“JESUS
CHRIST - A MAN APPROVED OF GOD (Acts 2:22)”
Miracle #15-
This
Gergesenes miracle takes place hot on the
heels of the Gadarenes man (Mark 5:1-4,5-8,9-12,13-16,17-19) and is a double reminder
that
in the mouth of two witnesses every word shall be established
(2 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 18:16).
Christ
proves once again, that he really, really
and trooly-rooley hath power over devils! There are two men and
they are
outwardly exceeding fierce, unlike the Gadarenes man.
Only
the gospel of Matthew records this miracle, as
Mark and Luke never mention the kingdom of heaven … a reason being …
that
Matthew is written to constantly reinforce to Israel that
Christ was God
manifest in the flesh (1Timothy 3:16) … and having power over all
creation …
the birds, the animals, the weather, and in this case the Devil
(Revelation 20:2).
With
this Gergesenes miracle, Christ was saying
“Look Israel, I’ve just delivered Gadarenes man, and now I’m faced here
with two
exceeding fierce ‘nut jobs’! Furthermore, even Satan knows that
I AM THE
I AM … why won’t you … seeing that the Devil is your father! (John
8:44; John
8:58; James 2:19)”.
The
account seems similar to Gadarenes man and is as
follows:
“And
when he was come to the other side into
the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two
possessed with devils,
coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man
might pass
by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to
do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us
before the
time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of
many swine
feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out,
suffer us to
go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when
they were
come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the
whole herd
of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and
perished in
the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways
into the
city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the
possessed of
the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus:
and when
they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their
coasts.”
(Matthew 8:28-31,32-34)
The
differences between Gadarenes Man and the
Gergesenes Two is as follows:
1.
The violence
of Gadarenes Man was turned inwards on himself (Mark 5:5) and not
toward others as with the Gergesenes Two (Matthew 8:28), such that …
He
seemed relatively harmless to others.
He
was ‘tolerated’ and left to his own devices.
Men
could pass his way unlike the Gergesenes
Two (Matthew 8:28).
2.
At
Gadarenes, the feeding herd was nigh (Mark 5:11) unlike at
Gergesenes,
where the herd was a good way off (Matthew 8:30). This
showing, that the
former herders would have felt more ‘safe’ with Gadarenes Man than the
herders with
the Gergesenes Two.
3.
The herders
at Gadarenes went into the city to tell them about the deliverance, and
others
came out to have a look (Mark 5:14). At Gergesenes, there was already
an
audience watching and waiting to see what Christ would do, so wide had
his fame
spread (Mark 5:20).
The
report from Gadarenes Man had spread very
rapidly (Mark 5:5), such that when Jesus crossed over to the other side
(Matthew 8:28) the Gergesenes Two had a ready-made audience, already in
attendance, to see what Christ would do upon his arrival.
4.
What Christ
did with the Gergesenes Two so was impressive, that the crowd of
onlookers fled
(Matthew 8:33), but with Gadarenes Man, it was different, as what
Christ had
done had simply made them afraid, but not with terror, but with
great
fear of the power of Christ (Acts 10:2; Luke 8:37; Deuteronomy 12:10)
5.
Such was
the power and might of the Gergesenes delivery, that the whole city
came
out to beseech Christ to leave their country (Matthew 8:34).
6.
Along with
Gadarenes Man beseeching the Lord (Mark 5:18; Matthew 8:31), the
Gergesenes Two
specifically mention “before the time” (Matthew 8:29) meaning
that after
the cross, their ‘time would be up’ and they no longer would be able to
have
Christ’s permission to move into other animals, but would be cast into
outer
darkness.
The
devils knew they would eventually be in torment
by not being able to inhabit animals and people … but they did not want
this before
their time was due.
8.
The
Gadarenes devils seemed to be less ‘harmful’ than at Gergesenes … more
society
approved, like Stuart’s inhabitation in an episode of Doc Martin on TV.
However, be not fooled Dear Reader, ‘harmless’ or ‘harmful’ … sleeping
snakes
or aggressive snakes … white magic or black magic … the angel of light
or the
thief that would kill (2 Corinthians 11:14; John 10:10) … they all
turn
violent (Mark 5:13; Matthew 8:32) and want to steal, kill and
destroy (John
10:10).
Harley
Hitchcock
This
website’s front page is:
www.
“JESUS
CHRIST - A MAN APPROVED OF GOD (Acts 2:22)”
Miracle #16-
Matt
9:20-22; Mark 5:25-28,29-32,33-34; Luke 8:43-46,47-48
Dear
Reader, Christ must have performed thousands of
miracles while on earth (John 21:25), however only thirty nine of
them
are specifically mentioned in the Bible … each of them
revealing a different
aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ, and each with a particular purpose.