The story about the demon possessed man in
the Gadarene's
begins
with
Mark telling
us that there was a man with an unclean spirit (singular) who would remain
in the
tombs of the dead. This man was so strong that he would break off even
the chains
which were put on him.
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[1] And they came over unto the
other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
[2] And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
[3] Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
[4] Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
[5] And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
[2] And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
[3] Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
[4] Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
[5] And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
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The man who was possessed worshiped Christ,
and
when he finally came
unto
him, he begged Jesus
not to bring him under punishment because Christ had told the unclean spirit (singular) to leave the
man.
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[6] But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped him,
[7] And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
[8] For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
[7] And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
[8] For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
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What we are now about to see is
something quite interesting.
When we
read the next passages of the story, we see that in fact, the man is not
possessed by an unclean spirit,
but
rather UNCLEAN
SPIRITS. This word is in the plural. The spirits
tell Jesus that they are many. Furthermore, we
see that when Christ asks the demon what is THY name (singular) the
demon (HE, singular) replied that his name is legion because they are many.
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[9] And he asked him, What is thy
name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
[10] And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
[11] Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
[10] And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
[11] Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
[12] And all the devils besought
him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
[13] And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
[13] And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
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Within the opening part of the story,
Mark uses the word unclean spirit (singular) to refer to what was possessing the
man. Yet what we come to see is that this unclean spirit is actually a legion of
demons,
unclean spirit(s). Why this is so important is because it displays unto us the
way in which the gospel writers, mainly Mark, wrote. What we can learn
from
this event is
that the writers of the 4 gospels may from time to time use a singular word
about a thing which may not be all that singular after all. Hence, when
the word God is used in the gospels, or when the phrase “ the Lord your God is
one Lord” is used, we shouldn’t be so quick to say that this disproves the idea
of a triune
creator seeing
as the gospel writers may sometimes use singular wordings to point to something
that may be plural.
Mark refers to 2
thousand demons as unclean spirit (singular). He may also use a singular phrase such as “ the Lord your God
is one Lord" to refer to a triune creator.
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