Good morning,
This week we are going to look at Mark 5:1-20, which describes the incident Jesus had with a man that was possessed by at least one demon (probably more). Matthew and Luke also record this encounter, in Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39. Both Mark and Luke mention only one man that is possessed by a demon, but Matthew writes that there were actually two such men.
And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
Mark 5:2
When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons.
Luke 8:27
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
Matthew 8:28
This supposed discrepancy has been pointed to by many skeptics as evidence that the Bible contradicts itself. So what is going on here?
Sometimes these “contradictions” are nothing more than the Gospel writers describing two similar, but different, events. For example, Jesus miraculously provides food for a crowd on two different occasions – one time He fed 5,000 (Mark 6) and on another occasion He fed 4,000 (Mark 8). All of the Gospels mention the feeding of the 5,000, but only Matthew and Mark mention the feeding of the 4,000. The events are similar, but when we dig into the text it becomes clear that they are separate miracles.
In the case of the demoniacs, however, it’s clear that Matthew, Mark and Luke are describing the same event. All three accounts, for example, place this encounter as happening immediately following the calming of the storm on the sea of Galilee. The other details of the story, such as the drowning of the herd of pigs and the response of the townspeople, also show that this is the same event being described three times.
To be fair, this still seems like a big deal. Why did Mark and Luke only mention one of the demoniacs if there were two? We aren’t sure why, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. Mark and Luke do not say that there was only one demon-possessed man. They simply state that a demon-possessed man met Jesus and had a conversation with Him.
We must remember that a contradiction occurs only if one statement makes the other impossible and there is absolutely no way for them to be reconciled. For example, let’s say my kids have lunch with their grandparents and when they come home I ask them what they had for lunch. One of them says “Burgers and fries.” Then the other one says “Burgers, hot dogs, chicken patties French fries, soup from Lapps, some salad, pickles, chex mix and then ice cream for dessert.” (As an aside…trust me, this is a 100% completely realistic scenario.)
Their replies don’t match, but do they contradict each other? Not at all. One is just providing way more detail than the other. In the same way, the biblical accounts that we are looking at do not represent a contradiction. The fact that the three accounts differ in the details only proves that they were written by 3 different authors and that each author chose to focus on different aspects of the event.
To me, the slight variations in the Gospel account only help to prove that the Bible is true in all that it says. Just like police detectives become skeptical when all the eyewitnesses to something have the exact same story with the exact same details (or the exact same alibi), if the Gospels were all written exactly the same we would understandably think that perhaps someone made it all up. We have four different Gospels written at four different times by four different authors with four different purposes for writing that all tell the same overarching story about Jesus. And (while differing in some minor details and minor perspectives) they never contradict each other. That can only be accomplished if God Himself is the true author of Scripture!
Here’s what’s happening:
- Senior High Youth meet THIS Sunday, February 12 after church and again on Sunday 2/26 after church.
- Junior Youth Movie night is set for Friday 2/17.
- Save the Date – “Next Steps at the Bridge” luncheon on Sunday, March 12th after the morning worship service. If you are new to Andrews Bridge and/or would be interested in becoming a member, please plan to attend. More information is coming soon!
- Men’s Breakfast is back. Saturday 2/25 at 8 am at Hometown Kitchen.
- This Saturday, February 11th, Wesley Church is hosting a morning of workshops for the community at Colerain Church (1923 Noble Road in Kirkwood). I’ll be leading a workshop focused on strengthening marriages. There will be several different workshops offered at 9 am, 10 am, and 11 am that morning. Head over to Wesley’s website…https://wesleymain.wesleyqville.org for more information.
I’m looking forward to worshipping with each of you Sunday!