July 1929
332
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Seed Thoughts From St. Mark B y R ev . W ilfred M. H o pk in s ..
CHAPTER V.
12:45; Luke 8:2. “Seven” in these cases probably means “many”). 10— NOT SEND THEM OUT OF THE PLACE (not necessarily “the country”)—i.e., not send them back to the abyss, or Bottomless Pit (cf. Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:11, where the Greek word for the Bottomless Pit is ahussos, the abyss), before the time. The evil spirits are at present abroad in the earth, but are to be confined to the abyss later. 11— NIGH UNTO THE MOUNTAIN—“Upon” it, rather; the miracle was wrought in the plain. 12— SEND US INTO THE SWINE—The evil spirits are always desirous of doing mischief; if not in one way, then in another: all the forces of heaven are employed in building up, all those of hell in destroying. 13— HE PERMITTED THEM—Note that the demons could not injure the swine without His permission; they could the man, because he had a free will and could entertain or resist them as he chose. Why did Christ permit them? Probably as a pun ishment of the owners of the swine who, as Jews, had no busi ness to possess them. If for purposes of gain of any kind we transgress His laws, we must not be surprised if He allows dis aster to befall us, nor can we complain. RAN VIOLENTLY DOWN THE CRAG—Not driven, of course, by the demons, but impelled by the madness which was the result of the posses sion. When the evil spirit gets possession, all self-control is lost and frenzy supervenes. ABOUT TWO THOUSAND—-They would not all be demon-possessed, but the panic spread to them all. The very presence of the evil spirits creates an atmosphere in which composure and sanity are lost; quietness and confidence are incompatible with the dominion of the devil. CHOKED IN THE SEA—So the demons overreached themselves and went into the abyss after all. Objections to the miracle: (a) Demons could not enter swine. The mere statement of Holy Scripture that they did should be sufficient, but has not all creatioq suf fered as a consequence of the Fall (cf. Rom. 8: 20-22) and flo we not perhaps magnify the difference between ourselves and ani mals as regards mere mental conditions ? (b) It was no t.right for Christ to destroy other people’s property. But all property is His, and His alone; we are but His stewards, conscious or unconscious, and He had a perfect right to do what He would with His own. Moreover the owners were probably Je\vs and had no right to keep swine at all. (c) It was cruel to the swine. An absurd argument in the mouths of men who do not hesitate to let them have their throats cut in order that they may bleed to death 1 When will men learn that what He does is always right and that we must square our ideas by His actions? 14— FLED—(In amazement. They probably did not know what was the cause of the catastrophe. REPORTED IN THE CITY AND IN THE FIELDS—A vivid picture and true to nature; they told everyone they met, in their excitement. WENT OUT TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED—i.e., to see if they could account for the action of the swine. 15— COME TO JESUS—Probably attracted by the crowd and hoping to hear some explanation of the unusual occurrence. CLOTHED AND IN HIS RIGHT MIND—He was naked before (cf. Luke 8:27), and a maniac: a true type of the sinner (cf. Gen. 3:10; Luke 15:17. Adam was naked, the Prodigal was beside himself). AFRAID—A very usual, result of Christ’s mir acles ; they were mysterious and bewildering portents.
HE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES—It was not at Gadara, but at Gerasa that these things happened; the neighborhood may have been called the Country of Gadara, or the latter may be a corruption of the text. 2—MET HIM—i.e., went out to meet Him. Even
the devil-possessed are drawn toward Christ, though they are not willing to acknowledge it. OUT OF THE TOMBS—Caves cut out of the rock; Levitically unclean as containing the dead. He had his dwelling there—the devil leads men to live in the midst of death, corruption and decay. IN AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT—This man is a type of the grosser sensualist; as it were, enveloped, swallowed up in lust. 3— NO MAN WAS ABLE TO BIliD HIM WITH CHAINS—Nor ever can. Law, Civilization, Education, Music, Art, etc.—all have ever been, and are, powerless to restrain the unholy passions of men. Their efficacy has often been flaunted; they have often been tried; but invariably they have failed, and must for ever fail. 4— HE HAD OFTEN BEEN BOUND—Every effort to restrain him had been made. WITH FETTERS—Emblematic of the attempt to keep men from wandering into the scenes of temptation and sin. AND WITH CHAINS—Emblematic of the attempt to keep men from indulging in their evil passions when opportunity presented itself. NO MAN WAS STRONG ENOUGH to TAME HIM—Nor can any man tame his anti type : the mischief is spiritual, and the devil is too strong for all man’s efforts and devices. 5— Restless, dissatisfied, unhappy, continually injuring him self ; how vivid a picture of the miserable victim of gross sen suality, and how true to life. 6, 7—RAN AND WORSHIPED . . . CRIED OUT—Note the divided purpose; the man fain would worship, the demon resists. Many an unhappy sinner is torn asunder thus; desiring to worship, yet being prevented by the evil within him. WHAT IS THERE TO ME AND TO THEE?*-i.e., What have we in common? (This is the cry of the evil spirit.) Truly nothing! (Cf. 2 Cor. 6:15.) The demon realized this truth; many men, and alas, even some professing Christians, seem to be ignorant of it. SON OF GOD MOST HIGH-SsAgain the testimony of the spirit world to His divinity; whatever may be said of men, they at least could not have been mistaken. TORMENT ME NOT—i.e., before the time (cf. Matt. 8:29). The demons evi dently knew that the time of punishment was coming (cf. Matt. 25:41). 8— COME OUT OF THE MAN, etc.—How did the “Car penter” know that there was an unclean spirit there? He had had no previous acquaintance with the man. The denial of the divinity of Christ is utterly untenable and absurd unless we abandon all belief in the truth of the Gospel story. 9— WHAT ¡IS THY NAME?—He did not ask for His own information, because he knew the answer, but for ours, that we might learn the lesson of the reply. MY NAME IS LEGION; FOR WE ARE MANY—Note how absolutely the man is lost in the demon; he is not even master of his own name, nor allowed to give it; so despotic is the tyranny of evil over the man of flesh. Note, also, that where one evil spirit is permitted to take up his abode, there many may be expected (cf. Matt.
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