Chapter 5
The demon possessed man of the Gadarenes, here called Gerasenes. This seems to be by far the most detailed account of this incident. Whatever demon or demons possessed this man, had made him supremely strong, so that he could break chains. Previously, the people in and around there had been able to catch this man, and chain him up, so he couldn't do any mischief. But at this time, they could no longer "subdue" him. He was too strong for them. So they must have feared him, and avoided not just him, but the whole area of these tombs where he stayed. The boat Jesus is in must have landed right there at the tombs, and this man saw them coming and was on the shore when they arrived. I think it is clear also here in Mark that Jesus had told the demon to come out of the man. That takes place before there is any conversation. After being told to leave, this demon appeals to Jesus for "mercy". So Jesus has a conversation with the demon(s).
This verse:
10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. [Mar 5:10 ESV] This is a demon praying to Jesus. Petitioning Jesus for mercy. The demons name says that there were in fact many demons. Perhaps this tells us that their strength - physical strength at least, is additive. There were so many that they could break chains. Ahhh....but they cannot always break chains! They can be confined. And a stronger than they can drive them all the way out of those they control! This is how it works.
The phrase "out of the country" is interesting too. The demon liked it here. Maybe because those nearby lacked the resources to keep him in check. He had free reign here, and liked it. The demon "enjoyed" his time possessing this man and tormenting him and making him cut himself and cry out. He enjoyed the fear that must have struck into those who saw these things, and he enjoyed that they couldn't stop him. Then Jesus shows up with a bucket of cold water.
2025 - What does a demon really accomplish - or a whole host of demons in this case - by making a man run around screaming night and day, all over the place, and gouging himself with stones? It would lead to physical exhaustion and physical pain, but the demons would be careful not to let that go too far, because if their "host" died, they'd be looking again. So why not keep their host as healthy as possible instead? But they don't do that. Perhaps this was to demonstrate the power of demons over "a man" in order to convince other men that Satan - that demons - are to powerful to resist and so ought to be given sacrifices and even worship, lest they do to you what they're doing to this man. Hmm....now that I can see. That would apply also to the young man the demon was making throw himself in the fire and almost drown in the water. We know from Corinth that actual demons were being worshiped through the idols in the pagan temples there. This is what demons want - they want the very first commandment broken. They want to usurp the position of God in the lives of men. And their tactics are intimidation, threat, and fear.
The demons request permission to go into the pigs, Jesus doesn't suggest it. They don't realize that the pigs will go mad and kill themselves over this. Demons are not omni-anything. Jesus allows them to do as they wish. And the pigs drown. I don't know what happens to demons when the host drowns, and I don't know whether they needed permission to "exit" the man, or permission to "enter" the pigs. Maybe both. Jesus told them to exit, and they had no choice in this matter, but they did have "options" once they left, if they could get Jesus to approve it. So he had power over them, at this point, prior to his resurrection when all things are given into his hands. He was already over demons, and diseases, and sickness and such things.
Perhaps the demons learned a lesson here - for all time. You can't possess an animal. What demons are and what animals are will not mix. Their other choice seems to have been to leave the area. Other gospels tell us they didn't want to be sent to the abyss. A third option? They didn't want to leave the country - and compete with other demons already in those areas and jealous of their territory, to the abyss to await the last days, or hey, what about these pigs? Much to consider.
When the local people hear that 2,000 pigs have died in direct connection with this "uncontrollable" man being freed from the demons and calmed down, they are very afraid of the man who brought it all about. If they were afraid of the madman, why wouldn't they be afraid of the man who subdued him? And they may have been afraid that all their pigs were to be used for demon destruction. If they ate pigs they weren't Jews. Maybe their local superstitions made Jesus some kind of very powerful being that there religion labeled as non-benevolent? We don't really know.
2025 - Here is a curious thing to note:
19 And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." [Mar 5:19 ESV]. Look how 100% opposite this is from what Jesus told the leper he healed, the blind he cured and so on. Always he told them not to tell anyone, but here in this place, the command is to TELL EVERYONE! Why is that? What is different here? Perhaps the fact that these are all pagans, they are Gentiles, where in other places, it is the remnant of the 10 tribes that are there. Perhaps it was that there was a risk in other areas of political uprising in an attempt to make Jesus King that just was not really going to happen in the "land of the Gerasenes". But this is a huge contrast in what Jesus said in other places.
In fact, only a few verses later, in 43, Jesus gives strict orders to keep secret that he raised Jairus' daughter! But he had "crossed over" the sea of Galilee to get there.
Mark and Luke call this the country of the Gerasenes. Matthew calls it the country of the Gadarenes. Much has been made of this Biblical "error" in place names. There is a long note in the Harmony about this on p. 71. The place where Legion was is called both the country of the Gadarenes, or the country of the Gerasenes because there was a larger city there called Gadara. It was a ways from the shore, but was a larger city in that area. Right on the shore, in fairly recent times, archeologists discovered the remains of a village, a small place, called Gerasa. So in effect, Gerasa was a suburb of Gadara, and "in the country of Gadara. So both phrases are correct, one is just more precise. We might say that something happened in the Oklahoma City area, or say that it happened in the Bethany area and be correct both ways. So Matthew is saying "The Village" and Mark and Luke are saying "Oklahoma City".
Jesus gets in the boat and leaves again, and we get the story of Jairus' daughter being resurrected.
Again, with such an unprecedented event as the main subject of this episode in Jesus' ministry, why do they all throw in this story of the woman who bleeds being cured as if "by chance". That's how they couch it. She touched Jesus garment, and that healed her, though Jesus didn't even see her. Her faith did it for her, independent of Jesus' participation. I know we can't interpret it that way, but that is how they all seem to put it. Why is this detail included by all of them? MSB does not address this particular question. 2020-Well one reason might be that it is sort of stuck in here because this is exactly when it happened. So they all put it in the correct place chronologically. That would mean it isn't the writers who want it here, it was where God wanted it to occur. And since in other places, like when Jesus is in Nazareth, he talks about how they don't have enough faith to get the miracles like other places have gotten. So both the woman's receiving a miracle cure by faith, and Nazareth receiving almost nothing without faith, are to drive home the point. Hmm...Seems like one of these versions put the bleeding woman and the second visit to Nazareth quite close together. Maybe that's the point.
Jesus gets to Jairus' house, where the wailing crew is in full force. They laugh at Jesus when he says the little girl is only sleeping. They are "put out" of the house, leaving only the girls parents, Peter, James, and John. He takes the girls hand, and tells her to arise. She does so, and gets up and walks around. Jesus tells them to give her something to eat. And we know from other gospels that her spirit came back to her.