Mark 5 · The Lantern

The Demons and the Pigs

And they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.

And when He was exiting out of the boat, immediately there met with Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. et v. Chrys. Hom. in Matt. 28) Or else, Mark and Luke relate what was most worthy of compassion, and for this reason they put down more at length what had happened to this man; for there follows, no man could bind him, no, not with chains.

And when he had come out of the ship, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him from the tombs, who had his dwelling among the tombs. This man, who was vexed by an unclean spirit and was mad to the Lord but soon to be healed, holds the figure of the gentile people, who, up to the time of the Lord's incarnation, deluded by demonic doctrines, worshiped idols as God.

Here again the demoniac is the people of the Gentiles, in a most hopeless case, bound neither by the law of nature, nor of God, nor by human fear. Or they are choked in hell without any touch of mercy by the rushing on of an early death; which evils many persons thus avoid, for by the scourging of the fool, the wise is made more prudent.

who had the dwelling in the tombs. And no one was any longer able to bind him, not even with a chain,

because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles shattered; and no one was able to subdue him.

And through all times, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones.

And having seen Jesus from afar, he ran and fell on his knees before Him,

and having cried in a loud voice he spoke, “What to me and to You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me!”

Obviously he would not be expelling evil spirits and pillaging idols if he were impotent, for the evil spirits would not obey one who was impotent. If, on the other hand, the very naming of him drives them forth, he clearly is not powerless. The spirits especially see through what is unseen by human eyes.

(non occ.) See how the devil is divided between two passions, fear and audacity; he hangs back and prays, as if meditating a question; he wishes to know what he had to do with Jesus, as though he would say, Do you cast me out from men, who are mine?

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.

For He was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he says to Him, “Legion is my name, because we are many.”

Look too at Legion: when in anguish he begged, our Lord permitted the demons to enter into the herd. He asked for respite, without deception, in his anguish, and our Lord in his kindness granted this request. His compassion for the demoniac is a rebuke to the demons, showing how much anguish his love suffers in desiring that humans should live.

One should also bear in mind that God antecedently wills all to be saved and to attain to his kingdom. For he did not form us to be chastised, but to share his goodness, because he is incomparably good. Yet, because he is just, it is required that sin be punished. So, the first form of the will of God is called his antecedent will and blessing, which has God as its cause.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Lest he should not be believed, if He affirmed there were many, He wishes that they themselves should confess it; wherefore there follows, And he saith unto him, Legion, for we are many. He gives not a fixed number, but a multitude, for such accuracy in the number would not help us to understand it.

And he was begging Him numerous times that He may not send them out of the country.

Now there was a great herd of pigs feeding there near the hill,

This ("substance"), accordingly, he "squandered; "having been cast by his moral habits far from the Lord, amid the errors and allurements and appetites of the world, where, compelled by hunger after truth, he handed himself over to the prince of this age.

(de Con. Evan. ii. 24) What Mark here says, that the herd was about the mountain, and what Luke calls on the mountain, are by no means inconsistent. For the herd of swine was so large, that some part were on the mountain, the rest around it. It goes on: And the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

There was a large herd of pigs feeding near the mountain. And the spirits implored him, saying: Send us into the pigs, that we may enter them. And Jesus immediately granted them. Therefore, he allowed what they were asking for, that through the destruction of the pigs, an occasion for salvation might be offered to humans.

and they begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, so that we may enter into them.”

And He allowed them. And the unclean spirits, having gone out, entered into the pigs, and the herd — about two thousand — rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.

The devil's legion would not have had power over the herd of swine unless they had gotten it from God. Thus they are far from having power over the sheep of God. Even the bristles of the swine were counted by God, just as were the hairs of the heads of the just.

Was it just that two thousand swine perished so one soul might be saved? One seeking purity of heart had best not become preoccupied with the natural prerogative of the demonic legion or animals. It is better that each single reader reflect upon his own soul, his own way of life, and the rarity of true excellence.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He wished to show publicly the fury which devils entertain against men, and that they would inflict much worse things upon men, if they were not hindered by Divine power; because, again, His compassion would not allow this to be shown on men, He permitted them to enter into the swine, that on them the fury and power of the devils might be made known…

And those feeding them fled and proclaimed it to the city and to the country; and they went out to see what it is that had happened.

And they come to Jesus and see the man being demonized sitting, clothed and sound-minded — the one who had had the legion — and they were afraid.

The necessity of their loss, however, brought these men to the Saviour; for frequently when God makes men suffer loss in their possessions, he confers a benefit on their souls. Wherefore it goes on: And they came to Jesus, and see him that was tormented by the devil, &c.

After this, let the deacon say: Go out, catechumens, in peace. And after they have gone out, let him say: You energumens, afflicted with unclean spirits, pray, and let us all earnestly pray for them, that God, the lover of humankind, through Christ, may rebuke the unclean and wicked spirits, and deliver the faithful from the dominion of the adversary.

Struck by the miracle, the inhabitants of that city came out to Jesus, and having heard the details, they were even more frightened.

And those having seen it related to them how it happened to the one being demonized, and concerning the pigs.

And they began to implore Him to depart from their region.

And when He was climbing into the boat, the one having been demonized was begging Him that he may be with Him.

And He did not permit him, but says to him, “Go to your home, to your own, and declare to them as much as the Lord has done for you and that He had mercy on you.”

IN TOBIT IT IS SAID: “TO REVEAL AND CONFESS THE WORK OF GOD IS HONORABLE” (Tob. 12:7). BUT THE SAVIOR, WHEN PERFORMING THE WORK OF GOD, SAYS: “TELL NO ONE” (Mark 8:26). — The Savior did not say that the work of God ought to be concealed; for elsewhere he says: “Go and tell how great things God has done for you” (Mark 5:19).

I have loved the beauty of the contemplative life as a Rachel, barren, but keen of sight and fair, who, though in her quietude she is less fertile, yet sees the light more keenly. But, by what judgment I know not, Leah has been coupled with me in the night, to wit, the active life; fruitful, but tender-eyed; seeing less, but bringing forth more.

But the Lord sends him back to his house, intimating to him, that though He Himself was not present, yet His power would keep him; at the same time also that he might be of use in the healing of others; wherefore it goes on: And he did not suffer him, and saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, &c. See the humility of the Saviour.

And he departed and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus did for him; and all were marveling.

The Healing Touch of Jesus

And when Jesus was crossing again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd was gathered to Him, and He was beside the sea.

And one of the synagogue rulers comes, named Jairus; and having seen Him, he falls at His feet

Let our opponents-that is, they who speak against their own salvation-inform us [as to this point]: The deceased daughter of the high priest; the widow's dead son, who was being carded out [to burial] near the gate [of the city]; and Lazarus, who had lain four days in the tomb, -in what bodies did they rise again? In those same, no doubt, in which they had also died.

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.

Mystically, however, Jairus comes after the healing of the woman, because when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, then shall Israel be saved. (v. Rom.

and begs Him much, saying that “My little daughter is at the end. Come and lay the hands on her, so that she may be cured and may live.”

Those who are sick do not lay down the conditions of how they are to be cured. They only want to be made well. But this man was a ruler of the synagogue, and versed in the law. He had surely read that while God created all other things by his word, man had been created by the hand of God.

And he earnestly begged Him, saying: "My daughter is at the point of death; come, lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." In the Gospel of Luke, it is written that she was his only daughter about twelve years old, and she was dying.

Now this man was faithful in part, inasmuch as he fell at the feet of Jesus, but in that he begged of Him to come, he did not show as much faith as he ought. For he ought to have said, Speak the word only, and my daughter shall be healed.

And He departed with him. And a great crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

And a woman being with a flux of blood twelve years,

and having suffered much under many physicians and having spent all of hers, and having in no way benefited but rather having come to the worse —

having heard concerning Jesus, having come up in the crowd behind Him, she touched His clothing;

Glory to you, hidden Son of God, because your healing power is proclaimed through the hidden suffering of the afflicted woman. Through this woman whom they could see, the witnesses were enabled to behold the divinity that cannot be seen. Through the Son's own healing power his divinity became known. Through the afflicted woman's being healed her faith was made manifest.

The woman with the hemorrhage had spent all that she had on doctors. Hungering and thirsting, her spirit had died within her. Having lost everything she possessed, because her life was wasting away within her, she cried out to the Lord in anguish. Her touch on the hem of his garment was the cry of a believing heart.

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, "If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed." And immediately the source of her bleeding dried up. The Church comes and touches the Lord when it approaches Him through the truth of faith.

for she was saying that “If I touch even His garments, I will be healed.”

And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew in the body that she has been healed from the affliction.

And immediately Jesus, having known in Himself the power having gone forth out of Him, having turned in the crowd, was saying, “Who touched My garments?”

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself the power that had gone out from Him, turned to the crowd and said: "Who touched My garments?" He asked not to learn what He did not know, but that the power He clearly knew, indeed which He Himself had given, might be declared in the woman, and by the declared and recognized power of faith, many might reach salvation.

For the Lord wished to declare the woman, first to give His approbation to her faith, secondly to urge the chief of the synagogue to a confident hope that He could thus cure his child, and also to free the woman from fear.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Now the virtues of Christ are by His own will imparted to those men, who touch Him by faith. Wherefore there follows, And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

And His disciples were saying to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case of the twelfth Aeon is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For their opinion is, that He continued to preach for one year only after His baptism.

And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" The crowd pressing around Him in every direction, one believing woman touches the Lord, because those burdened by various disordered heresies or perverse habits, only the heart faithfully venerating the Catholic Church, is honored.

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.

And He was looking around to see the one who had done this.

And the woman, having been frightened and trembling, knowing what has been done to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him all the truth.

And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace, and be healthy from your affliction.”

For to those who were righteous according to the law, faith was wanting. Wherefore also the Lord, in healing them, said, "Thy faith hath saved thee." But to those that were righteous according to philosophy, not only faith in the Lord, but also the abandonment of idolatry, were necessary. Straightway, on the revelation of the truth, they also repented of their previous conduct.

Few are they who by faith touch him; multitudes are they who throng about him.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Or else He says, Go in peace, sending her away into that which is the final good, for God dwells in peace, that thou mayest know, that she was not only healed in body, but also from the causes of bodily pain, that is, from her sins

While He is still speaking, they come from the ruler of the synagogue, saying that “Your daughter is dead; why still trouble the Teacher?”

(ubi sup.) It is not said that he assented to his friends who brought the tidings and wished to prevent the Master from coming, so that our Lord's saying, Fear not, only believe, is not a rebuke for his want of faith, but was intended to strengthen the belief which he had already.

Those who were about the ruler of the synagogue, thought that Christ was one of the prophets, and for this reason they thought that they should beg of Him to come and pray over the damsel. But because she had already expired, they thought that He ought not to be asked to do so.

It was told the ruler of the synagogue, Thy daughter is dead. But Jesus said to him, She is not dead, but sleepeth. Both are true, for the meaning is, She is dead to you, but to Me she is asleep.

And Jesus, having ignored the word spoken, says to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

When the chief of the synagogue asked him about his daughter, Jesus said to him: "Only firmly believe and your daughter shall live." He believed and so his daughter lived and arose.

"But Jesus, overhearing the word that was spoken, said to the synagogue leader, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.'" The synagogue leader is understood as the teacher of the law, about whom the Lord says, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat" (Matthew 23). For if he himself is willing to believe, the Synagogue subject to him will also be saved.

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."

And He allowed no one to follow with Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and He beholds a commotion and much weeping and wailing.

And having entered, He says to them, “Why do you make commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeps.”

And what shall I say of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, at whose death multitudes were weeping and the flute-players piping? For the funeral solemnities were being performed because of the conviction of death. How quickly at the word of the Lord does the spirit return, the reviving body rise up, and food is taken, that the evidence of life may be believed!

And entering, he said to them: Why are you troubled and weeping? The girl is not dead, but sleeping. To men she was dead, who could not raise her, but to God she was sleeping, in whose arrangement, the soul was received and lived, and the body rested to be resurrected.

It was told the ruler of the synagogue, Thy daughter is dead. But Jesus said to him, She is not dead, but sleepeth. Both are true, for the meaning is, She is dead to you, but to Me she is asleep.

And they were laughing at Him. But He Himself, having put all out, takes with Him the father of the child and the mother and those with Him, and enters in where the child was.

And taking hold of the hand of the child, He says to her, “Talitha koum!” — which is, being translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

(non occ.) Or else, to take away all display, He suffered not all to be with Him; that, however, He might leave behind Him witnesses of His divine power, He chose His three chief disciples and the father and mother of the damsel, as being necessary above all. And He restores life to the damsel both by His hand, and by word of mouth.

(Mor. 4, 27) Morally again, our Redeemer raised the damsel in the house, the young man without the gate, Lazarus in the tomb; he still lies dead in the house, whose sin is concealed; he is carried without the gate, whose sin has broken forth into the madness of an open deed; he lies crushed under the mound of the tomb, who in the commission of sin, lies powerless beneath the we…

The Lord takes her by the hand in order to impart strength to her.

And immediately the girl arose and was walking; for she was of twelve years. And immediately they were amazed with great amazement.

And He instructed them strictly that no one may know this, and He commanded that something be given her to eat.

Mark5

The Demons and the Pigs

The Healing Touch of Jesus