Gadarene or Gergesene Demoniacs
J.J. Given Mark 5:1-20 And they came over to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.… I. CURE OF THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 1. The district. The country called Gilead in the Old Testament, at a later period and in the New Testament goes by the name of Peraea. It was south of Bashan, and formed a sort of peninsula, bounded by the Yarmuck (anciently Hieromax) on the north, Arnon (now Wady el Mojeb) on the south, and Jordan on the east. The part of Gilead between the Yarmuck and Jabbok at present Wady Zurka, is now Jebel Ajlun; while the section south of the Jabbok is the Belka. In this region was a district called Decapolis, from the fact of its being studded over With ten cities, all, except Scythopolis, east of the Jordan. Of these cities one was Gadara, identified with the ruins of Urn Keis, the capital of Peraea; while Gergesa was the name of a little town, identified with the present Kerza, on the Wady Semakh, opposite Magdala. Either the territory adjacent was named after one or other of these towns, or St. Mark and St. Luke give a general indication of the district that was the scene of the miracle, when they call it the country of the Gadarenes; while St. Matthew gives the exact name, when he places it in the country of the Gergesenes. Dr. Thomson, in 'The land and the Book,' says, "The city itself where it was wrought was evidently on the shore And in this Gersa, or Chersa, we have a position which fulfils 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 Take your stand a little south of this Chersa. A great herd of swine, we will suppose, is feeding on this mountain that towers above it. They are seized with a sudden panic, rush madly down the almost perpendicular declivity, those behind tumbling over and thrusting forward those before; and, as there is neither time nor space to recover on the narrow shelf between the base and the lake, they are crowded headlong into the water and perish." The name Gergesa has led to the supposition that the Girgashites, one of the seven Canaanitish nations, originally occupied this territory. Be this as it may, the district was pleasantly situated east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee, and the towns of Gadara and Gergesa were flourishing. The former was much the larger, and, according to Josephus, was rich - he says, "Many of the citizens of Gadara were rich men " - while that of Gergesa was of considerable importance. 2. A sad contrast. We cannot forbear noticing, as we pass, how much wretchedness may exist at the same time and in the same place with material wealth and mercantile prosperity, and amid all the beauties of natural scenery. This world itself all through is a strange mixture of mercy and of wrath; of the beautiful and the terrible; of plenty and of poverty; of sorrow and of joy; of sunshine and of shower. No April day was ever more variable. Here, in the country of the Gadarenes, with its well-to-do and wealthy inhabitants, and their profitable herds of swine, were two wretched creatures in extreme misery, both mental and bodily. While others bought and sold and got gain, these creatures were a terror to themselves and all around. While others occupied comfortable dwellings, these unfortunates tenanted sepulchral caverns which abounded in the district, and of which, as we have seen, some remain to the present day. While others were decently clad, or even gorgeously attired, these miserable individuals refused the decency of raiment. While others went at large, enjoying the sweets of life and that liberty which makes life sweet, these demoniacs had to be bound with chains and fetters (πέδαις, equivalent to shackles for the feet, and ἁλύσεσι, equivalent to chains in general). 3. The number accounted for. St. Matthew mentions two; St. Mark and St. Luke speak of one. How are we to explain this? The one mentioned by two of the evangelists was fiercer than his fellow; he was wilder and worse than the other. Or perhaps he had belonged to a higher class in society, and had moved in a better rank of life; or perhaps his position had been in some respect more prominent, whether owing to wealth, or profession, or education; and so the calamity that had befallen him was more conspicuous, and he himself better known. Something of this sort seems hinted at by St. Luke, when he speaks of the demoniac who met Jesus, as "a certain man out of the city. At all events, from any or all these causes St. Luke separates his case from the other, and singles him out from his comrade in affliction. 4. A distinct feature added by each evangelist. St. Matthew tells us that they made the way impassable for traveler's; St. Luke, that he was without clothing; and St. Mark, in the passage specially under consideration, that he cried night and day, and cut himself with stones. St. Matthew's narrative of this case is somewhat meagre, St. Luke's fuller, and St. Mark's more circumstantial than either. 5. The period in particular of demoniac possession. That demoniac possession was distinct from disease, or lunacy, or epilepsy, is sufficiently evident from a single Scripture, namely, Matthew 4:24, where we read that they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them." If asked why demoniac possession so manifested itself at the time of our Lord's appearance on earth, and not before, nor at least in the same way since? we must simply reply, in addition to what we have formerly said on this subject, that we can no more tell this than we can tell why small-pox manifested itself as a terrible scourge to our race at a certain time, and not sooner; or why cholera ravaged Europe at a certain period since the beginning of this century, and not before; or why that fearful plague, which the Greek historian has described with such graphic power and thrilling effect, never visited them till the time of the Peloponnesian war, and has never returned again, as far as history informs us, to renew its work of desolation there. But, though Scripture does not explicitly specify the cause, we can readily suppose a reason which has the appearance at least of probability. That reason we have already alluded to as found in Satan's well-authenticated powers of imitation, and we shall only subjoin in this place a few additional circumstances to confirm its probability. In early times, when the Lord afflicted Egypt with his plagues, and his servants, Moses and Aaron, wrought miracles in the field of Zoan, Satan had his servants there also, and Jannes and Jambres either possessed or pretended the power to work miracles too, counterfeiting or counteracting to the utmost of their capacity those of Moses and Aaron. From time to time, in the subsequent history of Israel, the Lord raised up prophets to instruct and forewarn the people; but who can be ignorant of the fact that Satan at times employed his prophets - false prophets to beguile and mislead? When our Saviour was on earth he warned his disciples that false Christs would arise and deceive many. Satan raised them up, and so history confirmed the statement. In like manner, when the Lord Jesus Christ had taken to himself a true body and a reasonable soul - when the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among men - Satan, by himself or by his servants, took possession of the bodies of men, cruelly torturing their flesh and agonizing their spirit. Nor are we prepared to say that demoniac possession has altogether ceased. We have seen men so act, and heard men so speak, and have been informed of such fiendish atrocity on their part, that we could account for their violent and outrageous conduct, or for their mischievous and diabolical acts, or for their horrid and blasphemous expressions, in no other way than that some demon, or the devil himself, had been permitted to take temporary possession of them. II. THE PAST HISTORY OR PREVIOUS STATE OF THIS DEMONIAC. 1. His madness. When we compare and combine the account given of this poor demoniac by St. Mark and St. Luke, as also the brief notice of both demoniacs by St. Matthew, we have a most affecting picture. He had lost his senses and become exceeding fierce, so that no man could tame him, and no man could in safety pass that way. To the folly of the lunatic he had added the furiousness of the madman. Reason had reeled and left the helm; the once goodly ship had lost compass and chart and helmsman; it was drifting along, the sport of furious winds and stormy waves. 2. His wretchedness. This wretched man had not lost life, it is true, but all that could make life desirable, or render it happy. Unclothed, uncared for, he had fallen back into the condition of savage life, and to some extent had sunk lower than the brute. Houseless and homeless, he led a vagrant life - now a dweller in the mountains, now a tenant of the tombs. His agony of mind was fearful. When not attacking others he acted the part of a self-tormentor. His cries waked the echoes of the mountains, or made the gloom of the sepulcher more dreadful. But cries were insufficient to vent the deep anguish of his spirit. He cut himself with stones, and, by making gashes in his body, sought to transfer his suffering from the mind to the body, or at least divide it between them. All this had lasted for years, as it would appear from the statement, "he had devils long time." Neither had he known much of respite or aught of relaxation; "always night and day" this sorrowful and suffering condition continued; no lucid interval that we read of; no pleasant period of relief, however short, that we know of. At times, moreover, he was deprived of his liberty. This had frequently occurred. "He had often been bound with fetters and chains," until, by a sort of superhuman power, he plucked them asunder or broke them in pieces. 3. The lessons to be learnt from all this. There are two lessons to be learnt from this part of the subject. The first lesson we may learn from it is the condition of the sinner, and the second is the hostility of Satan. Confining attention to the first, while we have examined the condition of the demoniac as a fact - a stern fact, and a sad one - we cannot help thinking that it furnishes us at the same time with a figure of what the sinner more or less is. He may, indeed, have the use of all his faculties, both of mind and body; nevertheless, he is a fool. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." He is beside himself; for we read of the prodigal, on his repentance and return to his father's house, that "he came to himself." Was ever folly greater than that of the man who prefers the trifles of time to the realities of eternity; who day by day barters the salvation of the soul for some gratification of sense; who, amid all the uncertainty of life, braves the danger of delay; who, not- withstanding the shortness of time, neglects from one season of opportunity to another, from one period of existence to another, the things that belong to his peace? What madness can equal his who treats all these things as though they were cunningly devised fables; who turns his back on God and his Word, on the sabbath and the sanctuary, on prayer and praise; who trifles with the great things of God until death stares him in the face, entertaining the vain fancy that a few tears, or prayers, or sighs on the bed of death will reverse all the past, make amends for a life of sin, and serve as a passport to heaven? That man is a demoniac in very fact, whom Satan so possesses, so leads captive at his will, and whose eyes he so blinds, that, though Providence is speaking with many a solemn voice; though his own frailty is pleading with him in the silence of his chamber, and during the night-watches; though mortality in sundry ways forces itself on his attention; though conscience is upbraiding, until it becomes so seared that it upbraids no longer; though the Spirit of grace is striving, as he has been striving long; though the Saviour with outstretched arms is saying, "Come, come and welcome," "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;" though the eternal Father is waiting to embrace the returning penitent, and swearing, "As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;" - yet that sinner, in spite of all, keeps running along the downward way to hell, plunging deeper and deeper into wretchedness, rushing upon ruin, and rushing at the same time against the thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler. If you exhort him, he is sullen; if you remonstrate with him, he is offended; if you reprove him, he is outrageous; if you speak plainly, yet affectionately, it may be he returns a surly answer, proving himself to be what Scripture describes, as "such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him." What though he is neither naked, nor houseless, nor dwelling among the tombs, nor bound with fetters! Are not the fetters of sin the worst that ever bound any man? "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death." Has not a course of iniquity clothed thousands in rags, yea, left them without anything like decent clothes at all? Has not drunkenness, or lewdness, or idleness left hundreds without either house or home? Does not wilful waste make woeful want? Who can ever forget the story of the prodigal, when" he would fain have filled his belly with the husks which the swine did eat," when "no man gave unto him," and when he said, "I perish with hunger "? Has not the devil's service brought many a man to his tomb, humanly speaking, before his time? for the wicked do not live half their days. We need not speak of the misery which the sinner feels when the iron enters into his soul, the bitter regret, the unavailing remorse, the terrors of conscience, the second death, and the smoke of their torment ascending up for ever and ever. III. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CURED DEMONIAC. 1. The great change. "The unclean spirits went out;" or, as St. Luke expresses it, "Then went the devils out of the man." Here was a practical exemplification of the Saviour entering into the strong man's house and spoiling his goods. The strong man was expelled by One stronger than himself. His terrible hold was loosened, his power paralyzed, captivity led captive, and the prey taken from the mighty. It is thus with every one who has been rescued from the grasp of Satan, who has been "snatched as a brand out of the burning," who has been convinced of sin and its attendant miseries and everlasting wretchedness, who has been enlightened with the knowledge of the grace and mercy of the Saviour, whose will has been renewed by the Spirit of God, and who has thus been made willing in the day of Divine power. Oh that the time may soon come, when in every land, and through all parts of the habitable globe, God in his great mercy shall open the blind eyes, and smite the fetters off the gyved limbs, and emancipate the oppressed of Satan, setting the captives for ever free! 2. Evidences of the change. People were curious to see the mighty miracle that had been wrought, and came to Jesus to see the strange sight about which, no doubt, they had heard much. And, arriving at the place, they "see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting. Ah! there is a change, and clear evidence of it. What a subject for a painting! The madman is come to his right mind; the maniac is tamed; reason, that godlike faculty, is restored; his fierceness is subdued. The anguish of his spirit has subsided; his wild cries have ceased; his self-inflicted bodily pains - those shocking wounds - are healed. People talk of the man who could tame the most savage horses, and hold them for a time as if spell-bound; they speak of menagerie-men who can tame lions and conquer bears; they laud the poet's comic humor in his piece entitled 'The Taming of the Shrew;' but the taming of shrew, or lion, or bear, or horse is nothing compared with the taming of this demoniac man, or of any other man whose fierce passions have been let loose, whose soul and body have been subjected to Satan's sway, and whoso wicked and wayward career has been marked with as bad, if not worse, than demoniac madness. There he sits! as though the lion had become a lamb; as though the tiger had forgotten his fury, and laid aside his fierceness; as though the bear had changed its nature, and become a mild domestic creature - an emblem of that better day when all men shall become such, and a foreshadow of that coming time which the prophet describes so beautifully, when the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together." 3. His posture a proof of docility. There he sits, with the docility of the child and the guileless simplicity of the Christian. There he sits, as Saul did in the days of his youth, an apt scholar at the feet of Gamaliel. Rather, there he sits, as Mary, at the feet of the same Saviour who bestowed on her the high encomium, "One thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen the good part, that shall not be taken away from her." There he sits, with thoughtful countenance and attentive mind, and listening ear, to drink in every word that falls from the Saviour's lips. There he sits, humbly at the Saviour's feet, while his eye rests placidly on that Saviour's face, as though he said, "Lord, how I love thee for all thy grace to me! Lord, what wilt thou have me to do, that I may express that warm love which glows in my breast, and exhibit the effects of that wondrous grace?" It is thus with every converted sinner. We sit at Jesus' feet, and whether he speaks himself to us in his Word, or by his servants who preach to us from that Word, or by his Spirit who applies that Word, it is all the same. Willingly we will lose no lesson, we will miss no opportunity, we will neglect no means of grace, where we expect that Jesus will manifest himself to our souls and talk to us by the way, opening to us the Scriptures. The whole of the hundred and nineteenth psalm is a commentary on this teachableness of spirit, and willingness to sit at the Master's feet; vers. 33-40 inclusive may be specially read in this connection. Down to old age we will sit at the Saviour's feet, in order to learn of him. like Simeon, like Anna, like the picture of the righteous set before us in the ninety-second psalm, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Now, who are they, and where are they, that flourish so? "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." And when and why do they flourish so? "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age," and "to show that the Lord is upright." We are bound to make all due allowance for the decay of nature and such weakness as is incident to the decline of life; but it is distressing to find at times the aged magnifying their infirmities as an excuse for absenting themselves from the house of God; worse still, perhaps, when they stay away without pretending any excuse. It is one of the worst signs; for none that ever truly followed the Lord in youth or in maturity ever forsook him in old age. We remember well seeing a very old man, much above ninety years of age, helped into his pew in church every sabbath; and there was the patriarchal man leaning on his staff, as he sat at Jesus' feet, a devout and venerable and earnest worshipper. Even when age may have blunted the faculties and dulled the hearing, it is still our duty to forsake not the assembling of ourselves with the people of God. We knew the case of a deaf man who, though he could not hear a word preached, came regularly to church, because, as he said, he could see to read the psalms and lessons and other parts of the service, and in any case could help the attendance by his presence and example. 4. His place of safety wets there. This demoniac sat at Jesus' feet for safety. May we suppose that he had heard of the man, of whom we read in the parallel passage of another Gospel (Luke 11.), from whom the unclean spirit, having gone out, came back again with seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entered in and dwelt there, so that "the last state of that man was worse than the first"? At all events, he felt that there was no safety but in nearness to Christ; and this is the proper sentiment for every follower and friend of Jesus to entertain. When Peter followed Christ afar off, Peter fell. Nearness to Christ is safety, separation or distance from him is insecurity and danger. We need his grace, for by it we stand; his strength, for by it we are fortified against temptation; his blood, for by it we are cleansed, and we need a fresh application of it daily; his sacrifice, it is the ground of our acceptance, and we must look to it always; his example, it must be our daily pattern; his faith, "the life which we now live in the flesh we must live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us;" his person, "Christ in you, the hope of glory;" his presence, it is our comfort, for he has said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee;" his protection, that, where Satan would sift us as wheat, he may intercede for us, that our faith fail not; his love, to keep up the flame, that would otherwise burn low or go out altogether. 5. His clothing evidence of restored sanity. He was sitting as a scholar at Jesus' feet, as also for safety, as we have seen; he was clothed, and in his right mind, the former being, as well as his sitting, evidence of the latter. We dislike and disapprove of those naked figures which we see in books and paintings and statues; of whatever use they may be to the anatomist or painter or statuary, they are, we think, unsuitable to Christian refinement and inconsistent with Christian purity. Their usefulness to people in general is questionable. The passions of fallen humanity are bad enough of themselves, and in their own nature, without exciting them. The demoniac cured by our Lord is clothed; the sinner converted to Christ is clothed likewise. When brought to the foot of the cross, and seated at the feet of Jesus, he is clothed. He has on the" fine linen, clean and white," which is "the righteousness of saints." He is "found in Christ, not having on his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is by the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith." He has obeyed the precept, accepted the advice, feeling the benefit of the counsel, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." A practical question is here suggested. Do you, reader, possess that robe? It is put on by the hand of faith. Have you that precious faith? If not - if you have not already "good hope through grace," pray for that faith. Do not be ashamed or afraid to do so. Do not neglect or delay to ask it. Ask the Holy Spirit to work faith in your heart, and so unite you to Christ, for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;" and God gives his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. 6. Restoration to reason. His mind is right about sin, as "that abominable thing which God hates," and hurtful to man as hateful to God; right about Satan, "as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" - " a murderer from the beginning;" right about the Saviour, as "the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely;" and right about holiness, as the way of happiness and the way to heaven. IV. THE POWER THAT RESCUED THE DEMONIAC FROM WRETCHEDNESS AND RUIN. 1. The greatness of that power. The possession of this demoniac was something singularly shocking. It was not one demon, but many, that had made him their prey. "My name," he said, "is legion: for we are many." The name is a latin name, and denotes a levying or enlisting, then, a body of troops so levied. The full complement of a Roman legion was six thousand infantry, and a squadron of three hundred cavalry. Each legion was divided into ten cohorts; each cohort into three maniples; and each maniple into two centuries. Then again, when arrayed in order of battle, there were three lines - Principes, Hastati, and Triari! What a formidable host! How powerful, and how numerous! The host and the hostility, the multitude and the enmity, the strength and the skill thus conveyed by the name here applied to the demons which had had possession of this man, are fearful to contemplate. Yet the power of Christ expelled them, mighty, multitudinous, and malicious though they were. It was the power of Christ did it all. Demons owned that power. They had faith in him, but not of the right sort; "they believed, and trembled." So here they feared he was coming to judge them and consign them to torment before the time. Jesus has the self-same power still; "he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." 2. The miserable home of those demons. They would rather go anywhere than go home. They trembled at the power of Christ, while they dreaded the torments he will one day inflict. They would rather enter into swine, rather go into the sea, rather go into the worst and filthiest spot of earth, than go back into the deep abyss of hell. It was not the abyss of earth or the abyss of ocean, but the abysmal depth of that unfathomed pit of hell, which they so much dreaded. And oh! are sinners not afraid of rushing with eyes open into that dreadful, deep abyss? 3. Their fiendish malice. Now that they are cast out, and can no longer destroy their victim, they are actuated by demon-like malevolence, and try to keep others from the Saviour by causing the loss of their swine. In this way they seek to prejudice and even enrage them against the Saviour. They seem to have succeeded, for the Gadarenes "began to pray him to depart out of their coasts." 4. The sufferings of the brute creation. Why, it may naturally enough be asked, are poor dumb animals subjected to sufferings? Or how is it possible that the demons could exert any influence of the kind stated upon them? In reply to the latter question, it may be sufficient to mention the influence which man exerts upon animals such as the dog, the horse, the elephant, in the way of training and teaching. If animals are thus receptive of human influence, why-should they not be receptive of other and, in some respects, more powerful influence? Why should they not be accessible to, and receptive of, demoniac influence, as well as that of men? The other question stands on different ground. The lower animals, placed under man's control at the first, and granted to man for useful service, share to some extent in man's Varying fortunes, and are entitled to humane and kind treatment at the hands of man; but that they suffered in consequence of man's fall and sin is, we think, unquestionable. Their position now is abnormal just as man's own position is abnormal, for does not "the whole creation groan and travail in pain together until now"? Besides, they often suffer, in common with man, in special disasters - such as conflagrations, shipwrecks, and catastrophes of similar kinds. 5. A mixture of mercy and judgment. While mercy was shown to the demoniac in his miraculous cure, judgment was inflicted on the owners of the swine for their sin. Jesus performed the act of mercy, and permitted the exercise of the other. The demons could not have moved an inch without his permission. This side of the miracle was judgment, and well deserved. Who were these Gadarenes or Gergesenes? Were they Gentiles or were they Jews? If the former - if Gentiles, they were tempting their Jewish neighbors, and they had no right to do that. If they were Jews, they were breaking the law of God, and they could not long expect to prosper, and to continue doing that. If they were Jewish proprietors, who employed Gentile swineherds for the purpose of tending and herding their swine, they were both sinning themselves and tempting others to sin; and so both partook of the result and shared the consequences of their crime. Here, too, we must notice the hardening effect of sin long persevered in. These Gadarenes, whatever their nationality, whether Jew or Gentile, had become like swine themselves - swinish in spirit and disposition. They actually preferred their swine to the Saviour, and "besought him to depart out of their coasts! " - J.J.G. Parallel Verses KJV: And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. WEB: They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.