Spiritual Warfare

Luke continues on with the account of this passage with the apostles and Jesus arriving in Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. Thanks to a wonderful website called Walking in Their Sandals located on the web at http://www.ancientsandals.com I am reprinting their information regarding this location so as to give the reader some geographic references.

Gadara is located on a steep hill, six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee and two miles above the Yarmuk River Valley.

Gadara was one of the Decapolis cities' Greek-styled city-states founded as a result of Alexander the Great's extension of his empire into the region. Predominantly Gentile, they reflected Greek and Roman culture and religious practices.

In Matthew's account (8:28), the demon-possessed men Jesus delivered were "of the country of the Gadarenes." The exact location of this miracle is questioned because Mark and Luke refer to them as being "of the country of the Gerasenes" (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26).

The Decapolis region was not clearly defined politically. Individual cities controlled their immediate areas, and sometimes these overlapped. The audiences for which Mark and Luke wrote would be familiar with Gerasa (Jerash) with its impressive temples, its theaters, and its hippodrome and elegant public buildings. Gerasa controlled considerable territory, extending even to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Matthew's reference to the men as coming from Gadara is consistent with the discovery of coins of that city that depict a ship and contain the word "Gadara." Further, Josephus mentions that Gadara possessed territory on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It is therefore possible to conclude.

Known as "the Athens of the East," Gadara required access to the lake for purposes of transportation and trade. Assuming that the deductions made above concerning the use of the names in the three Gospels are correct, the deliverance would have occurred near the present Ha'On campground on the southeastern shore of the lake.

The high ridge of the Lower Golan Heights that rises above the harbor of Gadara would account for the destructive descent of the swine when the demons entered into them. Further, the groves of oak trees on the plateau above would have provided the acorns they favored.

All three Gospel writers, then, are referring to the same event and the same participants. While Mark and Luke apparently identify the scene in a general way, locating the miracle in the extended region of the better-known city of Gerasa, Matthew, a Galilean, seems to be the more precise in his reference to Gadara.

NOTE: Most commentators have located the healing of the demoniacs and the pigs drowning in the sea at Kursi, about the mid-point along the eastern shore of the Lake. Support for this site includes the obvious high hill nearby (for the pigs to run down) and the discovery of tombs in the area, which Mark mentions. The connection between the words "Kursi" (used in the Babylonian Talmud) and "Geresenes" would seem to offer an attractive alternative to the more remote Gadara, perched on a cliff above the Yarmuk Valley. However, Mendel Nun, a long time resident of the area and student of the literature and terrain, concludes: "Thus, for one reason or another, because of the influence of the Gospels and travelers' accounts, Kursi is known in Christian circles by the names of Gergesa and – with no justification – Gerasa. Local residents preserved the name, Kursi from antiquity to our day." (Nun, 1989, 15).

The discussion here is intended to explore geographically and linguistically the problem of the variation of the place names as they appear in the text. Whether Jesus' restoration of these two men took place at Kursi or near the harbor of Gadara farther along the shore, is not of primary importance for our understanding of the event. Both locations lie within the predominantly Gentile Decapolis region. (An interesting consideration of the question can be found in the works listed below which reflect the contribution of recent research and discoveries not previously available.)

Historical and Biblical Significance

Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, apparently from the "Sower's Cove" near Capernaum, to the southeastern shore of the lake, presumably landing at or near the harbor for the city of Gadara (Matt 13:53; 8:24-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25).

In contrast to the deliverance of the demon-controlled Jews in Capernaum the same day, here in the Decapolis, a Gentile context, Jesus restored two Gentile men to normal lives. This miracle further demonstrated His person and power for His disciples, who earlier had been faced with the Pharisees' charge that the deliverance from demons in Capernaum depended on Satan's power (Matt 12:24).

Redirecting the man whom He had restored to witness to his own people, Jesus initiated the penetration of the whole Gentile region by one of their own. It may be significant that Damascus was also a Decapolis city, a city where a few years later there was a church strong enough to draw the Pharisee, Saul, to attack it.

Bibliography

Laney, J. Carl. "Geographical Aspects of the Life of Christ." Doctoral Dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1980.

Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.

Nun, Mendel. Gergesa (Kursi). Kibbutz Ein Gev: Kinnereth Sailing Co., 1989. that Jesus met these two citizens of Gadara in Gadarene territory on the southeastern shore of the lake.

I believe it to be important and necessary to point out geographic and historical links between the bible and our modern world. One of the excuses used to deny God and His word is to speak of Jesus and the places where He lived as not being real. They are in fact real and can be visited today.

Going on with Luke’s account, Jesus and the apostles were met by a man who Luke describes as homeless, naked and living in the local cemetery for a long time. This man had a history of violence and in the past had broken chains that restrained him and showed super human strength in other situations. As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell to the ground screaming. Luke tells us that Jesus already told the evil spirits to come out of the man and as they did, they recognized that Jesus was the son of God and they knew they were in deep trouble.

My pastor always says that acknowledgment of who Jesus is (son of God) is not enough for salvation because evil spirits acknowledge who He is and they aren’t saved. This account in Luke simply makes that point.

Jesus asks the name of the demon inside the man. “Legion” he replied. He stated that he had multiple demons in him and they all asked that Jesus not send them to the bottomless pit and instead asked to be placed into a nearby herd of pigs nearby that numbered about 2,000 head. Jesus honored their request and after that was done, the whole herd ran down the hill and drowned.

I will tell you honestly, that I will ask God to explain that one to me when I get the chance. However, this is what I learned from this account, so far:

1. Demons are real. They existed in the past and exist today. According to a bible study website located at http://www.biblestudents.com/htdbv5/r5058.htm Scriptures intimate that demons will have considerable to do with stirring up the great "time of trouble" and discontent with which this Age will close and Messiah's Kingdom be established. The Bible's explanation of how some angels fell from their original perfection and harmony with God, and of why they seek to gain control of humanity and commune with them through mediums, and why they personate the dead, we have not the space to present in this study; but as there are many today more or less under the influence of demonism...

Jesus gave the demons the privilege they requested, of passing from the man into the swine, of which there were about 2,000. The swine, like the man, were crazed by the strange outside influence which took possession of their brains. They ran violently down a steep place into the sea and were drowned. Meantime, the man, released from his obsession, was again in his right mind, and praised God for his deliverance. He desired to go with Jesus to become one of his disciples. He wanted to preach to others of the great deliverance which he had experienced and to tell them of this further proof that Jesus was the Messiah. But this was not in harmony with the Lord's judgment of the Father's will, and He refused his company, instructing him to go unto his own house and to tell his friends what great things the Lord had done for him.

He did so, and the people from all the region around who had known him as a crazy and obsessed man, marveled at his recovery and took note of the fact that Jesus had healed him. Those familiar with such matters claim that probably one-half of all the inmates of our insane asylums are persons obsessed by evil spirits, demons, without any organic disease of the brain. And alas! we see evidences on every hand that these evil spirits are paving the way for a great onslaught upon humanity.

Under the title of Psychic Phenomena spiritism is being examined by some of the prominent college professors of our day. They, like other spiritists, are deceived in [R5059 : page 217] supposing that the manifestations which come to them are from their dead human friends. The Bible alone makes the matter perfectly clear. It assures us that the dead have no power to thus communicate, and that all such communications come from the demons, who do not dare to tell who they are, for if they did, humanity would be on guard against them; and they, desiring to come closely in contact with humanity, personate and represent variously the dead.

Hypnotism, mesmerism, clairaudient power and clairvoyant power are all part and parcel of the same great deception.

We have television shows where the host claims to talk to the dead relatives of the invited guest. They and we, marvel at the intimate details that are revealed during the “conversation”. On another television show we watch a couple of fellows that are plumbers during the day and ghost hunters at night. I am a fan of this show as they set up their cameras and audio recording devices and manage to have me and other viewers watch them spend the night in some creepy, haunted building, recording their movements and activities around them during their vigil and then spend the remainder of the show sharing a few brief sounds or visions with the building resident.

These ghost shows and the aforementioned show that communes with your dead relatives and friends are all designed to convince us that a spirit world exists. They can save their breath, the bible confirms that we are at war spiritually, just read the following bible verses:

(Eph 6:12) "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

(2 Cor 6:6-7) "By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, {7} By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,"

(John 18:36) "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

(2 Cor 10:3-5) "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The last point that I want to make is that, like in the example in Luke, the only thing that an evil spirit will respond to is the name of Jesus Christ. I don’t care if you do this during a complicated church exorcist rite or simply just call on the name of Jesus, these spirits will listen and depart your presence. Because of the power associated with calling on the name of God, the seventh commandment says, You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Up until now, you may have thought it was blasphemy or bad taste to curse, using God’s name. The real sin, according to this commandment is the improper and misuse of the powerful name of God and is an actual offense against Him in that regard.

There is an interesting website that you should go to at http://www.billbean.net/index.html. Billy Bean is a fellow who has an interesting story and testimony in the power of God in a situation where he faced terrifying demons and his personal account is worth reading.