Luke 8
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Luke 8
Luke 8
Good evening church.
1 And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,
2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.
I want you to take notice that unlike every other Rabbi of His day, Jesus included women in His ministry.
This is our job as well, those of us that have heard the Word, received the Word, we too are to spread the Word...
4 Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
5 “The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.
6 “And other seed fell on rock and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7 “And other seed fell among the thorns, and when the thorns grew up with it, they choked it out.
8 “And other seed fell into the good soil; and growing up, it produced a crop one hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Have you ever met someone that only hears what they want to hear? Christians today have developed an appetite for this. They hear what they want to hear. They have their favorite Pastors, favorite podcasters, that tell the kind of stories that they want to hear, talk about the things they agree with, and don’t convict them where they need correction.
I posted a thing the other day, I’m not even sure who I stole it from. But it was originally posted on the God Met me there page. I know nothing about them and am not endorsing them in any way, I’m just robbing their content. But here was the rest of the dialog from that post:
A church can be full
and still forget why it gathers.
We were not called to create a place
where people are merely impressed, entertained,
or made comfortable.
We gather to behold God,
to be shaped by His Word,
to worship Christ,
and to carry His love into the world.
The Church is not a stage
built around our preferences.
It is a people redeemed
for His glory.
May we never settle for a faith
that only keeps us amused
when God is calling us
to be transformed.
We need to work to hear, labor to understand, ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate, and then we need to follow and obey. Verse 9
9 And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.
10 And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
Don’t misunderstand this, the intent of a parable is not to disguise or to confuse, it is to illuminate, resonate, and give us greater understanding, for those seeking truth that is.
It’s not so much to be dissected line by line, as much as it is to demonstrate a major point. Often described as an earthly story, laid aside a spiritual truth. So Jesus breaks down some of the elements here, so the whole will make greater sense.
11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
12 “And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
13 “And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 “And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit.
15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
I want you to notice a couple of things about this parable. Chuck the seed wherever you can chuck it.
The way it is heard is what distinguishes the outcome.
12 “And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
These guys aren’t hearing at all, it doesn’t germinate, there is zero transformation. One commentary described this as defenseless hearing. Picture a street preacher with a megaphone on the corner of a major city. They don’t even think about it and Satan has snatched it way.
In verse 13 we see some potential here, but their hearing is shallow.
13 “And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
This is like the hillsides in Israel. The next example in verse 14 is really distracted hearing.
14 “And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit.
In these three we see the world, the flesh, and the devil, all enemies of the Word of God. All threats to our hearing and receiving. A reminder that we are in a constant spiritual war in this world.
We read this and take it as a story about other people, rather than ourselves. But I want you to consider the battle within. How often your mind, your thoughts get distracted when we gather for the teaching of God’s Word. How many times you look at your phone, your watch, get distracted thinking about tomorrow, or what you’re going to eat when you get home, or watch when you get home...now, I’ve probably distracted you.
Hearing is a choice, one that requires discipline. Discipline to guard time for hearing. There is a verse in Proverbs that says...
23 Guard your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
The world constantly offers us new things to get involved in. Some good, some bad, but they all become evil when they replace our time with the Lord. When those things squeeze Him out. When we don’t guard, protect, and preserve our time to Hear from His word
We question our faith, but forget that ...
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
You will never hear God when you are constantly listing to something or someone else.
16 “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.
17 “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.
The Word of God illuminates all.
18 “So beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
I discovered a feature on my wife’s car the other day. Mostly by messing up a different one, buy hitting some button. But the one I discovered was a forward break assist feature. It works like this. It’s not the auto breaking stuff, that’s garbage and actually more dangerous if you’re a good driver. This is for like when you stop at a traffic light and you are on a hill. Once you fully depress the break pedal, you can take your foot off the break and you sill sit still until the light turns green and you press on the gas.
Kinda cool I guess, but be careful how you hear, or beware how you listen, you do not have that feature spiritually. You are constantly either growing and going forward in the things of God, or slipping backward. There is no idol, no coasting, forward or backward. More shall be given, or you’ll find you no longer have what you thought you had.
19 And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.
20 And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.”
21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Jesus didn’t dis his Mom here gang. This is all a continuation of the priority of the Word and the power of the word.
If my mom showed up here this evening and wanted to see me, I’d put you guys on hold for a minute, tell you my mom needed me, and see what was up. Some of us grew up in great families, and others of us didn’t. But many of you have come to notice, that the spiritual bond we create with others in and through the Word of God, can be stronger than the pull of blood.
22 Now it happened that on one of those days He and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail.
23 But as they were sailing along, He fell asleep, and a windstorm descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and in danger.
600 ft below sea level.
24 And they came to Him and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He woke up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.
25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”
In rebuking the wind He literally says be muzzled. Demonic storm?
Where is your faith? This was their comfort zone, their lake, their boat, their scene, at least 4 were professional fisherman, this was the area of their strength, their stronghold of confidence. It was the place they would say, I’ve got this, only they didn’t. Where is your faith, what is the object of your faith, who or what is it placed in?
26 Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.
28 Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.”
29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions.
There is no epic battle of good verse evil here, seeing Jesus the demons beg Jesus do not torment me...
30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.
31 And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission.
33 And when the demons came out of the man, they entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
The abyss is the special section of hell reserved for Satan and his angels, Hades or Sheol is the place of the dead
34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside.
35 And the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been saved.
37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. And He got into a boat and returned.
The demons beg Jesus to leave them alone, to let them go into the pigs, the people beg him to go.
38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying,
39 “Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
The man that was delivered begged to go with Him. Go tell everyone you know, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends.
40 And as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.
41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he began to plead with Him to come to his house,
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
This is an area in Capernaum that we are going to get to go to. Second century Synagogue next to the house of Peter.
43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,
44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.
lkjlk
45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in on You.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I knew that power had gone out of Me.”
47 And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed.
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Yes people are touching Me, but this was a different touch. When you read this account in the other gospels, Jesus talks to her about her infirmity, in fact here it says she declared int he presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him. People think this was embarrassing for her. I don’t know, she no longer had the issue, but I want you to understand the tenderness of Jesus here, this is the only time recorded for us in Scripture that He refers to anyone with the title daughter.
49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”
50 But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be saved.”
Only Believe takes away all the “Yeah buts.”
51 So when He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.
52 Now they were all crying and lamenting for her, but He said, “Stop crying, for she has not died, but is asleep.”
53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.
54 He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!”
55 And her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately. And He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were astounded, but He directed them to tell no one what had happened.
Warren Wiersbe made note of this section specifically concerning Peter, James, and John. and then He quotes G. Cambell Morgan, He said, “
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Lessons about Faith (Luke 8)
Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus on three special occasions; and this was the first. The second was on the Mount of Transfiguration (
Tonight, I wanted to take the time to remember His death, because through it, we can have life.
Communion
14 And when the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.
15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.
18 “For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Grace and Peace
