Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - May, 2005

Bible Study - Commentaries
Verse 4:24-25

from Kaniyamparmabil Achen, the Great Teacher of Malankara

Verse 24- 25: "Fame spread through all Syria…. And there followed him great multitudes from Galilee, and from the Ten Cities, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond the Jordan"

The cities like Syria, Galilee, and Judea which are west of Jordan and Decapolis and from beyond the Jordan (ten cities) means all cities to the east of Jordan, too. Out of the ten Greek cities, except for Damascus, all other cities were East of Sea of Galilee. The people here were not Jews. The width and length of our Lords ministry is notable.

Synagogue:
Synagogues were started as prayer houses during the time of exile. From Babylonia, this national system of synagogue worship was brought to Jerusalem when Jews returned from Babylonian exile and it became a dominant organization in Jewish society. During the time of our Lord, it was in all cities and even in the villages that had at least 10 adult people. It was mainly a liturgical institution but it had judicial powers, too. Elders administered it and chief among them were called ‘ruler of the synagogue’, presiding over the synagogue and its services (Luke 13; 14). It is him that decides who should officiate the services (Acts 13; 15). Another important person was ‘servant of the synagogue’ (hazzan) (Luke 4; 16;Acts 13:15). His responsibility was to hand out the scrolls to the readers, teach the children, and enforce the decisions of the elders. There was another position called methúrgeman. He was responsible for translating the scripture from Hebrew into Aramaic, which was the common language of the Jews.

The elders administered the spiritual and temporal matters of a region. They had the power to ‘cast out’ a person (Luke 6:22) and flag a person (Matthew 10:17; 2 Cori 4:24). The priests administered the Jerusalem temple while the laymen administered the local synagogues. 

There were five parts in the synagogue service:
1. The ‘Shema’ is made up of two opening blessings for morning and evening, one closing blessing for morning and two for evening (Deut., 6:, 4-9; 11 13-21; Num., 15:, 37-41).
2. Reading from the books of Moses (Torah) 
3. The reading from the Prophets (The Prophets) 
4. Scripture lesson 
5. The Prayer: The ‘ruler of the synagogue’ will decide who will speak. This is how our Lord and Apostle Paul spoke in the synagogue (Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15). 

There is also another type of liturgy.
1) Every one will stand up and recite the versus ( Duet 6:4-9; 11:13-20; Numbers 15:3-11)
2) Then praise the Lord 
3) One person will pray loud for all the people 
4) One will read the book of laws 
5) One person will speak sitting 
6) Last, a priest (if absent one person) will recite the blessing which Moses said (Numbers 6:24-26)

[Translator - more reading on liturgy:
http://www.philthompson.net/pages/library/synagogueliturgy.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14379b.htm]

Those possessed by demons: 

In the modern world, the belief is that being demon-possessed is a psychological state. But looking at it in the light of New Testament, we can see that the Devil is a reality.

1. Devil is the enemy of both God and human beings (1 Peter 5:8)
2. The prince of demons: Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24)
3. He is the prince of this world (John 14:20)
4. He is rejected (fallen) from heaven (Luke 10:18)
5. He is cast down to the infernal regions (hell) (2 Peter 2:4)
6. He was in Eden (Genesis 3:1, 4, 14)
7. Other names: 
    a. Beelzebub (Mat 12:24) 
    b. In Hebrew, it is Abaddon; and in Greek his name is Apollyon (Rev 9:11)
    c. Belial (2 Cori 6:15) 
8. He tempted Eve, Job, and Christ. He desired to have the apostles (Luke 22:3). Jesus Christ drove him away (Mat 4:10). Entered in Judea (Luke 22; 3); entered Ananyas (Acts 5:3).
9. Misuses the Holy Scriptures (Matthew 4:6); opposes the acts of God (1 Thess 2:18); obstructs the Gospel (Mat 13:19; 2 Cor. 4:4); himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14); prowls around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).

Our Lord defeated him by:
1. Opposing him (Mat 4:11)
2. Driving out the demons (4:24)
3. Giving authority to drive out devils (Mat 10:1; Mark 16:17; Luke 9:1; Acts 16:18; 19:12)
4. His death (Colo 2:15; Hebrew 2:14)

The faithful should oppose him (Romans 16:20; 2 Cori 2:11, 11:3; Eph 4:27, 6:16; 2 Timothy 2:26; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9; 1 John 2:13).

Torments: A disease whose severity depends on moon.

Epileptics: If one fell down due to this disease, Hebrews and Greeks believed that he slept in Moons light.