Chapter 5

Chapter Five Mk. 5:1. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. Mk. 5:2. And when He came out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Mk. 5:3. He had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains, Mk. 5:4. Because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, but he broke the chains apart and smashed the fetters, and no one had the strength to tame him. Mk. 5:5. Always, night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. In the more correct manuscripts it reads: "to the country of the Gergesenes." Matthew says that there were two demoniacs (Mt. 8:32), while Mark and Luke (Lk. 8:26–33) speak of one. These latter chose the more fierce of them and narrate about him. The demoniac goes and confesses Christ as the Son of God. Since those who were on the ship were uncertain about who He was, the most reliable testimony about Him follows from His enemies, I mean the demons. The demoniac lived among the tombs, because the demon wanted to instill through this the false idea that the souls of the dead become demons, which one must by no means believe. Mk. 5:6. But when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him, Mk. 5:7. And crying out with a loud voice, he said: What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God, do not torment me! Mk. 5:8. For Jesus said to him: Come out, unclean spirit, from this man. Mk. 5:9. And He asked him: What is your name? And he answered, saying: My name is Legion, for we are many. Mk. 5:10. And they begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. The demons consider it a torment to come out of a man, which is why they said: "do not torment us," that is, do not cast us out of our dwelling, that is, out of the man. On the other hand, they thought that the Lord would no longer tolerate them because of their excessive audacity, but would immediately deliver them to torment, and therefore they begged Him not to torment them. The Lord asks the demoniac not in order to know Himself, but so that others might know about the multitude of demons that had entered him. Since before their eyes stood one man, Christ shows how many enemies this wretched man was fighting against. Mk. 5:11. Now a great herd of swine was feeding there near the mountain. Mk. 5:12. And all the demons begged Him, saying: Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. Mk. 5:13. Jesus immediately permitted them. And the unclean spirits, having come out, entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and there were about two thousand of them; and they drowned in the sea. Mk. 5:14. Those who were feeding the swine ran away and reported it in the city and in the villages. The demons begged the Lord not to send them out of the country, but to let them into the herd of swine. He agrees to this. Since our life is a warfare, the Lord did not wish to remove the demons from it, so that through their struggle against us they might make us more skilled. He permits them to enter the swine so that we may know that just as they did not spare the swine, so they would not have spared that man either, had the power of God not preserved him. For the demons, being hostile to us, would immediately destroy us if God did not protect us. Therefore, know that demons have no power even over swine, and still less over people, unless God permits it. But know also this: that into people who live like swine and wallow in the mire of sensual pleasures, demons enter and cast them down from the precipices of perdition into the sea of this life, and they drown. Mk. 5:14. And the inhabitants went out to see what had happened. Mk. 5:15. They come to Jesus and see the one who had been demon-possessed, in whom was the legion, sitting and clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Mk. 5:16. And they that saw it told them how it befell him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. Mk. 5:17. And they began to ask Him to depart from their region. Mk. 5:18. And when He got into the boat, the demon-possessed man begged Him that he might be with Him. Mk. 5:19. But Jesus did not permit him, and said: Go home to your own people and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you. Mk. 5:20. He went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. Struck by the miracle, the inhabitants of that city came out to Jesus, and having heard the details, they were even more frightened. Therefore they also begged Jesus to depart from their region. They were afraid of suffering something even greater. Having lost the swine and grieving over this loss, they refuse even the presence of the Lord. On the contrary, the demoniac asked Him for permission to be with Him, as he feared that the demons, finding him alone, might enter into him again. But the Lord sends him home, showing that His power and providence would guard him even in His absence. He sends him away also so that he might benefit others who would see him. Therefore he began to preach, and all marveled. But see how the Savior is free from boasting! He did not say, "Tell what I have done for you," but, "what the Lord has done for you." So you also, when you do something good, ascribe what was done not to yourself, but to God. Mk. 5:21. When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him. And He was by the sea. Mk. 5:22. And behold, there comes one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Him, falls at His feet. Mk. 5:23. And he besought Him greatly, saying: My little daughter lieth at the point of death; come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she shall live. Mk. 5:24. Jesus went with him. And a great multitude followed Him, and pressed upon Him. Mk. 5:25. A certain woman, who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years, Mk. 5:26. had suffered much from many physicians, spent all that she had, and received no benefit, but rather grew worse, – Mk. 5:27. having heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment, for she said: Mk. 5:28. If I but touch His garments, I shall be made well. Mk. 5:29. And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the disease. After the miracle over the demoniac, the Lord performs another miracle — He raises the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. For the Jews who witnessed the event, the Evangelist also mentions the name of the ruler of the synagogue. He was a man of half-faith: by falling at the feet of Christ, he shows himself to be a believer, but by asking Him to come, he reveals a faith not of the kind it should be; he ought to have said: "only speak the word." Meanwhile, on the Lord's way, the woman with the flow of blood is also healed. This woman had great faith, because she hoped to be healed by the Lord's garment alone; and for this she received healing. In a figurative sense, understand this also concerning human nature. It was suffering from a flow of blood, because it was producing sin, which is the murder of the soul and which sheds the blood of our souls. Our nature could not receive healing from many physicians, that is, neither from the wise men of this age, nor even from the Law and the prophets. But it was healed as soon as it touched the garment of Christ, that is, His flesh. For whoever believes that Christ became incarnate is the one who touches His garment. Mk. 5:30. At that same time Jesus, having perceived in Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and said: Who touched My clothes? Mk. 5:31. The disciples said to Him: You see that the crowd is pressing upon You, and You say: "Who touched Me?" Mk. 5:32. He looked around to see the woman who had done this. Mk. 5:33. The woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. Mk. 5:34. And He said to her: Daughter! Your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed of your disease. Power goes out from Christ not in such a way as to change place; on the contrary, it is communicated to others and at the same time remains in Christ without diminution, just as the lessons of teaching both remain with the teachers and are imparted to the students. But see how the crowd pressed upon Him from all sides, and yet not one of them touched Him; on the contrary, the woman, who did not press upon Him, touched Him. From this we learn the mystery that of people occupied with a multitude of worldly cares, no one touches Christ: they only press upon Him; on the contrary, whoever does not press upon Jesus and does not burden his mind with vain concerns, that person touches Him. But why does the Lord reveal the woman? First, in order to glorify the woman's faith; second, in order to arouse faith in the ruler of the synagogue that his daughter also will be saved; and also in order to free the woman from her great fear, for she was afraid as one who had stolen a healing. Thus the Evangelist also says: "she came in fear and trembling." Therefore the Lord did not say, "I have saved you," but "your faith has saved you; go in peace," that is, in rest. The meaning of these words is this: be at peace, you who until now have been in sorrow and distress. Mk. 5:35. While He was still speaking this, they come from the ruler of the synagogue and say: your daughter has died; why do you still trouble the Teacher? Mk. 5:36. But Jesus, having heard these words, immediately says to the ruler of the synagogue: do not be afraid, only believe. Mk. 5:37. And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. Mk. 5:38. He comes to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and sees a commotion and people weeping and wailing loudly. Mk. 5:39. And when He had come in, He says to them: Why do you make a commotion and weep? The girl is not dead, but sleeps. Mk. 5:40. And they laughed at Him. But He, having put them all out, takes with Him the father and mother of the girl and those who were with Him and enters where the girl was lying. Mk. 5:41. And taking the girl by the hand, He says to her: "Talitha cumi," which means: Girl, I say to you, arise. Mk. 5:42. And the damsel arose straightway and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they who saw it were overcome with great amazement. Mk. 5:43. And He strictly charged them that no one should know of this, and said that something should be given her to eat. The people of the ruler of the synagogue regarded Christ as one of the ordinary teachers, which is why they asked Him to come and pray over the girl, and in the end, when she died, they thought that He was no longer needed after her death. But the Lord encourages the father and says: "only believe." Meanwhile, He does not allow anyone to follow Him except the three disciples, because the humble Jesus does not wish to do anything for show. At His words, "the girl is not dead, but sleeping," they laugh; this was permitted so that afterward they would have no pretext to say that she had been in a faint and that it was no wonder if He raised her. On the contrary, they would convict themselves by their own testimony of His raising one who was truly dead, since they had even laughed at His words that she was not dead but sleeping. The Lord takes her by the hand in order to impart strength to her, and He commands that she be given something to eat in order to confirm that the resurrection was a real event and not an imaginary one.