Jesus calmed the storm! And with the resulting tranquil sea, the disciples must have been in the midst of mentally processing His challenge to their faith as they quietly arrived on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.
The specific region was settled by gentiles, called Gadarenes, and was near Gadara, the capital of Peraea, one of the towns of the Decapolis. Most people avoided the specific portion of the coast because it was inhabited by a madman. Naked and wild, he lived among the tombs of a cemetery, preferring the company of the dead to the living. He was demonized and as a result, he possessed superhuman strength. He had "often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him" (Mk. 5:4). He was a walking storm, a tempest of a man, explosive and full of rage. He must have been a terror to all that lived nearby, every child's nightmare. He wandered restlessly in the night, and in the day as well. His howls were terrorizing sounds that penetrated the quiet darkness; and his propensity for self-mutilation must have made his body a collage of ugly and shocking scars. He was full of fury and inner torment. And that is why these two stories are partnered.
The Galilee story is about the storm outside; and this is the classic case of the storm inside. Suddenly a strange thing happens. As Jesus steps out of the boat, the first one onto the shore, the demonized man raced toward Him. Jesus had entered territory claimed by the madman. Perhaps the demoniac had watched the boat approaching, and as it drew near to the shoreline, he moved closer. But then he saw Jesus, who he had never seen before. And incredibly, He ran to Jesus. The spiritual climate had now shifted, and he bowed down before Jesus. Full of demons, he nevertheless fell in an obedient manner.
Here is the testimony to the Lordship of Christ over both the outer and inner storms. The Weymouth translation says, "He ran and threw himself at His feet." The Darby Bible Translation says "He ran and did Him homage," but the ASV says, "He...worshiped Him." And the Douay-Rheims Bible declares, "He ran and adored Him" (Mk. 5:6). His first assumption seems to be that Jesus had come to do as all the others had done, to add to his pain and torture. And divinely inflicted pain would be the ultimate of pain, "He shouted at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!'" (Mk. 5:7 NIV). It was a prayer. The NLT says it was more of a 'shriek' or a 'scream' -- "Why...Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me!" The ESV says, "I adjure you..." It is a prayerful appeal. The ISV says, "What do you want with me, Jesus?" And the NET, "Leave me alone, Jesus..." But, this was not a prayer of defiance, he was kneeling reverently. Nor was it the, "Don't you care that ['I'] we are dying?" prayer of the disciples.
There were two voices, that of the man and that of the demonic storm within him. Jesus rebuked the demons, the storm within, called Legion, and commanded him to leave the tormented man. The result was dramatic. Legion was a powerful enough force to inhabit an entire herd of swine. When he entered them, when the storm broke inside them, they panicked and rushed headlong into the sea. The pigs, unclean though they were, would not and could not tolerate such inner evil; they were driven to their own death.
Our ability, as humans; our tolerance for evil around us and inside of us is stunning - that is one of the subtle messages of this passage. We tolerate what animals will not, inner conditions that even pigs will not permit, though they are unclean and indiscriminate. We attempt cures that focus on symptoms. All attempts to rehabilitate the man had failed, all attempts to constrain and restrain him had been unsuccessful - they had all been focused on the outer man. Engaging him was out of the question, he was insane, out of control, a danger to himself and others, and that without a remedy. The solution for change was not in the outer man, but the inner.
The transformation of the man stirs the whole area, that and the 2000 dead pigs floating in the water. Those tending the pigs rushed to town to report the matter and a multitude gathered. It was not the spectacle of the drowned swine that shocked them, "When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind" (Mk. 5:15). The unclean were dead, and the formerly unclean was sanctified. The pigs, engaged by the demons had lost their mind, but the formerly insane was now lucid and rational, conversant and calm. Here was evidence, the aftermath and destruction of a storm; and that of one delivered from an inner storm. The Bible says of these gentiles, "They were afraid." The disciples had been afraid of the storm; the gentiles are now afraid of the Savior. Nature obeys Him; as do the demons.
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The specific region was settled by gentiles, called Gadarenes, and was near Gadara, the capital of Peraea, one of the towns of the Decapolis. Most people avoided the specific portion of the coast because it was inhabited by a madman. Naked and wild, he lived among the tombs of a cemetery, preferring the company of the dead to the living. He was demonized and as a result, he possessed superhuman strength. He had "often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him" (Mk. 5:4). He was a walking storm, a tempest of a man, explosive and full of rage. He must have been a terror to all that lived nearby, every child's nightmare. He wandered restlessly in the night, and in the day as well. His howls were terrorizing sounds that penetrated the quiet darkness; and his propensity for self-mutilation must have made his body a collage of ugly and shocking scars. He was full of fury and inner torment. And that is why these two stories are partnered.
The Galilee story is about the storm outside; and this is the classic case of the storm inside. Suddenly a strange thing happens. As Jesus steps out of the boat, the first one onto the shore, the demonized man raced toward Him. Jesus had entered territory claimed by the madman. Perhaps the demoniac had watched the boat approaching, and as it drew near to the shoreline, he moved closer. But then he saw Jesus, who he had never seen before. And incredibly, He ran to Jesus. The spiritual climate had now shifted, and he bowed down before Jesus. Full of demons, he nevertheless fell in an obedient manner.
Here is the testimony to the Lordship of Christ over both the outer and inner storms. The Weymouth translation says, "He ran and threw himself at His feet." The Darby Bible Translation says "He ran and did Him homage," but the ASV says, "He...worshiped Him." And the Douay-Rheims Bible declares, "He ran and adored Him" (Mk. 5:6). His first assumption seems to be that Jesus had come to do as all the others had done, to add to his pain and torture. And divinely inflicted pain would be the ultimate of pain, "He shouted at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!'" (Mk. 5:7 NIV). It was a prayer. The NLT says it was more of a 'shriek' or a 'scream' -- "Why...Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me!" The ESV says, "I adjure you..." It is a prayerful appeal. The ISV says, "What do you want with me, Jesus?" And the NET, "Leave me alone, Jesus..." But, this was not a prayer of defiance, he was kneeling reverently. Nor was it the, "Don't you care that ['I'] we are dying?" prayer of the disciples.
There were two voices, that of the man and that of the demonic storm within him. Jesus rebuked the demons, the storm within, called Legion, and commanded him to leave the tormented man. The result was dramatic. Legion was a powerful enough force to inhabit an entire herd of swine. When he entered them, when the storm broke inside them, they panicked and rushed headlong into the sea. The pigs, unclean though they were, would not and could not tolerate such inner evil; they were driven to their own death.
Our ability, as humans; our tolerance for evil around us and inside of us is stunning - that is one of the subtle messages of this passage. We tolerate what animals will not, inner conditions that even pigs will not permit, though they are unclean and indiscriminate. We attempt cures that focus on symptoms. All attempts to rehabilitate the man had failed, all attempts to constrain and restrain him had been unsuccessful - they had all been focused on the outer man. Engaging him was out of the question, he was insane, out of control, a danger to himself and others, and that without a remedy. The solution for change was not in the outer man, but the inner.
The transformation of the man stirs the whole area, that and the 2000 dead pigs floating in the water. Those tending the pigs rushed to town to report the matter and a multitude gathered. It was not the spectacle of the drowned swine that shocked them, "When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind" (Mk. 5:15). The unclean were dead, and the formerly unclean was sanctified. The pigs, engaged by the demons had lost their mind, but the formerly insane was now lucid and rational, conversant and calm. Here was evidence, the aftermath and destruction of a storm; and that of one delivered from an inner storm. The Bible says of these gentiles, "They were afraid." The disciples had been afraid of the storm; the gentiles are now afraid of the Savior. Nature obeys Him; as do the demons.
Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.