The Word Made Fresh
1They arrived at the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 2As soon as he stepped out of the boat a man with a troubling spirit came to him out of the tombs. 3He lived there among the tombs and no one was able to restrain him, even with chains. 4They had often tried to restrain him with locks and chains, but he was able to wrench the chains apart and break the locks, and no one was able to calm him down. 5He roamed the tombs and the mountainside night and day, moaning loudly and scraping himself with stones.
6When he saw Jesus he ran to him and knelt in front of him. 7He screamed, “What do you want with me, Jesus? Aren’t you the Son of the Most High God? I order you in God’s name not to torment me.” 8He said this when Jesus ordered the troubling spirit to come out of him.
9Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
The man replied, “My name is Legion because there are so many of us,” 10and he begged Jesus not to send him away.
11Nearby a large herd of pigs were feeding on the hillside, 12and Legion begged him, “Send us into the pigs; we will leave this man and enter them.”
13Jesus gave them permission to do so, and they came out of the man. There were about two thousand pigs in the herd, and the demons left the man and entered them. The pigs stampeded down the steep hillside and into the sea where they all drowned.
14The herdsmen watching over the pigs ran away and told everyone in the city as well as in the countryside, and people came to see what had happened. 15When they came to Jesus they found the demon-possessed man sitting there with him, fully clothed and in his right mind. They recognized him as the man who had been demon-possessed, and they were frightened. 16Those who had witnessed what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs told the story to others, 17and they began to beg Jesus to go away.
18As he climbed into the boat, the man he had healed begged Jesus to let him go, too. 19But Jesus said to him, “No. You must go to your friends and tell them what the LORD has done for you. Tell them about the mercy God has shown you.” 20So, the man went around the area telling people in the Ten Cities what Jesus had done for him, and everyone who heard the story was amazed.
21When Jesus had returned to the other side, a huge crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22One of the synagogue leaders, Jairus, came and fell at Jesus’ feet 23and begged him again and again, “My little girl is dying! Please come and lay your hands on her, and she will be healed.” 24Jesus went with Jairus, followed by a huge crowd of people pressing all around him.
25A woman was in the crowd who had been suffering from bleeding discharges for twelve years. 26She had been to many physicians and endured their remedies, and so had spent all she had, but to no avail. Indeed, her condition had grown worse. 27But she had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28She thought, “If I can just touch his garments I know I will be healed.” 29Her bleeding was cured instantly, and she knew she had been completely healed from her illness.
30Jesus knew right away that power had gone from him, and he turned to the crowd and asked, “Who just touched my clothes?”
31His disciples said, “Look at all these people pressing around you. What do you mean, ‘Who touched my clothes?’”
32Jesus looked all around him to find who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing he had healed her, came trembling in fear and fell in front of him and told him everything. 34Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. You are healed of your disease.”
35While he was saying this some men came from the synagogue leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any further?”
36But Jesus overheard them and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” 37He wouldn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James and John, James’ brother. 38When they came to the synagogue leader’s home there was a commotion there, with people crying and wailing aloud. 39When Jesus entered the house he said to them, “Why are you crying and making such a commotion? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.”
40They laughed at him, so he sent them all outside. Then he gathered the child’s parents and his disciples in the child’s room. 41He took her hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” (“child, wake up”). 42Immediately the little girl arose and began to walk around. She was about twelve years old. The others were overwhelmed and amazed, 43but he insisted that they were not to spread the story, and told them to get her something to eat.
Commentary
1-13: The story of the poor demon-possessed man of Gerasa is somewhat confusing, as we are never quite sure who is speaking; the man or the demon, or demons. He has the kind of incredible strength sometimes exhibited by insane people who are able to ignore the pain of strained muscles and joints and distressed flesh and accomplish feats of physical power. The casting of the demons into the herd of pigs reminds me of the “scape goat” of Leviticus 16:6-10.
14-20: The locals are understandably distressed and ask Jesus to leave. The insane man is now sane, and begs to come with him, but Jesus refuses. He is, after all, a Gentile (Gerasa is on the eastern shore of the lake) whose presence would be problematic as Jesus continued his mission in Jewish territory. Besides, the task of everyone who has had a life-changing encounter with Jesus is to go and tell others “how much the Lord has done for you.”
21-34: The chapter began with an exorcism. Mark moves now to describe two healing stories that take place when they arrive back in Capernaum. A certain leader named Jairus begs Jesus to come heal his daughter, and on the way a woman afflicted with a constant menstrual flow (that is the usual understanding of her condition) is healed by simply reaching out her hand and touching him. It is a demonstration of the power of faith Jesus has been telling his disciples about.
35-43: When news arrives that the little girl is dead, Jesus presses on. At this point he dismisses everyone but Peter, James, and John, the three who will also accompany him on the Mount of Transfiguration and at Gethsemane. Those three and the parents witness the miracle of the little girl being brought back to life. Jesus orders them not to tell what happened; perhaps the crowd will think she really was only asleep.
Takeaway
It is important to note that Mark has arranged his material to show that Jesus ignored social pecking orders: a foreigner who is possessed by demons, Jairus the synagogue leader who would likely have been wealthy and important, the woman who touched his garment and who was undoubtedly shunned by others and thus had no social standing. Jesus treats us all alike.