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The BibleTexts.com Bible Commentary Copyright 1996-2005 Robert Nguyen Cramer THE GOSPEL OF MARK |
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Note here that Jesus' role in these verses is the same as the role of a "Paraclete" ("Comforter", KJV; Strong's <3875>), which is how Jesus is described in Joh 14:16 ("another Comforter", KJV) and 1Jo 2:1 ("an advocate", KJV). In these verses he announces the palsied man's acquital (forgiveness) from the allegations of and from the imprisoning sentence instigated by "the Accuser" (Satan, Devil). The Greek term aphiemi <Strong's 863>, translated 'to forgive,' in classical Greek is described by Colin Brown (Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 1, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975, pages 697-698) as follows:
CL [classical Greek] aphiemi (derived from apo, from, and hiemi, to put in motion, send), attested since Homer, means .the voluntary release of a person or thing over which one has legal or actual control. In addition to the vb., the noun aphesis [forgiveness], discharge, setting free, is used from Plato onwards. In its fig. use aphiemi overlaps in meaning with pariemi (Homer), lit. to let drop, let by; fig., to let pass, allow (the noun paresis, since Hippocrates).
1. aphiemi is used in classical Gk. both in a lit. and in a fig. sense:
(a) With a personal object, to send forth, send away (of a woman, to divorce; of a meeting, to dissolve, end), to let go, to leave, dispatch; with an impersonal object, to loose (e.g. a ship into the sea), to discharge (e.g. arrows), to give up.
(b) In the fig. sense the vb. means to let alone, permit, let pass, neglect, give up... The legal use is important: to release from a legal bond (office, guilt, etc. and also, a woman from marriage...), to acquit (e.g. cancellation of criminal proceedings,...), to exempt (from guilt, obligation, punishment, etc.; e.g. pardon, or remision, etc. All these meanings apply from Homer onward only to human relationships; they are not found in a religious sense.
For a further description of "Paraclete" (Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Strong's <3875>), browse http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/comforter.htm.
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The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (5:1-20) is one of the longest and most vivid of the NT miracles. Mark has here adapted an early folkloric narrative to his theology. (Geographical details that puzzled even ancient commentators, such as the location of Gerasa some thirty miles from the Sea of Galilee, are not important to Mark.) Just as Jesus began his ministry on Jewish soil with an exorcism (1:21-28; 1:24 and 5:7 are almost identical in Gk.), his first arrival in gentile territory (where pigs could be raised; cf. Luke 15:15) involves even more violent conflict with the power of evil. The first half describes the exorcism (5:1-13), while the second describes its effect on various people (vv. 14-20). The demoniac comes to him from the realm of the dead (v. 2; cf. Isa. 65:5, where Gentiles are a people “who sit in tombs”) and his destructive power is as uncontrolled as the raging sea (Mark 5:3-5).
The narrative violates the normal pattern of exorcisms: first, meeting of demoniac and exorcist; second, silencing and expulsion of demon by exorcist; and third, departure of demon, with reaction of onlookers. Instead, on first sight (vv. 6-7) he “worships” Jesus and recognizes him as “Son of the Most High God” — a way of speaking of God characteristic of pagans (Dan. 3:26; 4:2; cf. Isa. 14:14). The exorcism (Mark 5:8) has already occurred and is mentioned almost as an afterthought. By departing from the traditional arrangement, Mark highlights the Christology of the narrative. The expulsion of the demons into the herd of swine and their drowning in the sea initiates the purification of gentile territory. Since the unbridled power of the water has already been subjected to Jesus’ power (4:35-41), it now becomes the tomb of the demons. The subsequent meeting between Jesus and the freed demoniac is also unusual in miracle stories. Rather than commanding silence, Jesus now commissions the man to proclaim, “how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you” (5:19). He is the prototype for Mark’s community of a gentile convert, freed from the domination of evil, who becomes a missionary proclaiming God’s mercy.
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In his commentary on Mark 8:35, Sherman E. Johnson (Black's New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to Mark, A&C Black: London, 1977, page 151) writes:
His willingness to risk and lose his physical life is given as the supreme example of the true way of salvation. Whosoever wishes to save his life, to hoard it and protect it, as though it belonged to him alone, will lose it or destroy it in the true sense of the word. But to lose it, as Jesus does, in the cause of the Good News, is to preserve it.
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