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| Chapter 5 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him from out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not even with chains, 4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped Him, 7 and cried with a loud voice, and said, "What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not!" 8 For He had said unto him, "Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit." 9 And Jesus asked him, "What is thy name?" And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion, for we are many." 10 And he besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought Him, saying, "Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them." 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep place and into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea. 14 And those who fed the swine fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And the people went out to see what it was that had been done. 15 And they came to Jesus, and saw him that had been possessed by the devil and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 And those who saw it told the people what had befallen him that was possessed by the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray Him to depart from their borders. 18 And when He had gotten into the boat, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him. 19 But Jesus suffered him not, and said unto him, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how He hath had compassion on thee." 20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And all men marveled. 21 ¶ And when Jesus had passed over again by boat unto the other side, many people gathered unto Him; and He was nigh unto the sea. 22 And behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23 and besought Him greatly, saying, "My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray Thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live." 24 And Jesus went with him, and many people followed Him and thronged Him. 25 And a certain woman who had an issue of blood twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things under many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse, 27 when she had heard of Jesus, came up behind Him in the press of the crowd and touched His garment; 28 for she said, "If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole." 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned about in the press of the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" 31 And His disciples said unto Him, "Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, ‘Who touched me?’" 32 And He looked round about to see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done in her, came and fell down before Him and told Him all the truth. 34 And He said unto her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." 35 ¶ While He yet spoke, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain ones who said, "Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the master any further?" 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that had been spoken, He said unto the ruler of the synagogue, "Be not afraid; only believe." 37 And He suffered no man to follow Him, save Peter and James and John, the brother of James. 38 And He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw the tumult and those who wept and wailed greatly. 39 And when He had come in, He said unto them, "Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." 40 And they laughed Him to scorn. But when He had put them all out, He took the father and the mother of the damsel and those who were with Him, and entered in where the damsel was lying. 41 And He took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, "Talitha cumi," which is, being interpreted, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." 42 And straightway the damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. 43 And He charged them strictly that no man should know about it, and commanded that something should be given her to eat. |
The madman of Gadara. Matt 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-37. Jesus and the disciples travel across the sea of Galilee, through the storm, to the area of Gadarenes. They are met by two men who are demon possessed. Mark and Luke only mention that there was one man. Mark tells us that the man lives in the tombs and graves. People had tried to control him with ropes and chains but he had super strength and was able to brake even the chains. Throughout the night and day he moved around the tombs and local mountains screaming and crying out, cutting himself with stones. We have no information how the demons entered the men, but it may have been due to them living a life of wrong which opened their heart to Satan. These men had lost everything to Satan, they were outcasts, lost their homes and families. This shows us just what could happen to any who open their hearts to the evil of Satan. 1 Peter 5:8,9; Eph 2:1-3. Jesus now appears on the scene, the man sees Him and runs to meet Jesus and worshipped Him. "Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God." a real sign of supernatural knowledge, the man knew both the human name and the position of Jesus in the Godhead, so proving that the man was demon possessed who knew who Jesus was. Jesus commands the evil spirits to leave the man, He permits these demons to speak to Him, they showed what they believed "Why are you here to gives us a hard time before the judgement time," Matt 8:29; James 2:19. They knew about the final judgement and their future punishment in hell. v9 Jesus asks the name of the demons, Jesus asked the demon. The man is under the control of many demons, they answer "Legion." A Roman legion could have 6,000 men,how terrible it must have been for the man to be tormented by so many evil spirits. Jesus had come to release these men. The demons did not want "to be sent out of the country," to be sent to the place of torment, "the deep" Luke 8:31. It is good to note that these demons were unable to read the mind of Jesus and know what He was planning. There is no evidence in the Bible that Satan can read the mind of God or a believer. The demons requested that they be sent into the pigs v12. Obviously the demons did not realize what affect they would have on the animals. Did Jesus have the right to destroy 2000 pigs?. If the owners were Jews then they were breaking the commands of God about keeping pigs, but this was a Gentile area so the owners would probably be Gentiles. Note also Jesus did not actually command the demons enter the pigs, He just said they could. v14-17 The looking after the pigs did not want to get into trouble with the loss of the pigs so run to the city to tell the owners. When the owners arrive they can see the changes in the two men, they were new people, clothed and in their right minds. The owners only had one interest in life, money and business, instead of asking Jesus to stay and perform cures and miracles they wanted Him to leave so there will be no more damage to their businesses. v19-20 Why did Jesus not allow the man to come with Him? Jesus knew that the man’s place was in his home, he could be the first missionary to the Gentiles, he could show the love and power of the Saviour personally. v21-43 The woman with an hemorrhage and the daughter of Jairus. Matt 9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56. v21 Jesus was asked to leave the country of the Gadarenes but was welcomed back to Capernaum, especially by two very different people, Jairus, a man with a dying daughter and an unknown woman who is suffering from an incurable disease. Jarius approaches Jesus for help first. Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue, an important man, probably wealthy, but he was unable to heal his twelve year old daughter. It could have been difficult for him to ask for help from Jesus seeing that the religious leaders were out to remove Jesus. They set off for the home of Jairus. In the crowd there is a woman who for twelve years has suffered from a continual hemorrhage, she had seen many doctors and was now bankrupt, had no money left. The effect on her life must have been terrible, in addition, under Jewish Law, she was ceremonial unclean and would not be able to attend any religious ceremonies or have a social life. v27-29 Today, nothing stands in her way as she works her way through the crowd. She could have felt that her chance had gone when Jesus starts out for the home of Jarius, but she believed that this man Jesus could heal her. She had faith but it was very weak, she did not want to speak directly to Jesus, just touch the bottom of His coat. Mark 6:56. Jesus did not fail her, He responds to her weak faith. v30 The woman had planned to quietly slip away but Jesus new that His power had been accessed. In love He seeks her, obtains her testimony. Why did Jesus make her action public? He wanted her to know Him as her Saviour not just a physical healer, "Daughter, your faith has made you whole." This action also affected Jarius, he thought that time was essential for the healing of his daughter. It had been bad enough that the crowd had slowed their journey, now this woman had stopped Him! v35-43 As Jesus was talking, a servant comes to Jarius, "your daughters dead" When Jesus heard the message He turns to Jarius, "Believe and trust me," and they continue on to the home. It was easy for Jarius to trust Jesus while his daughter was alive, now she was past the normal possibility of being healed. God will sometimes delay until we reach the ‘impossible,’ that is when we need a strong faith. v39 They arrive at the house, the professional Jewish mourners were already in action, crying and weeping, leading the family in their mourning. This proves that the child was dead. "The child is only asleep not dead" was the word from Jesus to Jarius and his wife. 1 Thess 4:13-18 For a believer death is only a period of sleep for the body, the spirit goes to be with the Lord. 1 Cor 15:51-58. v40 The mourners did not believe Jesus, He sends the mourners out of the building and enters with the parents to where the body of the child is laying. v41 "Talitha cumi," is Aramaic for "little girl, get up!" Jesus adds "I say unto you," and by His power and authority her spirit returns back to her body Luke 8:54,55. The girl comes back to life and is also healed of her sickness as she gets off the bed and walks around. Jesus, caring for here body requirements, tells her parents to give her some food. Again Jesus tells the parents not to tell anyone what happened. |
Easy English Translation
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