{"id":51866,"date":"2014-12-16T17:06:46","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?page_id=51866"},"modified":"2014-12-16T17:48:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:48:36","slug":"chapter-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/commentary\/mark\/chapter-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac<\/span><\/h3>\n

5\u00a0<\/span>They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Ger\u2032asenes.\u00a0<\/span>2\u00a0<\/sup>And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, <\/span>3\u00a0<\/sup>who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; <\/span>4\u00a0<\/sup>for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. <\/span>5\u00a0<\/sup>Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The symbolism of mankind here is powerful: unclean, among the dead, unrestrained, crying aloud and self-destructive.<\/p>\n

6\u00a0<\/sup>And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him; <\/span>7\u00a0<\/sup>and crying out with a loud voice, he said, \u201cWhat have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The demon recognizes Jesus.<\/p>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>For he had said to him, \u201cCome out of the man, you unclean spirit!\u201d <\/span>9\u00a0<\/sup>And Jesus\u00a0asked him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d He replied, \u201cMy name is Legion; for we are many.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of the Roman occupation…<\/p>\n

10\u00a0<\/sup>And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country. <\/span>11\u00a0<\/sup>Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

indicative that it’s a Gentile area.<\/p>\n

12 <\/sup>…and they begged him, \u201cSend us to the swine, let us enter them.\u201d <\/span>13\u00a0<\/sup>So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Evocative of the exodus from Egypt and the death of the Egyptians.<\/p>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup>The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. <\/span>15\u00a0<\/sup>And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. <\/span>16\u00a0<\/sup>And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. <\/span>17\u00a0<\/sup>And they began to beg Jesus\u00a0to depart from their neighborhood. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly this guy was bad for business!<\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. <\/span>19\u00a0<\/sup>But he refused, and said to him, \u201cGo home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.\u201d <\/span>20\u00a0<\/sup>And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decap\u2032olis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus sends the man to be an evangelist through his witness.<\/p>\n

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed<\/span><\/h3>\n

21\u00a0<\/sup>And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was beside the sea. <\/span>22\u00a0<\/sup>Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Ja\u2032irus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, <\/span>23\u00a0<\/sup>and besought him, saying, \u201cMy little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.\u201d <\/span>24\u00a0<\/sup>And he went with him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first piece of bread in a Marken Sandwich.<\/p>\n

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We are about to find the meat of the Marken Sandwich.<\/p>\n

25\u00a0<\/sup>And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She was ritually unclean.<\/p>\n

The number twelve is evocative of Israel.<\/p>\n

<\/span>26\u00a0<\/sup>…and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not only was she ill and unclean, but she had suffered much in her attempts to get well, losing all she had.<\/p>\n

<\/span>27\u00a0<\/sup>She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. <\/span>28\u00a0<\/sup>For she said, \u201cIf I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She has great faith.<\/p>\n

29\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. <\/span>30\u00a0<\/sup>And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, \u201cWho touched my garments?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a rhetorical question.<\/p>\n

31\u00a0<\/sup>And his disciples said to him, \u201cYou see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, \u2018Who touched me?\u2019\u201d <\/span>32\u00a0<\/sup>And he looked around to see who had done it. <\/span>33\u00a0<\/sup>But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. <\/span>34\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to her, \u201cDaughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus calls her like he was a father.<\/p>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler\u2019s house some who said, \u201cYour daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We now return to the second piece of bread in the Marken Sandwich…<\/p>\n

36\u00a0<\/sup>But ignoring[d<\/a>]<\/sup> what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, \u201cDo not fear, only believe.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus ignores the report and encourages Jairus to have faith.<\/p>\n

37\u00a0<\/sup>And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Inner circle again.<\/p>\n

38\u00a0<\/sup>When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. <\/span>39\u00a0<\/sup>And when he had entered, he said to them, \u201cWhy do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To Jesus, bringing her back to life is as simple as it would be for us to wake a sleeping girl.<\/p>\n

40\u00a0<\/sup>And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child\u2019s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus also brings the parents as witnesses.<\/p>\n

41\u00a0<\/sup>Taking her by the hand he said to her, \u201cTal\u2032itha cu\u2032mi\u201d; which means, \u201cLittle girl, I say to you, arise.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mark translates for his Gentile audience.<\/p>\n

42\u00a0<\/sup>And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Again, twelve is symbolic.<\/p>\n

And immediately they were overcome with amazement. <\/span>43\u00a0<\/sup>And he strictly charged them that no one should know this,\u00a0<\/span>and told them to give her something to eat.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus shows care for her. He is also demonstrating that she is truly risen and not just a ghost.<\/p>\n

Return to Chapter Index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac 5\u00a0They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Ger\u2032asenes.\u00a02\u00a0And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3\u00a0who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; 4\u00a0for he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":51781,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-51866","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51866"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51893,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51866\/revisions\/51893"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}