Jesus' Ministry, per Matt, Mark & Luke (part 4)

• For the entire itinerary, see page Ministry Itin'ry;
• in (parentheses) is the location per today's geography.

[9] WHILE CROSSING #1 <eastward>-- on the Sea of Galilee, calmed the winds & waves;

[10] AFTER CROSSING #1 <now east>-- in the region of the Gerasenes/Gadarenes/Gergesenes (southern Golan Heights; SE of the Sea of Galilee);

[11] back in Galilee (northern Israel; NW - SW of the Sea of Galilee):

1. AFTER RETURNING #1 <now west>-- by the Sea;
2. in Nazareth (SW of the Sea; S of Cana);
3. BEFORE CROSSING #2a <yet west>-- from village-to-village;

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  15. A legion of demons sent into ~2,000 pigs [10] above

Note the 3 accounts below are treated as 3 reports of 1 incident, as is common. However, the Matt account says there were 2 demon-possessed men, whereas the other 2 accounts say there was 1 man. To solve this "unacceptable conflict", some have the Matt account as transpiring SE of the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), near Gadara (some 7 mi. inland), & the other 2 as taking place on the E coast of the lake, near Khersa. Seems reasonable, until 1 notices that all 3 accounts have, the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake. Then it seems that the "unacceptable conflict" is just a minor discrepancy, that likely there indeed was 1 incident at 1 location-- the commonly reported SE coast.

But there is another possibility, that there were 2 separate incidents at the same location. For never is the town identified that those tending the herd ran off to & reported all this. In fact, again the Matt account is unique from the other 2-- it has them reporting only to the town, whereas the other 2 have them reporting to the town & countryside.

• Matt 8:28-34 When He arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes (Gergesenes; Gerasenes), 2 demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met Him. They were so violent that no 1 could pass that way. What do You want with us, Son of GOD? they shouted. Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time? Some distance from them a herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. He said to them, Go! So they came out & went into the pigs, & the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake & died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town & reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. The whole town went out to meet Jesus to see if this report was real. And when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region-- for this man had not gone through their "gods".
• Mark 5:1-20 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, & no 1 could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand & foot, but he tore the chains apart & broke the irons on his feet. No 1 was strong enough to subdue him. Night & day among the tombs & in the hills he would cry out & cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran & fell on his knees in front of Him. He shouted at the top of his voice, What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High GOD? Swear to GOD that You won't torture me! For Jesus had seen him before he saw him & had authoritatively said to him, Come out of this man, you evil spirit! Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? My name is Legion, he replied, for we are many. And he begged Jesus again & again not to send them out of the area-- the Gerasene Region of Decapolis. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, Send us among the pigs: allow us to go into them. He gave them permission, & the evil spirits came out & went into the pigs. The herd, ~2,000 in #, rushed down the steep bank into the lake & were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off & reported this in the town & countryside, & the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed & in his right mind; & they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man-- & told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their Gerasene region. So leave this limited region he did-- as my pastor would put it, he already had affected (produced an effect). As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.  Jesus did not let him, but instructing him to "affect the effect" said, Go home to your family & tell them how much the LORD has done for you, & how HE has had mercy on you. So the man who no 1 could bind anymore in the region of the Gerasenes went away & began to tell in the much larger Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. BTW, corporately speaking, we are to affect the effect that those that went before us legitimately produced-- their having extended the production that Jesus started, we should farther proceed/persevere to enable/work works (for GOD so loved the world...).
• Luke 8:26-39 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out & fell at His feet, shouting at the top of his voice, What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High GOD? I beg You, don't torture me! For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, & though he was chained hand & foot & kept under guard, he had broken his chains & had been driven by the demons into solitary places. Jesus asked him, What is your name? Legion, he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And now they begged Him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, & He gave them permission. He even gave demons an option, & this is how they chose: in essence they demonstrated that he was superior (they demonstrated it). When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, & the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake & was drowned. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off & reported this in the town & countryside, & the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed & in his right mind; & they were afraid. Here we have the immediate level of fear-- the loss of control. Sure the common belief was that demons were above man (angels were demons-gone-good), but they could still be "controlled." Actually,  they "controlled" themselves, & thus the situation was predictable-- unlike lepers, who were banished from society until/if they became clean, the demon-possessed removed themselves (lived in tombs). But a man dictating to demons! What would this purportedly freedman proceed to do? Then we have the big-picture level of fear-- the loss of acceptance. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the entire region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. What some individuals/societies won't do to "fit in with the crowd" (or remain so)! We saw at least 2x (Deu 32:17 in PerspectivesC C.1.c. & v. 37 in PSALM 106 Psa) that the once-pure Israelites sacrificed to demons in order to fit in with the Canaanites. How would the remainder of Decapolis (& other nations) deal with this? Would they remain fitted? So He got into the boat & left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return home & tell how much GOD has done for you. So the man went away & told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

   16a. Jesus healed a woman bleeding for 12 yrs.; he restored a 12-yr.-old daughter from a coma [11] (1st pt.) above

• Matt 9:18-26 Having returned from the region of the Gerasenes; having already ministered some, per Matt: While He was saying this, a ruler [Jairus] came & knelt before Him & said, My 12-yr.-old daughter has just died. But come & put Your hand on her, & she will live. At most, this girl was in a coma, for soon we will find him saying, 'The girl is not dead but asleep'-- Jesus lied? Whereas, we saw in PerJohn4 C.2. & in PerJohn5 A.2. (John 11:14,44) that Jesus did indeed say, 'Lazarus is dead', & later it was said that the dead man came forth from the tomb (s.a. about the Nain incident in PerMtMkLk3 B.7.). Jesus got up & went with him, & so did His disciples. This story is continued later; meanwhile we have: Just then as Jesus was going to Jairus' house a woman who had been subject to non-stop bleeding for 12 years came up behind Him & touched the edge of His cloak. She said to herself, 'if only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.' Jesus turned & saw her. Take heart, daughter He said, your faith has healed you. And the woman was healed from that moment. Now we return to Jairus: When Jesus entered the ruler's house & saw the flute players [for the dirge] & the noisy crowd, He said, Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at Him. After the crowd had been put outside, He went in & took the girl by the hand, & she got up. News spread about Him through all that region.
• Mark 5:21-43 When Jesus had again crossed over [returned to Galilee] by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around Him while He was yet by the lake. Then 1 of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet & pleaded earnestly with Him, My little 12-yr. old daughter is dying. Please come & put your hands on her so that she will be healed & live. So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed & pressed around Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 yr. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors & had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, that he was going to minister to the 12-yr.-old daughter, she came up behind Him in the crowd & touched His cloak, because she thought, "Since I'm not seriously paralyzed or anything, If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed-- hopefully he will never know, for I've been embarressed enough." Immediately her bleeding stopped & she felt in her body that she was freed form her suffering. At once Jesus realized that some power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd & asked, Who touched My clothes? You see the people crowding against You, His disciples answered, & yet You can ask 'Who touched Me? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it-- to see who might confess the whole truth. Jesus' love for the whole world knows no bounds; he's impartial about the extent of your drop-in-the-bucket problem-- which means he wants the same depth-of-faith. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came & fell at His feet &, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth. He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace & be freed from your suffering. Now about Jairus' 12-yr.old daughter: While Jesus was still speaking to the cured woman that suffered 12 yrs., some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. 'Your daughter is dead', they said. Why bother the teacher anymore? Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, Don't be afraid; just believe. He did not let anyone follow Him except Peter, James & John the brother of James-- see below why this last underlining. When They came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying & wailing loudly. He went in & said to them, Why all this commotion & wailing The child is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at Him. After He put them all out, He took the child's father & mother & the 3 disciples who were with Him, & went in where the child was. He took her by the hand & said to her in Grk. Talitha koumi! (which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up'-- some say that Peter used this in Acts 9:40 when he said Tabitha, but thereTabitha means 'gazelle' in Aramaic, as does Dorcas in Greek (see Acts 9:36). Immediately the girl stood up & walked around (she was 12 yrs. old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to tell anyone. About the 3 disciples named above (Peter, James & John):

In PerMtMkLk2 Jesus appointed 12...(4th pt.) we saw 4 listings of the 12 disciples; the listings differed slightly, as the Mark & Luke listings were when Jesus 1st appointed them, whereas the Matt listing was when he sent them out-- & of course the Acts listing was when the 11 met in the upper room after the crucifixion (Judas Iscariot had hung himself). But all 4 listings have these 3 disciples in the 1st 4 named. I.e., there is no confusion-- Peter is known as Simon Peter; James is known as son of Zebedee; John is brother of James. Point is, near the bottom of all 4 lists there is another James son of Alphaeus & another Simon the Zealot. BTW, the Mark & Matt listings have Thaddaeus & only 1 Judas (Judas Iscariot), whereas Luke lists Judas (son of James) & Judas Iscariot-- the Acts list has Judas (son of James).

• Luke 8:40-56 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came & fell at Jesus' feet pleading with Him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about 12, was dying. As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 yrs., but no 1 could heal her. She came up behind Him & touched the edge of His cloak, & immediately her bleeding stopped. Who touched Me? Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are crowding & pressing against You. But Jesus said, Someone touched Me; I know that power has gone out from Me. Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling & fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him & how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. 'Your daughter is dead,' he said. 'Don't bother thr teacher anymore.' Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, Don't be afraid; just believe, & she will be healed-- not ressurrected. When He arrived at the house of Jairus, He did not let anyone go in with Him except Peter, John & James, & the child's father & mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing & mourning for her. Stop wailing, Jesus said. She is not dead but asleep. They laughed at Him, knowing she was dead. But He took her by the hand & said, My child, get up! Her spirit returned, & at once she stood up. Them Jesus told them to give her something to eat. her parents were astonished, but He ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.