Mark 5:1-17

35-41 Compare Mat_8:18-27; Luk_2:22-25.

37 The lake of Galilee is subject to sudden squalls when the wind sweeps down from the mountains on the east. In a short time it changes from a placid mirror-like surface to a leaping, boiling cauldron, in which a small ship could hardly live. There must have been a marvelous calm in His own heart or He would have been roused by the pitching of the ship, or at least He would have been disturbed by the terror of His disciples. No mere man could have preserved his calmness in such danger. And how foolish for a mortal to take the wind to task and talk to the sea! But the wind and the waters were obedient to His will! Again we have a picture of the career of the kingdom, now that its proclamation has not been received. The sea speaks of the nations (Rev_17:15), the storm of the time of the great affliction, the wind of the spiritual powers which will stir up the nations at the time of the end to persecute and destroy the people of the kingdom. When He comes to rescue His saints then He will say again, "Be still! " And there will be the millennial calm.

1-17 Compare Mat_8:28-34; Luk_8:26:37.

This thrice-told story shows the fiercest display of the enemy's power entirely subject to the Lord. Mark dwells more fully than Matthew on the desperate condition of the man, in accord with the scope of this account in which service rendered to man is portrayed.

1 The name of this place is so variously given in the MSS. that we have appealed to the topography of the country to settle it, and come to the same conclusion as the editor of Sinaiticus ( S2), Alexandrinus has it Gadarenes, Vaticanus has Gerasenes, as also Sinaiticus,

before being edited. This is probably a variant of Gergesenes. Gadara was a well-known Greek city, celebrated for its temples, its theater, and its warm baths, but it was several hours distant from the southern shore of lake Galilee. The little town of Gergesa, the ruins of which the Arabs call Chersa, is "on the other side" from Galilee, and is the only part of the shore line which combines all the features necessary to the narrative. A steep mountain dips almost immediately into the lake, with hardly any beach, Tombs are cut in the rock above the city. Every natural feature accords with the inspired account. Hence we have chosen Gergesenes as the true reading.

8 It is the unusual which should strike us in each of our Lord's signs and miracles, for therein lies the special lesson each of His recorded acts is intended to teach. Here we find a man obsessed with many demons, who do not come out at His first command, and they are sent into the sea. On another occasion the Lord speaks of Israel at the end time as possessing seven times as many demons as formerly (Mat_12:43-45). Their last state will be much worse than their first. This is suggested here by the legion of demons who infested the unfortunate demoniac. A Roman legion was about six thousand strong. Israel has kept herself from idolatry for many a century, but when the great image is set up, many will worship the wild beast (Rev_13:8). The first proclamation of the kingdom is unheeded even as His first charge to the legion who were in the demoniac. But subsequently they find their way into the sea, just as

Satan will be sent into the abyss.

15 The previous condition of the demoniac, restless, insubordinate, self-torturing, corresponds to their history under the law. The chains and fetters of the law never were strong enough to hold them. They were often engaged in insane internecine wars among themselves. Judah was fighting against Israel, one party was pitted against another, and to this very day they are inclined to torture themselves. What a change when they, like the demoniac, find rest and righteousness and reason at His feet in the day of the Lord!

16 It is quite probable that there were other herds of hogs being kept contrary to the law, and that their owners feared that they, also, would be destroyed if the Lord remained in that country. It will be noted that the Lord's purpose was to send the demons into the abyss, but they begged to go into the hogs. He only gave His permission, for it was not apart of His mission at this time to enforce the law of Moses. Yet, by that inscrutable law of God which always conspires to carry out His will, both the keepers of the hogs and the demons were judged in accord with His purpose.