Mark 05
Healing of a Demoniac
1So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes.
The Gerasenes were in the region of the tribe of Gad. God had promised the twelve tribes of Israel all of the land on the other side of the Jordan River. The Tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh asked for permission to live on the wrong side of the Jordan, which God permitted.
2Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him.
A demon-possessed man approached Jesus. He was living among the Gadite tombs of the region.
3He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
The demons gave him supernatural strength.
4For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Even chains and shackles could not subdue this demon-possessed man.
5Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
Cutting the skin and burning of tattoos is an occultic ritual which is still practiced in many modern nations, including America.
6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him.
The demon-possessed man ran to Jesus, perhaps to discredit the message of Jesus.
7Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God – do not torment me!”
He called Jesus “the Son of the Most High God”. Jesus does not accept testimony from demons. He asked Jesus not to torment him.
8(For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”)
Jesus was going to deliver this man from demon possession.
9Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
A legion consisted of 6000 Roman soldiers. There were many demons inside this one man.
10He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region.
The demons wanted to stay in the Gadite region and continue their demonic ministry.
11There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding.
Pigs were unclean animals. The Gerasenes chose the wrong side of the Promised Land and entered into the pig business.
12And the demonic spirits begged him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.”
The demons did not want Jesus to send them to the Abyss. They preferred human or animal occupation. Those into animal spiritism are involving themselves in the occult.
13Jesus gave them permission. So the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake, and about two thousand were drowned in the lake.
The pigs were smarter than humans. They would rather die than to have a demon control them.
14Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
The people heard that the man was no longer possessed with a demon. This should have made them very happy that the man was delivered.
15They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind – the one who had the “Legion” – and they were afraid.
Their Messiah was in their midst. A man had been delivered of a legion of demons. They should have been overjoyed, but they were afraid.
16Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs.
There were eyewitnesses who were chosen by God to observe this messianic miracle.
17Then they asked Jesus to leave their region.
The Gerasenes were living in sin. Jesus destroyed their pig business. They loved their pigs more than their Messiah. They asked their own Messiah to leave the region.
18As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him.
The demon-possessed man wanted to go with Jesus.
19But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.”
God called this man to be a witness to his own people.
20So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.
The Decapolis was ten Gentile cities of Greek origin. The demon-possessed man became a powerful witness in this Gentile region.
Restoration and Healing
21When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.
Large crowds followed Jesus everywhere He went. He had to teach from floating boats to keep the crowds from pressing in upon Him.
22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came up, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.
The synagogue ruler was an influential man in the city.
23He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”
His daughter was about to die, so he turned to Jesus.
24Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around him.
The crowds were pressing in upon Jesus, making it difficult for Him to do His work. Everyone wanted to touch Him.
25Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years.
While making the trip to heal this little girl, Jesus met a woman who was suffering from a hemorrhage. This was an incurable disease. She was labeled unclean by the Mosaic Law. She was unable to participate in ritual sacrifices.
26She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
The doctors took all of her money and never healed her.
27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
She was one of the many people who were pressing upon Jesus in order to touch Him.
28for she kept saying, “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
This was desperate pagan superstition. She did have faith in the healing power of Jesus.
29At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
She was healed instantly at the touch of Jesus. The Greek word for “felt” is γινώσκω (ginowskow), an aorist active indicative verb, meaning that she knew instantly by experience that she was healed.
30Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
The Greek word for “knew” is ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginosko), an aorist passive participle, meaning that Jesus instantly experienced supernatural knowledge that the woman was healed. Jesus knew who touched Him, but He wanted to build a relationship with the woman. He did not want her to think that He was just some magician who did not care about people.
31His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
There were so many people crowded around Jesus, that the disciples had no idea who touched him.
32But he looked around to see who had done it.
The Greek word for “looked” is περιβλέπομαι (periblepomai), an imperfect middle indicative verb, meaning that He looked around with intent and concern.
33Then the woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
The Greek word for “fear and trembling” is φοβηθεῖσα καὶ τρέμουσα (phonaytheisa kai tremousa), meaning awe and reverence. She wanted to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the one who healed her.
34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Jesus called her “daughter” which was a title of affection. He commanded her to go in peace, meaning to go in good health because she was completely healed.
35While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any longer?”
While Jesus was speaking to the woman, news arrived that the synagogue ruler’s daughter had died. Notice that Jesus was called “teacher” and not “Lord”.
36But Jesus, paying no attention to what was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”
Jesus ignored the insult and told the synagogue leader to just believe. The synagogue leader was not to believe in order to heal his daughter. He was to believe that Jesus was in charge of the situation. It was not the faith of the synagogue ruler which would heal his daughter. It was the will of God which would produce healing.
37He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
The crowds were more interested in seeing miracles than they were in the teachings of Jesus.
38They came to the house of the synagogue ruler where he saw noisy confusion and people weeping and wailing loudly.
The weeping and wailing was pagan superstition. They were weeping and wailing to let the pagan spirits know that a new dead person was about to join them.
39When he entered he said to them, “Why are you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”
Jesus told the superstitious pagans to stop their weeping and wailing. The child was not dead, but asleep.
40And they began making fun of him. But he put them all outside and he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions and went into the room where the child was.
The pagans mocked and laughed at Jesus.
41Then, gently taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.”
The Babylonians once controlled this region, so many of the people spoke Aramaic. Jesus spoke Aramaic to the little girl and asked her to stand up.
42The girl got up at once and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). They were completely astonished at this.
Modern charismatics cannot repeat this miracle.
43He strictly ordered that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Knowledge of this miracle would increase the crowds even more, making it more difficult for Jesus to continue His teaching. His primary and greater purpose was to teach the multitudes about individual salvation, not heal every single person in the region. However, Jesus did heal everyone that He came in contact with. So did the apostles. Modern charismatics cannot heal every person they contact. They can only heal the ones whom demons made sick in advance. Healing services are demonic conspiracies to lead Biblically ignorant charismatics into false teaching. Charismatics want an instant pill to end their suffering and make them materially rich. They do not desire deep Bible study, which is the only defense against demonic deception.