gergesenes] The readings vary between Gerasenes, Gadarenes and Gergesenes. Gerasa and Gergesa are forms of the same name. Gadara was some distance to the south of the Lake. It was, however, the capital of Peræa, and the more important place; possibly Gergesa was under its jurisdiction. Gergesa is identified with the modern Khersa; in the neighbourhood of which “rocks with caves in them very suitable for tombs, a verdant sward with bulbous roots on which the swine might feed” (Macgregor, Rob Roy), and a steep descent to the verge of the Lake, exactly correspond with the circumstances of the miracle. (See Map.)
tombs hewn out of the mountain-sides formed convenient dwelling-places for the demoniacs.
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28–34. The Gadarene Demoniacs. St Mar_5:1-20; St Luk_8:26-39
St Mark and St Luke make mention of one demoniac only. St Mark relates the incident at greater length and with more particularity. St Matthew omits the impossibility of binding him with chains, the absence of clothing, the wild cries night and day, the name “legion,” the prayer not to be sent into the “abyss” (Luke), the request of one of the demoniacs to be with Jesus, and the charge which Jesus gives him to tell his friends what great things the Lord had done for him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (28) The country of the Gergesenes.—The exact determination of…
(28) The country of the Gergesenes.—The exact determination of the locality presents many difficulties. In all the three Gospels we find various readings, of which the best supported are Gadarenes in St. Matthew, and Gerasenes in St. Mark and St. Luke. “Gergesenes” is, however, found in some MSS. of high authority, and the variations are obviously of very early date. The main facts as to the three regions thus indicated are as follows:—
(1.) Gadara was a city east of the Sea of Galilee, about sixteen miles from Tiberias. It is identified with the modern Um Keis, the ruins of which are more than two miles in circumference, and stand at the north-west extremity of the mountains of Gilead, near the south-east corner of the Lake. The tombs of the city, chambers in the limestone rock often more than twenty feet square, are its most conspicuous feature, and are, indeed, the sole abode of its present inhabitants. Under the Roman occupation it was important enough to have two amphitheatres and a long colonnaded street.
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(2.) Gerasa was a city in the Gilead district, twenty miles east of the Jordan, described sometimes as belonging to Cœle-Syria, sometimes to Arabia. It also has ruins which indicate the former splendour of the city. Of these two, it is clear that Gadara fits in better with all the circumstances of the narrative; and if “Gerasenes” is more than the mistake of a transcriber, it could only be because the name was used vaguely for the whole Gilead district. The reading “Gadarenes” in that case would probably come from some one better acquainted with the position of the two cities.
(3.) There was no city named Gergesa, but the name Gergesenes was probably connected with the older Girgashites, one of the Canaanite races that occupied the country before the invasion of Israel (Gen_10:16; Gen_15:21; Jos_3:10; Jos_24:11; et al.). Apparently, however, from the last passage referred to, they were on the western side of the Jordan. It is, on the whole, more likely that the reading was a mistake, than that the old tribe still remained with its old name; but it is possible that the name of Gerasa may represent an altered form of Girgashim.
Two possessed with devils.—St. Mark and St. Luke speak of “one” only. A like difference meets us in St. Matthew’s “two blind men” at Jericho (Mat_20:30) as compared with the “one” of the two other Gospels. The natural explanation is that, in each case, one was more prominent than the other in speech or act, and so was remembered and specified, while the other was either forgotten or left unnoticed. The difference, as far as it goes, is obviously in favour of the independence of St. Matthew’s narrative. The “tombs” in the neighbourhood of Gadara, hewn out in the rock, have been already mentioned. To dwell in such tombs was, to the ordinary Jew, a thing from which he shrank with abhorrence, as bringing pollution, and to choose such an abode was therefore a sign of insanity.
St. Luke adds that he wore no clothes (i.e., strictly, no outer garment; the word does not imply actual nakedness). St. Mark (whose account is the fullest of the three) notices that he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and that, with the abnormal strength often found in mania, he had set himself free from them. The insanity was so homicidal that “none could pass by that way,” so suicidal that he was ever cutting himself with stones, howling day and night in the wildness of his paroxysms.
For a full discussion of the subject of demoniacal possession, see Excursus at the end of this Gospel.
III.—DEMONIAC POSSESSION (Matthew 8:28).
(1.) As to the word, the Greek δαίμων (the “knowing,” or the “divider”) appears in Homer as interchangeable with Θεός (God). In the mythology of Hesiod( Works and Days, i. 108) we have the first downward step, and the δαίμονες are the departed spirits of the men who lived in the first golden age of the world. They are the good genii of Greek religion, averters of evil, guardians of mortal men. The next stage introduced the neuter of the adjective derived from δαίμων as something more impersonal, and τὸ δαιμόνων was used by Plato as something “between God and man, by which the former communicates with the latter” (Symp., p. 202), and in this sense Socrates spoke of the inward oracle whose warning he obeyed, as his δαιμόνον, and was accordingly accused of bringing in the worship of new δαιμόνια, whom the State had not recognised. The fears of men led them, however, to connect these unknown intermediate agents with evil as well as good. The δαίμων of the Greek tragedians is the evil genius of a family, as in the case of that of Agamemnon. A man is said to be under its power when he is swayed by some uncontrollable, frenzied passion that hurries him into guilt and misery.
Such were the meanings that had gathered round the word when the Greek translators of the Old Testament entered on their task. They, as was natural, carefully avoided using it in any connection that would have identified it with the God of Israel. It appears in Psa_90:3, where the English version gives “destruction;” in Deu_32:17, and Psa_106:37, where the English version has “devils,” and in this sense it accordingly passed into the language of the Hellenistic Jews, and so into that of the writers of the Gospels. So St. Paul speaks of the gods whom the heathen worshipped as δαιμόνια (1Co_10:20).
(2.) As to the phenomena described, the belief of later Judaism ascribed to “demons,” in the sense which the word has thus acquired, many of the more startling forms of bodily and mental suffering which the language of modern thought groups under the general head of “disease.” Thus, in the history of Tobit, the daughter of Raguel is possessed by the evil spirit Asmodeus, and he slays her seven bridegrooms (Tob_3:8). Or passing on to the Gospel records, we find demoniac agency the cause of dumbness (Mat_9:32), blindness (Mat_12:22), epilepsy (Mar_9:17-27), or (as here, and Mar_5:1-5) insanity. To “have a devil” is interchangeable with “being mad” (Joh_7:20; Joh_8:48; Joh_10:20, and probably Mat_11:18). And this apparently was but part of a more general view, which saw in all forms of disease the work, directly or indirectly, of Satan, as the great adversary of mankind. Our Lord went about “healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Act_10:38). “Satan had bound” for eighteen years the woman who was crippled by a spirit of infirmity” (Luk_13:16). And these “demons” are described as “unclean spirits” (Mat_10:1; Mat_12:43, et al.) acting under a “ruler” or “prince,” who is popularly known by the name of Beelzebub, the old Philistine deity of Ekron, and whom our Lord identifies with Satan (Mat_12:24-26). The Talmud swarms with allusions to such demons as lurking in the air, in food, in clothing, and working their evil will on the bodies or the souls of men. St. Paul, though he refers only once to “demons,” in this sense, and then apparently as the authors of false doctrines claiming divine authority, but coming really from “seducing spirits” (1Ti_4:1), seems to see in some forms, at least, of bodily disease the permitted agency of Satan, as in the case of the chastisement inflicted on the incestuous Corinthian (1Co_5:5; 2Co_2:11), his own “thorn in the flesh” (2Co_12:7), and possibly in other like hindrances to his work (1Th_2:18).
(3.) The belief bore its natural fruit among the Jews of our Lord’s time. The work of the exorcist became a profession, as in the case of the sons of Sceva at Ephesus (Act_19:13). Charms and incantations were used, including the more sacred forms of the divine name. The Pharisees appear to have claimed the power as one of the privileges belonging to their superior holiness (Mat_12:27). Josephus narrates that a herb grew at Machærus, the root of which had the power of expelling demons (whom he defines as the spirits of wicked men), and that he had himself beheld, in the presence of Vespasian, a man possessed with a demon, cured by a ring containing a root of like properties. As a proof of the reality of the dispossession, a vessel of water was placed at a little distance from the man, which was overthrown by the unseen demon as he passed out from the man’s nostrils (Wars, vii. 6, § 3; Ant. viii. 2, § 5). The belief as to the demons being “the souls of the dead,” lingered in the Christian Church, was accepted by Justin, who, coming from Samaria, probably received it from the Jews (Apol. I., i., p. 65), and was recognised as at least a common belief by Chrysostom (De Lazaro, I., p. 728).
(4.) Our Lord’s treatment of the cases of men thus “possessed with demons” stands out partly as accepting the prevailing belief in its highest aspects, partly as contrasted with it. He uses no spells or charms, but does the work of casting out as by His own divine authority, “with a word.” He delegates to the Twelve the power to “cast out demons,” as well as to cure diseases (Mat_10:8); and when the Seventy return with the report that the devils (i.e., demons) were subject unto them in His name, He speaks of that result as a victory over Satan (Luk_10:17-18). He makes the action of the demons the vehicle for a parable, in which first one and then eight demons are represented as possessing the same man (Mat_12:43-45). It may be noted that He nowhere speaks of them, in the language of the later current beliefs of Christendom, as identical with the “fallen angels,” or as the souls of the dead, though they are evil spirits subject to the power of Satan.
(5.) It is obvious that many hard questions rise out of these facts. Does our Lord’s indirect teaching stamp the popular belief with the seal of His authority? or did He, knowing it to be false, accommodate Himself to their belief, and speak in the only way men were able to understand of His own power to heal, teaching them as they were “able to hear it?” (Mar_4:33). If we answer the former question in the affirmative, are we to believe that the fact of possession was peculiar to the time and country, and that the “demons” (either as the souls of the dead, or as evil angels) have since been restrained by the influence of Christendom or the power of Christ? or may we still trace their agency in the more obscure and startling phenomena of mental disease, in the delirium tremens of the drunkard, in the orgiastic frenzy of some Eastern religions, in homicidal or suicidal mania? And if we go as far as this, is it a true theory of disease in general to assign it, in all cases, to the permitted agency of Satan? and how can we reconcile that belief either with the temper which receives sickness as “God’s visitation,” or with that which seeks out its mechanical or chemical causes? Wise and good men have answered these questions very differently, and it may be that we have not the data for an absolutely certain and exhaustive answer. It is well to remember, on the one hand, that to speak of the phenomena of the Gospel possessions as mania, hysteria, or the like, is to give them a name, but not to assign a cause—that science, let it push its researches into mental disease ever so far, has to confess at last that it stands in the presence of unknown forces, more amenable often to spiritual influences than to any medical treatment; and on the other, that our Lord came to rescue men from the thraldom of frenzy and disease, and so to prepare them for the higher work of spiritual renovation, rather than rudely to sweep away the traditional belief of the people as to their source, or to proclaim a new psychological theory.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 28-34. The Gadarene demoniacs. Parallel passages: Mar_5:1-20 Luk_8:26-39,…
Vers. 28-34. The Gadarene demoniacs. Parallel passages: Mar_5:1-20 Luk_8:26-39, where see full notes. Matthew is much less detailed. Matthew mentions two demoniacs; the parallel passages, one; the reason may be either that one was less fierce than the other, or that only one came from Gerasa (Nosgen). But in our present knowledge of the extent of inspiration, we cannot confidently affirm that the evangelists were kept from errors in numbers, and that the addition of the second demoniac is not due" to some misunderstanding, perhaps of the use of the plural in the demoniac"s answer in the parallel passage, Mar_5:9 (cf. Weiss, "Marcus-ev.," p. 172). (For a similar difficulty, cf. the note on Mat_9:27-31) With regard to this mysterious narrative generally, the explanation of its details can be little more than empirical in our present knowledge of psychology and of spiritual influences.
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes; Revised Version, Gadarenes, which is certainly right here, as is "Gerasenes" in the parallel passages (cf. Westcott and Hort, it. "App."). Gergesa (Textus Receptus here, and Alexandrian authorities in parallel passages) and Gerasa (unless, with Origen on Joh_1:28, we understand by this the Arabian Gerasa fifty miles away)are probably forms of the same name now represented by Khersa, a village discovered (?in 1857) by Thomson ("The Land and the Book," pp. 375, sqq., edit. 1880) on the eastern side of the lake, and lying "within a few rods of the shore," with "an immense mountain" rising directly above it, "in which are ancient tombs, out of some of which the two men possessed of the devils may have issued to meet Jesus. The lake is so near the base of the mountain that the swine, rushing madly down it, could not stop, but would be hurried on into the water and drowned." To this Origen"s description (loc. cit. ) corresponds: "Gergesa, to which the Gergesenes belong, is an ancient city by what is now called the Lake of Tiberias, by which is a steep place adjacent to the lake, and down this, as is pointed out, the swine were cast headlong by the demons." Gadara, in some sense the capital of Peraea (Josephus, "Bell. Jud:," 4:7:3), and one of the towns of the Decapolis confederacy, (Mat_4:25) was some twelve miles distant from Khersa, and six miles from the nearest part of the lake, to which, in fact (as the stamp of a ship on its coins shows), its territory extended (cf. Schiirer, II 1. p. 100, sqq.). St. Matthew describes the locality, not by the little-known village, but by the well-known city of the district, to which (as we may gather from the parallel passage, Mar_5:20) the news of the miracle afterwards spread. But since he leaves the expression, "the city," in vers. 33, 34 as he fontal it in his sources, i.e. Khersa, the result is at first misleading There met him (uphnthsan ; occurrerunt, Vulgate). St. Matthew (contrast vers. 2, 5, 19) omits the nearer approach recorded in the parallel passages, Mar_5:6 and Luk_8:28. Two (vide supra). Possessed with devils, (Mat_4:24, note) coming out of the tombs; Revised Version, coming forth out. The Greek shows that they did not merely come from among the tombs, but actually out of them (cf. the experience of Warburton, as quoted in Trench on this miracle). Exceeding fierce, so that no man might (Revised Version, could) pass by that way . Matthew only. It deepens the contrast to their present behaviour. Perhaps "that way" refers to the Roman road by the side of the lake (cf. Thomson, op. cit. , p. 378).
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Vers. 28-34. The country of the Gergesenes.
I THE DEMONIACS.
1. Their description. There were two one fiercer, more violent, than the other. Satan"s power has been broken; the incarnation of the Son of God, the atonement made upon the cross, has weakened his hold upon men. "I beheld Satan like lightning fall from heaven." The times were very evil when the Saviour came. Satan was the prince of this world, the ruler of this world"s darkness. His power is still very terrible, but it is not what it was; he has not now the dominion which he once exercised over human spirits. Probably there are cases of demoniac possession still, but they are comparatively few. The characteristic of this possession, as distinguished from that wickedness which is another form of the devil"s power over souls, seems to be a divided will. The unhappy demoniac felt that there was another will, a will not his own, ruling over him, driving him into frenzy.
2. Their conduct. The one demoniac mentioned by St. Mark and St. Luke came running to Christ. He fell down before him and worshipped him. He came as the sorrowing and afflicted came to Christ. They sought relief from their troubles; he longed to be delivered from the awful beings which tyrannized over his soul, He was not wholly evil not like those who hate the light, neither come to the light. There were men more wicked than he, men possessed with devils in another sense, who had yielded up their wills to the evil one, who would not come to Christ that they might have life. This man came, drawn to Christ by the sense of his own misery, by the attraction of the Saviour"s love. But there was a strange power that ruled over him; there was another voice, not his own, but so strangely blended with his being that it seemed his voice. And that voice cried, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" There were two conflicting wills in him; the one sought Christ, the other was separated from Christ by an impassable barrier; the one hoped for mercy, the other looked only for torment. The devils had no part in Christ, nothing in common with him; there was an intense antagonism between them and the holy Son of God. The poor man, amid all the horrors of his miserable condition, felt that his one hope was in Christ. Christ might save him, only Christ could save him, from the horrible tyranny that oppressed his soul. The power of the devil is broken, but he still goeth about like a roaring lion; still there is a conflict in the heart of man; "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other." The devil tempts us through the lusts of the flesh. He is strong and we are weak; but Christ is stronger than he. If we come to Christ in earnest prayer, he will cast out the devil; God giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The devils recognized the power of Christ; they knew their own impending doom: "Art thou come to torment us before the time?" Christ must reign; all things must be put under him. Satan must be cast into the abyss, the bottomless pit; the kingdom of darkness must give way to the kingdom of light. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
II THE DEVILS.
1. Their request. The Lord had said, "Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit." They felt his power; they must obey. But they lingered. If they could no longer torment the men who had been so long their victims, they would, if possible, torment other creatures; the lower, if they were driven from the higher; unclean beasts, if the heart of man was to be cleansed from their defiling presence. And there seems to have been another strange, mysterious reason for their entreaty. They must be cast into the abyss if they could not harass men or animals with their cruel presence.
2. The Lord"s permission. He utters one word of command, simple in its majesty They must obey him now. They were left free to enter into the swine if so they pleased. We know not why; we know not why they had been allowed to torment the two poor men; we are very ignorant of the whole subject. The personality and power of Satan, the very existence of evil, involve dark mysteries into which we cannot penetrate, difficulties with which we cannot grapple.
(1) The poor men were saved from their tormentors; the departure of the evil spirits was manifested to the sight of men. Perhaps the strange wild rush of the maddened swine into the waters of the lake helped the men to realize their deliverance it may have made that deliverance easier; and men are of more value than many swine.
(2) Sometimes the wicked obtain their evil desires; it turns to their destruction. Satan was allowed to harass the holy Job; Satan was confounded. Job was more blessed in his latter end than at the beginning. The devils were permitted to enter into the swine; it led, apparently, to that which they feared to the abyss.
III THE EFFECTS OF THE MIRACLE.
1. Upon the keepers of the swine. They fled. They were frightened by the power of our Lord, not touched by his goodness. They had seen it all, but they were simply terrified. Terror does not save the soul; men fear death, they fear the judgment, they fear the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched. But this mere terror is only selfish; it has nothing really religious in it. Sometimes, by God"s grace and mercy, it is made the means of drawing men to Christ. But it is love that saves, and not fear; the love of Christ, not the fear of hell.
2. Upon the inhabitants. They listened to the strange story of the keepers of the swine; they came; they saw the man who had been in such grievous bondage, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. He was their fellow-creature, perhaps their countryman. He was saved, but the swine were lost. And, alas! they thought more of the swine than of their fellow-citizen; more of their loss than of their own souls. It" they were Jews, they had broken the commandment in keeping these unclean animals; but they did not recognize the loss as a punishment their heart was not softened. The whole city came out to meet Jesus. They all saw the gracious face of the Redeemer; they knew his power and love. But, alas! "they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts." He took them at their word. He departed; they saw him no more. Let us learn to hate selfishness; let us value, above all things, the glimpses of the Saviour"s presence which he from time to time vouchsafes. And, oh! let us shrink from the awful danger of driving him from our hearts by worldliness and selfish greed.
LESSONS.
1. The devil is a cruel master: pray to be saved from his power.
2. The demoniacs came to Christ; the keepers of the swine fled from him. Oh that we learn to come and never leave him!
3. How awful to drive Christ away for the sake of worldly gain! Rather let us, like St. Paul, count all things else as dross, that we may win Christ.
Vers. 28-34. The (Mar_5:1-20 Luk_8:26-39) divorce of supreme pity.
In introduction, distinguish between the genuine possession by an evil spirit and the phenomena of madness, or the most of those instances of merely bodily plague which in the worst times have probably nevertheless been the result and degenerate outgrowth. of the extremes of sensuality and intemperance. Also allude to the fact that only one demoniac is mentioned by St. Mark and St. Luke. Note therewith that here, though it is said "they" both spoke and cried to Jesus, yet only one form of words is given. In passing, note also how, in the account of each evangelist, this narrative follows that of the stilling of the storm and tempest in the material world. Notice
I A DREADFUL TYPE IN BODILY LIFE OF THE MAN WHOSE SPIRIT, GIVEN HIM WHEREWITH TO RULE AND "HAVE "DOMINION," IS OVERRULED AND OVERMASTERED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT, AND EXERCISES BUT A VERY PRECARIOUS AND OCCASIONAL SWAY OF ITS OWN.
II THE EXTRAORDINARY BUT MOST SIGNIFICANT ACTION OF THIS DUALITY OF SPIRIT WHICH MANIFESTED ITSELF AT THE CRISIS OF THE APPROACH OF JESUS CHRIST, The "he" who met Jesus, and ran to him as by irresistible instinct or attraction, and worshipped," and "fell down" before him, and the other "he" (or "they") of whose devilish inspiration were the words which the victim used. How graphic, how dramatic, how dreadful the parable the description speaks of the conflict and the strife in the soul between itself in deep need, deep distress, deep consciousness, and the odious tyrant that hems him at bay!
III THE NOTICE TO QUIT NOW, AND THE MORE SIGNIFICANT SUGGESTION THAT THE NOTICE, YET TO COME ONE DAY, WOULD BE A LONGER NOTICE, ONE TO QUIT FOR EVER, The entreaty of the united legion, by the lips of the oppressed and tormented demoniac, is that they shall not be banished the "country" (i.e. the world); and should not be sent into "the deep" (i.e. the unseen domain), where there would be no "wicked," no "weary" from whatsoever cause, for such to possess and tyrannize. And this entreaty betokened sufficiently plainly what they knew of their ultimate destiny, and what they bad in view in deprecating being "tormented before the time." Note the easy prey that the vast number of swine were to the evil spirit or spirits; and how is thereby set forth the strong power to resist of the human soul, and its long-continued power to resist, and in the same relative proportion the prolonged, unutterable suffering and anguish.
IV THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE COWARDLY AND SELFISH GADARENES IN BESEECHING CHRIST TO DEPART, AND THE IMPASSIONED PRAYER OF THE RECOVERED DEMONIAC TO BE PERMITTED TO REMAIN WITH CHRIST.
Conclude by remarking on the fearful compliance on the part of Jesus with the one entreaty, arid his most gracious refusal of the other. B.
Vers. 28-34. Demoniacal possession.
The personality of devils or demons has been called in question, and the examples of demoniacal possession recorded in Scripture have been construed as cases of insanity. But the narrative before us refuses to be thus treated. Here clearly are intelligences who can know, reason, speak, and pray, and who can exist separately from the subject of possession, and after expulsion from men can enter and possess inferior animals. Note
I THAT DEVILS ARE FORMIDABLE FOES.
1. They are formidable in power.
(1) This is evident from their appellatives. (see Eph_2:2 Eph_6:12Co Eph_2:15)
(2) From their exploits. See the history of Job. Did not Satan transport the body of Jesus from the wilderness to the pinnacle of the temple, and thence to the mountain summit? (see Mat_4:5, Mat_4:8)
(3) From the example of these demoniacs. No man could bind them. (see Mar_5:3, 4)
2. They are formidable in number.
(1) Else how could they tempt so constantly the 1, 400, 000, 000 living men? Their number must be great if all the wicked men that have died are demons.
(2) Their name is "legion." A Roman legion numbered six thousand men. (see Mar_5:9)
(3) Things singly insignificant in numbers become formidable. Frogs and flies in multitudes became Egyptian plagues. In relation to the swarms of demons marshalled by Satan he is called Beelzebub of flies.
3. They are formidable in their military order.
(1) This, too, is suggested in the name of "legion." They are officered into principalities, powers, world-rulers of darkness, and spiritual rulers of wickedness in the heavens. (see Eph_6:12)
(2) They are efficiently marshalled. Some are devils of pride; some of coveteousness; some of sensuality; some of profanity; some of malice. Those who are led by any propensity to evil are possessed by a demon apt to stimulate it. Is your familiar an "unclean spirit"?
4. They are formidable in their inveterate malignity.
(1) They are proud spirits. What but inveterate malignity could induce them to ask leave of God to work mischief?
(2) The more so when they know that for the mischief they work they will incur a terrible retribution. Devils are not yet in hell. Their time of torment is the day of judgment. (cf. ver. 29; Rev_12:12 Rev_20:1-3, Rev_20:10)
5. They are formidable because of their passion for enshrinement in humanity.
(1) Out of humanity they are troubled and uneasy. (cf. Mat_12:43) It is "torment" to them to be ejected from humanity (ver. 29).
(2) They prefer enshrinement in the body of a beast to being houseless. Satan enshrined himself in a serpent. These demons. entreated to be allowed to enter into the swine.
(3) They make havoc wherever they crone. The evil disposition of the heart is a tomb in which a demon dwells.
II DEMONIACAL ASCENDENCY IS DISASTROUS TO HUMANITY.
1. Disastrous because assimilating.
(1) This is more evident in Mark"s account, in which the plural and singular are so mingled that it is difficult to know whether the demons or the demoniac speaks. (cf. Mar_5:6-10)
(2) This possession is the more deplorable as it diabolizes the Godward side of humanity.
2. Disastrous because dissocializing.
(1) These demoniacs were driven from society into the solitude of the tombs.
(2) Sin breaks up homes and friendships.
(3) It destroys commonwealths.
(4) The rich man in bell did not desire the company of his five brethren.
3. Disastrous because infuriating.
(1) It is suicidal. These demoniacs cut themselves with stones. (see Mar_5:5) The priests of Baal cut themselves with knives (1Ki_18:28; see also Lev_19:28 Jer_16:6). Sin is moral suicide.
(2) It is fratricidal. "Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his brother." These demoniacs were the terror of passengers (ver. 28). "One sinner destroyeth much good.
III ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY VESTS IN CHRIST.
1. Demons confess him their Superior.
(1) This is remarkable in their history since the experiment in the wilderness. There it was, "If thou be the Son of God." Here it is, "What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God?
(2) They tremble in the presence of their Judge. "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" They were preconscious of their casting out. That casting out they regarded as a presage of their time of final judgment. (cf. Joh_12:31 Joh_14:11)
2. He may listen to a devils prayer.
(1) He consented to the prayer of these demons that they should be suffered to enter into the swine. He consented to the prayer of Satan that he might torment Job.
(2) Why should he not? He can work gracious purposes by the most unlikely agency. His consent to the prayer of the demons was a judgment upon the sin of the swine-dealers.
(3) The injury wrought upon the fig tree, that upon the traffickers in the temple, and this upon the swine-dealers, were severally presages of future vengeance.
3. tie may listen to a rebellious sinners prayer.
(1) The Gadarenes besought him to depart out of their borders. They would rather have demons and swine among them than the holy Jesus. He heard their prayer.
(2) Let the blasphemer beware. His horrible prayers may be answered. The imprecation, "His blood be upon us, and upon our children," had a terrible response in the wars of the Jews and in the horrors of their long captivity.
(3) Let the rejecter of the gospel beware.
4. He may refuse the prayer of a saint.
(1) The Gadarene, now no longer a demoniac, but a grateful believer, entreated that he might be with his Deliverer, (see Mar_5:15) but was refused. (Mar_5:18, 19) The bodily presence of Jesus he must not have; but his spiritual presence he may enjoy.
(2) Jesus had other work for him to do. (Mar_5:19, 20) He was to go home, where he was best known, and there to let his light shine.
(3) Let us not be discouraged if our prayers are not answered precisely as we desired. God answers our prayers to our utmost advantage. J.A.M.
Power over devils.
It should not be surprising that some incidents in our Lord"s life prove to be beyond present explanation. In this there is a similarity between God"s works and God"s Word. Probably we could explain our Lord"s power over devils if we could recover fully the sentiments of his day concerning possession by devils. Scientific medicine was not known by the Jews. Their persistent ignorance is due to their strange belief that sickness was the punishment of sins committed either by the sufferer himself or his relations; hence it was almost always attributed to the action of evil spirits. The only cure possible, therefore, was the expulsion of the evil spirit, and the whole science of medicine consisted in discovering the best method of exorcising the demon.
I DEVIL-POSSESSIONS. It is necessary to consider some received views as to the nature of evil.
1. The Manichaean. Two co-ordinate principles of good and evil. Compare the Zoroastrian principles represented in Ormuzd and Ahriman.
2. The pantheistic. No reality, or separate existence to evil. Only a lower form of good; unripe good.
3. The scriptural. Evil the contingency necessary to creaturehood; the essential possibility of a moral being, entrusted with the control of his own actions. Man a being subject to influences; other wills do affect his. Illustrate by power of one man over another. Man is in a state of sin; that is a state of bondage to another will. So comes in the Scripture idea of a king and kingdom of evil. With this in mind, examine the particular form of sickness called "devil possessions." Perhaps it differed from epilepsy, hysteria, or insanity; but the lack of scientific description prevents our forming a precise judgment. What we notice is
(1) lost control of the bodily organization;
(2) consequent unrestrained sensuality;
(3) lucid intervals; and
(4) the sense of misery and cry for deliverance.
We may best compare with delirium tremens, the mastery of a man"s body and will by the spirit of drink.
II THE JEWISH MODE OF DEALING WITH CASES OF DEVILPOSSESSIONS. They used incantations. The rabbi pronounced a magic formula. One of the Jewish books prescribes a sacred root called baaras. Using this aright, the devils will come out through the nostrils.
III OUR LORD"S POWER OVER THE DEVIL-POSSESSED. Notice:
1. The absence of all incantation.
2. Our Lord used no agencies.
3. The word of command sufficed. If devils represent the supreme woe that can afflict man, then Jesus proclaimed himself Master of man"s worst woe. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain There met Him two possessed with devils.
Mat_8:28-33
There met Him two possessed with devils.
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Christ and the demoniac
I. The immediate connection of the world of darkness with the evil heart.
II. The great power of the inhabitants of darkness over the evil heart.
III. The utter impotency of man to deliver the possessed from the power of the inhabitants of darkness.
IV. The weakness of the powers or darkness in conflict with Christ. Remarks:
1. Beware of tampering with evil.
2. The wish of evil will ever be self-destructive.
3. If Jesus has cured you show it by causing joy where you have caused so much misery-in your home. (F. Wallace.)
Sin and salvation
I. Some aspects of sin.
1. Its contagiousness.
2. Its anti-social tendency-Neither abode in any house.
3. Its embrutalization of character.
4. Its dread of righteousness.
II. Some aspects of salvation.
1. It is begun in expulsion, not repression, of evil principles and desires.
2. God accounts as nothing whatever material loss may be incurred in its effectuation. Souls more than swine.
3. Its moral and spiritual results have a counterpart and external evidence in improved material and social condition.
4. The surest proof of the reality of its accomplishment is renunciation of personal preferences in obedience to Christs commands. (Pulpit Analyst.)
The accusing conscience of the wicked
(ver. 29):-
1. Bad men must sooner or later acknowledge their deserts.
2. They believe that a time for punishment of their sins will come.
3. A guilty conscience dreads the presence of Christ. (American Homiletic Monthly)
Christ sending the demons from the man into the swine
I. The malice of satan.
1. The possession.
2. The dwelling of the man-among the tombs. A melancholy madness.
3. The fierceness of the demoniac-he could not be bound.
II. The grace and justice of the Saviour,
1. The grace displayed in expelling the demons from the man. The devils saw their Master.
2. The justice manifested in the entrance of the demon into the swine.
III. The result of the miracle.
1. The swineherds flee to carry the tidings. Fear gives wings to their feet.
2. The demoniac comes and sits at Jesus feet.
3. The Gadarenes entreat Christ to depart, and He goes.
4. The recovered demoniac seeks to be allowed to follow Christ, and is refused.
Learn:-
1. Let us shudder at the malice, power, and misery of fallen spirits.
2. Fly for refuge to the power and grace of Christ, and dread the thought of desiring Christ to depart.
3. See the place and duty of those whom Christ has healed. (J. Bennett, D. D.)
The authority of right over wrong
1. That this was not a work of authority done by our Master in His own country. He had passed from His own country. Truth knows no limitations; a man that has it owes it to mankind.
2. The sad spectacle that met our Lord was a man in ruins.
3. The moment our Saviour came into the presence of this man he brought a distributing force. Two spheres came together that were antagonistic. Evil claims its rights, liberty. This is the keynote of the opposition in modern society to every attempt to make men better.
4. We should oppose these malign influences front self-interest, and in self-defence. It is not going away from our own affairs when we attempt to break down everything that is destroying the industry and virtue of society. We are bound to meddle with the demonized part of society. Men ought to stand on the ground of goodness and assert the dignity of rectitude over immorality. (Beecher.)
A man in ruins
There is nothing sadder; and, sad to say, nothing more common. No one can see great desolation by conflagration without having a kind of commercial sympathy. The consumption of so much property, the waste and ruin of so many costly structures, is painful to behold. No man can learn that a storm has swept the sea, and that fleets and merchantmen have been wrecked or foundered, without a certain sadness. And yet all the ships on the sea might sink, and all the buildings on the globe might be burned, and the united whole would not be as much as to shatter one immortal soul. There is nothing in old dilapidated cities, there is nothing in temples filled with memorials of former glory, that tends to inspire such sadness and melancholy as to look upon a dilapidated soul, whose powers and faculties are shattered and east down. (Beecher)
.
Evil to be opposed in self-defence
It is not going away from our own affairs when we attempt to break clown everything that is destroying the industry, and order, and virtue, and the well-being of the young in society, and corrupting society itself. Every man is to a very great extent dependent for his own prosperity upon the average conditions of the community in which he lives. A man is very much like a plant. If you put a plant in a pot of poor earth, there is no inherent force in the plant by which it can grow. The atmosphere, too, which surrounds the leaf has much to do with the health and growth of the plant. But suppose plant should be endowed with momentary intelligence, and should cry out and protest that it was potted in bad earth, and surrounded by poisonous vapours? and suppose the earth should say, Mind your own business, and I will mind mine, and the atmosphere should say, You take care of yourself, and I will take care of myself? It would be very much like these enemies to society saying to us, when we raise our voices against them, Mind your own business. That is just what we are doing. We are minding our own business. Our business is to breathe and to grow, and we must have pure air and good soil. And if we are living in a community where we find our roots starved, and our leaves poisoned, we have a right to take care of ourselves and defend ourselves. A man depends for his prosperity and happiness upon the average condition of the community in which he lives. A man that lives in a virtuous community is like a man that lives on some mountain side, where the air is pure. A man that lives in a corrupt community is like a man that lives where the air is impure. And for the sake of our own well.being,and the well-being of our households, we have a right to resist these men who are destroying society by corrupting it. (Beecher.)
Physical injury not tolerated
Let a man start a mill for grinding arsenic, and let the air be filled with particles of this deadly poison, and let it be noticed that the people in the neighbourhood are beginning to sneeze and grow pale, and let it be discovered that this mill is the cause, and do you suppose he would be allowed to go on grinding? -No man would shut up his establishment at once. And yet men open those more infernal mills of utter destruction-distilleries, and wholesale and retail dens for liquor; and you can mark the streams of damnation that flow out from them; and yet nobody meddles with them. One man is getting carbuncles; another man is becoming red in the eyes; another man is growing irritable, and losing his self-control: another man is being ruined both in body and mind; multitudes of men begin to exhibit the signs of approaching destruction; and the cause of all this terrible devastation may be traced to these places where intoxicating drinks are manufactured and sold. You would not let a man grind arsenic; but you will let a man make and sell liquor, though arsenic is a mercy compared with liquor. (Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 28. Into the country of the Gergesenes. Compare Mark…
28. Into the country of the Gergesenes. Compare Mark 5:1–21; Luke 8:26–40. Gergesa has been identified on the east shore of Galilee; the “steep place” and “tombs” are still seen. It was a village in the district of the Gadarenes. The Lord landed here after the storm. The Revision has Gadarenes in Matthew, and Gerasenes in Mark and Luke. The simple explanation of this difference is, that Gadarenes and Gerasenes are different names for the inhabitants of the same large district, so called from Gadara and Gerasa, two cities of that region; while Gergesenes is the name of the people of a smaller district within the other, and named from the city of Gergesa. Two demoniacs. Mark and Luke mention only one, the fiercer one, who spoke with the Lord. The tombs. The tombs were caves, natural or artificial, cut in the rock of the hill side, and, hence, suitable for a shelter. Fierce. So violent as to be dangerous (Mark 5:3–5; Luke 8:29).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Mat_8:28. Gergesenes.—The readings vary between Gerasenes, Gadarenes, and Gergesenes…
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat_8:28. Gergesenes.—The readings vary between Gerasenes, Gadarenes, and Gergesenes (Carr). Modern research claims to have ascertained the exact locality of the transaction. The ruins right opposite the plain of Gennesaret, from which they had sailed, bear still the name of Kersa or Gersa. About a quarter of an hour to the south of Gersa is a steep bluff, which descends abruptly on a narrow ledge of shore. The whole neighbourhood abounds in limestone caverns and rock chambers. These local features meet the requirements of the story (Laidlaw). Two possessed with devils.—See on Mat_8:16. St. Mark and St. Luke speak of “one” only. A like difference meets us in St. Matthew’s “two blind men” at Jericho (Mat_20:30) as compared with the “one” of the two other Gospels. The natural explanation is that, in each case, one was more prominent than the other in speech or act, and so was remembered and specified, while the other was either forgotten or left unnoticed. The difference, as far as it goes, is obviously in favour of the independence of St. Matthew’s narrative (Plumptre).
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Mat_8:29. Thou Son of God.—The utterance rather of the demons than of the demoniacs (Morison).
Mat_8:30. Swine.—Unclean animals that were an abomination to all true Jews (Lev_11:7; Deu_14:8). The keeping of them or the rearing of them was strictly forbidden by the Jewish canon-law, as Dr. Lightfoot shows in his “Exercitations” (ibid.).
Mat_8:31. Suffer us to go away, etc.—Whence such a request? We are not told, and we need not anxiously conjecture. Theophylact supposes that their aim was to arrest the influence of Jesus in the locality, by stirring up the opposition of the proprietors of the flock. Perhaps there was pure malice. Perhaps, too, there was infatuated malice, for it is needless to suppose that they always—or even that they ever—reasoned well. Are they not always, in the end, outwitted? (ibid.).
Mat_8:32. Go.—We are at least on the right track in suggesting that only in some such way could the man be delivered from the inextricable confusion between himself and the unclean spirits in which he had been involved. Not till he saw the demoniac forces that had oppressed him transferred to the bodies of other creatures, and working on them the effects which they had wrought on him, could he believe in his own deliverance. Those who measure rightly the worth of a human spirit thus restored to itself, to its fellowmen, and to God, will not think that the destruction of brute life was too dear a price to pay for its restoration. Other subordinate ends—such, e.g., as that it was a penalty on those who kept the unclean beasts for their violation of the law, or that it taught men that it was through their indulgence of the swinish nature in themselves that they became subject to the darker and more demoniac passions—have been suggested with more or less plausibility (Plumptre).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_8:28-34
The powers of darkness.—What happened by the way, when the Saviour took His “disciples” away from the “multitudes” which He had gathered around Him at Capernaum, for the “other side” of the lake, is told us in the verses preceding. What happened when they arrived thither is found in the verses before us. They may be fitly treated, we think, as illustrating on the one hand, the extent of His power; and on the other, the depth of His mercy.
I. The extent of His power.—The first step towards a fitting realisation of this is to be found in what is told us of the persons He meets with on landing. As the boat touches the shore there have come down to meet Him two highly exceptional men. They are exceptional in their wildness, their fierceness, their strength (Mar_5:4). Also because of these things they had the neighbourhood almost to themselves (Mat_8:28). Other men shunned a place which such worse than beasts as could neither be “tamed” nor controlled, had to themselves. Besides this, they were believed to be exceptional in a still more evil degree. In the eyes of the Saviour, and so of truth, they were in a special degree under the influence and control of the spirits of evil. They were “δαιμονιζόμενοι” men possessed with devils—in a peculiarly manifest way. The language they employ, in the next place, was in full accord with this view of their case. It is language which has little or nothing to do with those unhappy beings as men. There is a knowledge of the present which those isolated wanderers could hardly have learned (Mat_8:29, “Jesus, Thou Son of God”). There is a knowledge of the future of which the same can be said, and which points also to what we are not told anywhere of the children of men (end of Mat_8:29, also Mat_25:41). And there is a request or entreaty which would be absolutely impossible, if not unmeaning, if merely spoken by men. A numerous “herd of swine” is seen feeding some distance away. The voices that speak are voices asking permission to “enter into” those swine. Such a request would be an utter absurdity if only spoken by men. Moreover, the voices themselves are such as to teach, by the language they use, that they are not uttered by men. How could men even think of asking not to be “cast out” (Mat_8:31) of themselves? Evidently, therefore, there are beings here which are other than men. The issue of the request, in the last place, tells just the same tale. “Permit us to go,” the voices cry out. The Saviour replies to them by whomsoever they are uttered. He says to them, “Go.” What follows next? The real utterers of those strange utterances do as He permits. They “go out”; they go away; they “go into” the swine (Mat_8:32). Suddenly maddened, the whole herd rushes down the “steep” cliff, and is choked in the sea at its foot. Who can doubt that there were powers here far greater than man’s? Who can doubt also that there is a Power here far greater than theirs?
II. The depth of His mercy.—The case of the persons delivered may show this, to begin. What befel the swine is vivid evidence of what had been previously suffered by them. The very suddenness and universality of that sweep to destruction only makes this the more plain. What must have been the condition of those two human personalities—each, it may be believed, with a capacity for suffering beyond that of all the swine in existence—when in the hands and at the mercy—if they had mercy at all—of such powers! And what an act of mercy therefore—as well as of power—was that of setting them free! What a merciful substitution of heaven for hell must it have seemed to their hearts! On the other hand, we see almost equal mercy in that which ensued. When the swine rushed down into the waters, those that kept them rushed away to the “city,” and, open-mouthed, and doubtless with abundance of gesture, told the story of their loss; as also of what had happened in consequence to the two demoniac men. Touched in purse and so to the quick, the greedy owners come forth. They see Jesus; they see the men He has blessed; they see where their riches had been. This last sight affects them the most. They have but one request to prefer. Would He “depart out of their coasts?” (Mat_8:34). Not to see Him now; never to see Him again; that is all they desire. To this insolent requirement the Saviour replies only in meekness and love. Without a word of anger—or even of remonstrance so far as we know—the Saviour does as they ask. Instead of this, if we may judge from Luk_8:39, He goes away in a spirit of deepest concern for those who have sent Him away—and so is as merciful to them as, in another way, to the poor demoniacs themselves!
Do we not also see, in conclusion:—
1. How excellent a lesson there would be in all this to the disciples of Christ.—Having before seen Jesus in triumphant contact with nature, they now see Him the same in contact with Hades!
2. How exceedingly unwise it is to judge hastily and a priori about such matters as these.—Who can tell what goes on—or what ought to go on—in the invisible world?
3. How wide and deep are the scriptural foundations for the belief implied here.—Cf. as above, end of Mat_8:29 with Mat_25:41; also Luk_8:31; Rev_20:3, etc.; also Act_16:16-17, compared with the utterances noted above.
4. How there is a kind of “possession” even now which is as bad in result as anything described here.—A “possession” which, as it were, “casts out” the presence of Jesus Himself, a “possession,” therefore, which does the very worst for us that even Satan can wish.
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Mat_8:28-34. Christ casting out devils.—
1. Christ went nowhere but for a special errand. Pity for these two poor possessed men moved Him to cross the sea of Tiberius.
2. Christ can make the devils bring men to Him.
3. The malice of the devils is exceeding cruel, where they can get liberty to show it against men.
4. However powerful devils may be, yet they can neither stand out against Christ’s power, nor flee from Him, nor abide His presence.
5. The case of possessed souls, in whom the spirit of disobedience doth rule, is to be seen in these whose bodies were possessed with devils. The man is their lodging-house. He is no more master of his own actions, but Satan’s slave. The man’s eyes look for Satan, his hands and feet work and walk for Satan, his throat is made Satan’s blowing-horn, his mouth speaketh for Satan.
6. Devils knew Christ to be the Son of God, but they knew also that He came not into the world for their good, but to be the Saviour of men. “What have we to do with Thee?”
7. Although it is not in the power of devils not to yield to Christ, yet they retain their wicked aversion to obey Him, being loth to leave the possession they have got. They would be let alone by Him if they could.
8. They know there is a time coming when they shall be more tormented than they are as yet.
9. They cannot hurt so much as a sow except Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, do suffer them.
10. The Lord sometimes suffereth Satan to have his will of men’s bodies and goods.
11. These wicked spirits love always to do evil, and make it a sport to destroy what they are permitted.
12. To the end that the trial of men may be perfected, Christ will have them to know the spiritual benefits of the gospel, as well as the temporal inconveniences following it. This is why Christ will have the Gadarenes know of the delivery of the men possessed with devils, as well as of the drowning of the swine. The swineherds tell them of all, that so they might be inexcusable.
13. Men left to themselves will choose anything rather than Christ, and will do no better than these Gadarenes did.
14. Temporal loss of swine is so great in worldly men’s estimation that spiritual advantage is nothing esteemed of.
15. If men see nothing of Christ’s sweet mercies, but only take up His power they will be loth to have Him in their company (Mat_8:34). Such worldly men will rather quit the gospel than hazard their worldly goods.
16. This is the greatest token of Christ’s leaving a place, or not coming into a place, when the whole place doth consist only of Gadarenes, and all do consent that He should depart; for there apparently He hath no errand to stay Him; and wherever Christ hath no employment, thence will He remove.—David Dickson.
Mat_8:28-29. A Saviour, not a tormentor.—
1. It would seem that there were two natures in the men—one, a good and sane nature, urging them to go to meet Jesus, the other, a bad and mad nature, making them cry, “What have we to do with Thee, Thou Son of God?” Is it not so with all of us? Two voices there are within—one calling us to what is healthy and holy, the other to all that is destructive and bad.
2. Just as the Saviour did not land on the coast of the Gadarenes to torment them, but to save them from the demons and sins that were their real tormentors, so He did not come into the world to torment us, but to save us from evil passions and desires, than which there are no worse tormentors.
3. It may be frankly admitted that true religion does restrain our conduct; but this ought not to be considered a tormenting characteristic, because every man, if he is to remain a man and not to become a brute, must restrain himself.
4. Nor does Christ torment us by taking up all our time. What time does it take to do everything to the glory of God, which is true religion? No more time than to do everything to God’s dishonour.
5. “What have we to do with Thee, Thou Son of God?” was the question asked by these wretched men, and each of us must ask the same question at different periods of life.—E. J. Hardy, M.A.
Mat_8:34. Christ and the commercial spirit.—We may observe:—
I. That it is the special mission of Christ to save men from the devil.—
1. The devil has possession of man.
2. The devil in the man becomes injurious to him and makes him injurious to all about him.
3. When once the devil gains possession he will not go out; he must be cast out.
4. Christ only can cast out the devil from the human soul.
II. That the salvation of man may involve the destruction of property.—This may be an unavoidable consequence of the progress of a good work, or it may be an indirect result following upon a particular case. Thus:
1. Property may lose its value, e.g. the damsel who had the spirit of divination; progress of the gospel destroying the trade of the craftsmen of Ephesus.
2. Property may even be destroyed. The chariots of Egypt; idols of Israel and the nations; goods and cattle of the Amalekites.
III. That it is possible to suppose a state of society in which property is more highly prized than man.—The loss of the swine held to be more important than the saving of a man. Is not this the besetting sin of a commercial age? “Wealth accumulates and men decay.” This is also the characteristic of despotic governments—Turkey and the East generally—all slaveholders, etc. There are three states of society to which we may direct attention.
1. The slave state. When man can hold property in man.
2. The commercial state. When man regards man as a means of increasing his wealth, as if one class lived for the aggrandisement of another.
3. The Christian state. When man holds property for man, as a trust for humane and benevolent purposes, never to be set against the highest welfare of the race.
IV. That when people prefer property to man, they may well wish to be rid of Christ.—Where Jesus is, there are:
1. Sacrifices to be made for the good of others.
2. Efforts to be made for the good of others.
3. Men are to be saved at all risks.
V. That when people show that they prefer wealth to humanity, Christ is not likely to make His abode with them.—He gives them up to commerce and devils, since they desire Him to depart from them.
1. May not this be so in a society or church?
2. May not men of business experience a crisis when they must hold their wealth for Christ, or else hold their wealth instead of Christ?
3. How awful the condition of those who prefer wealth and devils to Christ.
Lessons.—
1. Set a high value on everything human.
2. Save the human from the diabolical.
3. Let property, and time, and talent, be devoted to this work.
4. Let us be assured that this is the work of Christ, and therefore worthy of us.—W. Whale.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain Mat 8:28-34; Mat 9:1; Mar 5:1-21; and Mar 5:26-40.…
THE DEMONIZED GADERENE
Mat 8:28-34; Mat 9:1; Mar 5:1-21; and Mar 5:26-40. We visited this country of the Gadarenes, which comes down to the northeast coast of this sea; Gergesa, their capital, situated on a beautiful, rich plain, enjoying a handsome view of this beautiful water, as well as the majestic mountains and fertile valleys of the surrounding countries. Matthew says they came to Gergesa, Mark and Luke say they came to the country of Gadara. This is in perfect harmony, as Gergesa was the city and Gadara the country. You must remember that when our Savior bade the temple adieu, the day before He was arrested, He said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Within forty years from the utterance the Roman armies signally verified it. Hence the desolation has been on that country ever since. However, Gadara was a Gentile country; but it was the subject of a terrible Divine retribution, as we will see in this narrative, for rejecting the ministry of Jesus. “And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes, and a man with an unclean spirit, from the tombs, met Him immediately having come out of the ship, who had his habitation among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him with chains, because frequently he had been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been slipped off by him and the fetters torn to pieces, and no one was able to subdue him.” Matthew says there were two demoniacs, exceedingly fierce, so no one could pass that way. Mark and Luke speak of but one. Luke says that he wore no clothing. It is a notable fact that raging maniacs have an aversion to wearing clothing, and if possible will tear it off. Mark: “And he was all the time, night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains; was crying, and cutting himself with stones. Seeing Jesus a great way off, he ran and fell down before Him, and crying, with a great voice, said, What is there to me and to Thee, O Jesus, the Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee, in the name of God, that you torment me not; for He said to him, Unclean spirit, come out from the man.” Luke says: “For a long time he had possessed him, and he was kept bound with fetters and chains; and smashing his fetters, he was driven by the demon into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? and he said, Legion, because many demons had entered into him. And he continued to exhort Him that He may not command them to depart into the abyss;” i.e., the bottomless pit.
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God never created the devil, a sinner, nor a snake. The snake originated from the transformation of the Nahash, an intelligent biped, one of the intermediate links between man and the lower animals, and unfortunately used by Satan in the abduction of humanity. Satan is a fallen archangel:
“How thou art fallen, O Lucifer, the morning star!” (Isa 14:12.)
The term “devil” is the ordinary cognomen of Satan, demon being the regular epithet applied to those innumerable evil spirits, swarming up out of the bottomless pit and thronging the atmosphere, their highest aspiration being a habitation in some human spirit, as in the case of this Gadarene, into whom a whole legion — i.e., ten thousand — had crowded together. Nothing is so terrible to these demons as the gloomy dungeons of the bottomless pit. Consequently they importuned Jesus not to send them thither. Originally the intelligences inhabiting the innumerable worlds, constituting the celestial empire, were presumptively all on probation. In the fatal revolt of Lucifer, an immense host, perhaps one-third (Revelation 12), followed the apostate archangel. As this apostasy, in all probability, infected many celestial worlds, we find innumerable hosts of fallen demons roaming round this world, hunting a habitation in some human heart. (Ephesians 6) We have no right to conclude that this Gadarene is the only legionaire in all the earth. It is pertinent to remember how all the demons, with whom Jesus comes in contact, recognize Him. We have no record at what epoch in bygone eternity the angels were created; evidently long before Divinity spoke this world into existence. As Jesus is co-eternal with God Himself, identical with the uncreated Jehovah, the recognition of these demons is doubtless a vivid reminiscence of the bright celestial ages which glided away before the dark period of rebellion and ruin supervened. It is here specified that the legionaire tore his clothing from his person, smashing all the fetters and escaping from all the chains with which they could bind him. The muscular power of these Oriental red men is vastly superior to that of Europeans and Americans. In all probability, he was a natural giant, as were most of the aborigines in that country in the days of Joshua; for you must remember he was not a Hebrew, but a Gentile. It is generally believed that physical strength is located in the muscles. This is a mistake. The muscles are the mere instruments used by the nerves, which are the custodians of physical power. A crowbar is a most potent instrument in the hands of a stalwart man; but left alone, utterly impotent.
I thought the muscles were the custodians of physical strength till, in 1884, a stroke of partial paralysis demonstrated the utter impotency of the muscles without nervous stimuli. From a human standpoint, the exegesis of Samson’s paradoxical strength was the induement of the Holy Ghost, who operated through his nerves, thus imparting miraculous physical dynamics. Now remember, this Gadarene had ten thousand demons, ready in a moment to electrify his nerves, thus imparting an incredible muscular power. I have seen epileptics whom it took a half-dozen strong men to manage. You have all witnessed the extraordinary feats of strength and activity performed by maniacs, lunatics, and epileptics. This man was doubtless a combination of them all, so many demons, ready at any moment to turn loose the very galvanic batteries of the pandemonium on their poor victim, thus making them instrumental in the most paradoxical feats of agility and power. Why did he dwell among the tombs? Satan is king of death and hell. He sways his leaden scepter over every graveyard, holding fast every human body in the dark sepulcher, as their souls in the regions of woe. Hence these demons found congeniality among the tombs.
Mar 5:11. “And there was at the mountain a great herd of swine, feeding. And all the demons entreated him saying, Send us into the swine, that we may go into them. And Jesus immediately permitted them. And the unclean spirits, having come out, went into the swine, and the herd rushed down a steep place into the sea, and there were about two thousand, and they perished in the sea.” These heathen Gentiles set great store on the hog, a notoriously unclean animal, which God’s people were forbidden to raise, heavy interdictions being laid on the eating of the same. When I visited that country last November, our dragoman showed us the mountain traditionally recognized as the pasture of the swine, and the cliff down which the whole herd stampeded into the sea; thus transmitting to us a most monitory lesson against demoniacal possession, which is so common in all ages, the present day being no exception to the rule. Here we see these hogs unhesitatingly choosing suicide rather than demoniacal possession. This verdict of the swine should put millions to the blush this day, who go over the earth, full of demons, and claiming a place among the bon tons of society. “And those herding them fled, and proclaimed in the city and in the country; and they came out to see what is that which has been done. And they come to Jesus, and see the demonized man sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind, him who was called Legion; and they were afraid. And those seeing, explained to them how it occurred to the demonized man, and concerning the swine. And they began to entreat Him to depart from their coasts.” Luk 8:36 : “And those seeing, explained to them how the demonized man was saved; and the whole multitude of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes entreated Him to depart from them, because they were possessed with great fear.” Here we have the united testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke to the unanimous and importunate verdict of all the Gadarenes, requesting Jesus to leave their country. That this awful and hopeless demoniac had been wonderfully saved, all admitted. But there was another phase to the matter — they had lost their swine. Now a pertinent question looks them all in the face. Will they have Jesus or bacon? If they keep Jesus, they can have all of the sick healed, all the devils cast out, all the people saved, soul and body, and turn their country into a little heaven, so they can live on angels’ food instead of “hog and hominy.” The popular verdict comes quickly, and without a dissenting voice: they all decide to let Jesus go, and save their bacon to eat and sell for the money.
DOOM OF GADARA
“And embarking into the ship, He returned;” i.e., went back to Capernaum, the center of His evangelistic work in the North, thus throwing a dark shadow over all of that country of the Gadarenes, which has wrapped it in gloom and withered it with desolation these eighteen hundred years. When I visited that country, with its beautiful, fertile plains, bordering on the sea; majestic, rich mountains, with innumerable valleys and coves — all, at the time of our Savior’s visit, flourishing as the gardens of the Lord, cultivated by a thriving and enterprising people, whose temporal needs a gracious Providence had most abundantly supplied. So they needed nothing but the Savior, whom, in loving, Fatherly affection, He so kindly sent them. O what a grand introductory He made among them in saving the worst man they had! How all hell rallied to hold their grip tight on Gadara! Jesus comes to all people, even uninvited, thus pitying their blindness and ignorance, and giving all a chance for salvation. But when He turns the light on them, if, instead of rejoicing in it, they prefer darkness, and, like these besotted Gadarenes, even have the impudence to ask Him to leave, He always goes, leaving them to their choice, with the devil and hell, world without end. Jesus saves none against their will; neither does He stay where He is not wanted. When I stood upon the old walls of Gergesa, the capital of Gadara, to which Jesus went, and looked around upon the ruins of the city, without an inhabitant except the wandering Arabs, then on the spot, grazing their herds and flocks, and saw their country, which has lain desolate eighteen hundred years, I saw in panorama, as I look out over the sea, Jesus embarking on the ship, which sails away, appearing smaller and smaller, till she passes out of sight, thus leaving poor Gadara doomed and ruined. How signally has this been verified in the dismal fate of that country! The Gadarenes have literally faded from the face of the earth, not one to be found; their capital desolate, their cities and villages depopulated and destroyed; their country in the hands of the nomadic Bedonins, the wild sons of Ishmael, in reference to whom God said, “His hand shall be against every man’s hand, and every man’s hand against him.” They are born robbers. If you would visit the land of Gadara this day, you would need an armed escort to save you from robbery and murder. What a warning to the people who request Jesus to depart from them!
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Mat 8:28-34.
Matthew
THE PEACE-BRINGER IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
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Mat 8:28-34.
Matthew keeps to chronological order in the first and second miracles of the second triplet, but probably His reason for bringing them together was rather similarity in their contents than proximity in their time. For one cannot but feel that the stilling of the storm, which manifested Jesus as the Peace-bringer in the realm of the Natural, is fitly followed by the casting out of demons, which showed Him as the Lord of still wider and darker realms, and the Peace-bringer to spirits tortured and torn by a mysterious tyranny. His meek power sways all creatures; His ‘word runneth very swiftly.’ Winds and seas and demons hearken and obey. Cheap ridicule has been plentifully flung at this miracle, and some defenders of the Gospels have tried to explain it away, and have almost apologised for it, but, while it raises difficult problems in its details, the total effect of it is to present a sublime conception of Jesus and of His absolute, universal authority. The conception is heightened in sublimity when the two adjacent miracles are contemplated in connection.
There is singular variation in the readings of the name of the scene of the miracle in the three evangelists. According to the reading of the Authorised Version, Matthew locates it in the ‘country of the Gergesenes’; Mark and Luke, in the ‘country of the Gadarenes’; whereas the Revised Version, following the general consensus of textual critics, reads ‘Gadarenes’ in Matthew and ‘Gerasenes’ in Mark and Luke. Now, Gadara is over six miles from the lake, and the deep gorge of a river lies between, so that it is out of the question as the scene of the miracle. But the only Gerasa known, till lately, is even more impossible, for it is far to the east of the lake. But some years since, Thomson found ruins bearing the name of Khersa or Gersa, ‘at the only portion of that coast on which the steep hills come down to the shore’ {Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 459}. This is probably the site of the miracle, and may have been included in the territory dependent on Gadara, and so have been rightly described as in ‘the country of the Gadarenes.’
Matthew again abbreviates, omitting many of the most striking and solemn features of the narrative as given by the other two evangelists, and he also diverges from them in mentioning two demoniacs instead of one. That is not contradiction, for if there were two, there was one, but it is divergence, due to more accurate information. Whether they were meant so or no, the abbreviations have the striking result that Jesus speaks but one word, the permissive ‘Go,’ and that thus His simple presence is the potent spell before which the demons cower and flee. They know Him as ‘the Son of God’; a name which, on their lips, must be taken in its full significance. If demoniacal possession is a fact, there is no difficulty in accounting for the name here given to Jesus, nor for the sudden change from the fierce purpose of barring an intruder’s path to abject submission. If it is not a fact, to make a plausible explanation of either circumstance will be a task needing many contortions, as is seen by the attempts to achieve it. For example, we are told that the demoniacs were afraid of Jesus, because He ‘was not afraid of them,’ and they knew Him, because ‘men with shattered reason also felt the spell, while the wise and the strong-minded often used their intellect, under the force of passion or prejudice, to resist the force of truth.’ Possibly the last clause goes as far to explain some critics’ non-recognition of demoniacal possession as the first does to explain the demoniacs’ recognition of Jesus!
To the demonic nature Christ’s coming brought torture, as the sunbeam, which gives life to many, also gives death to ugly creatures that crawl and swarm in the dark. Turn up a stone, and the creeping things hurry out of the penetrating glare so unwelcome. ‘What maketh heaven, that maketh hell,’ and the same presence is life or death, joy or agony. The dear perception of divine purity and the shuddering recoil of impotent hatred from it are surely of the very essence of the demonic nature, and every man, who looks into the depths of his own spirit, knows that the possibilities of such a state are in him.
Our Lord discriminated between healing the sick and casting out demons. He distinguished between forms of disease due to possession and the same diseases when dissociated from it, as, for example, cases of dumbness. His whole attitude, both in His actual dealing with the possessed and in His referring to the subject, gave His complete adhesion to the reality of the awful thing. It is vain to say that He humoured the delusions of insanity in order to cure them. That theory does not adequately explain any of the facts and does not touch some of them. It is perilous to try to weaken the force of the narrative by saying that the evangelists were under the influence of popular notions {which are quietly assumed to have been wrong}, and hence that their prepossessions coloured their representations. If the mirror was so distorted, what reliance can be placed on any part of its reflection of Jesus? There can be no doubt that the Gospel narrative asserts and assumes the reality of demoniacal possession, and if the representation that Jesus also assumed it is due to the evangelists, what trust can be reposed in authorities which misrepresent Him in such a matter? On the other hand, if they do not misrepresent Him, and He blundered, confounding mere insanity with possession by a demon, what reliance can be reposed in Him as our Teacher of the Unseen World? The issues involved are very grave and far-reaching, and raillery or sarcasm is out of place.
But the question is pertinent: By what right do we allege that demoniacal possession is an exploded figment and an impossibility? Do we know ourselves or our fellows so thoroughly as to be warranted in denying that deep down in the mysterious ‘subliminal consciousness’ there is a gate through which spiritual beings may come into contact with human personalities? He would be bold, to the verge of presumption or somewhat further, who should take up such a position. And have we any better right to assume that we know so much of the universe as to be sure that there are no evil spirits there, who can come into contact with human spirits and wield an alien tyranny over them? The Christian attitude is not that of such far-reaching denial which outruns our knowledge, but that of calm belief that Jesus is the head of all principality and power, and that to Him all are subject. It is taken for granted that the supposed possession is insanity. But may it not rather be that to-day some of the supposed insanity is possession? Be that as it may-and perhaps those who have the widest experience of ‘lunatics’ would be the least ready to dismiss the possibility,-Jesus recognised the reality that there were souls oppressed by a real personality, which had settled itself in the house of life, and none of us has wide and deep enough knowledge to contradict Him. Might it not be better to accept His witness in this, as in other matters beyond our ken, as true, and to ponder it?
The demons’ petition, according to the Received Text, takes the form, ‘Suffer us to go,’ while the reading adopted by most modern editors is ‘Send us.’ The former reading seems to be taken from Luk 8:32, while Mark has ‘Send’ {not the same word as now read in Matthew}. But Mark goes on to say, not that Jesus sent them, but that He ‘suffered them’ or ‘gave them leave’ {the same word as in Matthew, according to the Received Text}. Thus, Jesus’ part in the transaction is simply permissive, and the one word which He speaks is authoritative indeed in its curtness, and means simply ‘away,’ or ‘begone.’ It casts them out but does not send them in. He did not send them into the herd, but out of the men, and did not prevent their entrance into the swine. It should further be noted that nothing in the narrative suggests that the destruction of the herd was designed even by the demons, much less by Jesus. The maddened brutes rushed straight before them, not knowing why or where; the steep slope was in front, and the sea was at its foot, and their terrified, short gallop ended there. The last thing the demons would have done would have been to banish themselves, as the death of the swine did banish them, from their new shelter. There is no need, then, to invent justifications for Christ’s destroying the herd, for He did not destroy it. No doubt, keeping swine was a breach of Jewish law; no doubt the two demoniacs and the bystanders would be more convinced of the reality of the exorcism by the fate of the swine, but these apologies are needless.
The narrative suggests some affinity between the demoniac and the animal nature, and though it is easy to ridicule, it is impossible to disprove, the suggestion. We know too little about either to do that, and what we cannot disprove it is somewhat venturesome hardily to deny. There are depths in the one nature, which we cannot fathom though its possessors are close to us; the other is removed from our investigation altogether. Where we are so utterly ignorant we had better neither affirm nor deny. But we may take a homiletical use out of that apparent affinity, and recognise that a spirit in rebellion against God necessarily gravitates downwards, and becomes more or less bestialised.
No wonder that the swineherds fled, but, surely, it is a wonder that eagerness to be rid of Jesus was the sole result of the miracle. Perhaps the reason was the loss of the swine, which would bulk largest in their keepers’ excited story; perhaps the reason was a fear that He would find out and rebuke other instances of breach of strict Jewish propriety, perhaps it was simply the shrinking from any close contact with the heavenly, or apparently supernatural, which is so instinctive in us, and witnesses to a dormant consciousness of discord with Heaven. ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,’ is the cry of the roused conscience. And, alas! it has power to send away Him whom we need, and who comes to us, just because we are sinful, and just that He may deliver us from our sin.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LVI. Jesus Heals…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LVI. Jesus Heals Two Demoniacs].
LVI. JESUS HEALS TWO GERGESENE DEMONIACS. (Gergesa, now called Khersa.) aMATT. VIII. 28-34; IX. 1; bMARK V. 1-21; cLUKE VIII. 26-40.
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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 Rom_10:7, Rev_9:1, Rev_9:2, Rev_9:11, Rev_11:7, Rev_17:8, Rev_20:1, Rev_20:3. 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_20:1-3.] 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-- Mat_25:41, 2Pe_2:4, Jud_1:6.] 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 Mar_7:31-37.] 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]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (Greek - δαιμονίζομαι - "demonized"). (See Scofield "Mat 7:22").
possessed
(Greek - δαιμονίζομαι - "demonized"). (See Scofield "Mat 7:22").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Jesus and the Gadarenes.
Jesus and the Gadarenes.
v. 28. And when He was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
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On the east side of the Sea of Galilee was the territory of the Gadarenes, the Gerasenes, and the Gergesenes, the southern part of Gaulanitis, so named after the chief cities of the region, one of which, Gergesa, was located on the lake shore. Two demoniacs here ran to meet the Lord. As an eye-witness, Matthew states the number, although only one of the sick men was so exceptionally violent that he drew the attention of all, and is therefore mentioned in the other accounts, Mar 1:23-27; Luk 4:31-37. Their home was in the limestone caves along the eastern shore, which were also used for tombs. A terrible picture: The naked, filthy, raving maniacs terrorizing the neighborhood, too strong to be bound with ropes or chains, associated with darkness and death, with grave and destruction, a fitting setting for the devil’s power, under God’s permission.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Here the author returns to the theme of Jesus healing people. This begins an account of Jesus healing two demon-possessed men.
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to the other side
"to the other side of the Sea of Galilee"
country of the Gadarenes
The Gadarenes were named after the town of Gadara. (See: How to Translate Names)
two men who were possessed by demons
This can be stated in active form. AT: "two men whom demons possessed" or "two men whom demons were controlling" (See: Active or Passive)
They ... were very violent, so that no traveler could pass that way
The demons that were controlling these two men were so dangerous that no one could go through that area.
Behold
This marks the beginning of another event in the larger story. Your language may have a way of showing this.
What do we have to do with you, Son of God?
The demons use a question but they are being hostile toward Jesus. AT: "Do not bother us, Son of God!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Son of God
This is an important title for Jesus, which describes his relationship to God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
Have you come here to torment us before the set time?
Again, the demons use a question in a hostile way. AT: "You should not disobey God by punishing us before the specific time God has set when he will punish us!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
demon
grave
Son of God
time
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:28-34 This episode focuses on Jesus’ authority as well…
8:28-34 This episode focuses on Jesus’ authority as well as on the cost of following him; those who walk by faith will, like the Messiah, also experience opposition.
8:28 possessed by demons . . . so violent: Demon-possession was often accompanied by violence, revulsion at the presence of the Son of God (8:29), inability to speak (9:32; 12:22), blindness (12:22), seizures (17:15), and self-destructive behavior (17:15). With Jesus’ exorcisms, the power of the Kingdom broke into human history (12:28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.