seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 8:1 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]
11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,[b] which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,[c] but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”
50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
a. Luke 8:10 Isaiah 6:9b. Luke 8:26 Some manuscripts Gadarenes; other manuscripts Gergesenes; also in verse 37
c. Luke 8:43 Many manuscripts years, and she had spent all she had on doctors
Jesus wasn't there to heal everyone right then. He wasn't there to bring everyone back from the dead right then. Jesus had to go to the cross before the cure to death would become permanent. Jesus didn't give the girl a new life.... He just pulled her spirit back [Verse 55].
This is from bible-studys.org.
You see, from (verses 2 and 3) here, that there was a group of women who accompanied Jesus on this missionary journey, as well as the disciples. It appears they gave to Jesus' ministry. Jesus seems to have great compassion for women. He cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene and healed several women specifically mentioned, such as Peter's Mother-in-law.
“Joanna;” This woman is also mentioned, but nowhere else in Scripture. It is possible that she was a source for some of the details Luke recounts about Herod .
“Susanna”: Aside from this reference, she is nowhere mentioned in Scripture. She is probably someone Luke knew personally.
I really believe that these parables contained messages not for the worldly people, but for those who chose to follow Jesus. These parables would be revealed to the Christians by the Holy Spirit of God. These were not flesh messages. These were messages to be revealed to the spirit.
We find in this type of teaching a separating of the people. The Bible and its meaning is revealed to those who diligently search the Scriptures and truly desire to know the will of God in their lives. To the worldly, it is a book that is too difficult to understand. They throw it down saying they can't understand it anyway.
The Bible is understood by the heart and not the mind. The Bible is to be understood by the spirit of mankind. Parables (a special type of teaching introduced by Jesus), are God's way of concealing from those worldly people His message of salvation.
They can see the literal word and cannot understand its meaning. They can look at Jesus Christ the righteous (Messiah), and see nothing more than a man. The sad thing is that many church goers who proclaim Jesus as their Savior still see a man.
“There arose a great tempest in the sea”: The Sea of Galilee is more than 690 feet below sea level. To the north, Mt Hermon rises 9,200 feet, and from May to Oct. strong winds often sweep through the narrow surrounding gorges into this valley, causing extremely sudden and violent storms.
These disciples you remember, had been professional fishermen and had weathered many a storm. This had to be a worse than ordinary storm. The disciples knew where to go for help.
Jesus has control of everything including the elements of the wind and waves. When Jesus speaks, they must obey. The wind ceased and the waves stopped building up and became calm.
Now on to the healing.... same source.....“Came behind him and touched”: Because of her affliction, she would normally render anyone she touched unclean. The effect here was precisely the opposite.
We see here, a desperate woman, sick for 12 years. She had spent all of her money going to doctors who could not heal her. This type of illness would have kept her from going to the temple. It was really by Mosaic Law illegal for her to touch any holy thing.
This woman's faith in reaching out and touching Jesus' garment was greater than her fear of being punished. Her faith, when she touched the hem of Jesus' garment, stopped the blood instantly. Her faith in Jesus Christ healed her.
Jesus knew, because He felt the flow of goodness from Him to her.
What she had done was really against the law, and she could be severely punished for touching this Holy man while she had this issue of blood. You can read about this (in Leviticus 12).
Everywhere Jesus went.... people seemed to hang off of Him. I can imagine sitting on a hillside watching Jesus come into view.... there are people all around... it's a wonder He can even walk in that crowd. One of those disciples should be clearing His way..... but wait... people are going into the crowd sick or crippled and then the come out of the crowd healthy and peaceful..... I can imagine that if I saw that... my first instinct would be to tell someone.There are a lot of women and girls in this chapter. We have a lot of bleeding issues.... I can remember when my bleeding issue would make me so sick.... I would have to go to bed. In the days of Jesus.... there wasn't any Midol in the medicine cabinet. There wasn't even a medicine cabinet. Women had issues with issues. That woman who pulled the power right out of Jesus.... is a pretty good example of what bleeding issues can do to a body. We crave healing.... and the issue that comes after the bleeding.... when we are older and no longer procreate..... is no day in the park either. We crave healing....
Women contributed to Jesus's mission. I know the verses don't actually say it in words.... but I think these are the rich women contributing to the ministry. The wife a Herod's house manager would have funding to donate without going to her husband for some coins.
Now... Jesus talks about the parable here. He actually says we can't hear or understand the meaning.... He says it.... He quotes Isiah..... The Bible does seem to be impossible to understand.... especially when there are little demons around pulling stuff out of context and changing it to say anything that will cause a good man to make stupid decisions. That demon possessed guy in the caves.... would probably just give up and walk out of a normal Sunday School class because the demons would be fighting the word.... making it impossible to understand. Throwing the demons into the pigs for him... let that man have a little peace.
Jesus wasn't there to heal the sick and feed the poor. Jesus wasn't even teaching the multitudes most of the time.... Jesus was there to conquer death.... He had to be hung on the cross.... He had to be laid in a tomb.... He had to walk out of that tomb. That was the mission.
While He was on that mission.... to conquer death.... He chose 12 men out of all the people that followed Him. Jesus was training those twelve to heal the sick and feed the poor..... Jesus wasn't here to do that.... He was here to conquer death.... and give everyone a chance at peace.
It's about faith.
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