They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes — the crossing that terrified the disciples in the storm brings them to Gentile territory. The Decapolis (ten cities) region is inhabited predominantly by Gentiles; the pigs of verse 11 confirm the non-Jewish context. Jesus has crossed not merely a body of water but a cultural and ethnic boundary: the kingdom that began in Jewish Galilee is about to demonstrate its reach into Gentile territory. The first miracle on the other side will be the most dramatic exorcism in the Gospels — and it will be performed for the benefit of a single Gentile man.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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