Many years ago, a dear friend and second-Mother asked me an intriguing question. That question comes to my mind multiple times each year even to this moment. Paraphrased, the question would be something like:
"If you could hold a dinner party to talk with any ten people, living or dead, other than the obviously invited guests of Jesus and the disciples, who would you invite and why?"
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Dinner Guest #1: The Man Possessed by Demonic Legion
The Introduction
And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them. And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region.
(Matthew 8:28-34)
They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had already been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain. And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. And then they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had previously had the “legion”; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the pigs. And they began to beg Him to leave their region.
(Mark 5:1-17)
Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out onto the land, a man from the city met Him who was possessed with demons; and he had not put on clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but among the tombs. And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; because many demons had entered him. And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding there on the mountain; and the demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs. And He gave them permission. And the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
Now when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported everything in the city, and in the country. And the people came out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. Those who had seen everything reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been made well. And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.
(Luke 8:26-37)
The History
Let's first look at two "discrepancies" often pointed out by bible skeptics.
First, keep firmly in mind that the biblical text has been scrutinized by believers and unbelievers for thousands of years. There has not been a "discrepancy" debated that has not been carefully examined, challenged, cross-referenced, or exhaustively thought through. Many such issues are often resolved at some point with new understanding and education through archaeological or textual evidence. For instance, to name just a few:
+ Hittites were dismissed as fictional, only known from biblical text, until the 1800s when archaeological discoveries confirmed Hittites had once been a dominant world power.
+ The legitimacy of the person and position of Pontius Pilate was questioned until the inscribed "Pilate stone" was discovered in the 1960s that dated to the time of Pilate confirming name, position, and region.
+ The dynasty of King David was questioned until an 8th Century BC script on the Tel Dan Stele was discovered that translated to "House of David".
Even now, there is no unresolved point of issue that that has any theological bearing on any essential Christian doctrine or core truth.
"Discrepancy" #1: One demoniac or two?
Matthew states there were two demon-possessed men while Mark and Luke only mention one. Logic reasons that if you have two of something, then you certainly have one. It is a juvenile and dishonest argument to make. If you were to tell me your local zoo has a lion, I wouldn't consider calling you a liar when it in fact I encounter five lions total during my visit to the zoo. It would then appear that Mark and Luke simply wanted to focus on one of the men in particular.
"Discrepancy" #2: Gadarenes or Garasenes?
Matthew identifies the region as that of the Gadarenes. Mark and Luke identify the region as that of the Gerasenes.
Gadara was a town nearer the Sea of Galilee. It's ruins are located at Um Qais, Jordan near the borders of Israel and Syria. Gesara is a town some just over forty miles further inside Jordan from the Sea of Galilee.
The land of and around Israel/Judea was not exempt from changes through conquest. In Alexander the Great's conquest in the 330s BC, his goal was to Hellenize the world and spread the Greek lifestyle. Then came the Roman conquest of the region in 63 BC.
The Decapolis was a league of ten predominantly Hellenized cities with their primary population being that of pagan Gentiles. These cities were Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Raphana, Dion, Pella, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Canatha, and Damascus. The cities of the Decapolis had been founded prior to first century, but were built up under the Greek and then the Roman conquerors.
One possible resolution is that it is simply a scribal error. It could easily be a misspelling or confusion between the two towns with similar names. There is a town called Gergasa approximately seven miles from the Sea of Galilee which is the modern town of Kursi.
Another possible resolution is the authors just used the two different designations for their original intended audiences. One may have just intended to relay the more precise location while the other generalized the location since both cities of Gerasa and Gadara are are technically in the region of Decapolis beyond the Jordan. It would be as if you tell one person you are travelling to Dallas, but tell someone else your absolute destination of Mesquite.
The point? These "discrepancies" affect nothing doctrinally and do not affect any core truth of the story any more than if you recounted attending a Beatles concert but mistakenly attributed it to an incorrect city. As the wisest Rabbi once said, "You are swallowing a camel and straining at gnats."
The Person
The demoniac remains unnamed to us, but to the people of that region he was known quite well. He had been terrorizing the region for an untold time. Perhaps his terror spread from Gadara all the way to Gerasa which is not an impossible proposition. He screamed in torment day and night "among the tombs and in the mountains", he constantly cut himself with stones, and he could not be restrained by the people breaking the chains and shackles they tried to subdue him with.
The demons in control of this poor man immediately recognized Jesus and His authority. They begged not to be condemned at that time.
The people of the region, and potentially travelers through it, had seen this man previously naked, filthy, scarred, bloody, screaming, and unable to be bound. Now they saw him clothed, calm, and in his right mind. Such was the transformation wrought in him that this now terrorized them, and they swapped their fear of him for being afraid of Jesus so that they begged Jesus to leave their land.
Once freed of the demonic possession, the exceedingly grateful man begged Jesus to let him follow him. Jesus told him instead to go into the cities and tell everyone what the Lord had done for him. (Mark 5:18-20, Luke 8:38-39)
While Luke writes the man went through the city proclaiming God's good work, Mark records that the man went through the Decapolis testifying.
The Conversation
The things I would like to hear in first-person testimony from the demoniac of Gadarene would include:
+ What was his earlier life like?
+ What had he become involved with that resulted in demonic possession especially to that extent?
+ Was he complicit with the evil of the demons, or was he watching as a helpless prisoner under their complete control?
+ What was it like facing the people of the cities who had previously seen him naked, scarred, bloody, terrifying, and wild in this new state of freedom by the power of Christ?
+ What was the remainder of his life like?
The Why
Not only do we cherish our own stories of transformation, we love to hear the testimonies of people experiencing the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We praise God with joy as do the angels in heaven.
But imagine experiencing, in person and first hand, the threat and danger of one of the most evil and terrifying people ever - Genghis Kahn, Pol Pot, Adolph Hitler, Caligula, Attila the Hun - and then having them come to you peacefully with a new and unrecognizable demeanor as they tell you how God rescued them from absolute evil and changed them into a new person.
If, like me, you look at the evils of your past and are even years afterward still moved to tears and extreme gratefulness for redemption from that junk, just try to imagine being rescued from that extreme state of lostness.
This one man's testimony would have potentially reached thousands upon thousands of people who had been formerly terrorized by him and unable to control him. How do you explain that manner of transformation apart from a holy and merciful God?
What a praise-worth story of redemption!
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