Isaiah 46:1-13

46:1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops,

their idols are on beasts and cattle;

these things you carry are loaded

as burdens on weary animals.

2 They stoop, they bow down together;

they cannot save the burden,

but themselves go into captivity.

3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob,

all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been borne by me from your birth,

carried from the womb;

4 even to your old age I am he,

even when you turn gray I will carry you.

I have made, and I will bear;

I will carry and will save.

5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal,

and compare me, as though we were alike?

6 Those who lavish gold from the purse,

and weigh out silver in the scales–

they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;

then they fall down and worship!

7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,

they set it in its place, and it stands there;

it cannot move from its place.

If one cries out to it, it does not answer

or save anyone from trouble.

8 Remember this and consider,

recall it to mind, you transgressors,

9 remember the former things of old;

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like me,

10 declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, “My purpose shall stand,

and I will fulfill my intention,”

11 calling a bird of prey from the east,

the man for my purpose from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;

I have planned, and I will do it.

12 Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,

you who are far from deliverance:

13 I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off,

and my salvation will not tarry;

I will put salvation in Zion,

for Israel my glory. (Isaiah 46:1-13, NRSV)

On January 20, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from January 22, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One); they are repeated again here:

The LORD, speaking through Isaiah, proclaims a final critique of Babylonian idolatry. “Bel bows down,” he says, and “Nebo stoops” (Isa. 46:1a). “Bel is another name for Marduk, the chief deity of Babylon. His son, Nebo (Akkadian Nabû), became an increasingly important deity during the last century of Babylonian independence” (Benjamin D. Sommer, The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 877, on Isa,. 46:1). Israel’s LORD mocks these Babylonian gods: “their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary animals” (v. 1b, c, d). “They stoop,” says the LORD, “they bow down together; / they cannot save the burden, / but themselves go into captivity (v. 2). These Babylonian gods cannot support their human worshippers, but must be moved on beasts of burden. Sommer notes the word “carry” (v. 1c), and defines it as “Carry [in procession],” adding that “the Babylonians paraded statues of their gods through the city on major holidays such as the Akitu or New Year festival” (ibid.). Joseph Blenkinsopp has a different understanding. “”The statues of Bel-Marduk, principal Babylonian deity (Jer. 50:2), and his son Nebo (Nabu), patrons of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty, are represented as being carried to safety from the threatened city of Babylon” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Isa. 46:1-2). While Sommer’s observation regarding holiday processions is undoubtedly true, the reference to “captivity” here (v. 46c NRSV & NJPS) favor’s Blenkinsopp’s understanding. But Blenkinsopp does suggest a comparison with “the New Year festival procession” in comment on verses 5-7.

On the other hand, Israel’s God does not need to be carted around and protected; rather the LORD addresses the “house of Jacob” and “all who have been borne by me from your birth, / carried from the womb” (v 3). “Even to your old age,” he says, “I am he, / even when you turn gray I will carry you. / I have made, and I will bear; / I will carry and I will save” (v. 4). Can the contrast be more plain between the Babylonian gods who must be carried around wherever they go by their worshippers, and the LORD God who “carries” and sustains his people? According to Sommer, “The maternal image of the LORD is significant here. Cf. 42:13-14; 45:10; 49:14-15; 66:13" (op. cit., p. 878, on vv. 3-4).

The LORD presses his point that nothing–certainly not the Babylonian gods–can compare to him. “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, / and compare me, as though we were alike?” (v. 5). Those who worship idols must have them made. They must “lavish gold from the purse, / and weigh out silver in the scales–they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god; / then they fall down and worship!” The irony is evident. We then, perhaps come to the reference to religious processionals for the idols (cf. above). “They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, / they set it in its place, and it stands there; / it cannot move from its place. / If one cries out to it, it does not answer / or save anyone from trouble” (v. 7).

John Oswalt reminds us that “few in the Western world have idols that they carry with them from place to place” (Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary, 2003, p. 524, on 45:14-46:13). But he adds that this passage speaks to us because many have “a whole host of gods, and the burden is killing them:” He refers to

all the things that have come to replace God in our lives–perhaps a job, a house, a car, a love relationship, or even one’s self-image. . . . These are the things that give us our sense of identity and meaning in life . . . but the burdens they impose are devastatingly heavy. Instead of our using them, they use us, and the results are all around us. To escape them, we must have increasingly stimulating and exciting diversions, but then the diversions themselves become a burden. (ibid., pp. 524-25)

Oswalt says “the pagans personalized all these, but they were seeking in the gods what we seek in these” (ibid., p. 524). The answer for us, “We must stop carrying those things and let the One who is in fact carrying us anyway do it for us” (ibid., p. 525). Can we trust God?

In the following stanzas, the LORD calls upon his people to trust him. “Remember this and consider,” he says; “recall it to mind, you transgressors, / remember the former things of old; / for I am God, and there is no other; / I am God, and there is no one like me” (vv. 8, 9). The LORD refers again to the proof from prophecy. As the God whom no other is like, he declares “the end from the beginning / and from ancient times things not yet done” (v. 10a, b). The LORD’s purpose will stand, he says fulfilling his intention (v. 10c, d), which in this case, means his intention to use Cyrus, the “bird of prey from the east” (v. 11a), calling him “from a far country” to fulfill God’s “purpose” (v. 11b). The LORD has planned this, and will do it. The LORD reminds the “stubborn of heart,” those who are “far from deliverance” (v. 12), that he is bring deliverance, that it is near, not far off (v. 13a). His “salvation will not tarry,” for he “will put salvation in Zion, / for Israel my glory” (v. 13b, c, d). “The skeptical are assured,” says Blenkinsopp, “that the vindication and salvation of Jerusalem are close at hand. Cf. 56:1” (on vv. 12-13).

Ephesians 6:10-24

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Personal Matters and Benediction

21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are, and to encourage your hearts.

23 Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:10:24, NRSV)

On May 10, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), comments were based on those of January 22, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), of June 3, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), of January 20, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), and of January 5, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, References for January 5, Year Two). At that time the present reading (Eph. 6:10-24) was in a series of selections from Ephesians, some comments were included for background relevant to yesterday’s reading. But the relevant comments for today are repeated here with some editing and supplement:

On the Whole Armor of God

As the section of Ephesians with instructions (“rules”) for living draws to a close, Paul urges us to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power” (Eph. 6:10). We are to “put on the whole armor of God, so that you [we] may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (v. 11). Paul reminds us that “our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers (a[rcai, archai), against the authorities ( ejxousivai, exousiai), against the cosmic powers (kosmokravtoreV, kosmokratores) of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil (ta; pneumatika; th:V ponhrivaV, ta pneumatika tēs ponērias) in the heavenly places” (v. 12). The “rulers” (a[rcai, archai) and “authorities” ( ejxousivai, exousiai) who are “in the heavenly places,” mentioned earlier (3:10, cf. 1:20-21), are clearly supernatural beings. Here reference to human rulers, presumably Roman authorities hostile to the early Christians, is possible, but the reference is likely to supernatural beings as earlier (cf. F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT, 1984, pp. 404-406, on Eph. 6:12). The word ajrchv (archē ) can mean “(6) an authority figure who initiates activity or process, ruler, authority,” for example, Roman officials. “also of angelic or transcendent powers, since they were thought of as having a political organization . . . Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:16; 2:10, 15” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. ajrchv, archē ). The word ejxousiva (exousia) has a similar range of meaning, including “(5) bearer of ruling authority–(a) human authorities officials, government . . . (b) of transcendent rulers and functionaries: powers of the spirit world . . . 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; Col 2:10 . . . Eph. 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:16; 2:15; 1 Pet. 3:22 (BDAG, s.v. ejxousiva, exousia). The word kosmokravtwr (kosmokratōr), used only here in the New Testament, means “world-ruler (used of world-ruling gods [Orphica: Hymns 8;, 11 . . .] and of the emperor Caracalla . . . then generally of spirit beings, who have parts of the cosmos under their control.” It is “also [a] loanword in rabb[inical writings], e.g. of the angel of death) of evil spirits (with a[rcai and ejxousivai) ‘the world-rulers of this darkness i.e. the rulers of this sinful world Eph. 6:12 ” (BDAG, s.v. kosmokravtwr, kosmokratōr).

In a spiritual battle against such formidable opponents, we must, as Paul urges us, “take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (v. 13). With reference to the typical armor of a Roman soldier, he reminds us to “stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness” (v. 14). We must select proper shoes. “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace” (v. 15). “With all of these,” adds Paul, we are told to “take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (v. 16). And we are to “take the helmet of salvation” and “the sword of the Spirit”–the only offensive weapon in the list–“which is the word of God” (v. 17). To this list we may compare Isaiah’s description of the armor that God wears when he brings victory to Israel:

He saw that there was no one, / and was appalled that there was no one to intervene;

so his own arm brought him victory, / and his righteousness upheld him.

He put on righteousness like a breastplate, / and a helmet of salvation on his head;

he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, / and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle. (Isa. 59:16-17, NRSV)

Compare also the messianic king’s “belts” of “righteousness” and “faith” (Isa. 11:5). With all of that, we are to “stand firm” (v. 13) and “pray” (vv. 18-20). During recent armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, concerns were being expressed in the U.S.A. Congress and news media about the need for armor for vehicles and soldiers, both in Afghanistan and Iraq. If armor is so important in those situations–as it certainly must be!–is it not equally important for us as we face spiritual battles in our lives and ministries?

On the Personal Matters and Benediction

Paul turns from metaphor to direct instruction: “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints” (v. 18). He requests prayer for himself as well. “Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.” (vv. 19-20). We note that the letter has been written from prison, from “an ambassador in chains.”

Paul commends his “associate” Tychicus,” who, “so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing . . . will tell you [i.e., the readers] everything” (v. 20). “I am sending him to you for this very purpose,” says Paul, “to let you know how we are, and to encourage your hearts” (v. 21). Tychicus is probably the one who carried the letter to Ephesus, and perhaps read it as Paul’s representative (cf. Col. 4:7). He may be the same person as the Tychicus mentioned in Acts 20:4-5 (cf. 2 Tim. 4:12; Titus 3:12). The concluding benediction invokes “peace . . . to the whole community and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and adds, “Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 23-24). Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean comments on the words, “the whole community, the Greek ‘brothers’ ([NRSV] note b) includes both men and women” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 6:23).

Mark 5:1-20

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac (Mt 8.28-9.1; Lk 8.26-39)

5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. 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.

14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. (Mark 5:1-20, NRSV)

On February 23, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), comments were repeated from July 26, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were combined with further editing and supplement and repeated from earlier dates (as noted there). The combined comments are repeated again here:

This account of one of Jesus’ exorcisms is more detailed than most, with features that fit the setting in Gentile territory of the Decapolis, notably the swine and swineherds. This story has a close parallel in Luke 8:26-39, which was discussed in the comments for October 13, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two); for recent comments on the story in Matthew’s version, see the comments of May 7, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two ). Matthew 8:28-34 is located in “the country of the Gadarenes”, and mentions “two demoniacs” (Mt. 8:28). Mark’s story, and Luke’s, locates the event in “the country of the Gerasenes” (Mk. 5:1; Lk. 8:26). Gadara (modern Umm Qeis, J. Andrew Overman, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mt. 8:28-34) and Gerasa (modern Jerash, Richard A. Horsley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mk. 5:1), are about thirty miles apart, Gadara in northern trans-Jordan, and Gerasa in central trans-Jordan. Gadara is seven or eight miles from the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, separated by a wadi (stream) and some hilly country, and so provides “a setting that fits the narrative somewhat better” (Horsley, ibid., on Mk. 5:1). As “one of the cities of the Decapolis” (Overman, loc. cit.), Gadara would have a mostly Gentile population; so Gerasa (Horsley, loc. cit.). There is one more intriguing possibility. Some manuscripts suggest Gergesa (“the country of the Gergesēnōn,” Mk. 5:1 x^c L D Q and others; Mt. 8:28 x^c C^mg [at beginning of section] K L W and others; Lk. 8:26 x L X Q X and others; as noted in the apparatuses of Kurt Aland and others, The Greek New Testament, 3^rd ed., United Bible Societies, 1975). This reading, suggested first by Origen, points to a town about six miles south of Bethsaida on the east side of the Sea of Galilee–though modern scholars differ on its exact location–which has a cliff overhanging the lake, and so fits the story well (cf. comments of Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to Mark, 1959, on Mk. 5:1).

The three parallel accounts are presented in a table in the separate file, The Gadarene Demoniacs/The Gerasene Demoniac.

Vincent Taylor points to a “feature of the narrative,” with shifting scenes: “interest shifts from the man (1-10) to the herd of swine (11-13), then to the townspeople (14-17), and finally back again to the man by the lakeside (18-20). He calls it a rudimentary “little drama in four acts,” adding, “And yet we do not receive the impression of imaginative artistic creation; the story is what it is because it describes what happened” (ibid., pp. 277-278, on Mk. 5:1-20).

The Troubled Man

As Mark tells the story, the demoniac met Jesus’ boat, as it were. “And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him” (Mk. 5:2; cf. Lk. 8:27). Matthew describes “two demoniacs coming out of the tombs . . . so fierce that no one could pass that way” (Mt. 8:28b). Luke says that the man “for a long time . . . wore no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs” (Lk. 8:27b). Mark does not refer to clothes, but describes the man’s condition in some detail.

He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. (Mk. 5:3-5, NRSV)

When the man sees Jesus, his reaction seems to be a confused mixture of deference, bowing down, and fear (v. 6). Jesus first says, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” (v. 8), to which the man, or rather the demon, shouting “at the top of his voice,” retorts, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me” (v. 7; cf. Mt. 8:29; Lk. 8:28b; cf. also the cry of the unclean spirit expelled from the man in the Capernaum synagogue, Mk. 1:24). “What is your name?” asks Jesus (Mk. 5:30a; cf. Lk. 8:30a–the demoniacs remain nameless in Mt.). “My name is Legion, for we are many” says Mark’s demoniac (Mk. 5:30b; cf. Lk. 8:30b, where Luke himself explains the meaning of the name). The “ideas lying behind the question” about the name, says Taylor, “are connected with the ancient belief that knowledge of the name carries with it power over an adversary (cf. Gen. xxxii. 29) and over a daemon (cf. Deissmann, 261 n.)” (ibid., p. 281, on v. 9). According to Mark, the man (the demon?) “begged him [Jesus] earnestly not to send them out of the country” (Mk. 5:10). Luke reports that “They [presumably the demons] begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss” (Lk. 8:31). Marion Lloyd Soards defines the “Abyss [as] a place of confinement for demonic forces which, though hostile to God, are ultimately under his control (Rev. 9:1-11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1-3)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 8:31).

The Herd of Swine

Each Gospel takes notice of the nearby “great herd of swine” (Mk. 5:11; Mt. 8:30; Lk. 8:32a) and the demons’ request to “Send us into the swine” (Mk. 5:12; Mt. 8:31; Lk. 8:32b). With Jesus’ permission, “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” (Mk. 5:13; cf. Mt. 8:32; Lk. 8:32b, 33).

The Townspeople

The swineherds run to the city and describe what has happened (Mk. 5:14a; Mt. 8:33; Lk. 8:34), and the people come out to see for themselves (Mk. 5:14b; Mt. 8:34a; Lk. 8:35a). What they find is “the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion” (Mk. 5:15a; cf. Lk. 8:35a). Their reaction is not joy, gratitude for the cure, as we might have hoped, but fear, for “they were afraid” (Mk. 5:15b; Lk. 8:35b). Matthew does not spell out these reactions, but simply concludes with the report that, “when they saw him [Jesus, since Mt. has 2 demoniacs], they begged him to leave their neighborhood” (Mt. 8:34b; cf. Mk. 5:17; Lk. 8:37). Mark and Luke hint at the spreading of the story by rumor. “Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it” (Mk. 5:16; cf. Lk. 8:36).

The Restored Man by the Lakeside

Mark concludes the story by describing the man’s desire to follow Jesus. As he [Jesus] was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him” (Mk. 5:18; Lk. 8:38). Jesus wants him to be a “follower,” by remaining in his home country. “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you” (Mk. 5:19; cf. Lk. 8:39a). And we are told that “he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed” (Mk. 5:20; cf. Lk. 8:39b).

Against Bultmann’s characterization of the narrative as a typical “Miracle-story (exorcism)”–implying a set, stereotyped pattern, mainly “in its original form,” Taylor says,

This opinion hardly does sufficient justice to the narrative. It is not yet reduced to the rounded form which Miracle-stories possess when they have been handed down through a succession of narrators, and stands appreciably nearer the record of an eyewitness. This view is suggested by the unevenness of the narrative. Verses 6 f., with their picture of the demoniac seeing Jesus from afar, running, and falling down before Him read almost like the beginning of a separate account, while 3-5 stand apart as the vivid statement of neighbours long familiar with the man’s violence. Verse 8 appears to reflect the Evangelist’s embarrassment in coping with an excess of material. These features are well explained if we infer that he had heard the story told more than once and was telescoping his recollections. (op. cit., p. 277, on Mk. 5:1-20)

Taylor criticizes the “critics” who would discount its authenticity, by quoting J. Weiss, “The most natural assumption always abides, that here we have a tradition of something which actually happened” (ibid., p. 278, citing J. Weiss).

There’s no denying that Jesus performed many healing and exorcism miracles. These days, few biblical scholars would challenge that statement. But it is still refreshing to have it put the way Vincent Taylor does. Modern persons are sometimes troubled by “demons” in many forms, substance abuses, abuse in family and personal relationships, severe depression–not that we should accuse any of these of being demon-possessed.. But the one who dealt with the Gerasene demoniac by the lake, now our risen Lord, is sufficient for any of these conditions. He may work through many various professional helpers, but he will bring peace to troubled hearts. When the townspeople came, they “saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion” (Mk. 5:15). It’s sad that their only response was fear. Taylor says:

The many artless details, the picture of the man smashing his fetters and cutting himself with stones, the dialogue, the expulsion, the description of the man “sitting, clothed, and in his right mind,” the attitude of the spectators, the kind of message the man proclaims in the Decapolis, are details taken from life. We have good reason to classify the narrative as Petrine in origin. (ibid.)

The final reference to “the narrative as Petrine in origin” is based on the early Christian tradition (from Papias of Hierapolis, near Colossae) that Mark was Peter’s interpreter, and that after Peter died Mark wrote what Peter had said in his preaching. Taylor sees “the greatest difficulty” in interpreting the story as “the account of the swine.” He adds, “if we accept a psychological explanation of possession, we must explain the panic of the swine, as Weiss explains it, as occasioned by the paroxysm of the man’s cure” (ibid.). Even if we don’t wish to “psychologize” the story, it provides a graphic paradigm of Jesus’ deliverance for one whose life is in total disarray.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net