Reading Mark 5:1-20 in the Context of Exorcism in African Christian Theology: Implications for the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Abstract

Mark 5:1-20 provides one of the most intriguing accounts of exorcism in the ministry of Jesus. It relates the healing of the demoniac in the region of the Gerasenes. This passage is the longest exorcism narrative reported by Mark. As in the other Synoptic Gospels, the event in Mark occurs just after the crossing of the Sea of Galilee and the calming of the storm that threatened the safety of Jesus and his disciples. The story shows the faint-heartedness of the disciples, Jesus’ lordship over nature, and the subsequent rebuke of the lack of faith of the disciples (Mark 4:35-41). The uniqueness of the healing of the demoniac in Mark 5 is further illustrated because “this is the only exorcism that mentions multiple demons and Jesus' asking for their name, as if to garner power over them. It is also the only one that involves animals and that provokes opposition and a plea for him to leave.”