He heals a man possessed by a legion of demons
5
📚And they came over to the other side of the lake, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 📚And when he came out of the boat, immediately, out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit met him. 5:2 Notes on demon possession at Matt 4:24.⚜
3 📚The man had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, not even with chains. 4 📚Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart, and the shackles broken in pieces by him. And no one could tame him. 5 📚And night and day, he was always in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones.
5:3-5 This is a very vivid description of what demons can do to a person under their control. This man’s violent behavior and strength may be attributed to the fact that he was possessed by a great many demons (v 9).⚜
6 📚But when he saw Jesus at a distance, he ran and worshipped him, 7 📚and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I plead with you by God not to torment me”.
8 📚For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit”.
9 📚And he asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion, for we are many”.
5:9 A legion in the Roman army was between three and six thousand men. Yet in vs 2 and 8 it seems there was only one spirit. This is probably because there was one who was the leader, the “commanding officer” of the legion of demons in the man, and Jesus dealt principally with that one.⚜
10 📚And he begged him at length that he would not send them away out of the country.
5:10 Compare Luke 8:31.⚜
11 📚Now a large herd of pigs was there feeding near the mountains.
12 📚And all the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, so that we can go into them”.
13 📚And immediately Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep place into the lake (there were about two thousand of them), and were drowned in the lake. 14 📚And those who had been feeding the pigs ran off, and told this in the city and countryside. And they went out to see what had happened. 15 📚And they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed, the one who had the legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
5:15 They realized that Jesus had displayed some wonderful power, but they did not understand who He was and what His purpose was – and the sad fact is they did not want to understand (v 17).⚜
16 And those who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and also about the pigs. 17 📚And they began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 📚And when he got into the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. 19 📚However Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your own family, and tell them 📖 what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had compassion on you”. 20 📚And he left and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
5:1-20 This is a fuller account of the event recorded in Matt 8:28-34. Matthew says there were two demon-possessed men. Mark singles out one of them for special notice, and so does not mention the other one.⚜
5:20 Decapolis is a Greek name meaning ten cities. The region of the Gadarenes was a part of the area called the Decapolis.⚜
He raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead and heals the woman with an issue of blood
21 📚And when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, many people gathered to him. And he was near the lake.
5:21 He returned to the western side of the lake of Galilee.⚜
22 📚And, suddenly, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came to him, and seeing him, fell at his feet 23 📚and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Please come and place your hands on her, so that she may be healed and live”.
24 📚And Jesus went with him, and many people were following him and crowding him. 25 📚And a certain woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years,
5:25 Verse 42. She had been suffering all the lifetime of Jairus’ daughter.⚜
26 📚and had suffered many things from many physicians, and had spent all that she had without getting any better, but got worse instead,
27 📚when she heard about Jesus, came in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will get well”. 29 📚And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that affliction.
30 📚And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
5:30 Luke 8:46. The power of God flows through the Lord Jesus to meet the needs of men who have faith in Him. He did not want the woman to hide her faith, but wished to openly commend her for it and pronounce a blessing on her (v 34).⚜
31 📚And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowds pressing around you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
32 And he looked around to see the one who had done this thing. 33 📚But the woman afraid and trembling, knowing what had happened inside her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth.
34 📚And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed from your affliction”.
35 📚While he was still speaking, they came from the house of the ruler of the synagogue and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
5:35 These men were willing to abandon hope and tried to get Jairus to do the same. They did not realize that death did not take a person beyond the reach of the Lord Jesus. It was as easy for Him to raise the dead as to heal the sick and dying.⚜
36 📚As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid, only believe”.
5:36 Here are words for believers to write across all the experiences of life. Fear unresisted can weaken or almost destroy faith; faith exercised can remove fear.⚜
37 📚And he allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 📚And he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw the commotion and those who were loudly weeping and wailing. 39 📚And when he had come in, he said to them, “Why are you making this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep”.
40 📚And they laughed at him. But when he had put them all out, he took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying. 41 📚And he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cumi”, that is, by translation, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”.
5:41 Jesus spoke in Aramaic, a language similar to Hebrew commonly spoken in that area at that time.⚜
42 📚And immediately the child got up and walked, for she was twelve years of age. They were astonished, and their astonishment was great. 43 📚And he gave them strict orders that no one should know this, and said that something should be given her to eat.
5:22-43 Here is a much expanded account of events found briefly in Matt 9:18-25.⚜