#60 Gadarene Demoniacs

#60 Gadarene Demoniacs

Please first read: Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39

President J. Reuben Clark Jr.:

“Crossing to the southerly coast of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus comes to the country of the Gadarenes; as he goes forth he meets two possessed with devils, who hail him as Jesus, Son of God and ask why he torments them before their time, and beseech him not to command them to go out into the deep but let them enter a nearby herd of some two thousand swine; Jesus permits this and the swine rush down into the sea and perish; the herders tell the people of the city who come out to see him, and seeing what has happened, they beseech Jesus to leave their country.”

Edersheim:

As Jesus comes to the shore the violence is vivid in the extreme. The absence of self-control; a homicidal/suicidal frenzy; a terrifying manifestation of demoniac power and influence. One so demonized seems to be irresistibly drawn to Jesus. It is obvious the demons [know Jesus.]

A characteristic of the demonized was they were incapable of separating their own consciousness and ideas from the influence of the demon. Their identity was merged and lost into that of their tormentors. There is the presence of superior power of evil taking temporary mental and moral control of the individual. Control seems to be absolute.

For those witnessing these events “there could be no doubt in their minds that one possessing supreme and unlimited power was in their midst.” They were a people living under the influence of superstitious fears and wariness. News of this would be spread around and much discussed.

At this time it was a common Jewish idea that under certain circumstances “hurtful spirits” were on the watch for men in order to acquire their bodies.

At the conclusion of the day’s events we find the individual involved now peacefully “sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning of him, and in his right mind.” Contrary to what was commonly the case, when the evil spirits came out of the demonized, there was no paroxysm or physical distress. 

Geikie:

There was no medical knowledge or facilities or ways to deal with and help anyone who became “possessed.” When fear and danger of being injured [arose] from one in this condition they were publicly banished from contact with society and forced to live where they could – hence outside the cities in tombs, caves, and uninhabited places. One such location is at Gadara, where this took place.

            “Madness in every form has, in all ages, been treated by the rude therapeutics of the East, as a supernatural visitation, with which it is unsafe to interfere more than is needed, and hence, even at this day, furious and dangerous maniacs may, from time to time, be seen in the towns absolutely naked. They often betake themselves to the mountains and sleep in tombs and caves. In their paroxysms they become terribly dangerous, for their mental excitement gives them prodigious strength, and one is sometimes a terror to a whole neighborhood.”

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:

Demons can control the very words spoken by the one possessed. Devils remember Jesus from the preexistence, and recognize and know who he is, the Redeemer. They know that one opposing him is in open rebellion against deity. Devils now suffer eternal torment because they know they can never gain bodies.

There is a set time appointed when devils shall have no more power over mortal men and when they shall be cast out into that eternal hell prepared for them. This fact is known to them, in consequence of which they labor with inordinate zeal to overthrow the work of God during the “short time” allotted to them. (Revelations 12:12)

At final judgement “the devil and his angels shall go away into everlasting fire.” 

(2 Nephi 9:16)

If the swine were owned by Jews it was a violation of their religion. If by gentiles it was illegal under local customs and laws.

Apostle James E. Talmage:

“The demoniac was in a pitiful plight. His frenzy had become so violent and the physical strength incident to his mania so great that all attempts to hold him in captivity had failed. He had been bound in chains and fetters, but these he had broken asunder by the aid of demon power; and he had fled to the mountains, to caverns that served as tombs, and there he had lived more like a wild beast than a man. Night and day his weird, terrifying shrieks had been heard, and through dread of meeting him people traveled by other ways rather than pass near his haunts. He wandered about naked, and in his madness often gashed his flesh with sharp stones.”

“The man who had been rid of the demons feared not; in his heart love and gratitude superseded all other feelings; and as Jesus returned to the boat he prayed that he might go also. But Jesus forbade, saying, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.” The man became a missionary, not alone in his home town but throughout Decapolis, the region of the ten cities; wherever he went he told of the marvelous change Jesus had wrought on him.”

Farrar:

As Jesus disembarked from the ship “there burst into his presence a man troubled with the most exaggerated form of that raging madness which was universally attributed to demoniasal possession. Amid all the boasted civilization of antiquity, there existed no hospitals, no penitentiaries, no asylums; and unfortunates of this class, being too dangerous and desperate for human intercourse, could only be driven forth from among their fellow men, and restrained from mischief by methods at once inadequate and cruel.”

Public belief at that time was that to recall a maniacs attention to his name, to awake his memory, to touch his sympathies by part association often produced a lucid interval. Jesus attempts to engage the man in this way, “What is thy name?” But that only results in wild antics.

The people were afraid, “more afraid of that Holy Presence than that of the previous fury of the possessed. The man indeed was saved, but what of that, considering that some of their two thousand unclean beasts had perished.”

Howick:

The demoniac had had devils a long time, was exceeding fierce, lived in the tombs, could not be bound, lived naked as a wild man, was in the public, injured himself with stones, recognized Jesus, fell down before him, worshipped him, conversed with him, pleaded with him.

The terms “deep,” “abyss,” “bottomless pit,” refer to “outer darkness” reserved for evil sprits at the time of final judgment.

Demons would prefer control over any body rather than none.

The witnessing Galileans were a superstitious people to begin with and were afraid. No wonder they wanted Jesus to leave.  

The three synoptic gospels report this miracle. John does not.

The Prophet Joseph Smith:

The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into a herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none.

Evil spirits have more knowledge and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth.

Anchor Bible – Mark – C.S. Mann:

The common ancient belief was that demons were associated with particular places/localities. The abyss was their place of final judgment and punishment.

Anchor Bible – Luke – Joseph Fitzmyer:

The story has all the features of a typical exorcism. Pagan tombs would be a source of uncleanness for a Jew and they would not go therein. It was easy to associate demons with the realm of death.

Is Jesus not being shown as cruel to the animals? Also he is causing the owners of the pigs a severe financial loss. Obviously such questions miss the point of the gospel story itself being recounted for a symbolic and religious purpose.

Pertinent Thoughts from Other Christian Scholars

The word ‘deep’ may mean ‘empty:’ do not cast out into the empty, or into the nothing.

“What is thy name?” In the JST Jesus commands him to “Declare thy name.” (Mark 5:9)

A first century general belief was that by using the true name of an entity this would give a person power over it.

Glenn R. McGettigan

April 2019

References

“Our Lord of the Gospels.” Clark

“The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.” Edersheim. 1883

“The Life and Words of Christ.” Geikie. 1844

“Doctrinal New Testament Commentary.” Volume 1. McConkie

“Jesus the Christ.” Talmage

“The Life of Christ.” Farrar. 1874

“Life of Jesus the Messiah.” Howick

“Teachings of Prophet Joseph Smith.” Smith

“The Anchor Bible, Mark.” Mann

“The Anchor Bible, Luke.” Fitzmyer

“The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ.” Volume 1. Holzaphel