The Life of Christ

What they didn’t realize was the magnitude of who He was; their understanding of the coming Messiah was quite meager compared to His full capabilities.

• After having gone through this ordeal, their conception of the Messiah had just grown exponentially.

• The ultimate purpose of trials is to provide us a first-hand opportunity to see how big our God really is!

• Jesus is really not the God who can heal or provide, until He has accomplished these very things in our own lives!

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Mk. 5:1 And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

By the time they arrived on the other side of the lake it was near evening.

• What we’re about to read happened at the end of the same day that Jesus calmed the sea and earlier taught the parables.

They landed in a place known as Gerasa, in the territory of the Gerasenes.

• Today one can still see the very bluff, which descends abruptly on a narrow ledge overlooking the shore; upon this bluff the demon-possessed herd of swine stampeded to their death below.

This area where the demoniac dwelt is also burrowed with limestone caverns and rock-chambers for the dead.

• This area was east of Jordan and known as a place where swine were raised.

• According to the Rabbinical Law, the raising of swine was illegal for any Jews; it was considered the most degrading of all occupations.

• We remember the prodigal son’s occupational involvement after he left home.

Mk. 5:2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him.

Matthew's account says there were two of them, however, Mark and Luke focus upon the prominent of the two.

Mk. 5:3-4 “…and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 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.”

His brief description depicts a man overtaken by violence, being uncontrolled by others, one who vacillated between homicidal rages and suicidal frenzies seen in verse 5.

• His strength came from the enormous demonic possession within him — not just one demon, but thousands.

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