Tag Archives: healing

Luke 8 – Responding to Jesus

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Today is December 8 and is the second Sunday of advent. The second candle, known as the Bethlehem candle, is lit representing faith. In Luke 7, we saw many examples of the power of faith. As we continue in chapter 8, Luke looks at some other items in the ministry of Jesus, but will again conclude the passage with a look at yet another act of faith.

Luke begins by discussing a more practical side of the itinerant ministry of Jesus. To do ministry cost some money, today or two-thousand years ago. Luke points out to us that Several women had been impacted by the ministry of Jesus and in return, had become followers. These women had significant resources available and chose to share what they had to help cover the cost.

We then find Jesus sharing the parable of the sower. He tells the listeners that sharing the gospel message is like a farmer planting seeds. After finishing the parable, there is an interesting response from his disciples. They did not seem to understand the parable and began questioning him about it. Jesus’ response to this is even more interesting. He says, “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.” (v. 10 NASB) Why is it that Jesus says this.? Why would he intentionally say things in such a way that many could not understand it? Perhaps the intention is not to hide the truth, but it is evidence of those who are open to Christ’s message.

Jesus then explains the meaning of the parable. The point is that there are four kinds of people with whom the gospel is shared. The first are those who hear the gospel, but then it goes away. Sort of an in “in one ear, out the other” idea. The second is those who excitedly accept the message, but it stays shallow and eventually fails. The third are those who receive the message but then find the message choked out by the things around them in life.  The final is those who accept the message and flourish.

Continuing on, Jesus gives a second parable. Here he describes the gospel as a lamp. You do not hide it, but instead, you set it out for all to see.

After this, we are left with a story of Jesus speaking in a house. While he was speaking, he was told that his mother and brothers were standing outside waiting to come in. Jesus’ response here is very telling. He says, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” Jesus is re-emphasizing a point made earlier in Luke, that family is not necessarily defined by blood, but by a commitment to following Christ.

After this, Luke presents a story that many of us are familiar with. While traveling across the lake, Jesus falls asleep in the boat. During this time, a storm arose. It was such a great storm that they were sure they were going to die. They work Jesus, asking if he even cared. Jesus got up and order the storm to cease, and it did. He then looks at the disciples and asks, “Where is your faith?” (v. 25)

Luke next tells of Jesus’ encounter with a demon-possessed man. The demon, upon seeing Jesus, cried out, “Where is your faith?” (v. 28) Jesus asked the demon its name, and it said legion, meaning it was actually a great many demons who were in the man. Interestingly, they asked Jesus to allow them to go into a herd of pigs rather than being sent into the abyss. He agreed, and the pigs proceeded into run into the water. The reaction of the people from the region was fear, and they asked Jesus to leave. Before doing so, Jesus instructed the man home, but unlike other times, he told him to tell others.

Finally, Luke finishes this chapter by telling of two concurrent miraculous healings done by Jesus. We start Jesus being approached by a Jewish elder named Jairus. Jairus had an only daughter who was dying. Jesus agreed to go with him but is briefly interrupted by a second healing.  A woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years. She knew Jesus could heal her and believed that if she could only touch the hem of his robe, she would be healed. She did and was, but Jesus, despite being surrounded by so many people, knew that power had gone out and asked who. The woman came forward and told him, to which he said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

He then continued on the way, but they were approached by people from Jairus’s house, Telling him to bother Jesus as the daughter had died. Jesus said, don’t worry; she is just sleeping. While the others in the house scoffed at this, Jairus and his wife, along with Peter, John, and James. He then told the girl to get up, and she did. He then instructed the parents to not tell anyone.

My takeaways from this passage; 1) As followers of Christ, our role is to share the gospel message with those who will listen. 2) People’s response to the gospel is contingent on their receptiveness. 3) Jesus defines family by common purpose and not blood. And 4) Jesus has authority over nature, the supernatural, and life itself.

Luke 4 – His Ministry Begins

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Here in chapter four, we find an interesting turn in the launch of Jesus’ ministry. Having just come off the glorious events of His baptism, Jesus finds a complete turn of events. From the height of the Father declaring, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Jesus finds himself alone, hungry, and tempted by the devil.

In the first temptation listed, the devil strikes at both the humanity and the deity of Jesus. He says, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” (v. 3 NASB) He challenges the deity of Jesus by questioning his identity as the son of God and feeds on the humanity of Jesus by playing off the hunger that Jesus is feeling after 40 days of not eating.

In the second temptation, the devil again plays off the humanity of Jesus by offering him an easier way to reach his goal. In verses 6 – 7, he says, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” This temptation is reminiscent of the temptation faced by Adam and Eve when the serpent said to Eve, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”(Genesis 3:4 – 5) Just as told Eve that they could become like God with a simple action, so too, he is telling Jesus that He can reach full earthly glory through a simple action.

 In the third temptation, the devil again challenged Jesus’ deity. In verses 10 – 11 he says, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written,‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Here the devil quotes Psalm 91:11 – 12 to re-enforce the power of his challenge to his identity. 

Each of these temptations reflects the temptations that we face in life: physical needs, power and glory, and to manipulate God for our benefit. We know how easy it is for us to succumb to these, but Jesus withstands them. We might be tempted to say that he is fully God, so it was easier for him. But to do so is to forget that he is fully man as well, so the temptations were real.  This is why Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus’ response to each temptation is not to resist or push back in his own power, but to quote scripture from the book of Deuteronomy: 8:3 “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”; 6:13 “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.”; 6:16 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.”

This account of the temptations ends with a small phrase that it is easy to overlook. We speak of Jesus being tempted, but we often confine the temptations to this time, but the final phrase shows something different. Verse 13 says that “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” So we to need to realize that just because we resist temptation once, it does not mean that it is over. The temptation can, and probably will return when the timing is right.

From here, Jesus begins his public ministry. Early on in his preaching in Galilee, Jesus finds himself in his hometown of Nazareth in the synagogue for the service. As he reads from the scripture found in Isaiah 61, he finishes by telling the people that it has been fulfilled in their presence. Jesus identifies himself as the fulfillment of the prophecy.  The first reaction of the people is amazement and to speak well of him, but that quickly changed after Jesus’ next statement. He knows that they will want to see him do the miraculous things he did elsewhere, there in Nazareth. But he points out that the “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.” (v. 24) And proceeds to give several examples of God working outside of Israel through great prophets. Now the response of the people is quite different as they seek to kill him, but Jesus is able to slip away.

From here we come to the first accounts of his miraculous works. He finds himself in Capernaum, where it reports that he performed many miracles. Two are specifically described. The first is casting a demon out of a man. What is striking in this story, apart from Jesus casting out a demon is his insistence on silencing the demon when it identifies him as “the Holy One of God!” (v. 34) The passage goes on to indicate that he does this other times as well, but I have to ask why. It would seem to tie back to the temptations and the opportune time. Jesus once again could have allowed this to get out taken the easy way to out and to claim power, but instead, Jesus resists this temptation and follows the path before him.

The second specific miracle described is the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. In these two miracles, Jesus demonstrates His authority over both the spiritual and the physical realms.

Following these events, Jesus slips away to a secluded place. It does not explicitly tell us why, but it should not be surprising. After all that he had done and the people who had come to him, it is reasonable that he would need to get away so he could recharge. But the people tracked him down and seeking for him to continue there. Jesus tells them that he can not because he “must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” (v. 43) And so he began to travel to other cities.

As I look at this, my takeaways from this chapter are 1) Jesus faced temptation just as we have. 2) The only real way to resist temptation is through God’s power, and this can be found in the scriptures. 3) Jesus had power over everything. And 4) We must be faithful to God’s calling, despite what challenges and opportunities may stand in our way.