THE GOSPELS: LESSON 41:

THE GERGESENE DEMONIAC

TEXT: MATT. 8: 28 - 34; MARK 5: 1 - 20, LUKE 8: 26 - 39

WE WILL LOOK AT MARK 5: 1 - 20;

MARK 5: 1 - 13. JESUS AND LEGION

Verse 1: “They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.”

          After Jesus stilled the raging sea, they (remember there were several small boats) went across to the southeast coast of the sea of Galilee near to the city of Gergesa. Three different names are used in the text, but there is no great difficulty with that. Gergesa, where modern-day Kursi now stands was near the coast. Gerasa is just an alternate spelling for Gergesa. Gadara was the principle city of this area, and so all the country southeast of the sea was the “country of the Gadarenes.” The actual city of Gadara is some miles away, on the other side of the great Yarmuk Defile, so the miracle could not have happened there. The demoniac, who is almost always called the Gadarene demoniac, is more correctly the Gergesene demoniac.

Verses 2, 3: “. . . there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit . . .”

          Or, as we learn, a man possessed with MANY unclean spirits (demons). Matthew 8: 28 mentions two such demoniacs, but Mark’s story concentrates on only one of them. This demoniac (one possessed with demons) lived in or near the tombs, because the ancients thought that such places were frequented by the spirits of the dead, which some people would try to summon to make them wiser, stronger, or immune to death (as they imagined). This practice of calling forth the spirits of the dead is called necromancy. This particular demoniac exhibited superhuman strength, so he could not be kept bound with fetters or chains.

          In Matthew 8, it says this man was “. . . coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.” The implication being that he (and his companion) waylaid passers-by to despoil them of their goods. It is sad but true that men who seek the promises of Satan are usually left destitute, mad, and eventually imprisoned.

Verse 4: “. . . no one had the strength to subdue him.”

          This madman had the strength to wrench apart steel chains and tear ropes like rotten rags. It was no wonder he lived among the tombs, for civilization could not control him and so shunned him, probably with threats of death.

Verse 5: “. . . he was always crying out, and cutting himself . . .”

          What a wild, uncomfortable life his sin had driven him to! He wandered night and day, sleepless, crying out, and cutting himself with sharp stones. There was a war going on in his body between the man’s own spirit and all the invading demons. He was truly pitiful and yet, was also very frightening. The Jews said, “the sign of a madman, [is] that he goeth out in the night, and lodges among the tombs, and rends his garments, and loses what is given to him.” (From Gill’s Commentary.) However, this man was not mad, he was demon-possessed.

Verses 6 - 8: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

          Let’s get the progression of events clear.

1. Jesus sees the man approaching and immediately recognizes his plight.

2. Jesus calls out, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

3. The man rushes up to Jesus and falls at Jesus’ feet in reverence.

4. The man (or, rather, the controlling demon within the man) then cries out in a very loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

          This verse reminds us of James 2: 19,

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder.

Verses 9: “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

          Jesus asks the man his name, perhaps wanting to see who would answer: the man or the demon. The chief demon answers, “My name is Legion.” The man had been possessed long enough that his own identity was completely in thrall to the demons who possessed him. The word “legion” is the name for a group of Roman soldiers, usually 3,000 to 6,000. However, the demon used it in the sense of “many; too many to easily count.” The exact number of demons is unknown, however, it could be as many as two thousand, for that is how many pigs were drowned in the sea (verse13).

Verse 10: The demon begged Jesus not to send them out of that region. This area was not a region inhabited by Jews. It was a heathen land, full of pagans and some apostate Jews. Such a place was a desirable “hunting ground” for demons.

Verses 11 - 13: “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.”

          As the scripture says, a great herd of swine was feeding nearby, on the hillside. There were about 2,000 pigs feeding. That in itself should tell us that this was a pagan land, for Jews could not raise, touch, or eat pigs or any pig product. See Lev. 11: 7, 8. Wild boars were fairly common in the area, and may have furnished the “seed stock” for this large herd. The demons flew out of the man and into the pigs, which, in their madness, rushed headlong down the hillside and drowned themselves in the sea. Near Kursi (Gergesa) are many such steeps that lead down to the sea.

MARK 5: 14 - 20. THE AFTERMATH OF THE EXORCISM

Verse 14: “And people came to see what it was that had happened.”

          The amazed pig herders ran to the city (Gergesa) and told everyone what had happened. People then came out to see for themselves. This is much like what happened in Samaria when the woman at the well ran back to Shechem to tell the people what Jesus had told her. The reactions of the people are very different, however.

Verses 15 - 17: “. . .they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind. . .”

          The miracle was complete. The man was fully restored to his senses. The people, seeing this, were afraid. Witnesses to the miracle testified what they had seen. The inhabitants of Gergesa, rather than being thankful that this dangerous madman was healed, begged Jesus to leave their country. Why? Perhaps because, being a sinful and pagan people, they feared punishment might come upon themselves from such a one as this mighty prophet. Or perhaps having much invested in the swine trade, they feared Jesus, being a Jew, would destroy all their herds of pigs and impoverish them. Whichever was true, these men were more interested in their own comfort than in the salvation of their souls.

Verses 18 - 20: “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.”

          The man who was liberated from the demons had a righteous reaction to the miracle. He begged Jesus to let him follow him and be with him. Jesus refused the man’s plea. Why? This man was a Gentile. Look what Jesus said in Matthew 15: 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The time when the Gentiles would come into the kingdom of God was a few years away. (See Acts 10.)

          Jesus told the man to go back to his friends and tell them how much the Lord had done for him, and how He had mercy on him. And so the man went back to his home in the Decapolis (a province of Syria, which had ten cities, chiefly inhabited by Greeks) and spread the word. Later, Greeks came to Jerusalem and sought Jesus. Perhaps these were some of the men who had heard from the former demoniac about Jesus, the great miracle worker. (See John 12: 20, 21.)

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