NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHT

Part IV (con’t)

Verse 28: Jesus arrived at the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarene people. There, two men who were demon possessed came toward him. They lived in the burial caves and were so dangerous that no one could use the road that went by those caves.

Now here is a question, could it be that since the devil is called the prince of the power of the air, he may have conjured up this storm to prevent Jesus from getting there and his demons being cast out? If so, it was a miserable failure. It also seems that somehow the demons inside these men knew Jesus was coming their way.

We are introduced to this area known as Girgasite (“Girgashi”, in Hebrew).¹ According to various scholars, this was because the area consisted of large deposits of clay soil which is called by that name. It retains this name in various other scriptures.² So by the time Jesus visited, it had become known as Gadara. The main town was some six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, so the people who came out to complain about the pigs being stampeded into the water, must have been from a hamlet nearby. As a matter of fact, Jewish historian Josephus tells us: “So when Justus had, by his persuasions, prevailed with the citizens of Tiberias to take up arms, in fact, had forced a great many to do so against their will, he went out, and set the villages that belonged to Gadara and Hippos on fire; which villages were situated on the borders of Tiberias, and of the region of Scythopolis.”³

One early church father says: “Girgasa, from whence were the Girgasenes, is an ancient city near the lake; now called Tiberias; surrounding which is a precipice adjacent to the lake, from where it is shown, that the swine were cast down by the devils. Girgesa is interpreted,, ‘the habitation of those that cast out’; being called so perhaps prophetically, for what the inhabitants of those places did to the Savior, pleading with Him to depart out of their coasts.’”⁴ Also, Rabbi Abraham Zacuto visited this area between 1452 – 1515 AD, and tells us that the land of Girgashi was now called “Gurgan.”⁵

Thus the location seems quite documented. Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Gadara was the metropolis of Peraea, or the region beyond Jordan; and he also observes that it was sixty furlongs, or about eight miles from Tiberias. It is therefore rightly placed opposite Tiberias, at the southeast end of the lake. Jewish historian Pliny says it was then called Hippodion, and was one of the cities of Decapolis, and had the river Hieromax flowing nearby. It was under Gentile jurisdiction when perhaps it was destroyed by the Jews; but was rebuilt by Pompey and joined to the province of Syria. Caesar Augustus afterwards gave it to king Herod, on whose death it was again annexed to Syria. It is now called Om Keis; its ruins are in a very mutilated state, and when visited by John Lewis Burckhardt it had not a single inhabitant. However, the remains of the sepulchral caverns in which the demoniacs dwelled are still to be seen.

Again, because these demon possessed men could not live in the city, they met Jesus out in the open, much like lepers did. What a wonderful testimony to the fact that we need not always invite sinners to church to meet Jesus, He will meet them where they are. These men had found a place to stay among the tombs in the hillsides outside of town. Jews did not allow cemeteries within the city’s walls. The Rabbis clearly taught: “…they must be carried out for burial.”⁶ And these tombs that were dug out of the hillside were not always small. As a matter of fact, according to Jewish verbal tradition there is a whole section given to this:

“If one sells a plot of ground to another as a family grave and, likewise, if one signs a contract with another to construct a family grave, family graves were constructed in a rectangular form of a central cave, out from which burial chambers are dug into the surrounding walls of the cave, each must have an area six feet wide and nine feet long. Eight burial chambers are to open out into the central cave; three each from the two longer walls on the sides, and two from the shorter wall facing the entrance. The burial chambers must be six feet in length, and twenty-one inches in height, and eighteen inches wide. A space of two feet, 3 inches are between each chamber on the side walls and 3 feet the chambers of the wall facing the entrance. Rabbi Shimon says: The central space of the cave must contain an area of nine feet by twelve feet, and thirteen chambers are to open out into it: four on one side, four on the other; three in the front wall facing the entrance, one on the corner diagonally, across to the right of the entrance and one on the left. Outside the entrance to the cave, is to be made a courtyard of nine feet by nine feet, which is the space the bier and those who bury it occupy. Two chambers are also to open out into the courtyard: one, on the left and one on the right of the entrance. Rabbi Shimon says: Four; one for each of its four sides. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: It all depends on the quality of the rock. If the rock is hard, more burial chambers may be cut, since less space is required for the intervening walls. If, on the other hand, the ground is soft, more space would be required for the thickness of the walls, and, consequently, the number of chambers would have to be reduced.”⁷

So as we can see, these demon possessed men were able to use the empty tombs and no doubt those that had been pillaged as their place to live. And according to Jewish tradition, these men were not alone out there. In fact, in one Jewish document, it says: “that for twelve months after the soul is separated from the body it still hovers around.”⁸ This induced some to go to the tomb in hopes of speaking to the spirit of their departed loved one. As a matter of fact, we read this story: “It is related that a certain pious man gave a denar to a poor man on the eve of New Year in a year of drought, and his wife scolded him, and he went and passed the night in the cemetery, and he heard two spirits conversing with one another.”⁹ The story goes on quite a ways with continued visits to the tombs and spirits. So you can imagine how surprised these demon possessed men were when suddenly this group of live individuals show up in a boat, to be joined by a crowd from the nearby city. But their surprise didn’t last long.

Verse 29: They came toward Jesus and shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did You come here to punish us before the appointed time?”

We see that both Mark and Luke record that there was one demon possessed man who met Jesus here.¹⁰ Some skeptics are quick to point to this as a biblical error or contradiction. However, scholars note that this can easily be explained in that there were in fact two who showed up, but Mark and Luke focused on the one who spoke, no doubt because he was the one most fierce and aggressive. Thus the name of the demon was “legion”¹¹ is even more plausible with two people as opposed to one, and there may have been other men in this same group possessed by this herd of demons.

When Jesus encountered these demon possessed men, He did not need to introduce Himself. It was not an oddity that our Lord should encounter such people living in a graveyard. The Jewish rabbis taught that this was where they hung out. They said: “Who is deemed an imbecile? He that goes out alone at night and he that spends the night in a cemetery, and he that tears his garments. It was taught: Rabbi Huna said: He must do all three things. However, Rabbi Johanan said: Even if he only does only one of them. On what grounds? If he does them in an insane manner, even one is enough proof. If he does not do them in an insane manner, even all the others prove nothing? — Actually, it is a case where he does them in an insane manner. But if he spent the night in a cemetery, I might say: He did it in order that the spirit of impurity might rest upon him. If he went out alone at night, I might say: He was seized by lycanthropy (ability to morph from human to animal). If he tore his garment, I might say: He was lost in thought”.¹²

They also taught: “One…that consults with the dead: this means one who starves himself and spends the night in a cemetery, so that an unclean spirit of a demon may rest upon him to enable him to foretell the future.”¹³ So we can see that the actions of these men that confronted Jesus, and were described as being demon possessed, were thoroughly discussed by Rabbis on that day.

Early church writer Cyril of Alexandria notes that long before this encounter, Jesus “was shutting up the fiercest demons in blocked roads. He was undoing the devil’s tyranny. They knew from the Scriptures that Christ was going to come and would judge them. Treating the incarnation if it had happened at the wrong time, they suggested that He had come in an untimely manner. This misrepresentation is not surprising. In their deceptiveness, they did not hesitate to say such a thing. Yet, although they know the vengeance is to fall upon them, they still ask haughtily, ‘What have You to do with us?’ They know that the final Judge in fact has a score to settle with them.”¹⁴

No doubt this is why neither Jesus nor His disciples were shocked or amazed to find such demon possessed individuals there. In fact, now we know why Jesus wanted to go to this side of the Sea of Galilee. There is no evidence that these men ever attended one of Jesus’ lectures. Since they were kept out of town and could not communicate with people, how did they know they were meeting the Son of God?

The literal translation of their question in Greek reads: “What to us and to You, Son of God? Are You come here before the time to torment us?” The oldest Hebrew version of Matthew reads: “What is between You and us, Jesus Son of God? Have you come before the time to grieve us and to destroy us?”¹⁵ This could be understood several ways. In modern vernacular we might say, “What are you doing in our territory Son of God?” It might also be interpreted to imply that they were disclaiming any design to interfere with the work of Christ. Therefore, He should not meddle with them. It also appears they feared His great power over them.

In any case, in the Aramaic language this is also a phrase which often occurs in the Old Testament, signifying: “an abrupt refusal of some request, or a wish not to be troubled with the company or importunity of others.” Jehu said to the messenger who was sent by Joram to meet him, “What have you to do with peace?” Even David was quoted as saying: “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?”¹⁶ So there remains no doubt that these demons were scared. But the one question of how they knew it was Him, can only be traced back to some prior meeting. That would take us further back to when the disobedient angels were thrown out of heaven along with their leader, Lucifer. This would then confirm the point John was making when he wrote: “He with God in the beginning.”¹⁷

Chrysostom believes that the demon’s charge: “Did you come here to torment us before the set time?” as another way of accepting the fact that they knew they were going to be punished, but they wanted a reprieve so that they would not need to suffer what was coming on them before the time that God had established. But Chrysostom suggests that because these demons had so tortured these men, forcing them to live out among the dead in these tombs, that Jesus decided it was time to give them their due. Could it be that by this plea the demons were indicating that although they were ultimately headed for the pit of fire and brimstone in the end, the next worst thing that could happen to them now was to be homeless here on earth where they could not carry out some sort of revenge as spite for their coming punishment, by tormenting God’s highest creation who would inherit the place in heaven they lost due to their disobedience along with Satan?

These are all speculative thoughts and ideas. But the fact remains that being with God from the beginning, the Son of God had power over these demons when they were thrown out of heaven; He had power over them as the Son of Man by casting them out of possessed human beings; and He will have power over them in the end when they are cast into the pit for everlasting confinement. So not only can we confront them today by reminding them of their past, but also their future, and we do so in the same name they feared during this occasion, the name of Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah and soon coming King. Therefore I am thoroughly convinced that no born again believer with Jesus living in their hearts, and the Holy Spirit abiding in them as His temple, can ever be defeated and taken over by the demons of Satan. In fact, when Spirit filled men and women encounter such demons, they too may ask: “What have we to do with you?”