Mark Chapter 5

Mark Chapter 5

The disciples and their master reach the other side of the sea (this was the passing to the other side... I know, disappointing, but there it is). They end up in the country of Gadarenes. For some interesting side study I just tried to look up where this country would be in modern times. Apparently it was never really a country, just a city called Gadara in the greater region of Gerasenes, which is basically where Jordan exists today. Debate is rampant on the issue of whether the gospel is correct to name it, presumably we'll see it mentioned again in Luke. Just a little side not for y'all.

But, I digress, back to the story at hand...

When JC and his cronies get off the boat they run into a man who was possessed and had been living in the tombs on the mountain. Eeww! Creepy place to live, but I guess if you have devil's inside you it's appropriate. Well, the villagers had tried to put him in chains quite often, but he always managed to escape. Day and night this guys would run around the tombs crying and cutting himself. Poor guy! That sounds awful, and a lot like mental illness. He sees Jesus when he's pretty far down the path and runs over to worship him, but a loud voice comes out of the man and asks what he has to do with the son of the most high God? I think it's nice that even devils give God's position respect like that. If I was a devil, I'd be all blustering and arrogant, like who are you to me lowly son of a weak God. Your crappy father can't even keep my plagues off his own people, what up with that? But, he continues that he commands Jesus by God not to torment him. It's a bit odd to use JC's own father's name against him like that. We can imagine Jesus won't think much of it.

Jesus ignores him and tells the spirit to come out of the man and asks what is his name? When I was researching the book I wrote that has a bit of demonology in it, I read that in an exorcism it is super important to ask the demon his name. I wonder if this is the biblical precedent for that? Hmm.

The demon tells him that his name is Legion because there are so many of them possessing this poor guy. He then begs Jesus not to send them out of the country. I don't know what the demons where really up to all cramped inside one dude, just keeping him an outcast from the village, but apparently they really liked it there in Gadarenes (or whichever country they were in).

JC and the devil both notice a herd of pigs feeding on the hillside and all the devils started coming forth and telling JC to send them into the pigs. JC, not one to disappoint does just as they ask. As soon as the legion entered the pigs, the herd ran down into the sea and drowned themselves. Apparently pigs are less tolerant of being possessed than humans are. No word is mentioned about how the owner of this 2000 pig herd felt about losing his very valuable stock. Oh well, don't concern yourself with material things I guess, and good luck to your wife and kids when they're starving to death, God will take care of them. Hmm.

Well a bunch of folks had to get out of the way of the stampeding piggies, so these folks ran to the city and told everyone what happened. All the people that heard rushed up to the mountain to check out the dude that had been possessed and hear the story from Jesus and him. Jesus tells the guy to go home to his friends and let them know how awesome the Lord is and how compassionate (not as much to pigs, but definitely to those possessed by the devil). The dude runs off to Decapolis (this is sort of a Greek metropolis in the area that is comprised of 10 cities/ city-states) and let everyone know what happened. Oh the people did marvel. Hurray Jesus! Hurray God!

Jesus crossed the sea again and one of the rulers of the synagogues (don't we call those rabbis? well, maybe not) named Jairus fell before him. He begs him telling him that his daughter is at the point of death and needs to be healed. Jesus follows him to his house followed by like a gazillion people. One woman in the crowd who some sort of blood problem for the last twelve years decided that if she could just touch his clothes she would be healed. So she grabs a little piece of his robe and lo and behold, healed she is. But, Jesus "immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him," (I wonder if virtue leaves him evey time he heals, or just when he's not directly controlling it. He asks the masses because it's hard to tell who did it, who touched his clothes. They practically left because it would be impossible to know with so many people jambed together the way they are. Afraid of getting in trouble to woman immediately confesses, and he tells her it's no big, she can go in peace and be healed. My question is, if it's no big deal to him, then why did he have to make sure he knew who it was. I think he needed the credit for the healing, I mean, isn't this whole journey just one big publicity student. I'm the son of god, look what I can do, go tell your friends.

Finally, the whole crowd gets to Jairus' hous and Jesus asks Peter (formerly Simon) and the brothers James and John to come it with him, but everyone else has to stay outside. The kid is clearly dead when he gets their, but JC can't just say he's going to bring her back. Nope, he has to go through this whole "Why do you weep?" schpeil, just like on the ship how he had to be all, "Why are you afraid?" I don't know why JC has to mock people's feelings before he does something nice for them. Naturally, he wakes the little girl up and speaks to her in latin "Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." We're obviously reading a bible translated into English, but I wonder if there was a language switch like that in the original text. It just strikes me as an odd thing to do since JC has already commanded another person to arise and didn't bother with the latin, maybe it's just his mood. Back to the story... the little girl gets up and everyone is in wonder.

Here's where the story gets interesting, so far everything Jesus has done has really been about spreading the word. He heals the guy with palsy, everyone should go tell their friends, he gets rid of devils, go tell the world he says, the woman heals her blood disease, make SURE you tell everyone, but suddenly now "he charged them straitly that no man should know it". Oh ho, is raising the dead a little beyond what we want people doing on a regular basis? And aren't we not supposed to be afraid of death, and what about God's plans for each of us, it's our time ordained by him? Well, maybe, maybe not, but according to Mark this was not a miracle Jesus wanted getting around. So, uh, he's probably pissed that it's including in the best selling book in the world. Oh well, sorry JC as the Stone's say, You can't always get what you want.

p.s. Out of practicality he also has them give the little girl some food. I thought that was pretty thoughtful of him.