Christians: Please Explain

[Aractus]

I've asked this question before. I never seem to get an honest and straightforward answer. This is a map showing part of first century Palestine.

In Mark 5:1-20/Luke 8:26-39/Matt 8:28-34, Jesus comes across a man possessed by a Legion of daemons, he casts them out into a herd of pigs, and then somehow makes the pigs stampede into the Sea of Galilee to be drowned. A great tale of how Jesus saved a man possessed by evil. But there's a big problem with this story!

Mark 5:1: They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
Luke 8:26: They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
Matt 8:28a: When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes


The problem is that the location is wrong. Mark and Luke both clearly say the location is Gerasa. Gerasa is a full 50km away from the Sea, and that's in a direct line, and that's longer than a marathon. Matthew seems to be aware that Mark got it wrong, and so changed the city to Gadara. It would have taken the pigs hours and hours to stampede into the Sea, and I doubt very much that a pig could physically sustain that kind of pace for that length of time. Dogs might be able to do it, but pigs are nowhere near as athletic. Do you really think pigs could run a marathon? If pigs could fly perhaps...

Once you look at it on a map the problem is obvious. It's not as obvious if you just read it in your study-Bible notes as it offers up (seemingly) possible explanations. It's true the Bible doesn't specify the city itself, which does make it possible that the even takes place in Hippus (or perhaps south of Hippus somewhere along the Sea) - at least in Matthew. But Luke and Mark tells us it takes place in the region of Gerasa - and by region it probably means something like a 5-10km radius around the city. Since Gerasa and Gadara are both major cities there is no way they shared a "region", especially north of Gadara.