Luke 8 Preaching the Gospel with Authority and Power
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Luke 8 Preaching the Gospel with authority and power This guide contains verses 1 – 39. Chapter 8 contains several topics that are also present in Matthew and Mark; powerful parables and miracles that need to be witnessed to, over and over again. Verses 1-3 Women who supported Jesus • In addition to the disciples, Jesus had others, including the women listed here who traveled with Jesus. These women learned from Jesus, followed Him, and supported Him financially • Luke mentioning the women was not by accident. Leon Morris writes; “The rabbis refused to teach women and generally assigned them a very inferior place.” Luke wants us all to see that Jesus did not see women in this way at all. Women played and continue to play a vital role in the Ministry of Jesus Christ. • Barclay points out (like the disciples) that these women came from varied backgrounds. He writes; “It is an amazing thing to find Mary Magdalene, with the dark past, and Joanna (wife of Chuza – Herod’s steward), the lady of the court (Herod’s steward), in the one company.” • Luke points out that these women supported Jesus and His ministry from their own pockets; Jesus just didn’t make money appear. The example of stewardship is seen here from the beginning. Verses 4-15 Parable of the soils and its meaning • Luke points out that Jesus is teaching a very large group here and taught using a parable (an earthly story or metaphor with translated to a heavenly meaning). • Barclay notes that it is important not to confuse a parable with an allegory. Allegories are stories in which every detail has an inner meaning; parables on the other hand, teach one point or theme. • This parable is about soils. Jesus often used agrarian subjects, because people of that day understood these subjects well. 1 • It is important to note that many, call this the parable of the sower, it is better titled the parable of the soils; after all, the sower and the seed are the same, the soil is what changes. • Some seeds fall on the path and that seek gets trampled and eaten up by birds, other falls on rocky ground and while it sprouts – it burns up from lack of moisture, other seed falls on soil that is fertile – but it gets choked out by thorns and other weeds, and other seed falls on good -group and produces a great crop (in some cases 100-fold). • Jesus ends the telling of the parable with the words; “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This call is specific, not general. This call is for those who are of the faith to listen and learn; not a general call for everyone. • The disciples then ask a great question; what does this parable mean? The meaning is obvious to most of us, because of time spent in Bible study, but think about the disciples who are new to all of this. • God wants people who want the things of God to know the things of God. Jesus could have spoken this plainly; but this is one of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and it something that we are not meant to understand unless God reveals it to us. This is the Holy Spirit at work in us now, allowing us to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom God wants us to know. • “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” This is a direct quote from Isaiah 6:9. Guzik explains; parables were not intended to make difficult things clear to everyone that heard them. Instead, they were a way of presenting a Kingdom message so the spiritually sensitive would understand. The parable was a doorway for people to know and reflect on a truth that was revealed through the parable. • Think about parables; if you don’t know the key behind it; you can’t possibly understand it. A farmer might hear the parable and think; “I have to be more careful about how I cast my seed, I’m wasting too much…” That couldn’t be further from the truth; as we see in Jesus’ explanation beginning in verse 11. • “The seed is the word of God.” This is the key to understanding the parable. God doesn’t want us to be shy about scattering His Word; there is an endless supply of seed. 2 • Jesus is telling us to spread the Word, spread the seed. It isn’t our job to worry about whether the seed takes root; some will and some won’t, some will root and die, some will root and be choked out by other things in life, and then others will grow and multiply and wow, bear more fruit! • As Charles Spurgeon notes; the seed isn’t our seed, it is given to us by God. His Word will never run out; spread the Word everywhere; don’t be shy and pick and choose. Sometimes it will take root in places we don’t expect and other times it won’t. • Satan will take God’s Word from people in strange ways; but we can learn from this. Think about this; if Satan is so busy trying to distract us, we can know that if we stay in touch with the Word of God, then a relationship with Jesus, repentance, baptism, a faith journey, and eternal life will follow and many will be saved. • Spurgeon emphasizes; “We need the Holy Spirit; and if the Lord does not water us daily from the living springs on the hilltops of glory, we will certainly die.” We must stay connected to the vine to receive moisture from the Holy Spirit! • This parable has always encouraged me when people seem to be not responding to sermons or care and compassion in ministry. It is a true reminder not to dwell on the results, but focus on scattering the seeds!! Share the Word, share your faith; led God worry about the results! Verses 16-18 Response to hearing the Word • Jesus uses another parable to explain the responsibility of those who hear the Word of God. • Jesus explains; no one lights a lamp and then covers it up. Just the opposite; you place it high up so it can be seen. • He goes on to state that truth will be revealed, it is supposed to be. • With these two statements Jesus is telling us that when one has the truth of God, they are responsible to share that truth with everyone. God didn’t put salvation in our hearts so we could keep it secret. Jesus is saying to the disciples and all His followers; I’m not giving you this truth so you can hide it. 3 • We are accountable as faithful Christians to share the Word of God, to share our salvation. • Jesus then takes things one step further; “Therefore take heed how you hear.” In other words, take heed in how one responds. Our actions are indicative of how we hear the Word of God. • God will give us what we need to share the Word and to the level we share, the more we will be given. Jesus is telling us to be active listeners. We cannot be passive; we must engage! • Guzik states; “Jesus reminds us that spiritual growth follows momentum, positive or negative. When we have the Godly habits of receiving the Word and living it, more is built on to that. When we lose those Godly habits, they are extremely difficult to get back.” • Keep in mind we are talking about spiritual matters here; look at the churches in Laodicea and Sardis. They thought things were fine; they were wealthy and thought they needed nothing. The truth is, they were spiritually blind and poor. Don’t think because someone or oneself is rich in earthly things, that they are on the right road. The Pharisee’s were a prime example. Verses 19-21 True Family • Jesus reminds us in these three verses of who he considers His family; it is those who hear and follow His Word. • Jesus didn’t mince words here; His family didn’t get any special breaks. • Guzik reminds us; “The brothers of Jesus never seemed to be supportive of His ministry before His death and resurrection.” (John 7:5 and Mark 3:21) • We can’t read this separate from the preceding verses; we are called to hear the Word (emphasis on The Word of God) and share it with others. We can worship, fast, and pray; we can be the most spiritual people in the world, but if we do not hear and share the Word of God, then we are not part of Jesus family. Look at the Pharisee’s again; they were very spiritual and obeyed the law; but never got what living in Christ really meant. 4 Verses 22-25 Jesus Calms the storm • Jesus and the disciples get into a boat to cross over the Sea of Galilee. Jesus falls asleep during the voyage. Jesus is human, He got tired after all His teaching. • A storm came up; violent storms often come up in the sea of Galilee and it had to be very violent for experienced fisherman to be scared. • They woke Jesus; “Master, Master, we are perishing.” • Looking at this situation, the disciples were scared and didn’t find any peace in the fact that Jesus was sleeping. Jesus was calm and they should have known that if Jesus was calm enough to sleep, things would be just fine.