Them there pigs were trying to hog Jesus limelight! All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat The most likely answer is to the country of the Gerasenes: i.e., Gerasa, a Greek town thought to be the same as the similarly-named Kersa on the east shore of Lake Tiberias. The demons are aware that He is there and they are frightened. 3. in which he transferred the demons afflicting a man to a number of swine, that thereupon Who owned the pigs? The vision stumped the poor apostle; clearly, Peter forgot about the amazing four Greek words of Mark 7:19b. Well, Ill try and explain that before the end of the sermon, but there were several titles that didn't get included in the sermon bulletin today. She suffers a more oppressive slavery than ever before not to human rulers but to demons, who are bold enough to enter synagogues on the Sabbat. Suddenly, Mark 5 is clear. Let's pray. The Spectators probably from all over the world! Those famous four are sufficient to back up the Church's bias and with them one could pretend they say, Christ is the [dead] end of the Law [of Moses] (Luther and Calvin taught this), or maybe it means something very vague like, an end of a law is Christ. For a more advanced discussion of the vague quality of the text have a look at George Howards scholarly article. For you Tolkien fans it reminds me of a character in the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. One day the prophet Samuel angrily told his king that God would not go back on His decision. And sadly, neither of the two Johns considered Gods extreme love for His Creation when giving their interpretations. Of course not. But it was what they loved and they preferred it to everlasting blessing in Jesus Christ. I would think that it shows that demons would enter anything that could be unclean including a human being. And if I remember correctly, I think there is some tradition about other Apostles going to Spain. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town. Third, I want you to see the change that results in this man after he is not only liberated from these demons, but after he clearly, because of a change of heart, becomes a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Search the web and you will find many opinions about why the pigs died. (Please dont hide behind that sensational dispensational chart. So why pigs? Without a doubt, both men know God never came up with the line, Third Fact: Not a fickle faithless Father. Jesus is going to tell him, You can't come with Me, but I do want you to go back and tell them what great things God has done for you. (Take that, Darwin.). Something else to ponder about the Son of God is his other title, The Good Shepherd: David, the son of Jesse, was another selfless, compassionate shepherd. Since I believe the word of God is our playbook for life, what is Jesus telling us? It pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a, Sixth Fact: True identity of the pig farmers. An inscr. Interested in joining the Ligonier team? WebGERASA, GERASENES (, ). You can follow him on Twitter. Isnt this what hes paid for? When they ask Jesus to leave, he does so without any objection; Jesus ministry will not be imposed on those unwilling to receive it. Instead of Jesus turning water into wine. The good pastor actually believes that a Jewish man can rationally decide the best sleeping quarters , In the end, the good pastors assumptions keep us, Just remember the wonderful folks in Jesuss hometown? Thats right, adding or subtracting from Scripture, according to Scripture, is illegal.
Thus, we are not surprised that there was "a great herd of pigs" feeding near the tombs where the Gerasene demoniac was living (5:11). You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. If a bunch of little children want a ball to play with and I toss them a grenade, am I off the hook if a kid pulls out the pin? Even so, the Bible never puts the worth of animals on the same level as the worth of humanity. WebThe name Gergesa has led to the supposition that the Girgashites, one of the seven Canaanitish nations, originally occupied this territory. (Matt 15:24). This software has many innovative features and you can trap a Bull or Bear in REAL TIME! Lastly, even if Mr. Pipers explanation were true, look what its application could mean. It is now called Jerash and is a deserted ruin. Once more, we have half of an unclear verse, that people use to make up a grand doctrine, all with the hopes it will magically annihilate one hundred clear, unambiguous verses which say the Law is permanent. But once the door is open, well, we see in this story what can happen when you give in, what can happen when the demonic takes over. Why do I say that book? Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture evolves. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's interesting isn't it? The pastors precious-people useless-swine principle was previously dreamed up by the 3rd century church father, St. Augustine of Hippo (quoted by Spalde and Strindlund), and he ran with it. In the Book of Acts, Chapter Nineteen, we read about Demetrius, a Greek silver-statue maker, who was connecting a few dots of his own and had reasoned that a certain big-mouthed Jew was bad for business. They know that Jesus can cast them into the abyss, into the lake of fire, into the bowels of hell, and theyre frightened. Luke 1:6 says, [Zachariah and Elisabeth] were both righteous before God, walking in all of the commandments and judgements of the LORD, guiltless. Sound like perfect obedience to me. As I hear, I judge and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. 8 ) Their pork was kosher, kept out of the camp for 7 days, and circumcised. They were people who knew him. So instead of working or hammering away at the embarrassing elephant in the room, the good pastors spoon out interpretations to us that are not biblical, or dish up corny one-liners, all in the hope that well swallow them or be too busy laughing to connect the dots ourselves. This food is unclean and defiling for you. Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity. This is the Just-believe-and-receive Hypothesis and the advocates thereof like to stretch Jesuss words, I came to fulfill the Law, and make it say that Jesus needed to destroy or replace the nasty Law, but hope to heaven it still sounds Biblical heres an example of stretchy talking from GotQuestions. After stilling the storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus lands with his disciples on the eastern shore of the lake. 4. Living in rural Central Africa villages for ten years, I heard many stories from locals about demon spirits living in streams and trees and boulders. Wasnt this just a temporary fix to a bigger problem? Was it correct to destroy so many for just one (or two men). Thus, in him, God found a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and 1 Samuel 16:1). Or are we with those who love what we want and what we have more than we love the Word of life from the only One who can give life? Therefore, by associating the two commandments together, and you catch some of the character of our Heavenly Father. Theyre written as factual history. However, it is anticipated that the following verses will be thrown up as excuses, as pat answers, and as proof that God has changed, the Law is fulfilled (a.k.a. This, by the way, is the miracle story that happens in Gentile land. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. the obscure phrase, (declaring all food clean), is magically transformed by the New International Version into, In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean, or into even lovelier prose like, By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in Gods eyes, by the New Living Translation (talk about making silk purse out of a sows ear). Two thousand pigs together is quiet unimaginable. This passage is fundamentally about Jesus. Good Pastor John MacArthur's funny option, The real Author(s) of the Law and the Commandments. I trust the Lord Jesus to know what to do with demons and what ought to be done. A wonderful verse that reveals Him to us and probably the most heartwarming is the commandment in the Torah that mother animals are allowed to stay with their newborns for at least seven days before the offspring can be taken for food or for sacrifice (, All of these commandments and more are still taken literally by many Jews today. Remember the story of Jesus casting demons out of the crazy man in Luke 8? When Jesus said that he had not came to destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), he was not talking to the Jews who already knew the Law was permanent, he was looking into future centuries and talking to those Christians who would try to destroy it. In fact, they beg Jesus to leave. The book ends on that very point. With these, Now the big-mouth irking this Greek artisan was our good friend, the Apostle Paul. Gods Word has to agree with Gods Word. Yet a number of objections immediately spring to mind. How could they say Christians not need be concerned about the welfare of animals or that they have little value, or even laugh about the death of thousands, when such beliefs are set side-by-side with Gods Word? WebBlog Uncategorized were the gerasenes gentiles Uncategorized were the gerasenes gentiles And was the Master doing the right thing sacrificing someone elses pigs. First of all, I believe Mark was attempting to warn his Gentile readers of the great danger of demonic influence and activity. Its flesh you must not eat. * And if one doesnt believe demons exist ..same question: why invent a false story to make the point that Jesus has power over demonic creatures that dont exist? (Quite likely David would have let the lion and the bear free, if not for the fact that they came back at him: 2 Samuel 17:35). Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. In the three Synoptic Gospels and, None of the verses below refute any of the. The vision had nothing to do with shrimp rings or BLTS. Some of Jesus's reputation for being normally meek and merciful comes from statements like: From Jesus's own mouth, we are informed of Gods special love and attention for defenseless animals and we know Jesus has the same heart for the weak. Amen. No one cares where he sleeps when hes busy trying to keep himself from killing himself. (, Therefore you should understand that the LORD your God, Because God is so steady, and doesnt reverse or repeal, He can be trusted to do what He promises; good or, If the Eternal One, blessed be He, had said just, But the Almighty said it so many times.