The Madmen of the Gadarenes, Who Wandered Among the Graves of Israel
Since the beginning of time, the discussion of what 'mental illness' is and what it is not has prevailed, with little definitive conclusion: mental aberations have been approached in as many ways as any human issue has. Psychologists, likewise have had a very difficult time dealing with the concept of mental illness, ranging from some who see it as behaviors needing modification, to others such as Dr. Thomas Szasz who in the book, Myth of Mental Illness described it as akin to a language which one chooses to express themselves in the world. Ancient thinking, long before the discipline of psychology arose, regarding mental aberration, sometimes ascribed it to 'devils' or 'evil spirits' in many cultures or later to even 'magnetic fields' such as in 'mesmerism'.
As a former university professor who taught psychology, like many other lecturers, my introductory lecture to 'Psychopathology' or Abnormal psych used to begin with considerations of what was normal and what was not, and how those ideas had evolved over the centuries. Surely, most Psychologists have steered far from the concept that mental illness is 'demonic': not only do they not entertain that it is, they find the proposition mental illness itself. About the closest psychological approaches have gotten, were the APA Convention Keynote lecture in the 1960s called "Psychology and Satan", comparing psychological reductionism to the'nihilistic satanic spirit" or to Rollo May, the eminent existential psychologist's description of the demonic as what overpowers a person in "Psychology and the Demonic". The notion though of faith, and devils, or the Gospel are anathema to most psychologists who seek only what they consider 'scientific' explanations of mental illness, which they find and dismiss on a regular basis, never reaching either a consensus or a solution.
The 'demonic' though does exist, and is accounted for by observation in all religions of the world: the Jews speak of dybbuks, Muslims hold exorcisms as do Catholics, and many cultures worship spirits of the dead. Animism in African cults or in Voodoo cults in the Carribean deal in the demonic all the time, and surprisingly, today, no police department in any major city is without an introduction to the concept since cult worship and satanic worship often arise in the investigation of linked crimes.
Whether or not one believes there is a devil or devils, is not a function of centuries: as many believe now as in ancient times, and probably just as many do not believe. What has been very carefully documented in many instances though, is a manifestation which is beyond mere human troubling, and which responds to prayer and the word of God, and even now to casting out.
Jesus and Paul both were accused of being madmen themselves such as in John 10:20 when Jesus was accused of being 'beside himself', or in Acts 26:24 when Paul was confronted with the statement..."much learning doth make thee mad." The Scribes and Pharisees, particularly the latter, tried constantly to ascribe the great miracles ,works and healings of the Messiah as due to having a devil, or by 'Beelzebub' the Lord of the flies, literally, but referring to Satan. Jesus, frustrated with their lack of understanding, explained that a house divided against itself will not stand, and that the power of God is the greater power in overthrowing the 'strongman' of vexation, or oppression of a devil. In the above passage by Paul though, his retort is direct and to the point:
"I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness" Acts 26:25"
Madness in the Bible is found from early times, usually referred to as 'madness' but later referred to as 'beside himself' or 'lunatick'. Forms of what we call mental illness such as drunkenness are seen from early: it is one of the first things that occurs when Noah plants vineyards after the flood (Genesis 9...) Dt. 28:28 mentions madness, and Judges 9:23 speaks in first mention directly of an 'evil spirit'. When Saul fails to obey the prophet, and is prematurely divested of the Kingdom, an evil spirit comes upon him (I Sam 16:14-16), and it is David's music which calms him. Isaiah notes the madness of diviners in 44:25; and Jeremiah equates idolatry as madness in Jer 50:38. Oppression is said to make a wiseman mad (Ecc 7:7). It is in the New Testament though, that the issue of madness and demon or devil possession is taken on, and Jesus and his disciples make it clear that those held in bondage by 'vexation' of devils are not nearly as insane as those who choose the wisdom of this world over the wisdom of the Word of God.
I Cor 1:20 Where is thewise? where isthe scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom ofthis world?It is with this backdrop that the Messiah confronts those vexed with devils: clearly Jesus believed in devils and people were astounded when he cast them out: persons long held as 'crazy' in moments were sane and sober. Even in his first acts of his ministry, when a devil possessed man rises to confront Jesus in the synagogue, Jesus begins setting those in bondage free. While it may be difficult for modern Christians to speak in this parlance, the Lord and Savior who could hardly have known less than we about his creation, counted much 'madness' as the possession of devils, and not a disease to be treated or behaviors to be modified. We are often too willing to receive his teachings about heaven and salvation, and yet act as if there was not a divine warfare going on: even in the face of observed cases of demon possession in the 20th and 21st century.
1:25 Becasue thefoolishness of God iswiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hat chose the weak things of the workd to counfound the tings which are mightly.
Jesus confronts two Men from Gadara
There are three accounts in the Scriptures, of Jesus' healing of the madman of the Gadarenes. Just before coming to the region around Gadara, which is on the shores of Galilee, many healings had already occurred: a Leper had been healed (Mk 1:40), the centurion's servant had been healed (Luke 7:2), Peter's Mother in Law was healed from a fever in Mt 8:14-15, followed by a multitude of healings that evening, and Jesus had just finished rebuking the winds and the sea in Mt 8:26. The disciples had already in astonishment declared "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Mt 8:27)
Coming into the Gergesenes , two men encounter Jesus both of whom are mentioned as being possessed with devils, but little mention is made of the second, and only in the Gospel of Matthew.
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
While some try and skew the 'extra' information, it is really typical of eyewitness accounts: in several passages of scripture, more than one person is mentioned as healed e.g. in the healing of Bartimaeus, and it is not a contradiction, but instead an issue of choice of report: since more detailed information was written down about a 'main' healing, some accounts in the synoptic gospels ('with one eye') some report only the main, and some include every detail.
The both are mentioned as coming out of the tombs, and "exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. Mt 8:28.
Luke describes the Mad man as one which had
...devils longtime, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 8:27.
He is described in other passages as coming out of the city, and as spending night and day wandering the mountains and being driven out into the wilderness.
For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. 8:29
The condition of the man is similar to other descriptions of those caught in the bondage of vexation or devil possession:
1. A loud voice: the word in Greek is Megas Phone, where we derive our english word megaphone. While 'loud voice' of the same origin is also used of Jesus' final words on the cross and others speaking merely loudly, it is of some interest in mention of devil possession as even modern clinical descriptions account some 'patients' as having 'rapid speech' which is loud, forced, and run-on speech. The devils in both the instance of the madman of the Gadarenes and in the demon possessed man in the Synagogue at Capernaum confront Jesus in the same way, and in similar voicing.
2. Adjuration- In 4 passages having to do with the same two instances just mentioned, the same pattern of encounter occurs, where Jesus is besought, or 'adjured' to not torment the devils.
...I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. Mark 5:7
3. Torment- It is interesting to note that the devils are beseeching Jesus not to torment them: for it is a slander of the Savior (he does not torment) but they do! The distress experienced by the 'minor leaguers' of Satan's armies, is the same distress persons living unclean lives have around people living pure lives: the descrepancy is painful: here the descrepancy is so wide it must feel like torment to the devils. Note also that the solution to torment is in I John perfect love, because 'fear hath torment' and 'perfect love casteth out fear.'
4. Homeless wandering- The devils drive their victim to and fro: wandering into mountains and wilderness, on the outside of the city. Their relations are broken by the bizarre nature of the vexation, and judgment is erased or impaired.
5. Cutting himself with stones-note the devils drive the man to self-destruction.
6.They fear an early destruction: Mt 8:29---"art thou come hither to toment us before the time. It is curious to note that the devils know their end: they know there is an appointed time for their destruction.
7. They KNOW who Jesus is, yet know they are not of him. They state emphatically they are not of him:
What have I to do with thee,Jesus [thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. Luke 8:28
Note the four comparison verses, the first two regarding the devils at the Capernaum
synagogue,and the second regarding the madman of the Gergesenes:
Mark 5:7-And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Luke 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
Mar 1:24 Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
Luke 4:34 Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, [thou] Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
In each of these, there are shared characteristics of how the devils encounter Jesus. Note, that Jesus in cases of demonic possession addresses the devils and not the person, since the devils have often 'displaced' the person.
3. The devils are not of the Lord and Know it:
In each similar statement, the devil(s) possessing the man, ask "what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth/". They both know who he is, and are basically admitting that they are not 'of' him: they are saying they have no part in him. They also fear
4. Destruction- and they intuit that an encounter with the Messiah of Heaven means their destruction---this is so much so that it causes the torment mentioned above. We will note a little further in the study that their doom is indeed imminent, as they beg Jesus for a 'way out' of not having to return to the deep, or abyss.
5. As mentioned, they know who He is. Some have a problem with that, and wonder how the devils would call out his name: his name then and now is Holy. They are though of a non-earthly nature: the fallen angels were once angels of heaven. James notes regarding the depth of belief required of God, that 'even the devils believe and tremble': it is not merely assenting to who He is, but trusting in the fullness of the covenant. They declare his name sometimes correctly, and sometimes in a grandiose sense (Well, God is grand, indeed, but in an exaggerated false piety), such as Jesus, thou S.on of God, and Jesus [thou]Son of the most high or most high God. In the Capernaum incident it is "thou Jesus of Nazareth", or "the Holy One of God. In Acts, with the woman with the spirit of divination (Python) it is likewise: 'these are the servants of the Most High God' repetitive, and one can only imagine, with an aberrant over-religiosity. They know him indeed, but as an adversary.
The devils also appear to know two other things: 1) that there is a time for their destruction already set (Art thou come hither to torment us before the time; and 2) that He is about to cast them out, because they beseech, beg or adjure him to grant them a preferable host of the swine, rather than to be 'hostless'. They beseech him to 'Let us alone', fearing the torment, but it is they who are on 'private property',having destroyed and vexed God's creation.It is a paradox to hear in the Word, devils begging for mercy.
The Casting Out, and the Swine Host
While their are two men mentioned in parallel passages, since the emphasis is primarily on the one we refer to as the 'Madman of the Gadarenes, or Gergesenes', references will be toward him. As he 'comes out of the city' he encounters Jesus, who has just arrived from across the Galilee. He is naked, and out of control,
Luk 8:27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in [any] house, but in the tombs.
It is curious that as devils 'overthrow' a person, they appear to overthrow reason, moral sense, and a sense of what some philosophers have called 'being in the world'.(dasein: as devils are mentioned to seek 'desert places' they drive their host away from normal society and healthy relationships into isolation. In this case it is literal: the Mad man of Gadara lives and wanders among the tombs and mountains. As Jesus approaches the man, though, just as he encountered the devil inthe Capernaum synagogue, he does not speak to the man, but to the devil, and reacts to what the man says, as being from them: in the extreme form then,it appears that the 'overthrow' of the person is so great, that the demonic presence has all but cast him out.
These devils, though, present a name when asked, which is not present in other times of casting out devils.
Luk 8:30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
The giving of the 'name' of the devil(s) is interesting, and also indicates the degree of overthrow. The word 'Legion' in Greek means roughly the same as in English,
λεγιών
Vine's Lexicon describes a legion thusly:
Legion:
otherwise spelled legeon, "a legion," occurs in Mat 26:53, of angels; in Mar 5:9, 15, and Luk 8:30, of demons. Among the Romans a "legion" was primarily a chosen (lego, "to choose") body of soldiers divided into ten cohorts, and numbering from 4,200 to 6,000 men (Gk. speira, see BAND). In the time of our Lord it formed a complete army of infantry and cavalry, of upwards of 5,000 men. The "legions" were not brought into Judaea till the outbreak of the Jewish war (A.D. 66), as they were previously employed in the frontier provinces of the Empire. Accordingly in its NT use the word has its other and more general significance "of a large number.
The naming then of a legion of devils inhabiting a human host, makes it easy to see why the extremity of behavior would be seen. They had crowded out the human personality or 'self'. In the commanding out of 'Legion' though, the devils request Jesus to send them into another host:
Luk 8:31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
Following the loud voice cry of the demoniac discussed above, the casting out is a simple command:
Go. Matthew 8:32
The demons are sent out of the man, and into a herd of swine which was grazing nearby. (Luke 8:32) It is not known nor made clear why Jesus would grant such a request, but one conjecture might be that he was 'killing two birds with one stone': swine were unclean animals, not suitable for food or product in Israel, as commanded by Torah. The Rabbi of Nazareth was in a sense giving his opinion of swine herding in the region, when he permits the devils to go into the herd of swine, which then go mad, and rush over a cliff. They essentially end up in their infernal destination, despite their 'adjuration'.
One other note, though, regarding the 'legion': it was not only the size comparison which is eminent, but also that as we have mentioned before, in the divine warfare, both the angels of God and the devils of Satan or in Hebrew 'shatan', are organized by rank, order and authority: the divine battle involves intent, rank, and reason: it is beyond most of us to comprehend the unseen to that degree, which is why obedience, trusting and unwavering, regardless of human logic is required to accomplish the work of God. The result? the whole herd runs violently down the steep place into the sea and perishes in the water. They are as violent and irrational in the swine as they are in the man.
The Gadarene
The Gadarene vexed by the devils, does one thing prior to the healing by casting out when he sees Jesus: he falls down and worships him:
Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
The worship of the Lord, in humility and praise often exacts what nothing else can: a solution beyond human reasoning. Whether it is instigated by the remnants of the person, or the remnants of his will, or whether it is of the legion, the worship still shows that the incarnate nature of Jesus, God-made-man was somehow immediately recognizable to all who encountered him, even those in a dissensioned condition. While it is a little lengthy, consider the times in the New Testament, when people ran to Jesus falling on their knees in worship:
[Select for Copy; Double click to (de-)select all] Mat 8:2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Mat 9:18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
Mat 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Mat 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Mat 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Mat 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
Mar 15:19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing [their] knees worshipped him.
Luk 24:52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
Jhn 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
The worship of Jesus, such a seemingly blasphemous thing in the Jewish mind, would indeed have been blasphemy if he had been merely human: indeed in Acts, when two of the apostles heal, a whole town attempts to worship them as gods, and they hurriedly rebuke them for doing so! (Acts 10:25) The worship of Jesus though was a wondrous thing, which not even onlookers seemed to think strange, and while the Pharisees tried to rebuke him on many points of doctrine and practice, until the very end, they say nothing. (until he has laid his life down). No mere man could command worship without it being a major issue: Jews were dying rather than declare Caesar a god.
more to follow....
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