The Way - Day 008 (Luke 8)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
Luke 8:1-18
Following His encounter with Simon and the woman (7:36-50), Jesus passed through many cities and villages "preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God" (8:1). Luke then provides a short list of women whose lives had been changed by Jesus and who also financially supported the ministry of Jesus and His disciples while they were traveling (8:2-3). These women were an important part of Jesus' ministry, even though they did not travel with Him. Luke then writes that a large crowd gathered to see Jesus and He began speaking to them in a parable, which was an earthly illustration with a spiritual meaning. In this parable, known as the parable of the soils, Jesus tells a story of a sower who went out to sow seeds which fell on four different types of ground. Jesus explained the types of soil in this way, "...some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold" (8:4-8). The disciples then asked what this parable meant (8:9), so Jesus went on to explain the meaning to them. The seed being sown is the word of God (repentance and faith in Jesus) and when it is spoken to people, they respond to it in one of four ways. First, "those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved" (8:11). Secondly, "...the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away" (8:13). Although this person hears and even receives the message, there has been only mental reception without heart reception. Next, there are "...the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity" (8:14). This type of person hears but does not demonstrate the genuineness of their faith through good works. Last, "...the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience" (8:15). Those associated with the wayside, rock, and thorns are not true followers of Jesus Christ; however, those who are good ground have committed their lives to Christ through repentance and faith and continue to demonstrate their faith through good works. The keys to genuine faith are hearing (understand as well as accept), keeping (continual obedience to God's ways), and bearing fruit (doing good works). All those who profess Christ are not necessarily His followers, but only those who believe, obey, and do good.

Many in Jesus' day thought that they were following God but, in reality, were not. A relationship with God through Jesus Christ requires more than just a mental belief in His existence. In order to emphasize this reality Jesus says, "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light" (8:16). If a person believes in God, his life should mimic His ways - his faith cannot be hidden. Furthermore, Jesus also says, "For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light" (8:17). Eventually, the true nature of people will be exposed. What a person believes in their heart will one day be revealed through their actions. So Jesus warns people to "take head how you hear" (8:18) because their response to what they have heard determines how much more truth God will reveal to them.

Luke 8:19-56
As the crowd had gathered around Him, Jesus spoke two parables revealing the nature of those who truly believed and followed in His ways (8:4-18). Through His teachings, Jesus was attempting to declare that all who claimed to follow Him were not necessarily His disciples; in fact, Jesus said that those who follow Him can be marked by their belief in His message, obedience to God's ways, and their continual demonstration of good works (8:15). Those whose lives do not reflect these truths can be assured that their faith is not genuine.

Because of the size of the crowd that had assembled around Jesus, His family could not come near and someone told Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You" (8:20). When Jesus heard this he responded by saying, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it" (8:21). Christ was not denying His earthly family, but instead using this statement as an opportunity to teach a spiritual truth by revealing that all those who follow in His ways are His family (see Mark 3:31-35).

Following Luke's documentation of these things, he writes concerning four miracles Jesus performed. In the first miracle, Jesus and His disciples get into a boat and begin to cross over to the other side of the lake until a very large windstorm begins filling their boat with water (8:22-23). In fear for their lives, the disciples awake Jesus, who is sleeping, and He commands the winds and the waves to stop (8:24). After the storm calmed at His spoken word, He turns to the disciples and asks, "Where is your faith?" (8:25a) Although Luke does not record a verbal response to Jesus' question, he does mention that they "...marveled, saying to one another, 'Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!'" (8:25b). This miracle evidenced Jesus' power over the natural realm.

The next miracle takes place in the country of the Gadarenes when Jesus encounters a demon-possessed man (8:26-31). Matthew's gospel mentions that there were actually two demon-possessed men, but Luke focuses on the one who was more vocal (Matthew 8:28-34). Jesus casts out the demons of these men and sends the evil spirits to inhabit a herd of swine, which "ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned" (8:32-33). The men who owned the swine observed what had happened and became fearful (8:34-36). When Jesus' works were told in the surrounding region, the people became frightened and asked Him to depart from their city (8:37-40). This miracle demonstrated Jesus' power over the spiritual realm.

The last two miracles took place in conjunction with each other. A man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, came to Jesus asking Him to come to his house and heal his twelve year-old daughter who was dying (8:41-42a); however, as Jesus was making His way to Jairus' house the "multitudes thronged Him" (8:42b). A woman with a serious physical condition was in the crowd surrounding Jesus and she got close enough to touch Jesus' clothes and was immediately healed of her disease (8:43-48). Matthew writes that this woman had such great faith that she knew even touching Jesus' clothes could make her well again (Matthew 9:21). This miracle proves Jesus' power over the physical realm. Jesus' supernatural work in this woman was short-lived because as He was speaking to her, "...someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him [Jairus], 'Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher'" (8:49). Jesus immediately responded to this news saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well" (8:50). Upon His arrival at the house, Jesus went in to see the lifeless girl and said, "Little girl, arise" (8:51-54) and upon hearing these words the girl's "spirit returned, and she arose immediately" (8:55). This miracle revealed Jesus' power over life and death. When we consider all four of these miracles, we must either be convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and has power over all things or we must believe that the Bible is a lie and cannot be trusted. Which do you believe?

Dear God, help me believe that You have the power to do all things and may I act upon what I believe.