Luke 8

Luke 8:1

The last phrase of chapter 7 was, “Thy faith hath saved thee.” And chapter 8 picks up where this statement leaves off, as it addresses the topic of faith almost entirely. In verses Luk_8:5-21, we see teachings about faith. In verses Luk_8:22-56, we see the testing of faith. Verses Luk_8:5-21 deal with hearing the Word. Verses Luk_8:22-56 deal with heeding the Word… The glad tidings are these: All manner of sin except one shall be forgiven all men. That one is the blasphemy of the Spiritrejecting the free gift of salvation (Mat_12:31). Rejecting the work of Christ is the singular sin that will send a man or a woman to hella concept understood even in our own judicial system… Convicted of mail fraud in 1830, George Wilson was sentenced to death. But since Wilson’s brother had done Andrew Jackson a great personal service, President Jackson wrote George Wilson a pardon. When the pardon was delivered to his cell, however, Wilson refused to take it. The man sentenced to die refused to receive the pardon. What to do? When the case went before the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote this decision: A pardon is a slip of paper the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon at all, simply a piece of paper. Thus, George Wilson must be hanged. So, too, “You’re forgiven,” Jesus says, “if you’ll take the pardon I offer. If you don’t, you render it meaningless, and you will be sentenced to death eternally.” As Jesus preached and taught the Good Tidings, an entourage of women traveled alongside the apostolic company, ministering to them from their substance. And in this, we see women of high society and women like Mary Magdalene brought together because of Jesus. I admire Jesus here immensely because, although it is more blessed to give than to receive, it takes more grace to receive than to give. That Jesus would receive from these women is amazing. But that He would receive worship or praise from me is even more incredible.

Luke 8:4

Here, Jesus begins His teaching about faith…

Luke 8:5

Why would Jesus teach in such a way that truth would be concealed? Simply because He will honor the wishes of every person. Therefore, if a person does not want to see, the Lord won’t force His way upon him. You see, Jesus could have spoken so persuasively and argued so powerfully that people who didn’t want to be converted would be converted even against their own will. But Jesus is not after conversion by force. Because He honors man’s free choice, He says, “If you don’t want to know the truth, I will conceal truth from you. If you don’t want to know Me, I won’t force Myself upon you.” Teaching through parables provided a way that those who wanted to know truth could receive it, while those who didn’t want to know would be unable to receive it. At whatever point you say, “My mind is made up. I don’t want to know what the Word says or how the Lord might feel about any given situation,” you will be cut off from revelation. It is a dangerous place to be. But eventually, you’ll get so banged up trying to blindly walk in your own darkness that you’ll finally say, “I’m tired of arguing my case or trying to prove my point. Show me Your heart, Lord.” And He willwhen you’re ready.

Luke 8:11

We are born again not of corruptible seed, Peter declared, but of incorruptible the Word of God (1Pe_1:23). Do you want to be more like the Lord, to experience blessing and joy, to radiate love and peace? The way to do so is not by mustering your efforts to be more Christlike. The seed is the Word. You will be more Christlike if you allow the Word of God to continually and consistently penetrate your inner person. That is how you were born again initially. And that is how more of Jesus will be birthed through you continually. There’s just no other way. The seed is the Word of God.

Luke 8:12

The first group is comprised of people who hear preaching or teaching, but don’t respond. Their hearts are hardened; and they are lost in their sin.

Luke 8:13

The second group is comprised of those who say, “Amen” to the Wordbut when the hour of temptation comes, or, as Matthew’s Gospel says, “the sun begins to shine,” they wither (see Mat_13:6). The problem with the plant withering under the heat of the sun is not the sun, for the same sun could make the plant healthy and prolific. No, the problem is the shallowness of the root system. All too often, we try to shield people from the sun, insulate people from the heat, shelter people from problems. That’s all wrong. The sun, the heat, the trial, the difficulty will make them grow. That’s why James says we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials (Jas_1:2), and why Peter said we are not to think it strange concerning the fiery trials that come our way to purify our faith (1Pe_4:12). If you desire to truly help people, the key is not to try to shield them, but rather to say, “This trial is causing you to cave in and give up because your roots are too shallow to draw from the water of the Word. You’re sporadic in your study. You’re inconsistent in your worship. Your prayer is hit and miss. Tend to your root system and you’ll overcome.” We spend most of our time trying to figure out how to give people sunscreen for their noses when we should be dealing with the root systems of their hearts.

Luke 8:14

Cares affect those who live in poverty. Riches affect those who live in prosperity. Pleasure affects everyone. When you find yourself no longer studying the Scripture, the reason can be found in one of these three areas.

Luke 8:15

The fourth group is comprised of people who have the seed of the Word embedded within them. But notice they bring forth fruit with patience. When planting a garden, one plants the seed, then waters it, then waits, then waters it, then waits before there’s even the slightest breakthrough. We understand this about gardens, but we don’t understand the same thing is true spiritually. “I’ve gone to church five times in a row,” we say, “but nothing’s happening.” Or, “I’ve had morning devotions for two weeks straight, yet I’m not seeing any fruit, or my situation is not changing, or I still don’t have peace. I’ll give it one more week, and then it’s back to sleeping in.” We sow the seed, but we don’t allow it time to take root and bear fruit. The one who bears fruit is the one who receives the Word with patience.

Luke 8:16

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom_10:17). Take heed what you’re hearing, in order that the seed which is the Word might fall upon good soil and bring forth fruit, that you might experience an even greater degree of faith.

Luke 8:19

Thinking He was so involved in ministry that He was losing His mental stability, Jesus’ family came to check on Him (Mar_3:21). Upon hearing this, Jesus identified His family as anyone who hears the Word of God and does it. And the three events that follow will give His disciples the opportunity to do just that as they discover that the key to calming storms is faith; the dynamic to defeat the devil is faith; the prescription for painful problems is faith…

Luke 8:22

After hearing Jesus teach about faith, the disciples are in a storm where they need to apply faith. I suggest this storm was actually stirred up in hell because when Jesus rebuked it, He used the same phraseology as when He addressed demons (Luk_4:35). Yet even though Satan may have stirred up the storm in an effort to drown Jesus’ ministry, the storm didn’t bother Him. Neither did the devil. The only thing that bothered Him was the lack of faith in the hearts of His disciples. After all, He had told them they would go over to the other side of the lake. And when Jesus says a person is going over, he’ll not go under. To us who cry, “It’s not going to work,” the Lord lovingly says, “Where is your faith? Haven’t I promised you that everything is working together for good to those who love Me (Rom_8:28)? Haven’t I promised you that I will bring you to a glorious end (Jer_29:11)? Haven’t I promised you that I will complete that which I’ve begun in you (Php_1:6)? Haven’t I promised you that I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten (Joe_2:25)? Haven’t I promised you that no weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isa_54:17)? Haven’t I promised to supply all your need (Php_4:19), that if you seek Me first, everything will be added unto you (Mat_6:33)?” It wasn’t the storm that troubled the Lord. Nor was it Satan. It was the stumbling of faith in the hearts of those He had just finished teaching. Faith and fear will both sail into the harbor of your heart. Don’t let fear anchor there. How? Feed your faith and your fear will starve. Stay in the Word. Give your heart to the Word. Fill your mind with the Word and you will overcome the fears that attack you incessantly.

Luke 8:26

“Let’s go over,” Jesus had said. And, just as He had promised, that’s exactly what they did. This demonized individual was wearing no clothes and was obsessed with deathnot unlike what we see happening in our own day. Nudity and obsession with death are the direct insignias of Satanic and demonic activity.

Luke 8:28

Who else was driven into the wilderness? Jesusnot by the devil, but by the Spirit to overcome the devil. The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for His development. The devil drove these men into the wilderness for their destruction. If you find yourself in a hot, dry, wilderness situation, the devil means to destroy youbut the Spirit will use it to develop you. If you say, “I’m going to sit in front of TV and be mad at life,” you’ll be dominated by the forces of darkness.

If, on the other hand, you say, “Lord, I know You brought me here. It’s hot and barren and dry, but I will look to You in order that this desert experience might do in me what it did in Your Sonthat it might give me victory for greater ministry,” you’ll be blessed indeed. Whichever you choose, you’ll be in the same desert. But, oh how different will be the result.

Luke 8:30

A legion consisted of six thousand men.

Luke 8:31

The abussothe place where demons who were particularly evil were incarceratedwould appear to be somewhere beneath the sea.

Luke 8:33

You know someone has been freed of demons when he is sitting clothed and in his right mind at the feet of Jesus. The townspeople were more afraid of a man sitting at the feet of Jesus than they were of a man possessed by demons.

Luke 8:38

Hopefully, we too will find ourselves sharing with people the great things God has done for us. The storms are stilled by faith. The devil is defeated through faith. Faith is the key.

Luke 8:40

A ruler in the religious system, Jairus was a prominent man. Yet he was willing to abandon his pride in order to come to this itinerant, radical Rabbi from Galilee who had no credentials, no authority from the Sanhedrin. For twelve years, Jairus’ home had been filled with the joy and laughter that only a child can bring. Then tragedy struck. A painful problem was now before him.

Luke 8:43

During the same twelve years the home of Jairus had been filled with joy and laughter, the home of this woman was filled with despair and suffering. The rabbis having taught that her hemorrhaging was the result of immorality, this woman would have been excommunicated from the synagogue, divorced from her husband, and ostracized by the community. For twelve years, her life was a miserable tragedy. I find this contrast very interesting because some of you have spent the last twelve years in joy and delight. But difficulty and tragedy will strike every one of us at some point because it rains on the just and the unjust (Mat_5:45), because no temptation comes to us but that which is common to all men (1Co_10:13), because in this world we are promised to have tribulation (Joh_16:33). If you’re in a good season, rejoicebut prepare. Now is the time more than ever to be in the Word, to be worshiping the Lord, to be growing in faith because tomorrow when tragedy strikes, it will be too late. You will not have the resources necessary to see you through the time of difficulty if you don’t prepare in the day of prosperity. Conversely, for those of you who have been miserable in the last twelve years or months or weeks, good newsyou don’t know what tomorrow holds. You don’t know what miracle is about to happen. I promise you, the Lord will enter your situation in a way that will blow your mind if, like this woman, you seize the opportunity to draw near to Him. We need to be in the place where we know the Lord is traveling. Where is that? He promises to be in the midst of His people (Heb_2:12).

He promises to be heard in the Word (Heb_10:7). He promises to be responsive to prayer (Jer_33:3). This woman heard where He was and said, “I’ve got to get to the place where Jesus is moving and see what will happen.” As a result, she will be healed miraculously and studied throughout history because she had the wisdom to expend the energy and break through the crowds to touch Him even in her weakened state.

Luke 8:44

The disciples were impressed by the masses surrounding them. Jesus was intrigued by the one who touched Him. All too often, we evaluate ministry by the masses around Jesus. Jesus, however, is interested in the one who touches Him.

Luke 8:46

What Jesus did privately, He now tells this woman to declare publicly. Was this to embarrass her? No, I believe Jesus wanted her to testify publicly in order that Jairus might be able to handle what he was about to hear. Likewise, there are people around you who are hurting and need to hear what the Lord has done for you in order that their own faith might be strengthened.

Luke 8:48

Terrified that He might come down on her, how the single word “daughter” must have calmed this woman. Some go to church determined to hear from the Lordand they will leave having heard from the Lord. Others go out of obligation or habit, not expecting to hear from the Lordand they will leave without hearing from the Lord. Jesus smiles on this lady who was one among the multitude and says, “Daughter, be of good cheer. In faith, you broke through the crowd, and received from Me the help you needed.”

Luke 8:49

“Only speak the word and my servant will be healed,” the centurion said to Jesus in the previous chapter. Jairus did not have this kind of faith. This helps me understand that although faith is the currency of eternity, all it takes is faith the size of a grain of mustard seedhalf the size of a grain of sandto make things happen. Expect the Lord to work as you take even a baby step of faith, and, as He did with Jairus, He will meet you there.