“And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”
When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his mind; and they were afraid — the transformation is total and visible: sitting (calm, settled, no longer roaming the tombs), dressed (clothed, the restoration of human dignity and social presentation), in his right mind (sane, coherent, the person restored). The three elements reverse the three elements of the man's condition in verses 3–5: he was uncontrollable — now he is seated and calm; he was crying out — now he is coherent; he was cutting himself — now he is dressed. They were afraid: the restoration is as terrifying as the possession, because both exceed ordinary human experience.
Church Fathers on Mark 5:15
Those who were in the ship enquired among themselves, 'What manner of man is this?' and now it is made known Who He is by the testimony of His enemies. For the demoniac came up confessing that He was the Son of God. Proceeding to which circumstance the Evangelist says, 'And they came over unto the other side, &c.'
Geraza is a noted town of Arabia, across the Jordan, near mount Galaad, which the tribe of Manasseh held, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were precipitated.
Though Matthew says that there were two, Mark and Luke mention one, that you may understand that one of them was a more illustrious person, concerning whose state that country was much afflicted.
Read all 23 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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