Lucas 8
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 8
MacArthur - This is the worldly heart, the worldly heart, preoccupied heart. The reception looks good. On the surface the ground looks good, it's not hard. It doesn't have rock underneath it. It looks good on the surface. But the truth is crowded out. It's crowded out by the presence of sin. There are just impurities all through this heart. (Luke 8:14-15 Receptivity to the Gospel, Part 3) Steven
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MacArthur comments on Jesus traveling from on city and village to another - That Jesus would restrict the scope of His ministry by spending so much of it traveling from one city and village to another in Galilee is inexplicable from the perspective of modern philosophy of ministry. Jerusalem, the cultural and intellectual center of Israel, should have been His target. Galilee, on the other hand, was a largely rural area, whose plebian residents were scorned by the sophisticated Judeans. When some said of Jesus, “This is the Christ” others scoffed at them, saying “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?” (John 7:41). When Nicodemus protested the Pharisees’ judging of Christ without investigating Him they mocked him. “You are not also from Galilee, are you?” they said scornfully. “Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee” (Jn 7:52). Later the Sanhedrin was astonished that simple Galileans like Peter and John could speak so confidently, boldly, and intelligently (Acts 4:13). (See Luke 6-10 MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God - Proclaiming and preaching are both in the present tense indicating this was continually Jesus' activity during the time of this itinerant (traveling from place to place to work) ministry from one city and village to another. In this context clearly proclaiming and preaching functions as a so-called hendiadys, which in simple terms is the expression of a single idea by two words connected with “and.” Jesus' proclaiming and preaching was to convey the single truth that the King was on the scene as prophetically promised and was declaring to them the good news of the way they could enter the Kingdom of God! So in this context proclaiming the Kingdom was tantamount to proclaiming the "Gospel of the Kingdom" (Mt 4:23, cf Lk 4:43, Lk 6:20, Jn 3:3) It is notable that even though He was the King, in a sense He was now was functioning as His own kerux or herald to announce His Kingdom! Why? Because His herald, John the Baptist, the forerunner, had ceased heralding when he was imprisoned by Herod Antipas for challenging Herod's immoral marriage (compare Jn 3:24+, Lk 3:18-20+ Mt 4:12+ = Criswell in BSB says this section in Mt 4:12-25 "introduces the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in Galilee [John is now in prison]. His Galilean ministry is seen as a fulfillment of Isa 9:1, 2. It is a ministry characterized by preaching, teaching, and healing.", Mk 6:17-18ff+). See John MacArthur's discussion below on what Jesus meant by proclaiming and preaching the Kingdom of God. MacArthur sets the context for Jesus' ministry (SEE ALSO JENSEN'S CHART ABOVE, NOTING "BREAKPOINTS" AT Luke 4:14-15+ and Lk 9:50-51+ WHICH MACARTHUR ALLUDES TO IN HIS DISCUSSION) observing that "Lk 8:1-3 bridges us into the final phase of His Galilean ministry. Lk 4:14-15+ bridged us into the first phase of His Galilean ministry, featuring the city of Capernaum which seemed to be His home base. This summary in Lk 8:1-3 bridges us into the last phase of His Galilean ministry with no mention of Capernaum. So this is a more itinerant ministry...and this particular phase of the Galilean ministry continues through Lk 9:50+, and then in Lk 9:51KJV+ "He fixed his face to go on to Jerusalem" ultimately to die there." (Luke 8:1-3 The Scope of Jesus' Ministry) The Kingdom of God - One must understand that there are (AT LEAST) two phases to the Kingdom of God. The first phase is the invisible, internal Kingdom of God and which He later described as "in your midst” (FOR MUCH MORE DISCUSSION SEE Lk 17:21+), the Kingdom in which the King reigns in the heart of the person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah. When the King returns on the day that the Son of Man is revealed (apokalupto) (Lk 17:30+, cf Mt 24:30+, Rev 1:7+, Rev 19:11-16+) the heart of every person will also be revealed as to whether they sought the kingdom of "self" or the kingdom of the Savior! The future phase of the Kingdom of God is known as the Messianic Age or the Millennial Kingdom.(See more detailed explanation of Jesus' meaning of the Kingdom of God in notes on Luke 17:20, 21). NET Note agrees that the "kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ proclamation. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust Him belong. See Luke 6:20+; Lk 11:20+; Lk 17:20–21+. It is not strictly (ED: OR ONLY) future, though its full manifestation is yet to come." The twelve were with Him - This is the second tour of Galilee,and this time the Twelve with him. This is "Discipleship 101" for these 12 men (except one). In Lk 8:2-3 Luke mentions a number of women, which was unusual, for other Jewish rabbis generally did not teach women nor include them in their circle of disciples. Of course Jesus was not like the other Jewish rabbis! These twelve were ordinary men in whom Jesus invested three years of His life. They proved they ere ordinary because from time to time they disappointed Him. And other times they doubted Him. And in the end they even deserted Him and denied Him! Yet they were the ordinary men who He would teach and who would be transformed into world changers. The strategy is no different today. If you want to impact the world with the Gospel, then pour your life into a smaller number of people, who will continue the process of doing the same. Paul says the same thing in 2 Ti 2:2+ writing "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Multiplication is the result of intentional, focused discipleship. The upshot? Invest your short life in a few good men and you can be assured that through them, enabled with His Word of Truth and the Spirit of Truth, the effect will be not only global but eternal! THOUGHT: Beloved brother (or sister) in Christ how are you doing with your "twelve" (or one or two or ten?) The point is are you doing anything of eternal value. What breaks my heart is to see men who have walked with Jesus for 20, 30, 40, 50 or more years and they know Jesus and they know the Word and yet they fail to PASS ON THE BATON to the young Timothy's that God has placed directly in front of them. I am 73 as I write this note and have one passion -- to obey Jesus' command to MAKE DISCIPLES (Mt 28:19+). Don't bum out on the golf course or in cruising the country in your expensive rec vehicle (etc)! Instead of bumming out, burn yourself out passing yourself on to faithful men who will carry the Gospel baton and pass it on to others who will in turn be able to teach the Word of Truth, the Gospel. Time is short. Eternity is long. You have no excuse not to zealously Redeem the Time! You have all eternity to play golf! Do it because that is what Jesus did as He saw His candle burning out! Do it for the glory of our Lord. God grant you the desire and power by His Spirit (Php 2:13NLT+) to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14+). In His all sufficient Name. Amen Related Resources: The Twelve Who were the twelve (12) disciples / apostles of Jesus Christ? Gotquestions.org Why is the order of Jesus’ calling His disciples different in some of the gospels? Gotquestions.org How old were Jesus’ disciples? Gotquestions.org The Number Twelve Make Disciples 1 Make Disciples 2 - Begins study of Five Most Important Passages for Believers Make Disciples 3 - Chart comparing Filled with the Spirit and the Word Make Disciples 4 Make Disciples 5 Make Disciples 6 Make Disciples 7 Make Disciples 8 Soon afterwards (2517)(kathexes from katá = according to + hexḗs = following) means in order, one after the other, successively; in an orderly fashion; successively, consecutively in connected order, denoting sequence in time, space, or logic. Kathexes is used only by Luke (and is not in the Septuagint) - Lk. 1:3+ = "in consecutive order"; Lk. 8:1 = "soon afterward"; Acts 3:24+ = "successors onward"; Acts 11:4+ = "in orderly sequence; Acts 18:23+ = successively. He [began] going around (1353)(diodeuo from dia = through + hodeuo = to travel) means to journey about. Friberg - (1) transitively go through, travel through a place (Acts 17.1); (2) intransitively go about from one place to another (Lk 8.1) The only other use is Acts 17:1 - Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Diodeuo - 11x in 11v in the Septuagint - Gen. 12:6; 13:17; Ps. 89:41; Isa. 59:8; Jer. 2:6; 9:12; 50:13; Ezek. 5:14; 14:15; Zeph. 3:6; Zech. 7:14; Lk. 8:1; Acts 17:1 Genesis 12:6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. Genesis 13:17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” Proclaiming (present tense - continually) (2784)(kerusso from kerux/keryx = a herald - one who acts as the medium of the authority of one who proclamation he makes; kerugma = the thing preached or the message) means to proclaim (publicly) or to herald or act as a public crier - the town official who would make a proclamation in a public gathering. MacArthur says kerusso "means to publicly herald something, like a town crier. Before they had newspapers and media, the king would send his authoritative representative into the city square and, "Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye," he would give the message. And what was that message? "Preaching the Kingdom of God." He was proclaiming, and what He was proclaiming is described, "Even preaching the kingdom of God." The word "preaching" is euangelizomenos, preaching the gospel. “To evangelize” comes from that word. He was evangelizing. He was evangelizing with the message of the kingdom of God. He didn't talk about anything else. The kingdom He spoke about was not of this world (cf John 18:36). He continually preached the kingdom. As Matthew 4:17 records (THIS WAS THE INCEPTION OF HIS MINISTRY IN GALILEE), "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" And He always preached the kingdom. (ED: compare Mark 1:14, 15+ discussed below) (Luke 8:1-3 The Scope of Jesus' Ministry) Uses of kerusso - Lk. 3:3; Lk. 4:18; Lk. 4:19; Lk. 4:44; Lk. 8:1; Lk. 8:39; Lk. 9:2; Lk. 12:3; Lk. 24:47; Acts 8:5; Acts 9:20; Acts 10:37; Acts 10:42; Acts 15:21; Acts 19:13; Acts 20:25; Acts 28:31 Preaching (present tense - continually) (preaching the good news like a herald, cf Lk 4:18-note)(2097)(euaggelizo/euangelizo from eu = good, well + aggéllo = proclaim, tell; English = evangelize) means to announce good news concerning something. Euaggelizo was often used in the Septuagint for preaching a glad or joyful message (cf. 1Sa 31:9; 2 Sa 1:20; 4:10). Euaggelizo/euangelizo in its original sense could be used to refer to a declaration of any kind of good news, but in the NT it usually refers to the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God and of salvation obtained through belief in Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. In short, euaggelizo means to "evangelize" and in the present passage means Jesus was continually preaching the Gospel from one city and village to another. Uses of euaggelizo/euangelizo in Luke and Acts - Lk. 1:19; Lk. 2:10; Lk. 3:18; Lk. 4:18; Lk. 4:43; Lk. 7:22; Lk. 8:1; Lk. 9:6; Lk. 16:16; Lk. 20:1; Acts 5:42; Acts 8:4; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:25; Acts 8:35; Acts 8:40; Acts 10:36; Acts 11:20; Acts 13:32; Acts 14:7; Acts 14:15; Acts 14:21; Acts 15:35; Acts 16:10; Acts 17:18; Kingdom (932)(basileia from basileus = a sovereign, king, monarch) denotes sovereignty, royal power, dominion. Basileia can also refer to the territory or people over whom a king rules. Matthew used the synonymous phrase the Kingdom of Heaven (32x) probably to appeal to the Jews who refused to say the Name of God, as an way to convey their sense of unworthiness. Kingdom of God - 66x in 65v Matt. 12:28; Matt. 19:24; Matt. 21:31; Matt. 21:43; Mk. 1:15; Mk. 4:11; Mk. 4:26; Mk. 4:30; Mk. 9:1; Mk. 9:47; Mk. 10:14; Mk. 10:15; Mk. 10:23; Mk. 10:24; Mk. 10:25; Mk. 12:34; Mk. 14:25; Mk. 15:43; Lk. 4:43; Lk. 6:20; Lk. 7:28; Lk. 8:1; Lk. 8:10; Lk. 9:2; Lk. 9:11; Lk. 9:27; Lk. 9:60; Lk. 9:62; Lk. 10:9; Lk. 10:11; Lk. 11:20; Lk. 13:18; Lk. 13:20; Lk. 13:28; Lk. 13:29; Lk. 14:15; Lk. 16:16; Lk. 17:20; Lk. 17:21; Lk. 18:16; Lk. 18:17; Lk. 18:24; Lk. 18:25; Lk. 18:29; Lk. 19:11; Lk. 21:31; Lk. 22:16; Lk. 22:18; Lk. 23:51; Jn. 3:3; Jn. 3:5; Acts 1:3; Acts 8:12; Acts 14:22; Acts 19:8; Acts 28:23; Acts 28:31; Rom. 14:17; 1 Co. 4:20; 1 Co. 6:9; 1 Co. 6:10; 1 Co. 15:50; Gal. 5:21; Col. 4:11; 2 Thess. 1:5 John MacArthur explains "The Kingdom of God" -- Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are interchangeable. In Mt 19:23 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Then in Mt 19:24, He says "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They both refer to the same thing. ...Mt 19:25 explains that "Because the disciples who heard it were very astonished and said, 'Then who can be saved?'" So entering the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God is to be saved...they understood entering the kingdom of God as being saved, and that's exactly how you ought to understand it. When Jesus preached the kingdom of God, He was preaching salvation....the kingdom of God is the sphere in which God rules over those who have come to Him for salvation, the sphere of salvation over which God rules as sovereign monarch. And so this was Jesus' message. It was not a political message or a social message but was a salvation message....In fact, when Jesus died was resurrected, Luke records in Acts 1:3+ that He presented Himself to His disciples "alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." Even after the resurrection He was still speaking on the same subject, the sphere of salvation. The whole of the Bible is the story of salvation.....Preaching the kingdom is preaching the good news that sinners can be saved, rescued "from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col 1:13+). They can turn from "the dominion of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18+).....He was inviting people to come into the kingdom of God. In order to come into the Kingdom of God they had to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel (cf Mark 1:14, 15+ "Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”) . (Luke 8:1-3 The Scope of Jesus' Ministry) (EDITORIAL NOTE - So by comparing to Jesus' message in Mark 1:14, 15, it is clear that Jesus was going around from one city and village to another proclaiming and preaching the Gospel of God, by which the Jews could enter into the Kingdom of God.") QUESTION - What is the kingdom of God? See accompanying video ANSWER - The kingdom of God is referenced often in the gospels (e.g., Mark 1:15; 10:15; 15:43; Luke 17:20) and other places in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 28:31; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 15:50). The kingdom of God is synonymous with the kingdom of heaven. The concept of the kingdom of God takes on various shades of meaning in different passages of Scripture. Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. Several passages of Scripture show that God is the undeniable Monarch of all creation: “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). And, as King Nebuchadnezzar declared, “His kingdom is an eternal kingdom” (Daniel 4:3). Every authority that exists has been established by God (Romans 13:1). So, in one sense, the kingdom of God incorporates everything that is. More narrowly, the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God. In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual—Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), and He preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). That the kingdom of God can be equated with the sphere of salvation is evident in John 3:5–7, where Jesus says the kingdom of God must be entered into by being born again. See also 1 Corinthians 6:9. There is another sense in which the kingdom of God is used in Scripture: the literal rule of Christ on the earth during the millennium. Daniel said that “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44; cf. 7:13–14), and many of the other prophets predicted the same thing (e.g., Obadiah 1:21; Habakkuk 2:14; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 14:9). Some theologians refer to the future, open manifestation of the kingdom of God as the “kingdom of glory” and the present, hidden manifestation of the kingdom of God as the “kingdom of grace.” But both manifestations are connected; Christ has set up His spiritual reign in the church on earth, and He will one day set up His physical reign in Jerusalem. The kingdom of God has several aspects. The Lord is the Sovereign of the universe, and so in that sense His kingdom is universal (1 Timothy 6:15). At the same time, the kingdom of God involves repentance and the new birth, as God rules in the hearts of His children in this world in preparation for the next. The work begun on earth will find its consummation in heaven (see Philippians 1:6).GotQuestions.org Related Resources: Luke 17 Where Is The Kingdom of God? - John MacArthur Q & A What did Jesus mean when He said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21, KJV)? | GotQuestions.org What is the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean that the kingdom of God suffers violence? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God? | GotQuestions.org What is kingdom theology? | GotQuestions.org MacArthur points out that the phrase soon afterwards He began going around from one city and village to another emphasizes that Jesus' ministry was sovereignly determined and then gives some thoughts on the "philosophy" (if you will) of Jesus' ministry or the scope of His ministry. "He never designed His ministry to give people what they wanted....His ministry was always under the sovereign control of His Father.....What prompted Him to leave where He was and begin to move into this more itinerant and final phase of the Galilean ministry? It is not stated here, but it is answered elsewhere....He was responding to the will of His Father. He says "I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." ( John 5:30) And He said, "His will is defining My ministry. I do the will of Him Who sent Me. My meat is to do that will of the One who sent Me, the Father," (John 4:34). In a number of occasions in the early chapters of John, John has quoted Jesus as saying, "I do what God wants Me to do." He was always submissive to the sovereign control of His Father, doing what He wanted Him to do....Not only did He desire to do the Father's will — that is the tasks that the Father wanted Him to do — but He desired to do them in the Father's timing. And that is why in a number of occasions John records (e.g. John 7:30, John 8:20) that "His hour had not yet come”... He had limits on Himself as to the task He did, it had to be the will of God, as to when He did it, it had to be the timing of God, and as to the people, it had to be the people whom God had determined that He would do this ministry for, and that is why Jesus said to the disciples, "Do not go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Mt 10:5, 6) "The plan of the Father is that we don't go to the Gentiles and we don't go to the Samaritans, we go to the Jews." Jesus said, "Salvation is from the Jews." (Jn 4:22) Paul says, "The Jew first and then later to the Gentile." (Ro 1:16) And so Jesus had an amazing economy of effort, doing only the Father's will, only in the Father's time, and only to those to whom the Father had sent Him....And furthermore, not just to the Jews but in Luke 5:32 He said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Among the Jews, it was not the self-righteous, not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not the Sadducees, (for the most part), but to the sinners, those who recognized their sin. So He had a narrow limitation placed upon His ministry....And He knew that concentration is the key to multiplication. That is a principle you can learn in ministry. Concentration is the key to multiplication. The way you multiply your ministry, real ministry and the power of ministry through the truth and changed lives is by concentration on changing lives and teaching people the truth. And the more intensely you teach that to a group of people, the more likely they are to multiply it. (Luke 8:1-3 The Scope of Jesus' Ministry) Luke 8:2 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, KJV And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, certain Lk 23:27; Matthew 27:55,56; Mark 15:40,41; 16:1; John 19:25; Acts 1:14 out Lk 8:30; Mark 16:9 Luke 8:1-3 The Scope of Jesus' Ministry - John MacArthur Luke 8:1-3 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Matthew 27:55-56 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. 56 Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. WOMEN WHO MINISTERED TO JESUS In Jesus' itinerant (traveling from place to place to work) ministry, He was accompanied by two groups, His twelve disciples and a group of women. Only Luke mentions the women at this point. Mark makes a reference to them at the end of his Gospel at His crucifixion "There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. When He was in Galilee, they used to follow (akoloutheo in imperfect tense) Him and minister (diakoneo in imperfect tense) to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem." (Mark 15:40, 41+, cf Jn 19:25). Similarly, at the end of Matthew's account he records "Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed (akoloutheo) Jesus from Galilee while ministering to (diakoneo in the present tense = continually serving) Him." (Mt 27:55) And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses - Luke respects women which was counter to the norm of the ancient culture which generally held them in low esteem. And so in the same breath as mentioning the twelve apostles, Luke now mentions some women. As
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MacArthur adds "in that day when Jesus gave these parables, He didn't give any explanation to the unbelievers in Israel because this was a judicial act in which He was hiding the truth from those who are obstinate and stiff-necked. The same thing exactly that He did in Isaiah's day when He said to Isaiah, "You go preach, but I'm going to tell you this, nobody is going to listen to what you say. Their ears will be deaf, their eyes will be blind, their hearts will be like stone, they will not hear." And then Isaiah said, "How long do I do that?" He said, "Just keep doing it until nobody is left in the land, they'll all be taken into captivity and know this, there will be a tenth.” There will be a tenth. There will be a remnant who will hear and they will believe. In the equation of the parable of the soils, there's a fourth, one out of four soils. I don't think you can count on that in every situation, one out of four, but it's always the minority. But what a privilege, we know the truth. (Receptivity to the Gospel) Understand (4920)(suniemi from sun/syn = with + hiemi = send) (Click study of related noun sunesis) literally means to send together or bring together. The idea is to put together "pieces of the puzzle" (so to speak) and to exhibit quick comprehension. Suniemi is describes the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them. Suniemi means to put together, grasp or exhibit quick comprehension. Suniemi is the manifestation of the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them and thus describes the exercise of the faculty of comprehension, intelligence, acuteness, shrewdness. The noun sunesis was originally used by Homer in the Odyssey to describe the running together or a flowing together of two rivers. The Bible Knowledge Commentary has an interesting comment - Jesus' speaking in parables was actually an act of grace to those listening to Him. If they refused to acknowledge Him as Messiah, their judgment would be less severe than if they had understood more (cf. Luke 10:13-15+). Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. KJV Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The seed Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 13:19; Mark 4:14-20; 1 Corinthians 3:6,7,9-12; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23-25 Luke 8:4-15 Receptivity to the Gospel, Part 1 - John MacArthur Luke 8:4-15 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel passages - Luke alone says directly "the seed is the Word of God." Neither parallel passage has the phrase "Word of God." Mt 13:19+ “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand (“while everyone is listening and not comprehending” “not putting together” “not grasping.”) it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. Mark 4:14-15+ “The sower sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. Multiple related passages dealing with "judicial hardening" and the related topic of Jesus speaking in parables - Dt 29:4+, Isa 6:9,10+ Mt 13:11-15+ Mk 4:11-12+ Lk 8:10+ Jn 9:39-41, Jn 12:38-40 Acts 28:26,27+ Ro 11:7-10+, 2Co 3:14-15+, Eph 4:17-18+, 2Th 2:10-12+. JESUS EXPLAINS THE PARABLE OF THE SOILS Now the parable is this - Jesus gives us the interpretation. The parable (see discussion above) The seed (see discussion above) Spurgeon on the word of God - Not the word of man. Have we a word of God at all? Brethren, that is a question which we have to answer nowadays. Our fathers never questioned it, they believed in the infallibility of the Bible, as we do. But, now, all our wise men do not think so. They set to work to mend the Scriptures, to pick out of the Bible that which they imagine to be inspired (Ed: cf Jefferson's Bible - he cut out all the parts having to do with the supernatural!). Let us not do so, my brethren. (Exposition on Luke 8) Darrell Bock - The picture of the word as seed is important. Often we think of evangelism and preaching as something that happens in an instant. But the picture of a seed makes us think of a farmer who prepares the ground, sows seed, waters and then must wait for the crop. Producing a crop is a process over time. Often the message of the word, too, takes time to bear fruit....Of the various options, only one type of soil yields fruit; every other type proves inhospitable to the precious seed. (The Parable of the Seed and the Importance of the Word Lk 8:4-21) The seed is the word of God - Matthew says the seed is the word of the kingdom. In Mk 1:15+ Jesus said "“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” In Mt 4:23+ we read that "Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom." And so the seed is the word of God which in turn is the Gospel of God,, the good news of how one gains entrance into the Kingdom of God. There is no mention of the sower for this can be anyone who sows the Word of God. What is critical is that it is the Word that is sown, not who sows it. In fact in Philippians 1:15 "Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife." These individuals also sinful are sowers! In explaining the parable of the tares Jesus said "the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man," but the context is entirely different from the parable of the soils. Word (3056) (logos from légō = to speak with words; English = logic, logical) means something said and describes a communication whereby the mind finds expression in words. Although Lógos is most often translated word which Webster defines as "something that is said, a statement, an utterance", the Greek understanding of lógos is somewhat more complex. In this context the Word of God is the word of the Kingdom of God, the Gospel (Lk 8:10, cf Lk 9:2, 6) Word of God - 47x in 46v - 1 Sam. 9:27; 2 Sam. 16:23; 1 Ki. 12:22; 1 Chr. 17:3; Prov. 30:5; Matt. 15:6; Mk. 7:13; Lk. 3:2; Lk. 5:1; Lk. 8:11; Lk. 8:21; Lk. 11:28; Jn. 10:35; Acts 4:31; Acts 6:2; Acts 6:7; Acts 8:14; Acts 11:1; Acts 13:5; Acts 13:7; Acts 13:46; Acts 17:13; Acts 18:11; Rom. 9:6; 1 Co. 14:36; 2 Co. 2:17; 2 Co. 4:2; Eph. 6:17; Phil. 1:14; Col. 1:25; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:5; 2 Tim. 2:9; Tit. 2:5; Heb. 4:12; Heb. 6:5; Heb. 11:3; Heb. 13:7; 1 Pet. 1:23; 2 Pet. 3:5; 1 Jn. 2:14; Rev. 1:2; Rev. 1:9; Rev. 6:9; Rev. 19:13; Rev. 20:4 Paul explains the believer's role (using his example - cf 1 Cor 11:1) in sowing the seed, the Word, the Gospel I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. (1 Cor 3:6-10) Peter uses the same picture showing the power of the seed, the Word, the Gospel, to "germinate" the new birth in Christ... for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, 25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23-25+) James also picks up the picture of the Gospel as a seed... Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21+) MacArthur - Seed being the Word of God simply means the gospel, the gospel, the Word from God about salvation, about how to enter the kingdom, the Word from God about forgiveness and reconciliation and justification, sanctification, glorification. That is the seed. People sometimes will say, "If I go out to evangelize, what should I say?" The gospel. "Well, I'm not...I'm not sure I'm really good at presenting it." Are you a Christian? "Yes." You have confirmation that you're really a true Christian? "Yes." Then you knew enough to get saved, so you know enough to tell somebody else how to get saved. It's not any more complicated than that....People think that somehow seed doesn't work or it's offensive. Look, if you're trying to get everybody that you present the gospel to saved, you better go back and study this parable again. It's not going to happen. So know this, that there's no artificial way to overcome the fact that it's going to be a few. It's going to be a minority. There's no artificial way for you to create a synthetic seed that's going to make everybody embrace it. That will be false conversion. The seed is the gospel, the seed is the Word of God, that's the seed and that's what you give, that's what you proclaim, whether you're preaching like I do, or whether you're witnessing one on one, seed is the Word of God, not your thoughts, ideas, insights, the Word of God. We are utterly dependent on divine truth revealed in Scripture....So don't beat yourself up if you don't seem to be effective. First of all, throw some more seed. You're more likely to hit some good soil. But in the end, it's the heart. (Receptivity to the Gospel) In another sermon MacArthur emphasizes that "If you know the gospel well enough to be saved by it, you know it well enough to present it to somebody else. And the message of the gospel is what it is and it isn't anything else and it doesn't need to be altered. And as we're learning in the story, it's not a matter of the sower and it's not a matter of the seed, it's a matter of what? The soil. Responses to the proclamation of the gospel are determined not by the skill of the sower and not by the state of the seed, but by the soil. It's really important to know that because that helps us to understand what to do in evangelism, what to expect and what not to expect." (Receptivity to the Gospel - Part 3) Steven
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MacArthur explains "the parable is about heart condition. It's not about the skill of the sower, it's not about the seed. The seed is fixed eternally. It is the Word of God that is the only seed. The sower is anybody who presents the gospel in its simple and magnificent truth. The issue about response has not to do with the seed. You can't fix the seed to make it more palatable. It has not to do with some methodology on the part of the sower. It's all about the condition of the heart. The basic truth of the parable is the result of the hearing of the gospel always depends on the condition of the heart. It's so important to know that. I don't know how many people in the world today in evangelicalism think that people's response to the gospel depends on the skill of the sower, or it depends on the nature of the seed, and so they want to work on the methodology of the sower, or they want to work on a more palatable seed. The issue is the heart. That's what Jesus is saying. The character of the heart of the hearer determines the response." (Receptivity to the Gospel) Steven
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MacArthur explains how evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart - How does he snatch it? Through false teachers that come and attack the Gospel. He snatches it through the fear of man (ED: Pr 29:25 = The fear of man brings a snare [moqesh]."), an embarrassment about being identified with Jesus Christ or fear of being put out of the synagogue or cut off from your friends (ED: THIS IS PARTICULARLY AT PLAY IN MUSLIM AND HINDU CULTURES WHERE AN BELIEVER MAY LOSE HIS/HER FAMILY OR HIS LIFE!) He snatches it through pride. You think you know everything and you are not willing to confess that you don't and be broken before God. He snatches it through doubt, through prejudice, through stubbornness, mostly through the continual love of sin which he panders to this wretched world system. It's either crushed under the continual pedestrian activity of wickedness or snatched away by Satan. That's such a sad thing. (Receptivity to the Gospel) So that (see terms of purpose or result) - Purpose clause and in this case a "bad" purpose. They will not believe and be saved - This is unique to Luke and not found in Mt 13 or Mk 4. This is surprising as this is the crucial aspect that results in fruit as a result of the new birth. One must personally believe the Gospel in order to be saved. There is no other way (cf Jn 14:6, Acts 4:12). Failure to believe the Gospel will result in eternal damnation. Sadly it is that simple! Darrell Bock explains that "Faith saves; the absence of faith does not. So to believe for a time is not to believe in a commendable way, since the end result is not faith. One cannot end up unbelieving and have a faith that saves, for then salvation comes in unbelief. Another way to say this is that genuine faith is permanent …. Our theological problems may emerge here because we tend to view faith as a response of the moment. The New Testament stresses that faith in Jesus is permanent, being established by a rebirth. Its permanence is suggested by its nature as the product of the regenerating work of God." (The Parable of the Seed and the Importance of the Word Lk 8:4-21) Rich Cathers on how Satan takes away the Word is he shoots flaming arrows (Eph 6:16) reminding them of "the insidious lies the world has told us: (1) “The Bible is just a bunch of made-up stories” (2) “Jesus was not a real person” (ED: Or one I hear a lot - "Jesus never claimed to be God.") (3) “We are all products of evolution, there is no God who created everything” (ED: THANK YOU CHARLES DARWIN!) When a person has swallowed some of these lies, it’s easy for them to just blow it off when they hear that God loved them so much that He gave His Son to die for them." Ray
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MacArthur explains this "shallow soil" noting that "People will respond to a presentation of the gospel for wrong reasons because they're at the end of a broken relationship, because they've just gone through a divorce and lost their wife and kids, because they've lost their job, because they've been told they have a terminal disease, because they're tired of being left out socially and now they’ve found a group that they can belong to, because they, and this often happens, they believe that if they give their life to Jesus He will fix everything that's wrong in their life. All those are really bad reasons to become a Christian, but...or to make superficial response to the gospel. The joy doesn't mean anything. They could feel happy because they're accepted. They could feel happy because now they think they're not going to go to hell. They could fell happy because now Jesus is going to solve all their life problems and fix everything and they're not going to have so much personal pain, social pain, family pain. That's why you never want to present the gospel that way. You never want to present the gospel that Jesus wants to make you happy and if you come to Jesus you'll be happy. You don't have that kind of promise. There's a deep, abiding joy, but that deep, abiding joy doesn't translate into all the problems going away." (Receptivity to the Gospel - Part 2) Receive the word - The verb dechomai pictures the hearer of the Gospel initially "putting out the welcome mat" so to speak. How many times I have been so encouraged by what seems like such a promising response to the Gospel "seed" and later to be disappointed when they fell away! In my immaturity, I thought I had done something wrong, that my presentation of the Gospel was faulty, etc. I wish I had fully understood Jesus' parable of the soils when I was a younger believer, for it would have saved me a great deal of angst. The problem is not with the sower nor with the seed but with the soil, the heart of the person who hears the Gospel. Remember, that the Gospel by definition is like a natural seed which has within its husk the power to germinate into a plant which grows and flourishes. Paul "defines" the Gospel as "the power (inherent power, "germinating power" - dunamis) of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Ro 1:16+). So the Gospel has the intrinsic, supernatural power but the person's heart lacks true belief. The heart of the problem is the heart (the soil), not the Gospel seed or the Gospel sower! Add to this the sad truth that most of the souls with whom we share the Gospel will not believe the Gospel for as Jesus clearly warned Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction (not loss of existence, but loss of the purpose and reason for existing!), and there are MANY who enter through it. 14 “For (term of explanation) the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are FEW who find it. (Mt 7:13-14+) Stein on receive the word with joy - The term “receive” is a Lukan expression for responding positively toward Jesus, the gospel, or the gospel messengers. These hearers even receive the word with the proper attitude of “joy” (cf. Lk 1:14; 2:10; 24:41, 52). (New American Commentary – Volume 24: Luke)
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MacArthur asks "You know what happens to a false believer? Trials produce unrighteousness. To a true believer, trials produce righteousness. To a false believer, it drives them back toward sin. To a true believer, it drives them to an increasing holiness (cf Heb 12:10). The more trials that come into your life the stronger the drive toward God, if you're the real thing." Several Biblical examples come to mind - John Mark who at first failed to endure (Acts 13:13) but who later was shown to clearly endure (2 Ti 4:11) (This should encourage us to keep sowing). Demas - Chart on the Tragic Downward Spiral of Demas Men who discovered that following Christ cost too much (Luke 9:57-62) Matthew 13:21 (Mk 4:16,17 is virtually identical word for word) amplifies the "temptation" writing that this individual "has no [firm] root in himself, but is only temporary (proskairos), and when affliction (thlipsis) or persecution (diogmos) arises because of the word (NOTE THIS CRUCIAL QUALIFIER - BECAUSE OF THE GOSPEL) , immediately he falls away (skandalizo = "is scandalized!")." As an aside the phrase "no firm root" is more literally "no root" and the Greek negative particle (ou) signifies absolute negation (= "absolutely no root" is the idea). John MacArthur comments on their beginning to experience affliction or persecution - They thought when you got Jesus you got rid of all your problems. They thought you got health, wealth and happiness. They thought you got prosperity. They thought you got an endless wardrobe, money coming out of heaven, miracles, bodily healings. They thought angels were going to come down and talk to you and solve all your problems if God didn't. They thought that this was going to be a fellowship of people where there wouldn't be any problems or conflicts or disappointments. They thought they would find a new kind of life socially, relationally. Now all of a sudden: trouble, pressure, trials, tests, affliction, and persecution for the Word. Matthew talks about when they were going through tribulation and persecution for the Word, because of the gospel. Wasn't everything supposed to be better? Everything got worse and now I've got a new thing in my life I never had before; I have people who used to love me who now hate me (Ed: Just as Jesus warned in Jn 15:18, 19). I have people I used to hang around and we got along fine, and now because I claim to be a Christian, they resent everything about me, want nothing to do with me. Now I have a whole new group of enemies who used to be my friends (Ed: cf 1 Pe 4:3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16). And when I, you know, ran to them and told them what had happened to me, they...they shut me out of their lives. Matthew 13:21 records that Jesus said, in explaining this parable, that the person — because of the tribulation, because of the persecution — is offended, scandalized (cf skandalizo), trapped, caught in a trap. And that's the test, the temptation Jesus is talking about in Luke 8:13. They'll believe for a while. They're gone when the testing comes, when the tribulation comes, when of all the things they expected Jesus to do for them don't happen, when they don't get the health, the wealth, the prosperity, when they don't get the problem solved, when life is not euphoric anymore, when the relationships aren't what they were thought...thought they would be, when it doesn't fix their marriage, when it doesn't fix their family instantaneously, etc., etc. When it doesn't give them power over their vices or their debilitating habits and when they come to tests they just can't pass them. (Receptivity to the Gospel - Part 2) Jon Courson - 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 (James 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 (1 Peter 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. (Jon Courson's Application Commentary New Testament) Robertson on fall away - Present (continually - all of us have moments when we might look like we are falling away but NOT continually) middle (they initiate the action to fall away and participate in the result) indicative. They stand off, lose interest, stop coming to church, drop out of sight. It is positively amazing the number of new church members who "stumble" as Mark 4:17 has it (skandalizontai), do not like the pastor, take offence at something said or done by somebody, object to the appeals for money, feel slighted. The "season of trial" becomes a "season of temptation" (en kairōi peirasmou) for these superficial, emotional people who have to be periodically rounded up if kept within the fold. MacArthur comments that Charles Finney at the end of his life of evangelism said something to this effect (this is a paraphrase), "It seems to have been my lot in life to have produced many half-converts." You can explain the gospel half, but if they aren't brought under the law half and understand that they can do nothing to contribute to their salvation and they can only cry out to a God of mercy to be gracious to them because of their hopelessness and plead that He would grant them a righteousness they don't have and could never earn, you have indeed preached a half gospel and it's a non-saving gospel. And when Finney was done, all you had in New York was the burned out area where you couldn't even preach the gospel anymore because the people didn't buy it. It proved to be as vacuous as could be. So if you're going to try to avoid this shallow stuff, you've got to go deep. You've got to pray that the Spirit of God would do the deep convicting but you need to put into the mind of the person the instrument that the Spirit of God uses to do that convicting, and that is a biblical understanding of one's sinful condition....And back to Charles Finney for a minute, that was the half gospel that he preached that had such devastating results. He was fine to preach the Jesus would save, but he did not believe in the true depravity of man and so sinners actually were led to believe they could contribute to their own conversion. That's half, and that's a deadly presentation of the gospel. (Receptivity to the Gospel - Part 2) As as aside I realize many evangelicals hold Charles Finney in high regard but it behooves all of us to examine what Finney actually taught. Tim Challies a respected young reformed writer says "Perhaps the closest modern-day successor to Pelagius was Charles Finney. Like Pelagius, he denied original sin saying, “Moral depravity is sin itself, and not the cause of sin.” He believed the whole notion of a sinful nature is “anti-scriptural and nonsensical dogma” and taught that we are all born in a state of moral neutrality, able to choose between good and evil—to choose between being good or being sinful." (False Teachers) (If you are still not convinced and hold Finney in high regard, you might want to read some of his statements recorded here. Phil Johnson records some of the evangelical fallout of Finney's "revivals" - Predictably, most of (ED: probably more fairly quantitated as "many" rather than "most") Finney's spiritual heirs lapsed into apostasy, Socinianism, mere moralism, cultlike perfectionism, and other related errors. In short, Finney's chief legacy was confusion and doctrinal compromise. Evangelical Christianity virtually disappeared from western New York in Finney's own lifetime. Despite Finney's accounts of glorious "revivals," most of the vast region of New England where he held his revival campaigns fell into a permanent spiritual coldness during Finney's lifetime and more than a hundred years later still has not emerged from that malaise. This is directly owing to the influence of Finney and others who were simultaneously promoting similar ideas. The Western half of New York became known as "the burnt-over district," because of the negative effects of the revivalist movement that culminated in Finney's work there. These facts are often obscured in the popular lore about Finney.....One of Finney's contemporaries registered a similar assessment, but more bluntly: During ten years, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, were annually reported to be converted on all hands; but now it is admitted, that real converts are comparatively few. It is declared, even by [Finney] himself, that "the great body of them are a disgrace to religion" [cited in Warfield, 2:23]. (from A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) Steven Cole on the seed in rocky soil - This represents the person who impulsively welcomes the gospel without counting the cost. Perhaps he heard that following Jesus would magically solve all his problems and that Jesus offers an abundant life, so he emotionally responds. At first, he seems to be zealous for the Lord. He seems to make rapid progress in the faith. But then, trials hit. Because his Christian experience was based more on emotion than on truth, he has no deep roots into the Word. He falls away. It’s not that he lost his salvation; it’s that he never truly was saved in the first place. When we share the gospel, we need to be careful not to paint too rosy a picture. Yes, God freely forgives all a person’s sins the moment he trusts in Christ. Yes, God’s Word is sufficient for all the problems we face in this life. But, no, God usually does not solve our problems instantly or easily. The Christian life is a fight of faith, and while we are assured of final victory, the battle can get pretty tough in the meanwhile. We don’t do people a favor to gloss over the reality of what it means to follow Jesus. (Luke 8:4-15 Superficial and Genuine Believers) Ray
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MacArthur - Though believers are not saved by doing good works (Eph. 2:8-9+), those who are truly saved will give evidence of their new life in Christ through the fruit of obedience (Eph. 2:10+; cf. Matt. 7:16-20+; 2 Cor. 5:17+). John the Baptist called for fruit bearing to validate the authenticity of one's repentance... “Therefore bear fruit (aorist imperative only possible as one depends on the Holy Spirit - which in fact is evidence that one has the Spirit indwelling!) in keeping with repentance." (Mt 3:8+) Abundant fruit bearing is God's will for every believer for Jesus declared “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (Jn 15:8) David Thompson - Some produced a yield of 30 times, some 60 times and some 100 times. Naturally, 100 times yield would be the ideal. But all these numbers are good. Now Palestinian interpreters say that a typical yield in Palestine would be fivefold or tenfold at most, so the numbers described here are remarkable. Herodotus, the Greek historian who lived about 450 B.C., claimed that some of the soil was so rich in Palestine that it had a 700 fold return. He was probably exaggerating a bit, but Jesus uses the top number of 100 times return.(Sermon) Alan Carr asks "So, what kind of fruit does good soil produce?" Good works – Col. 1:10+, cf Col 1:6+ Holiness and righteousness – Ro 6:22+; Phil. 1:11+ Genuine spirituality – Gal. 5:22-23+ A burden for souls – Ro 1:13+ Praise and thanksgiving – Heb. 13:15+ Sharing material goods – Ro 15:27-28+ (Mark 4:1-20 The Parable Of The Soils) Notice the prepositions used with each soil... BY (beside) the wayside (Lk 8:5, 12) ON the rock (Lk 8:6, 13) AMONG the thorns (Lk 8:7, 14) INTO the good ground (Lk 8:8, 15) W H Griffith-Thomas - Let us therefore heed not only-- What we hear -- Gospel message, inspirational challenge, etc., but also... How we hear -- simply, sincerely, sympathetically, surrendering lip and life, personality and possessions. The Word of God just be received and retained in order that it may reveal. Are we doing this? Good (soil)...honest...(heart) (2570)(kalos) describes that which is inherently excellent or intrinsically good, providing some special or superior benefit. The soil is synonymous with the heart and Jesus says both are kalos. Kalos uses by Luke - Lk. 3:9; Lk. 6:38; Lk. 6:43; Lk. 8:15; Lk. 9:33; Lk. 14:34; Lk. 21:5; Good ("good heart")(18)(agathos) means intrinsically good, inherently good in quality with the idea of that which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent (marked by or disposed to doing good). Agathos is that which is good in its character, beneficial in its effects and useful in its action. Agathos is used in the New Testament primarily of spiritual and moral excellence. Agathos uses by Luke - Lk. 1:53; Lk. 6:45; Lk. 8:8; Lk. 8:15; Lk. 10:42; Lk. 11:13; Lk. 12:18; Lk. 12:19; Lk. 16:25; Lk. 18:18; Lk. 18:19; Lk. 19:17; Lk. 23:50; Acts 9:36; Acts 11:24; Acts 23:1; Heart (2588)(kardia) does not refer to the physical organ but is always used figuratively in Scripture to refer to the seat and center of human life. The heart is the center of the personality, and it controls the intellect, emotions, and will. No outward obedience is of the slightest value unless the heart turns to God. Just as the integrity of our physical heart is vital to our physical life, in a similar and even more important way the integrity of our spiritual heart is vital to our spiritual life, for our spiritual life impacts not just our enjoyment of time but of eternity! Kardia in Luke and Acts - Lk. 1:17; Lk. 1:51; Lk. 1:66; Lk. 2:19; Lk. 2:35; Lk. 2:51; Lk. 3:15; Lk. 5:22; Lk. 6:45; Lk. 8:12; Lk. 8:15; Lk. 9:47; Lk. 10:27; Lk. 12:34; Lk. 12:45; Lk. 16:15; Lk. 21:14; Lk. 21:34; Lk. 24:25; Lk. 24:32; Lk. 24:38; Acts 2:26; Acts 2:37; Acts 2:46; Acts 4:32; Acts 5:3; Acts 5:4; Acts 7:23; Acts 7:39; Acts 7:51; Acts 7:54; Acts 8:21; Acts 8:22; Acts 8:37; Acts 11:23; Acts 13:22; Acts 14:17; Acts 15:9; Acts 16:14; Acts 21:13; Acts 28:27 Hold it fast (2722)(katecho from katá = intensifies meaning + écho = have, hold) means to retain, hold or keep in one's possession and in the present context is used figuratively referring to holding the Gospel fast. Katecho - 16v - afflicted(1), bound(1), heading(1), hold...fast(1), hold fast(5), hold firmly(1), keep(2), occupy(1), possess(1), possessing(1), restrains(2), suppress(1). Lk. 4:42; Lk. 8:15; Lk. 14:9; Jn. 5:4; Acts 27:40; Rom. 1:18; Rom. 7:6; 1 Co. 7:30; 1 Co. 11:2; 1 Co. 15:2; 2 Co. 6:10; 1 Thess. 5:21; 2 Thess. 2:6; 2 Thess. 2:7; Phlm. 1:13; Heb. 3:6; Heb. 3:14; Heb. 10:23 Bear fruit (2592)(karpophoreo from karpos = fruit, produce + phero = bear, bring) literally means to bring forth fruit, to be fertile, productive. It is used figuratively to refer to bringing forth deeds or works (fruit), which depending on the context can be good fruit or bad fruit (Ro 7:4, 5-note) Karpophoreo - 8v - bear fruit(4), bearing fruit(2), bears fruit(1), produces crops(1). Matt. 13:23; Mk. 4:20; Mk. 4:28; Lk. 8:15; Rom. 7:4; Rom. 7:5; Col. 1:6; Col. 1:10 Perseverance (5281) (hupomone from hupo = under + meno = stay, remain, abide) literally means abiding under. The root idea of hupomone is to remain under some discipline, subjecting one’s self to something which demands the submission of one's will to something against which one naturally would rebel. It portrays a picture of steadfastly and unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load and describes that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. The picture is that of steadfastness, constancy and endurance. It has in it a forward look, the ability to focus on what is beyond the current pressures (eg Jesus "Who for the joy set before Him endured [verb form hupomeno] the Cross despising the shame" Heb 12:2+). As alluded to in the preceding section, this supernatural quality of "abiding under" is possible only as we rely on the enabling power of the Spirit. Hupomone - 32x/31v - endurance(7), patient enduring(1), perseverance(21), steadfastness(3).Lk. 8:15; Lk. 21:19; Rom. 2:7; Rom. 5:3; Rom. 5:4; Rom. 8:25; Rom. 15:4; Rom. 15:5; 2 Co. 1:6; 2 Co. 6:4; 2 Co. 12:12; Col. 1:11; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:4; 2 Thess. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:10; Tit. 2:2; Heb. 10:36; Heb. 12:1; Jas. 1:3; Jas. 1:4; Jas. 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:6; Rev. 1:9; Rev. 2:2; Rev. 2:3; Rev. 2:19; Rev. 3:10; Rev. 13:10; Rev. 14:12 Related Resources: What is the key to bearing fruit as a Christian? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)? | GotQuestions.org What is the fruit of righteousness in Philippians 1:11? | GotQuestions.org What is a spiritual harvest and how can I achieve one? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean that you will know them by their fruit in Matthew 7:16? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean to be a fruitful Christian? | GotQuestions.org Puritan Thomas Watson on Effectual Hearing - If you would hear the Word aright, be not only attentive, but retentive. Lay the Word up in your memories and hearts. "The seed on the good ground are they who, having heard the Word, keep it." The Greek word for "keep" signifies "to hold the Word fast, that it do not run from us." If the seed be not kept in the ground, but is presently washed away, it is sown to little purpose: so, if the Word preached be not kept in your memories and hearts, it is preached in vain. Many people have memories like leaky vessels — the Word goes out as fast as it comes in: how, then, can it profit? If a treasure be put into a chest and the chest not locked, it may easily be taken out: a bad memory is like a chest without a look, the devil can easily take out all the treasure. Labour to keep in memory the truths you hear: the things we esteem we are not so apt to forget. Steven
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MacArthur has an interesting analysis of this section and in these passages he sees 4 ways a true disciple hears the Word - evangelistically, authentically, fruitfully and obediently. And that's all in this little text, as we will see. And that's very much in contrast. The people who don't hear the way they should hear don't respond evangelistically. They don't respond authentically. They don't respond fruitfully. They don't respond obediently. So you can look at your life and you can know whether you're hearing the way you should hear....Now, if you're looking for that word (evangelistically) in verse 16, you're not going to find it, but that's where the point is made. Darrell Bock entitles Luke 8:16-18 a "Call to Respond to Light" and mentions three approaches to the interpretation - Many see the saying as an exhortation to the disciples to function as light, to go openly into the world and proclaim the message. This is clearly the force of the remark in Mt. 5:15, where the following verse exhorts them to let their light shine before people. If one sees this saying as a strict parallel to Matthew, then this interpretation is natural (Hendriksen 1978: 430; Plummer 1896: 222). Others hold to the same thrust and appeal to the previous context, where the parable concerns the fruitfulness of the preached word. Since the section is about the preaching of the word, such an emphasis is only natural (Geldenhuys 1951: 247; Marshall 1978: 328; Schürmann 1969: 467; Fitzmyer 1981: 718; W. Robinson 1966: 132–33). Another way to view the reference is as a characterization of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ teaching is light; it is given in public and illumines the way to God (Danker 1988: 178; Wis. 6:22; Sir. 39:1–3). (Baker Exegetical Commentary- Luke) J C
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MacArthur on listening - Frankly, good listeners make good company. Good listeners make good friends. Good listeners make good learners. And good listeners then make good teachers. Good listeners make good counselors. On the other hand, poor listeners who only want to hear themselves talk and even while forced to listen are only planning what they're going to say as soon as you take a breath are usually cheated out of the best relationships in life. Just from a human standpoint, learning how to listen is important. It determines an awful lot about our relationships to others. Far more important, however, than how we listen to others is how we listen to the Lord. How good are we at listening to God? What kind of listeners are we?...The kind of listener you are, the kind of hearer you are will tell you your spiritual condition....That will reveal to you whether you're the good soil or not. Many, as I said, profess to believe in Jesus Christ. They had an incident somewhere, prayed a prayer at some point in the past but how they listen proves whether they are really saved. The theme again takes us back to the soils, superficial hearers, emotional hearers, worldly hearers, as opposed to good and honest hearers. It's all about hearing. (Be Careful How You Listen)
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MacArthur - The belief that Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus is foreign to the New Testament and the apostolic era, first appearing in the apocryphal literature of the second century. Catholics have argued that these were Joseph’s children from a prior marriage and hence Jesus’ step brothers. There is no evidence, however, of such a marriage. Further, if that were the case one of those older brothers would have been Joseph’s heir and hence the rightful king of Israel, not Jesus (Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke, The International Critical Commentary [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1922], 224). All historical evidence points to both Joseph and Mary being young teenagers when they married, making a previous marriage and family nonsense. Others have argued that these were Jesus’ cousins, not His brothers. But adelphos (“brother”) is never used in the New Testament in the sense of “cousin.” In fact, the New Testament writers had a word available that specifically means “cousin” (anepsios), and when Paul referred to Barnabas’s cousin Mark he used that word (Col. 4:10). Mark 3:20–21 reveals that they were concerned about the massive crowds that followed Jesus everywhere, and fearful of the rising hostility of the Jewish religious leaders. Having erroneously concluded that Jesus had taken leave of His senses (Mark 3:21), Mary and His brothers had come to rescue Him. That Joseph does not appear here or anywhere in the New Testament after the incident in the temple (Luke 2:41–50) suggests that he was dead by this time. Jesus’ assigning Mary into the care of the apostle John at the cross (John 19:27) further confirms that Joseph was dead. The Lord’s brothers did not believe in Him (John 7:5) until after the resurrection (Acts 1:14), but Mary understood who He was from the beginning. She knew that He had come to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21), and acknowledged her own need for a Savior (Luke 1:47). She confessed that she was neither sinless nor co-redemptrix with Jesus. (See MacArthur Commentary) Related - Is the perpetual virginity of Mary biblical? Was reported (declared, told) (518)(apaggello from apó = from + aggéllo = tell, declare from aggelos = messenger, one who speaks in place of one who has sent him) means to bring a message from any person or place. To bring tidings from a person or thing. To relate, inform, tell what has occurred. J C Ryle on Lk 8:19-21 - We learn from these verses, the great privileges of those who hear the word of God and do it. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares that He regards them as his “mother and his brethren.” The man who hears the word of God, and does it, is the true Christian. He hears the call of God to repent and be converted, and he obeys it. He ceases to do evil, and learns to do well. He puts off the old man, and puts on the new.—He hears the call of God to believe on Jesus Christ for justification, and he obeys it. He forsakes his own righteousness, and confesses his need of a Saviour. He receives Christ crucified as his only hope, and counts all things loss for the knowledge of Him.—He hears the call of God to be holy, and he obeys it (1 Pe 1:14-15-note). He strives to mortify the deeds of his body (Col 3:5-note, Ro 8:13-note), and to walk after the Spirit (Gal 5:16-note). He labors to lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets him (Heb 12:1-note).—This is true vital Christianity. All men and women who are of this character are true Christians. Now the troubles of all who “hear the word of God and do it” are neither few nor small. The world, the flesh and the devil continually vex them. They often groan, being burdened. (2 Cor. 5:4-note) They often find the cross heavy, and the way to heaven rough and narrow. They often feel disposed to cry with St. Paul, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Ro 7:24-note, Answer? Ro 7:25!) Let all such take comfort in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which we are now considering. Let them remember that the Son of God himself regards them as his own near relations! Let them not heed the laughter, and mockery, and persecution of this world. The woman of whom Christ says, “She is my mother,” and the man of whom Christ says, “He is my brother,” have no cause to be ashamed (1 Jn 2:28-note). Luke 8:21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." KJV And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. My mother 11:27,28; Matthew 25:40,45; 28:10; John 15:14,15; 20:17; 2 Corinthians 5:16; 6:18; Hebrews 2:11-13 which Lk 8:15; Matthew 7:21-26; 17:5; John 6:28,29; 13:17; James 1:22; 1 John 2:29; 3:22; 1 John 3:23; 3 John 1:11 The Parable of the Seed and the Importance of the Word Luke 8:4-21 - Darrell Bock Luke 8:16-21 Be Careful How You Listen - John MacArthur Luke 8:16-21 Take Care How You Listen! - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries OBEDIENT LISTENING AND SPIRITUAL LINEAGE One could title this passage "Spiritual ties supersede physical ties!" One could also subtitle it "How to draw near to God!" But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." - Hearers that do not "do" really have not heard! They have spiritual deafness. Both hear and do are in the present tense, calling for this to be our continual practice and the only way to continually obey the word is by continually depending on the Holy Spirit to obey. Jesus' half-brother James addressed this deceitful danger of hearing and not doing giving a command to "But prove (present imperative - only possible as we rely on the Holy Spirit to obey) yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers (akroates) who delude (paralogizomai in the present tense indicating one is continually in a state of spiritual deception, a dangerous place because of the truth of James 4:14+) themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25+) James Edwards writes that "Even Mary does not occupy the epicenter of Jesus’ fellowship, however. Luke already established that God and his house—not Mary and Joseph—constituted Jesus’ true family (Lk 2:48–50+), and he twice reaffirms here and nearly verbatim again in Lk 11:27–28+ that allegiance to the word of God determines Jesus’ true and eternal family....According to Lk 8:21, the Holy Family cannot assume privilege, and sinners cannot assume rejection. This is at once a warning to the comfortable and complacent, and an encouragement to the dejected. In the kingdom of God true family is determined not by biology or physical proximity to Jesus, but by hearing “the word of God and doing it!”" (See The Gospel according to Luke) Jesus emphasizes the importance of hearing and Heeding (doing) the word of God “Everyone (NO EXCEPTIONS!) who comes to Me and HEARS My words and ACTS (DOERS) on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 “But the one who HAS HEARD and has NOT ACTED accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:47-49+) THOUGHT - Perhaps you are attending a Bible preaching church and you come on Sunday and make a good impression, but you know deep down your impression is only a profession, for you hear the Word of God proclaimed on Sunday and then go out and for six days "live like the devil." You are in grave danger! A storm is coming. You are hanging by a spider's web over the eternal flames of Hell! God's wrath will soon be unleashed on the unbelieving world (see Revelation 6-19) and every professor of Christ will hear the horribly frightening words and the irresistible command from Jesus "‘I never (ABSOLUTELY NEVER) knew (THIS VERB SPEAKS OF INTIMACY, OF UNION AND COMMUNION WITH JESUS) you; DEPART (aorist imperative) FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense - CONTINUALLY LIVING LIKE THE LAWLESS ONE, THE DEVIL!) LAWLESSNESS.’ (Mt 7:23+). It is not too late for you if you are breathing and your heart is beating! Come while the day of salvation still exists for you (2 Cor 6:2) "for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Romans 10:13+) A true hearer listens obediently. -- John MacArthur
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MacArthur - Only those who are “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22), who hear His words and act on them (Matt. 7:24+), who continue in His word (John 8:31), and who demonstrate their love for Him by obeying Him (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10) have a spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. (WATCH WHAT WE HEAR) And He was saying to them, “Take care WHAT YOU LISTEN TO. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. (Mark 4:24+) (WATCH HOW WE HEAR) “So take care 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.” (Lk 8:18+)
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MacArthur - Leaving the vicinity of Capernaum on the northwest tip of the Sea of Galilee, they headed for the region known as Gerasa, on the eastern shore. There Jesus had a divine appointment with a demon-possessed maniac, whom He would heal (Lk 8:26–39). (See The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Vance Havner wrote that "It was a mountain preacher who followed a strange outline in his sermon on the text, "And there were also with him other little ships" (Mark 4:36). The main ship, he declared, is Lordship. If that ship leads, all the other ships will fall in line: Church membership, Worship, Stewardship, Discipleship, Fellowship." Disciples (3101)(mathetes from manthano = to learn which Vine says is "from a root math, indicating thought accompanied by endeavor". Gives us our English = "mathematics") describes a person who learns from another by instruction, whether formal or informal. Discipleship includes the idea of one who intentionally learns by inquiry and observation (cf inductive Bible study). Remember that you need to examine the context to determine the exact meaning of disciple, for some uses refer to true believers, others those who are not believers and those in between. A classic text is John 6:66 which says in context of his "hard teaching" in John 6 on bread and blood, "many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore." Mathetes in Luke and Acts - Lk. 5:30; Lk. 5:33; Lk. 6:1; Lk. 6:13; Lk. 6:17; Lk. 6:20; Lk. 6:40; Lk. 7:11; Lk. 7:18; Lk. 7:19; Lk. 8:9; Lk. 8:22; Lk. 9:14; Lk. 9:16; Lk. 9:18; Lk. 9:40; Lk. 9:43; Lk. 9:54; Lk. 10:23; Lk. 11:1; Lk. 12:1; Lk. 12:22; Lk. 14:26; Lk. 14:27; Lk. 14:33; Lk. 16:1; Lk. 17:1; Lk. 17:22; Lk. 18:15; Lk. 19:29; Lk. 19:37; Lk. 19:39; Lk. 20:45; Lk. 22:11; Lk. 22:39; Lk. 22:45; Acts 6:1; Acts 6:2; Acts 6:7; Acts 9:1; Acts 9:10; Acts 9:19; Acts 9:25; Acts 9:26; Acts 9:38; Acts 11:26; Acts 11:29; Acts 13:52; Acts 14:20; Acts 14:22; Acts 14:28; Acts 15:10; Acts 16:1; Acts 18:23; Acts 18:27; Acts 19:1; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:30; Acts 20:1; Acts 20:30; Acts 21:4; Acts 21:16 Launched out (321)(anago from ana = up, again, away + ago = to bring, lead) literally speaks of movement from a lower to a higher point. Anago is used here as a nautical technical term - In the passive voice it was a nautical term meaning to put (out) to sea, to set sail. (Lk 8:22, Acts 13:13; 16:11; 18:21; 20:3, 13; 21:1,2; 27:2,4,12, 21; 28:10,11). Anago "literally means to lead up; hence to lead up to the high sea, or take to sea; put to sea. It is the word used of Jesus' being led up into the wilderness and the mount of temptation (Matthew 4:1; Luke 2:22); also of bringing up a sacrifice to an idol-altar (Acts 7:41)." (Vincent) Steven
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MacArthur - Skeptics, determined to deny the miraculous at all costs, have pointed out that storms on the Sea of Galilee often stop as rapidly as they start. But while the wind might have died down almost at once, it would have taken much longer for the waves to subside. When Jesus commanded the wind and waves to stop, both did so instantly, and it became absolutely calm (both Matthew and Mark use the adjective megas [“great”] to describe the glassy calm). (See Luke Commentary)
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MacArthur says "The lesson for the disciples was clear: they were to trust the Lord even in the most severe and threatening circumstances." The storm couldn’t disturb Him, but the unbelief of His disciples did! - G. Campbell Morgan David Gooding writes, "We live in a universe that is lethally hostile to human life: only the miracle of creation and divine maintenance preserves our planet and its wonderful adaptations and provisions for the propagation of human life. Within our earth itself wind, wave, lightning, storm, flood, drought, avalanche, earthquake, fire, heat, cold, germ, virus, epidemic, all from time to time threaten and destroy life. Sooner or later one of them may destroy us. The story of the stilling of the storm is not, of course, meant to tell us that Christ will never allow any believer to perish by drowning, or by any other natural disaster. Many believers have so perished. It does demonstrate that he is Lord of the physical forces in the universe, that for him nothing happens by accident, and that no force in all creation can destroy his plan for our eternal salvation or separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (see Rom. 8:38–39). (Borrow According to Luke : a new exposition of the Third Gospel) J C
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MacArthur - Luke (along with Mark 5:1) calls their destination the country of the Gerasenes, which was opposite Galilee on the eastern shore, while Matthew refers to it as “the country of the Gadarenes” (Matt. 8:28). Mark and Luke evidently referred to a small village (Gerasa; modern Kersa) near the shore of the Sea of Galilee, while Matthew referred to the larger town, Gadara, which gave its name to the region (and may have been its capital). (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Luke 6-10). NET Note - The region of the Gerasenes would be in Gentile territory on the (south)eastern side of the Sea of Galilee across from Galilee. Matthew 8:28 records this miracle as occurring "in the region of the Gadarenes." "Irrespective of how one settles this issue, for the Third Evangelist the chief concern is that Jesus has crossed over into Gentile territory, 'opposite Galilee'" (J. B. Green, Luke [NICNT], 337). The region of Gadara extended to the Sea of Galilee and included the town of Sennabris on the southern shore - the town that the herdsmen most likely entered after the drowning of the pigs. Criswell on Gerasenes (Gadarenes in KJV) - "The country of the Gadarenes" is probably the small village of Khersa on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (NU Gerasenes). Which is opposite Galilee - This refers to the eastern shore. Hendriksen gives a summary of all three accounts of this demonic encounter by Jesus - In each of the three Gospels certain details are added: Matthew, in addition to mentioning two men instead of one, states that they were so violent that travel on their road had become unsafe; that they expressed fear that Jesus had come to torture them "before the appointed time"; and that the herd was feeding "at some distance away" from the point where the confrontation between Jesus and the demoniacs took place. Luke adds that the demon-possessed man was "from the city"—had apparently lived there—; that for a long time he had been running around naked; that the demons caused their presence to be felt by spurts ("seized him many a time"); and that the man had been kept under guard, and driven into the deserts by the demons. He also reports that the demons begged Jesus not to send them "into the abyss," and that the liberated man was sitting "at the feet of Jesus" and subsequently proclaimed "throughout the whole city" what the Lord had done for him. Mark vividly describes how all previous attempts to keep the demoniac under control and to subdue him had failed; that he was screaming night and day and cutting himself with stones; that the spokesman of the demons wanted Jesus to swear that he would not torment him; that the herd consisted of about two thousand pigs; and that everybody was amazed about the cured man's report concerning the great things God had done for him. Finally, the question of Jesus, "What is your name," and the answer to that question; as well as the request of the cured and grateful man to be allowed to accompany Jesus on the latter's further travels, and his reply, are reported only by Mark and Luke. Sailed (2668)(katapleo from katá = down + pléō = to sail) means literally to sail down as from the high sea to land, to sail to a place. In classical literature katapleō indicated movement from the open sea to the coast, especially to a port. It was also used of sailing down the Nile to Alexandria. This nautical term occurs only once in the New Testament in Luke 8:26. Luke 8:27 And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. KJV And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. and ware 1 Samuel 19:24 but Numbers 19:16; Isaiah 65:4 Luke 8:26-29 The Maniac Who Became a Missionary, Part 1 - John MacArthur Luke 8:26-39 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passages: Matt. 8:28+; When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. Mark 5:2-5+ When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. DIVINE CONFRONTS DEMONIC And when He came out onto the land - Notice that here we are with Jesus clearly in close proximity to tombs and swine, both unclean for the Jew! Jewish ceremonialism was no hindrance for Jesus Who "come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Lk 19:10+) “Like a warm front hitting a cold front head on, the forces of good and evil collide.” (Gire) He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons - Mark 5:2+ has "When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him." Matthew 8:28+ has "two men (see note below) who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way." What happened to the second demoniac is not clear but Mt 8:33+ supports that there were indeed two possessed men for Matthew records "The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.("demoniacs" plural, not singular)." Possessed with demons means literally "having demons" (which in turn had him!) MacArthur - As those terms make clear and the present passage demonstrates, demon possession involves demons indwelling their victims and taking control of their minds, bodies, and voices. How the man in this story became demon possessed is not known, but all unbelievers are part of Satan’s kingdom of darkness and hence vulnerable. Since this man was a Gentile, perhaps his idolatrous religion provided the entry point for the demons to enter him. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Luke 6-10) Hendriksen on He was met by a man from the city - He had seen better days. There was a time when he lived among his fellows and wore clothes. Now he wore scarcely any; in fact, in view of such passages as Mark 5:5b, 15+, probably none at all. He used to have a home (Luke 8:39), but no longer. For a long time he had been living where he was living now, in the tombs.
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MacArthur adds that "This poor, benighted, tormented soul was indwelt by literally thousands of demons; since there were two thousand pigs in the herd, there could have been that many demons indwelling the man and his companion. (MNTC – Luke)
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MacArthur - The abussos (abyss), or bottomless pit (Rev. 9:1-2) is a place where some demons are currently imprisoned. Some of these imprisoned spirits will be released for a brief time during the tribulation (Rev. 9:1-11); others, apparently those who indwelt men who then cohabitated with women before the flood (Gen. 6:1-4; cf. Jude 6), are permanently bound (2 Peter 2:4). They will remain in the abyss until they are cast into the lake of fire. (See Luke Commentary) Gilbrant on abussos in Classical Greek - The classical understanding of abussos is as an adjective meaning “bottomless, unfathomed, without limits.” There is no classical understanding of abussos as a particular place or region (i.e., “the abyss”); this takes place only later (e.g., Diogenes Laertius Lives of Eminent Philosophers 4.5.27 [Third Century A.D.]) (see Jeremias, “Abussos,” Kittel, 1:9). Outside of the New Testament (and possibly later rabbinic material) it is common as a substantive only in later papyri (Moulton-Milligan). It is likely that abussos assumed the senses found in the Septuagint and New Testament under the influence of the Akkadian word absu (or apsu). Similarity in concept and sound may have prompted the Greek speakers in the Hellenistic period to make the equation. Absu could refer to the Subterranean waters, the ocean or sea, the netherworld, or the abode of demons (Assyrian Dictionary, “apsu”). Absu was also the name of a primordial god (ibid.). All of these senses for abussos are found in the Septuagint or New Testament yet are entirely absent in the earliest extant occurrences of the word in classical Greek (Fifth Century authors such as Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Euripides). (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary) Abussos - 9x in 9v - Usage: abyss(7), bottomless(2). - Lk. 8:31; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 9:1; Rev. 9:2; Rev. 9:11; Rev. 11:7; Rev. 17:8; Rev. 20:1; Rev. 20:3 Abussos - 37x in 35v in the Septuagint - Gen. 1:2; Gen. 7:11; Gen. 8:2; Deut. 8:7; Deut. 33:13; Job 28:14; Job 36:16; Job 38:16; Job 38:30; Job 41:31; Job 41:32; Ps. 33:7; Ps. 36:6; Ps. 42:7; Ps. 71:20; Ps. 71:21; Ps. 77:16; Ps. 78:15; Ps. 104:6; Ps. 106:9; Ps. 107:26; Ps. 135:6; Ps. 148:7; Prov. 3:20; Prov. 8:23; Isa. 44:27; Isa. 51:10; Isa. 63:13; Ezek. 26:19; Ezek. 31:4; Ezek. 31:15; Amos 7:4; Jon. 2:5; Hab. 3:10 Gilbrant Abussos in the Septuagint - Almost always it replaces the Hebrew word tᵉhôm, a term often denoting the “deep” of the primeval ocean (Genesis 1:2) or the “depths of the sea” (Exodus 15:5, not abussos here), or some kind of “subterranean water” (Deuteronomy 8:7) (see Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, “tᵉhôm”). Abussos, too, denotes the primordial “deep” (Genesis 1:2); likewise, it equals the “subterranean springs” to be found in the Promised Land (Deut 8:7; cf. Ge 7:11; 8:2). The “deep” of the sea should probably be understood in a number of texts (e.g., Job 28:14; Wisdom of Solomon 10:19; Isaiah 44:27; Ezekiel 26:19). It functions metaphorically of the “crevices” or “folds” in the skin of leviathan (Job 41:22,23; cf. verse 1). The Psalmist exalted the Lord for the exceeding “depths” of His justice (Psalm 36:6). Abussos translates the plural of tᵉhôm in Psalm 71:20, and this may be a reference to the “place of the dead” (cf. Jeremias, “Abussos,” Kittel,1:9). This is somewhat tenuous, however. Abussos is also rendered as a plural here, showing the translators did not use abussos in the technical way (“the Abyss”). Thus, to discern in Psalm 71:20,21 a reference to the resurrection would probably be in error. There are two reasons for this: (1) the New Testament writers did not make use of this text to do so; and (2) the antithetical parallelism in the immediate context is between God’s righteousness which “reaches to the heavens” and the situation of humanity which extends “to the depths of the earth.” Moreover, abussos does not translate shᵉ‛ôl, the abode of the dead (cf. Psalm 135:6 [LXX 134:6]; Proverbs 3:19f.). Any technical understanding of abussos as “the Abyss” in the Septuagint is at best formative. Even those texts which may seem to hint at a more technical denotation for a place or region are in the later apocryphal writings (e.g., Sirach 1:3; 16:18; cf. the RSV’s slanted rendering of abussos here, but cf. Psalm 107:26, possibly used of the “place of the dead”). (For more on the Old Testament terminology for the place of the dead see Gaster, “Dead, Abode of the,” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1:787f.) (Ibid) QUESTION - What is the Abyss? ANSWER - The word abyss simply means “a deep hole”—so deep that it seems bottomless or immeasurable. The word is often used in modern contexts to describe the sea. In the Bible and in Jewish theology, the Abyss is often a metaphorical reference to the place of evil spirits. Sometimes the Abyss is pictured as a deep or bottomless hole in the earth. This is the background for the New Testament usage. The King James Version usually translates the Greek term abyssou as “bottomless pit” (e.g., Revelation 9:2). In Luke 8, Jesus cast the Legion of demons out of a man, “and they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss” (verse 31). The Abyss is obviously a place that the demons fear and try to avoid. In Revelation a number of times we see the Abyss as a place of confinement for evil spirits: Revelation 9:1–3, 11 — “The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. . . . They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).” Revelation 11:7 — “Now when [the two witnesses] have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.” Revelation 20:1–3 — “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.” In all of these instances, the Abyss is a place for the containment of evil spirits. Many Bible scholars believe that this is the same place referred to in 2 Peter 2:4 as “hell,” where some evil spirits are “in chains of darkness to be held for judgment.” The word hell here is a translation of the Greek tartarus, which can be thought of as the “deepest pit” or the “lowest part of Hades.” It is clear from Scripture that God has ultimate power over all evil spirits. Some of the demons have been consigned to the Abyss and held captive there, while others seem to be able to move more freely upon the earth. Ultimately, all evil spirits will be consigned to the lake of fire (ED: WHICH IS DISTINCT FROM THE ABYSS), along with all unbelievers (see Revelation 20:10–15). GotQuestions.org Related Resource: What is the difference between Sheol, Hades, Hell, the lake of fire, Paradise, and Abraham’s bosom? Gotquestions.org Luke 8:32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. KJV And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. there an Leviticus 11:7; Isaiah 65:4; 66:3; Matthew 8:30-33; Mark 5:11-13 besought Job 1:10; Ps 62:11; John 19:11; 1 John 4:4 he suffered 1 Kings 22:22; Job 1:12; 2:6; Revelation 20:7 Luke 8:30-39 The Maniac Who Became a Missionary, Part 2 - John MacArthur Luke 8:26-39 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passages: Matt. 8:30-32+ Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. Mark 5:11-13+ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. Now there was a herd of many swine (choiros) feeding (bosko) there on the mountain - Matthew 8:30+ says "Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them." Mark 5:11+ adds that "there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain." and in Mk 5:13+ says there were 2000. That's a lot of pork down the drain! As Criswell observed "Though swine as food are forbidden to the Jews as unclean (Lev. 11:7, 8), in the predominantly Gentile territory of the Decapolis, a market for hogs apparently brings Jews into that business (cf. Mk 5:14-17+)." The demons implored (parakaleo) Him to permit (epitrepo) them to enter the swine - Here we find demons actually praying. This is quite amazing - they believe in God, in Jesus, in the abyss (hell), in prayer! Brian Bell explains that the demons implore Jesus to be sent to the swine because "They desire a host. They want contact with the material realm. Satan will take a pig or a man; if he gets a man he will do his best to turn him into a pig! Why into the pigs? By this dramatic act this would show they actually came out and went somewhere else." Mk 5:12+ "The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." Mt 8:31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” The paradox of "praying" demons! And He gave them permission - Jesus answers their "prayer" affirmatively. Jesus was not acquiescing to their will, for He always did the will of His Father in Heaven. So for some reason the demons would be allowed to stay around a few more years, centuries, millennia, until the are finally cast into the deep dark pit! Notice that in Matthew's version below, He commanded them to Go!. Mt 8:32+ "And He said to them, “Go (present imperative)!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region." Swine (5519)(choiros) refers to a pig, a hog, a poker, a young swine. Swine were detestable creatures being classified with the dog (cf. Lk 8:32ff.; Lk 15:15). They were considered unclean according to the laws of purification - Lev 11:7-8+, Dt 14:8. The ancient Canaanites sacrificed and ate swine before their so-called "gods." Despite their being a popular sacrificial animal among the Greeks at special events, the Old Testament paints them as destructive, undesirable creatures (Ps 80:13; Pr 11:22). Most of the NT uses are in the story of Jesus casting out the demons and sending them into the swine (Mt 8:30, 31, 32, Mk 5:11, 12, 13, 16, Lk 8:32, 33+) To protect themselves from defilement for worship on the Sabbath day, Jews would not even touch pigs. In an act of brazen disrespect to the Jews, the despicable ruler Antiochus Epiphanes raided the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, stealing its treasures, setting up an altar to Zeus, and sacrificing swine on the altar. When the Jews expressed their outrage over the profaning of the temple, Antiochus responded by slaughtering a great number of the Jews and selling others into slavery. He issued even more draconian decrees: performing the rite of circumcision was punishable by death, and Jews everywhere were ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods and eat pig flesh. Feeding (1006)(bosko) in passive voice (as here) means grazing or feeding. Bosko is used only in the Gospels and most often describe literal feeding of animals (especially the feeding of the swine) and twice is used figuratively where people are compared to lambs and sheep (Jn 21:15, 17). Bosko - 8v - Matt. 8:30; Matt. 8:33; Mk. 5:11; Mk. 5:14; Lk. 8:32; Lk. 8:34; Lk. 15:15; Jn. 21:15; Jn. 21:17 To permit...gave permission (used twice in this sentence)(2010)(epitrepo from epi = upon + trepo = to turn) means to turn to, entrust, hence to permit. It carries the sense of release from restraint in order to have freedom of choice (cf John 19:38, and Acts 21:39). For example, here in Lk 8:32 and the parallel in Mark 5:13 Legion gained freedom from being sent away, and instead was permitted to enter a herd of swine (see Mark 5:8-13). Epitrepo - 17v - Matt. 8:21; Matt. 19:8; Mk. 5:13; Mk. 10:4; Lk. 8:32; Lk. 9:59; Lk. 9:61; Jn. 19:38; Acts 21:39; Acts 21:40; Acts 26:1; Acts 27:3; Acts 28:16; 1 Co. 14:34; 1 Co. 16:7; 1 Tim. 2:12; Heb. 6:3 Related Resources: Torrey Topical Textbook Swine Easton's Bible Dictionary Swine Holman Bible Dictionary Swine Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Swine Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Swine Smith Bible Dictionary Swine International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Swine Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Swine McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Swine The Jewish Encyclopedia Swine J C
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MacArthur - His radical change was complete, undeniable, and inexplicable from a human perspective. The man was clothed, not naked; seated at the feet of Jesus, not wandering aimlessly; away from the tombs, the realm of the dead, and in the presence of the Lord of life; quiet, not shrieking; calm and peaceful, not out of control and deadly; comforted, not tormented; in short, manifesting God-given sanity, not demon-inspired insanity. This is a magnificent picture of salvation transformation. No doubt Jesus had explained the gospel to him, telling him that He had come to save lost sinners (Luke 19:10+), and the man had repented and been forgiven. (See MacArthur Commentary ) Found (2147)(heurisko) means to find after searching and so to discover. When they found gold in California they shouted "Eureka!" (from heurisko and the state motto of California, referring to the discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848) and here when they found God on the coast they should have also shouted "Eureka!" for Jesus is "more precious than silver... more costly than gold...more beautiful than diamonds" for in Jesus "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col 2:3+). There is only one letter difference between GOLD and GOD, but that one letter makes all the difference in time and eternity! (cf Mt 6:24+) Heurisko uses by Luke - Lk. 1:30; Lk. 2:12; Lk. 2:45; Lk. 2:46; Lk. 4:17; Lk. 5:19; Lk. 6:7; Lk. 7:9; Lk. 7:10; Lk. 8:35; Lk. 9:12; Lk. 9:36; Lk. 11:9; Lk. 11:10; Lk. 11:24; Lk. 11:25; Lk. 12:37; Lk. 12:38; Lk. 12:43; Lk. 13:6; Lk. 13:7; Lk. 15:4; Lk. 15:5; Lk. 15:6; Lk. 15:8; Lk. 15:9; Lk. 15:24; Lk. 15:32; Lk. 17:18; Lk. 18:8; Lk. 19:30; Lk. 19:32; Lk. 19:48; Lk. 22:13; Lk. 22:45; Lk. 23:2; Lk. 23:4; Lk. 23:14; Lk. 23:22; Lk. 24:2; Lk. 24:3; Lk. 24:23; Lk. 24:24; Lk. 24:33;Acts 4:21; Acts 5:10; Acts 5:22; Acts 5:23; Acts 5:39; Acts 7:11; Acts 7:46; Acts 8:40; Acts 9:2; Acts 9:33; Acts 10:27; Acts 11:26; Acts 12:19; Acts 13:6; Acts 13:22; Acts 13:28; Acts 17:6; Acts 17:23; Acts 17:27; Acts 18:2; Acts 19:1; Acts 19:19; Acts 21:2; Acts 23:9; Acts 23:29; Acts 24:5; Acts 24:12; Acts 24:18; Acts 24:20; Acts 27:6; Acts 27:28; Acts 28:14 In his right mind (4993)(sophroneo from sozo = to save {from sos = sound} + phren = mind, which would then literally describe a "saved mind"!) (Click studies on the related words sophron and sophronismos) means literally to b e of sound mind. The idea is to to keep one’s mind safe and sound or to be in one's right mind. To think of one's self soberly. It means to be able to reason and think properly and in a sane manner. This is the same verb used to describe the exorcised man in Mk 5:15+ Sophroneo - 6v - have sound judgment(1), right mind(2), sensible(1), sound judgment(1), sound mind(1). Mk. 5:15; Lk. 8:35; Rom. 12:3; 2 Co. 5:13; Tit. 2:6; 1 Pet. 4:7 Became frightened (5399)(phobeo)from phobos = fear source of our English "phobia") means to be in an apprehensive state that can range from mild uneasiness to stark terror as when one is frightened, terrified or alarmed. How ironic that this same verb phobeo is used to describe a reverential fear (awe) of God (see Lk 1:50+, cf ; Acts 10:35+; 1 Pt 2:17; Rev 14:7+ = this fear is associated with the last offer of the Gospel at midpoint of the 7 year Tribulation preceding the Great Tribulation - see Rev 14:6+; Rev 19:5+ = so even in Heaven saints will "fear" God!). Here was God in the flesh, the One they to Whom they should have shown referential fear and yet they demonstrated essentially the opposite reaction! Instead of being apprehensive of Jesus, they should have been adoring Him. "O come let us adore Him." It is also interesting that one of the more frequent commands of Jesus was "Do not fear" - Mt 10:31; 14:27; 17:7; Mk 5:36; Lk 1:13, 30; 2:10; 5:10; 8:50; 12:7 Phobeo uses by Luke - Lk. 1:13; Lk. 1:30; Lk. 1:50; Lk. 2:9; Lk. 2:10; Lk. 5:10; Lk. 8:25; Lk. 8:35; Lk. 8:50; Lk. 9:34; Lk. 9:45; Lk. 12:4; Lk. 12:5; Lk. 12:7; Lk. 12:32; Lk. 18:2; Lk. 18:4; Lk. 19:21; Lk. 20:19; Lk. 22:2; Lk. 23:40; Acts 5:26; Acts 9:26; Acts 10:2; Acts 10:35; Acts 13:16; Acts 13:26; Acts 16:38; Acts 18:9; Acts 22:29; Acts 23:10; Acts 27:17; Acts 27:24; Acts 27:29; Steven
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MacArthur points out that "Although its accounts of demonized people reflect many different conditions and degrees of control, Scripture does not clearly distinguish between being possessed, obsessed, or oppressed by demons. Demonization may be denned as a condition in which one or more demons inhabits and gains control over a human being. Demons can attack men spiritually, mentally, and physically. In the spiritual realm they promote false religions, demon worship, the occult, and innumerable kinds of immorality, including murder (Rev. 9:20–21; 18:23–24). In the intellectual and psychological realm they promote such things as false doctrines; insanity and masochism, as in this demon-possessed man, who gashed himself with stones (Mark 5:5); and inability to speak and suicidal mania (see Mark 9:17–22)....It is significant that Jesus never blamed a person for being either diseased or demon controlled. He recognized them as victims of powers beyond their own control and as in need of deliverance, not exhortation or condemnation." (MNTC-Mt)
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MacArthur - In stark contrast to the delivered maniac, the response of the sane people tragically illustrates sin’s power over the lost. It blinds them to the truth and causes them to hate it and reject all evidence of it. They obstinately cling to their false illusion of well-being because love of iniquity dominates them. Jesus had performed an undeniable miracle that clearly manifested His absolute power over the supernatural realm and to deliver people from the forces of hell. (See The MacArthur Commentary) Brian Bell comments on the repetition of the idea of begged (Lk 8:31, 32, 37, 38) The demons begged him, not the pit, but the pigs! (Lk 8:31, 32) The people begged him, leave our country! (Lk 8:37) (Contrast Jairus, the synagogue official, begging in Lk 8:41)! The former demoniac begged him, let me follow you! (Lk 8:38) For they were gripped (sunecho/synecho) with great fear - Not just fear but great fear (megas phobos). This is not like the fear of the disciples described in Lk 8:25 which at least to some degree was reverential. This fear (whatever the cause) explains why they asked Jesus to leave. They had seen God work and rejected Him, which is not greatly different from hearing God's Word and rejecting Him. They were so self-focused that they showed no gratitude whatsoever that the demoniac had been made well. They were unable to rejoice with those who rejoice (Ro 12:15)! Robert Stein - For the believer such fear turns to a holy awe, but to the unbelieving it is only a fearsome dread from which they seek to rid themselves. God can be rejected, as the people of Gerasa in fact did. Peace, however, came to the demoniac. He who was last became first. (See Luke: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) Criswell - It is remarkable that instead of rejoicing over the miracle of seeing a man restored to "his right mind," the people of the area were insistent that Jesus depart. This unfortunate attitude was prompted by fear (Lk 8:35) and by selfishness (note the reference to the loss of the swine in Mk 5:16). (The Believer's Study Bible) David Gooding has an interesting note on the people's reaction to Jesus Who had freed them of the fear of the demoniac - What a sad comment on man’s fallen and unregenerate state it is, that man should feel more at home with demons, than with the Christ who has power to cast out demons. Yet is often so. Men who would try to help a criminal or a drunkard, or, if they should prove incorrigible, would want the one imprisoned and the other put into hospital, find it embarrassing and somewhat frightening if the criminal is saved by Christ and turned into a sane, wholesome, regenerate disciple. (Borrow According to Luke : a new exposition of the Third Gospel) He got into a boat (ploion) and returned (hupostrepho)- Jesus complies! This is a sad phrase! They had rejected Jesus' miraculous healing of a demon possessed maniac and so He left. Jesus does not force the favor of His continued presence on anyone who says "I do not want Your presence!" What is interesting though is that in His great mercy, Jesus left a witness to give (probably lifelong) testimony of the great thing Jesus had done for the demon possessed man. Would some of the soils of their hearts shift to the good soil? Possibly. Eternity will tell. Gripped (4912)(sunecho/synecho from sun = with + echo = hold) literally means hold together (as a unit, metaphorically to sustain). To press together. Sunecho means to be held or gripped by difficult circumstances (various diseases - Mt 4:24, fever - Lk 4:38, fever & dysentery - Acts 28:8, fear - Lk 8:37). In Acts 18:5 the idea is "to occupy someone’s attention intensely" (BDAG). They were hemmed in, seized and hence, they were held in the grip of great fear which depicts them as terribly frightened. Sunecho - 12v - afflicted(1), controls(1), covered(1), crowding(1), devoting...completely(1), distressed(1), gripped(1), hard-pressed(1), hem(1), holding...in custody(1), suffering(2). Matt. 4:24; Lk. 4:38; Lk. 8:37; Lk. 8:45; Lk. 12:50; Lk. 19:43; Lk. 22:63; Acts 7:57; Acts 18:5; Acts 28:8; 2 Co. 5:14; Phil. 1:23 Boat (4143)(ploion from pleo = to sail) can refer to a rather large seagoing craft (Acts 20:13, 38; Acts 21:2f, 6; 27 Jas 3:4; Rev 8:9; Rev 18:19) or a small fishing craft boat as used on the Sea of Galilee (Mt 4:21f; Mt 9:1; Mk 1:19f; Mk 6:51, 54; Jn 6:19, 21f; Jn 21:3). See Wikipedia description of the "Jesus Boat" discovered in 1986. Ploion in Luke and Acts - Lk. 5:3; Lk. 5:7; Lk. 5:11; Lk. 8:22; Lk. 8:37; Acts 20:13; Acts 20:38; Acts 21:2; Acts 21:3; Acts 21:6; Acts 27:2; Acts 27:6; Acts 27:10; Acts 27:15; Acts 27:17; Acts 27:19; Acts 27:22; Acts 27:30; Acts 27:31; Acts 27:37; Acts 27:38; Acts 27:39; Acts 27:44; Acts 28:11 Luke 8:38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, KJV Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, begging Lk 28,37; Deuteronomy 10:20,21; Ps 27:4; 32:7; 116:12,16; Mark 5:18; Philippians 1:23 saying Exodus 12:25-27; 13:8,9,14-16; Ps 71:17,18; 78:3-6; 107:21,22,31,32; Ps 111:2-4; 145:3-12; Isaiah 63:7-13; Mark 5:19,20; Acts 9:13-16; Galatians 1:23,24; 1 Timothy 1:13-16 Luke 8:30-39 The Maniac Who Became a Missionary, Part 2 - John MacArthur Luke 8:26-39 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passage: Mark 5:18+ As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. THE SAVED MAN'S PRAYER TO JESUS But the man from whom the demons (daimonion) had gone out was begging (deomai) Him - Was begging is imperfect tense indicated again and againn. Mk 5:18+ "As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him" that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away (apoluo), saying - Mk 5:19+ "And He did not let him, but He said to him." Sent away (630)(apoluo from apó = marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association, separation + luo = loose) is used often of sending a person or a group away from someone (Mt 14:15, 22, 23, 32, etc). Steven
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MacArthur - This remarkable story teaches several important truths. First and foremost, it reveals Christ’s absolute authority over the demonic realm. It is also illustrates the truth that the good news of the gospel is for Gentiles, as well as Jews (cf. Matt. 12:18, 21). The passage also demonstrates that God graciously reaches out to those who reject Him. Finally, the story of the maniac who became a missionary illustrates that it is the responsibility of all Christians to tell others of how Jesus delivered them from the power of sin (Matt. 28:19-20). (See The MacArthur Commentary)
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MacArthur points out that "Unlike most religious leaders in Israel, who avoided the common people so as not to be defiled by them, Jesus secluded Himself only occasionally to rest, to give further insight and instruction to His disciples, or to spend time alone in communion with the Father. Apart from such occasions, His entire ministry was spent in public, mingling daily with the people in town and village streets, the fields, along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and wherever else they gathered. (See The MacArthur Commentary)
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MacArthur - Jesus had performed many miracles in Capernaum (cf. Lk 4:38-40+) one of which, His casting a demon out of a man in the synagogue (Lk 4:33-35+), Jairus, as a synagogue official, may have witnessed. Word of the Lord’s raising a young man from the dead at Nain (Lk 7:11-15+), only about twenty miles away, had certainly reached Capernaum, making Jairus aware of His power. Such information led him to believe that Jesus could heal his daughter. (See MacArthur Commentary) Began to implore (parakaleo) Him to come to his house - The idea of implore is to appeal to Jesus in supplication, beseeching, begging Him with a sense of urgency. Began to implore is in the imperfect tense a vivid picture of Jairus imploring Jesus again and again. Mk 5:23+ adds that the official "implored Him earnestly (polus = much, large - see phrase below in Newton's hymn "large petitions with thee bring"), saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live," about which Hendricksen observes was the father's "expression of tender affection, ("My little daughter), intense anxiety, (Please come!) and a considerable measure of faith." Note the man's faith in the phrase "lay Your hands on her." He still had hope, for faith is closely allied with hope. Indeed, as we shall see in the next miracle just a touch from Jesus is all one needs. Have you gone to Jesus and experienced His loving touch? Jairus' "large petitions" reminds me of the words of John Newton's great hymn Come My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare (listen to this vocal and be blessed!) Come, my soul, thy suit prepare, Jesus loves to answer pray'r. He Himself has bid thee pray, rise and ask without delay. Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for his grace and pow'r are such, none can ever ask too much.
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MacArthur writes "After twelve years of suffering, Jesus was her only hope, so she literally and figuratively clung desperately to Him."
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MacArthur adds that the "tassels, on the fringe of their robes, served as a reminder of their obligation to obey God’s commandments (Nu 15:37-41)." NET Note - The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man's obedience to the law (cf. Nu 15:37-41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus' clothing that indicated his ritual purity. MacArthur on fringe - According to biblical requirements, Jewish men were to “make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments” and “put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue” (Num. 15:38+; cf. Dt. 22:12+). The threads of the tassels and cords were woven in a pattern that represented faithfulness and loyalty to the Word of God and holiness to the Lord. Wherever a Jew went, those tassels reminded him and testified before the world that he belonged to the people of God. Consistent with their typical hypocrisy and pretension, the Pharisees lengthened “the tassels of their garments” in order to call attention to their religious devotion (Mt. 23:5). In much later times, persecuted Jews in Europe wore the tassels on their undergarments for the very opposite reason—to avoid identification and possible arrest. Modified forms of the tassel are still sewn on the prayer shawls of orthodox Jews today. (See Matthew Commentary)
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MacArthur comments on Jesus' declaration I was aware that power had gone out of Me - What an insight. The power of God is not impersonal. What a truth. It is personal in the nature of God and when the power of God flows from Him to you, He feels the flow. Incredible thought. His life pours into us. We feel that power, that infusion of spiritual power into our lives as we see it evidenced in our lives. Do we ever think that God feels it? Our Lord experienced, actually, personally felt the outflow of His power, His creative power to recreate that woman's insides. God is not impersonal. God is not detached. When God touches a life and power flows, He feels the flow. He feels it. No one receives the power of God into His or her life without personal involvement from God. We are saved and the power flows. We are sanctified and the power flows. We are glorified and the power flows. And it is a living, intimate, personal union of life with the living, eternal God and He feels the flow. The power from Jesus resulted in supernatural instantaneous, complete cure of the woman's condition. Jesus knew somebody with faith had touched Him and had been healed by His power. NET Note on had gone out - This is a consummative perfect. Jesus sensed that someone had approached him to be healed, as his reference to power makes clear. The perception underlies Jesus' prophetic sense as well. Was aware (1097) (ginosko) know by experience. Jesus experienced a draw on His personal supernatural power! Power (1411)(dunamis) describes inherent power residing in one by virtue of His nature.It is power in the sense of that which overcomes resistance. Supernatural power. Miracle power. Our word “dynamite” is the transliteration of this Greek word but not its translation. Dunamis does not refer to an explosive powder. The Greeks knew nothing about gunpowder. The sense is that a stick of dynamite contains the inherent power to effect results, in this case bring about miraculous healing of this woman's malady. Luke 5:17+ One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. Lk. 4:14+ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. Acts 10:38+ “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 1:8+ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Luke's uses of dunamis (not used in John's Gospel) - Lk. 1:17; Lk. 1:35; Lk. 4:14; Lk. 4:36; Lk. 5:17; Lk. 6:19; Lk. 8:46; Lk. 9:1; Lk. 10:13; Lk. 10:19; Lk. 19:37; Lk. 21:26; Lk. 21:27; Lk. 22:69; Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:22; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:7; Acts 4:33; Acts 6:8; Acts 8:10; Acts 8:13; Acts 10:38; Acts 19:11; F B
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MacArthur writes - The phrase made you well translates a form of the verb sozo, which is the common New Testament word for salvation. This same phrase in the Greek text appears in Luke 7:50+, where it clearly refers to salvation from sin. It is also used in Luke 17:19+ to describe one of the ten lepers who returned to worship Jesus. While all ten were healed, he alone was saved. Further, the Lord’s calling her daughter indicates that He received her as a child of His kingdom (John 1:12+). She was restored, physically, socially, and spiritually through the grace and personal power of the Lord Jesus Christ. (See Luke Commentary) Warren
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MacArthur says "Faith, like grace, is not static. Saving faith is more than just understanding the facts and mentally acquiescing. It is inseparable from repentance, surrender, and a supernatural longing to obey. None of those responses can be classified exclusively as a human work, any more than believing itself is solely a human effort." Luke's uses of pistis - Lk. 5:20; Lk. 7:9; Lk. 7:50; Lk. 8:25; Lk. 8:48; Lk. 17:5; Lk. 17:6; Lk. 17:19; Lk. 18:8; Lk. 18:42; Lk. 22:32; Acts 3:16; Acts 6:5; Acts 6:7; Acts 11:24; Acts 13:8; Acts 14:9; Acts 14:22; Acts 14:27; Acts 15:9; Acts 16:5; Acts 17:31; Acts 20:21; Acts 24:24; Acts 26:18; Has made you well (4982) (sozo) has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. Luke's uses of sozo -Lk. 6:9; Lk. 7:50; Lk. 8:12; Lk. 8:36; Lk. 8:48; Lk. 8:50; Lk. 9:24; Lk. 9:56; Lk. 13:23; Lk. 17:19; Lk. 18:26; Lk. 18:42; Lk. 19:10; Lk. 23:35; Lk. 23:37; Lk. 23:39; Acts 2:21; Acts 2:40; Acts 2:47; Acts 4:9; Acts 4:12; Acts 11:14; Acts 14:9; Acts 15:1; Acts 15:11; Acts 16:30; Acts 16:31; Acts 27:20; Acts 27:31 Peace (1515)(eirene from verb eiro = to join or bind together that which has been separated) literally pictures the binding or joining together again of that which had been separated or divided and thus setting at one again (esp Ep 2:13-17), a meaning convey by the common expression of one “having it all together”. It follows that peace is the opposite of division or dissension. Peace as a state of concord and harmony is the opposite of war. Peace was used as a greeting or farewell corresponding to the Hebrew word shalom - "peace to you". The expression "having it all together" speaks of everything in place and as it ought to be. When things are disjointed, there is lack of harmony and well being. When they are joined together, there is both. PEACE ILLUSTRATED - Jim Walton was translating the NT for the Muinane people of La Sabana in the jungles of Colombia. But he was having trouble with the word peace. During this time, Fernando, the village chief, was promised a 20-minute plane ride to a location that would have taken him 3 days to travel by walking. The plane was delayed in arriving at La Sabana, so Fernando departed on foot. When the plane finally came, a runner took off to bring Fernando back. But by the time he had returned, the plane had left. Fernando was livid because of the mix-up. He went to Jim and launched into an angry tirade. Fortunately, Walton had taped the chief's diatribe. When he later translated it, he discovered that the chief kept repeating the phrase, "I don't have one heart." Jim asked other villagers what having "one heart" meant, and he found that it was like saying, "There is nothing between you and the other person." That, Walton realized, was just what he needed to translate the word peace. To have peace with God means that there is nothing--no sin, no guilt, no condemnation--that separates us. And that peace with God is possible only through Christ (Ro 5:1). Do you have "one heart" with God today? Eirene uses by Luke - Lk. 1:79; Lk. 2:14; Lk. 2:29; Lk. 7:50; Lk. 8:48; Lk. 10:5; Lk. 10:6; Lk. 11:21; Lk. 12:51; Lk. 14:32; Lk. 19:38; Lk. 19:42; Lk. 24:36; Acts 7:26; Acts 9:31; Acts 10:36; Acts 12:20; Acts 15:33; Acts 16:36; Acts 24:2 Steven
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MacArthur adds that "Jesus was not making Jairus’s faith a condition for resurrecting his daughter, but was encouraging and reassuring him. Although Jairus had faith that Jesus could resurrect her, his faith was mingled with fear (cf. Mark 9:24). The Lord exhorted him to stop being afraid and to keep believing in His promise that his daughter would be made well (cf. Matt. 17:19-20). (See MacArthur Commentary)
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MacArthur adds that in addition to the lamentations "Others would be playing dissonant music on high-pitched flutes (Mt 9:23 - Ed: "noisy disorder" = thorubeo = in an uproar, troubled, distressed, making a commotion, all disturbed). The end result was a cacophony of confusion. Since Jairus was a well-respected leader in the community, the funeral for his daughter would have been even larger and louder than most." (See The MacArthur Commentary)
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MacArthur comments that "Jesus’ declaration that the girl had not died, but was asleep brought a revolutionary new perspective to death. "By likening it to sleep, He redefined death as temporary; thus sleep is used in Scripture as a metaphor for the body in death (John 11:11-14; Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:14-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4). But while the body sleeps temporarily in death, the soul does not (cf. Luke 16:19-31; 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; Rev. 6:9-11)." (MacArthur) It is interesting that in John 11:11 Jesus said "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”and then in John 11:14 Jesus said "to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead." Lamenting (Mourning) (imperfect tense - over and over)(2875)(kopto) means in the middle voice to beat one's body with the hands (especially one's breast) as an act of mourning or lamentation (Mt 24:30, Mt 11:17, Lk 23:27; Lxx - 1Ki 13:28, 2Ki 1:12, 11:26, Zech 7:5, Ge 23:2, 1Ki 25:1). Stop weeping (2799)(klaio) means to mourn, to weep, to lament or to wail with emphasis upon noise accompanying weeping. It expresses one’s immediate and outward reaction to suffering. The picture is of one lamenting with sobs or wailing aloud and was used to describe the wailing that took place when someone died. Died (599)(apothnesko from apo = marker of dissociation implying a rupture from a former association, separation, departure, cessation + thnesko = die) literally means to die off and here speaks of literal physical death. Is asleep (2518)(katheudo from katá = an intensive + heúdō = to sleep) means literally to sleep, fall asleep or be fast asleep (Matt. 8:24; 13:25; 25:5; 26:40, 43, 45; Mark 13:36; 14:37, 40, 41; Luke 22:46; 1 Thess. 5:7; Sept.: Gen. 28:13; 1 Sam. 3:2, 3, 5; 2 Sam. 12:3) and figuratively (as here) to die or be dead (Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52 cf. John 11:11-14; 1 Th. 5:10; Da 12:2). Another figurative sense speaks of an attitude of spiritual laziness or indifference, to be spiritually indolent, to be indifferent. The idea is to be "asleep" in your sin, secure and unconcerned in sin, or indolent and c areless in the performance of duty (Eph 5.14, 1 Th 5:6, cf. parallel thought but not using katheudo in Ro 13:11-13; 1 Cor. 15:34). Vine - "to go to sleep," is chiefly used of natural "sleep," and is found most frequently in the Gospels, especially Matthew and Luke. With reference to death it is found in the Lord's remark concerning Jairus' daughter, Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52. In the epistles of Paul it is used as follows: (a) of natural "sleep," e.g., 1 Thess. 5:7; (b) of carnal indifference to spiritual things on the part of believers, Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6, 10 (as in Mark 13:36), a condition of insensibility to Divine things involving conformity to the world (cp. hypnos). TDNT - The primary sense is “to sleep.” Sleep is highly rated in antiquity, but the activism of the Greeks and Romans finds too much sleep distasteful; the early hours up to sunrise are the main periods of intellectual production (lucubrations). Peaceful sleep in time of peril (cf. Socrates) is a mark of greatness. b. Sleep is also viewed as an incursion of the suprasensual, so that antiquity pays great attention to dreams. Attempts are made to interpret these scientifically; they mostly have to do with such material things as prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, etc. Some religious significance attaches to temple sleep. c. Figuratively sleep has a derogatory reference, e.g., to deficient concentration or the inactive or vegetative life. d. Since sleep embraces the ambivalence of human life and death, the question arises whether life itself is not a sleep, and its activity a mere dream. But sleep and death are also equated, with immortality as the inference. Gilbrant - Greek and Roman societies were early risers, and it was considered disgraceful to lie in bed until late morning. In the later mystery religions the importance placed upon the interpretation of dreams makes sleep more significant. Septuagint Usage - The Old Testament treats sleep primarily as a normal function of human existence. In a positive sense sleep is the reward of honest labor (Eccl 5:12), the righteous sleep well (Pr 3:24), and in Psm 127:2 sleep is the gift of God to His beloved. The Law also protects the sleep of the poor (Ex 22:26,27; Dt 24:12). Negatively, beds of luxury and excessive sleeping are condemned. Katheudo - 22x in 20v - Usage: asleep(8), do their sleeping(1), goes to bed(1), sleep(3), sleep do(1), sleeper(1), sleeping(8). Matt. 8:24; Matt. 9:24; Matt. 13:25; Matt. 25:5; Matt. 26:40; Matt. 26:43; Matt. 26:45; Mk. 4:27; Mk. 4:38; Mk. 5:39; Mk. 13:36; Mk. 14:37; Mk. 14:40; Mk. 14:41; Lk. 8:52; Lk. 22:46; Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Thess. 5:7; 1 Thess. 5:10 Katheudo - 28x in 25v in the Septuagint - Ge 28:13; Ge 39:10; 1 Sa 3:2; 3:3; 1 Sa 3:5; 3:6; 3:9; 19:9; 26:5; 26:7; 2 Sa 4:5; 4:6; 4:7; 12:3; 1 Ki. 18:27; Ps. 88:5; Prov. 3:24; Prov. 6:22; Cant. 5:2; Isa. 51:20; Ezek. 4:9; Dan. 4:10; Dan. 12:2; Amos 6:4; Jon. 1:5; Genesis 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie (Lxx = katheudo), I will give it to you and to your descendants.
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MacArthur - When as a young man D. L. Moody was called upon to preach a funeral sermon, he began to search the gospels to find one of Jesus’ funeral messages—only to discover that He never preached one. He found instead that Jesus broke up every funeral He attended by raising the dead person back to life. When the dead heard His voice, they immediately came to life. Arthur Brisbane has pictured the funeral of a Christian as a crowd of grieving caterpillars, all wearing black suits. As they crawl along mourning their dead brother and carrying his cocoon to its final resting place, above them flutters an incredibly beautiful butterfly, looking down on them in utter disbelief. Death can strike God’s saints in unexpected, painful, and seemingly senseless ways. Yet He does not promise to give explanations for such tragedies. Instead He gives the wondrous assurance that “he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25). (See The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Took (seize)(2902)(krateo from kratos = strength) has basic meaning be strong or possess power and thus means to take hold of, grasp, hold fast. Krateo is used most often in the sense of “take hold of forcibly." Uses in Luke - Lk. 8:54; Lk. 24:16; Arise (command in present imperative) (1453) (egeiro) means to rise (stand up) from a sitting or lying position (Mt 8:26, 9:5), to awaken from sleep (Mt 8:25), and as in the present context figuratively to "awaken" from death (rise up) (similar uses - Mt 10:8, Mt 11:5, Mt 14:2, of Jesus being raised on the third day = Mt 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:63). In Romans 4:24, egeiro describes the bringing Jesus back from the dead. The idea of wake up from death is conveyed by egeiro because sleep was used as metaphor of death for believers (there is however no "soul sleep"). In another dramatic use of this same verb Jesus in Matthew 9:6+ Jesus said “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” Luke 8:55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. KJV And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. her spirit - 1 Kings 17:21-23; John 11:44 and he Lk 24:41-43; Mark 5:43; John 11:44 Luke 8:49-56 Jesus' Compassionate Power, Part 2 - John MacArthur Luke 8:49-56 - Steven Cole Luke 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passage: Mark 5:42+ Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. WHEN JESUS HEALS RESULTS ARE IMMEDIATE! She got up immediately (parachrema - straightway) - Her response was immediate and not progressive recovery. Immediate response characterizes the miracles of Jesus. Mark says she began to walk, in the imperfect tense indicating one step then another, as her walking went on. What a scene to witness! Spurgeon on immediately (parachrema - straightway) - Note here the word “straightway.” Just now we had the word immediately, and now we have straightway. It is one of the distinguishing features of the gospel, both of Mark and of Luke, that both evangelists use the word “eutheos,” “straightway.” Christ’s miracles do not take a long time to do; they are done straightway. If there is a distressed soul here now, your salvation need not take months and years; it may be done today, and in a moment thou mayest be able to rejoice that thy sins are forgiven, and that thou art a child of God. “She arose straightway, and he commanded to give her meat.” There are no unnecessary miracles. It wanted a miracle to give her life, but meat could sustain it, and, therefore, there is no further miracle performed. (Luke 8 - exposition) He gave orders (diatasso) for something to be given her to eat - Gave orders speaks of His authority as Lord. This speaks of Jesus' tenderness and compassion for the whole person. This would also clearly indicate she was alive and had a real body and was not some phantom (cf Jesus eating fish in His post-resurrection appearance to the disciples - see Lk 24:37-39, 41-43+) THOUGHT -
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MacArthur summarizes this section - There were times when Jesus did not want the news of a miracle to be spread, because the resulting crowds of curiosity seekers would hinder His ministry (cf. Mark 1:40-45) or seek to make Him king by force (John 6:14-15), or as an act of judgment, hiding the truth from those confirmed in their rejection of Him (Luke 9:21). As noted above, the news would spread on its own. The parents could enjoy being reunited with their daughter, and rejoice in Christ’s goodness, grace, and mercy to them. All of those matters could play a part in the restriction of silence Jesus put on them—but they are not the main reason. Our Lord frequently called for this kind of silence (Matt. 8:4; 9:30; 12:16; 17:9; Mark 1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; 9:9; Luke 4:41; 9:21). The real reason is given in Mark 8:30-31: “And He warned them to tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” He did not want to be known as a healer or miracle worker—or even only as the Christ—those were true but incomplete. When He is proclaimed, it must be as the crucified and risen Savior. There is no gospel of Jesus Christ without the cross in all its meaning and the resurrection with all that it accomplished. Paul summed it up when he said he would only preach “Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) and proclaimed that salvation is for those who believe that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10). This account of two of the countless miracles the Lord Jesus Christ performed reveals His personal, compassionate concern for hurting people. To the oppressed and burdened He offers rest (Matt. 11:28-30; for the troubled He provides peace (John 14:27; 16:33); and most important of all, to those enslaved by sin He offers salvation (Luke 4:16-21; 19:10) through the cross and resurrection to come. (See The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Jesus can do anything! He is sovereign! Nothing is too great for him. He can save your soul! -- R Kent Hughes R. Kent Hughes sums up the miracles in Luke 8 - This is the capstone to a trio of episodes meant to teach us the comprehensive power of Jesus. Amidst the towering walls of water on a storm-tossed sea, Jesus cried out, "Be muzzled!"—and the sea instantly lay flat. Confronted with a pathetically demonized man, the spirits pled with Jesus not to send them to the Abyss. But he did with a word—first through the swine, and then to the eternal pit. He is the God of nature and super-nature. But he is also the God of timing and space, of all providence, and in the healing of the woman and the raising of a child we see him initiating and elevating human faith. Jesus can do anything! He is sovereign! Nothing is too great for him. He can save your soul! He can restore your life! He can supply your most desperate need! (See Luke: That You May Know the Truth) Were amazed (astonished, astounded, besides one's self) (1839)(existemi from ek = out + hístemi = to stand) literally means to stand out from or to stand outside oneself (and thus to be beside oneself). To put out of position, to displace or to change. To remove from its place. For example Aristotle writes "you won't budge (existemi) me from my position on these matters." The NT uses of existemi are all related in some way to the human mind. Richards adds that existemi "suggests astonishment mixed with anxiety, stimulated by extraordinary events that cannot be explained." Existemi is translated “He (Jesus) has lost His senses” in Mark 3:21+. Existemi - 17v - amazed(10), amazement(1), astonished(2), astonishing(1), astounded(1), beside ourselves(1), lost His senses(1). Matt. 12:23; Mk. 2:12; Mk. 3:21; Mk. 5:42; Mk. 6:51; Lk. 2:47; Lk. 8:56; Lk. 24:22; Acts 2:7; Acts 2:12; Acts 8:9; Acts 8:11; Acts 8:13; Acts 9:21; Acts 10:45; Acts 12:16; 2 Co. 5:13 Instructed (commanded, ordered) (3853)(paraggello from para = beside, alongside, near by, at the side of + aggelos = messenger, angello/aggello = to announce) means to hand on or pass on an announcement from one to another who is at one's side, such as to what must be done, usually with the idea of a command or charge. Paraggello often was used in the context of a military command and demanded that the subordinate obey the order from the superior and required unhesitating and unqualified obedience. (cp Lk 5:14, 8:29, Lk 9:21KJV, Acts 1:4, 4:18; 5:28KJV; Acts 15:5KJV; 1Th 4:11). It is like a mandate (an authoritative command) or a call to obedience from one in authority. Paraggello - 30v - charge(1), command(4), commanded(4), commanding(1), direct(1), directed(2), gave(1), give...order(1), give instructions(1), giving...instruction(1), instruct(2), instructed(3), instructing(3), ordered(3), Prescribe(2). Matt. 10:5; Matt. 15:35; Mk. 6:8; Mk. 8:6; Lk. 5:14; Lk. 8:29; Lk. 8:56; Lk. 9:21; Acts 1:4; Acts 4:18; Acts 5:28; Acts 5:40; Acts 10:42; Acts 15:5; Acts 16:18; Acts 16:23; Acts 23:22; Acts 23:30; 1 Co. 7:10; 1 Co. 11:17; 1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:4; 2 Thess. 3:6; 2 Thess. 3:10; 2 Thess. 3:12; 1 Tim. 1:3; 1 Tim. 4:11; 1 Tim. 5:7; 1 Tim. 6:13; 1 Tim. 6:17 Steven Cole on Luke 8:49-56 - Clearly, it was a lesson in faith for Jairus and his wife, for the disciples, and for us: In fearful situations we must overcome hindrances to faith and put our trust in Jesus. Sooner or later, we all face these fearful situations where we don’t know what to do. The bottom suddenly drops out from under us and we are overwhelmed. Such situations are never fun, but Jairus’ story shows us that … 1. There are benefits for us in fearful situations. There were at least three benefits to Jairus that apply to us: A. Fearful situations help us clarify our priorities. It’s easy to drift off course in life and to spend our time in things that aren’t in line with our priorities, if we were to stop and think about it. But we don’t stop and think about it until a crisis like this brings us up short. As a synagogue ruler, Jairus was responsible for the maintenance of the building and for arranging the services. It was a position of status given only to those who had money and prestige. I can’t say for sure, but Jairus may have been a man who was over-committed to outside interests. But all of his success and prestige in the community suddenly paled in significance when he was faced with the loss of his only daughter. Worldly success doesn’t insulate anyone from tragedy and death. It may afford a person access to the best medical treatment available. But doctors can only do so much. Every person must be ready to face death for himself and his loved ones. When it stares us in the face, we’re reminded that love for God and for others is the only thing worth living for. When our daughter, Joy, was nine, we narrowly missed losing her when she fell out of a tree and barely missed landing on a rock that would have killed her. As it was, she had to have dozens of stitches in her arm. I have always deeply valued each of our children, so my priorities were not out of line. But then and even now, when I see the scars on her arm, my priorities come into focus. Becoming a “successful” pastor in the eyes of the Christian world isn’t my priority; being a faithful husband and father who imparts a love for God to my family is my priority. B. Fearful situations strip away our pride and let the Lord prove Himself mighty on our behalf. I don’t know if the male ego was bent in the same direction in first century Israel as it is in our day. But in our culture, most men tend to be “macho.” We don’t like to admit that we’re weak and needy. We like to think that we’re tough, in command of every situation. You see it when it comes to stopping to ask directions. The wife says, “Let’s pull into this service station and ask how to get there.” He says, “I’ll find it, dear. Just relax!” Sure enough, two hours later, they finally find it! But this fearful situation stripped Jairus of any pride. He fell at Jesus’ feet, totally helpless. It wasn’t a dignified place for a synagogue ruler to be. He probably got his nice robe dirty. But he didn’t care. He knew he needed Jesus. He was willing to admit his need and be humbled, even in public. That’s what gives the Lord the opportunity to prove Himself mighty on our behalf! If we protect our pride and come to Jesus and say, “Lord, I’ve almost got the situation under control, but I could use a little advice from You,” He is robbed of His glory. But when we come and cast ourselves at Jesus’ feet and say, “Lord, You must do it or there is no hope,” He is glorified and others are drawn to put their trust in Him. Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary, used to say that when God wanted to open inland China to the gospel, He looked around until He found a man weak enough for the task. Fearful situations strip away our pride and let the Lord prove Himself mighty. C. Fearful situations remind us of our mortality and drive us to trust in Christ. Necessity is not only the mother of invention; it’s also the mother of faith. We don’t trust God as we should until we are forced to trust Him. There is nothing that drives us to desperation and fear like the threat of losing a child. But our fear can be God’s opportunity if we trust in Him. Someone has said that we hang the heaviest weights by the thinnest wires. We put our hopes on this life, which is so tentative. We live and plan our lives as if death is a far-distant thing, something we need not think about until we’re in our eighties. But that which matters most to us can be taken quickly and without warning. When we stare death in the face, be it our own or the death of a loved one, we are suddenly reminded that life is a vapor and that we must be right with God. Extreme necessity often drives a person to Jesus who wouldn’t come under less dire circumstances. Jairus had a position of prominence. He needed to maintain good relations with the Jewish leaders. Jesus wasn’t their most popular subject at the moment. In fact, they were plotting how they could kill Him (Mk 3:6). Chances are, Jairus wouldn’t have risked their disfavor by coming to Jesus if he didn’t have to. But his dying daughter forced him to come and trust in Jesus. This crisis proved to be of great benefit to him, not only in the healing of his daughter, but by giving birth to his faith in Christ, which meant eternal life. Some of you face fearful situations today—a difficult marriage, a rebellious child, a personal health problem, the loss of a job or a financial setback. Whatever your fearful situation, it can be of great benefit if you let it clarify your priorities, strip away your pride, and drive you to trust in Jesus so that He can be glorified through it. But trusting Him isn’t easy: 2. In fearful situations we must overcome hindrances to faith. When Jairus came to Jesus, he believed that Jesus could heal his daughter. But there were several hindrances or hurdles that Jairus had to overcome. I’ve already mentioned the hindrance of public opinion. What would the rabbis and others think of this synagogue ruler bowing before Jesus? There was also the hindrance of his own pride and reputation, which he would have felt the need to protect. He also had to overcome the hindrance of interruptions, as this woman interrupted Jesus on His way to Jairus’ house. Jairus must have thought, “Why did this woman have to touch Jesus now, of all times? Let her touch Him tomorrow! My daughter is dying! Every second matters!” Then his worst fears were realized as his friends came to tell him that his daughter had already died. That’s another hindrance to faith: Well-meaning, but misguided doomsayers who discourage us from clinging to the only source of hope. What they say may be true—Jairus’ daughter was dead. But they never add the mighty power of Jesus into their calculations. With Him there is hope even when human hope is lost! With Jesus’ help, Jairus managed to hang on past that hindrance. But when they arrived at his house, he faced another. The house was already filled with professional mourners. Jewish custom demanded that even the poorest man hire a minimum of two flute players and one mourner in the event of a wife’s death. A man of Jairus’ position would have more. These people would perform a dance of death in which they swayed rhythmically with their hair hanging down. They gradually increased their mournful lament and the wild movement of their bodies until they worked themselves into a frenzy. That was the scene that greeted Jairus and Jesus as they came into the house. Jesus quieted them and said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep” (Lu 8:52). The mourners began scoffing and laughing at Jesus because they knew that the girl had died. What did this man who just arrived on the scene and who hadn’t yet seen the girl know? Jairus was faced with another hindrance to his faith: Did he believe Jesus or these mockers who had the facts on their side? Jesus’ words have led some to say that the girl wasn’t really dead, but just in a coma. But Luke makes it clear that the girl was dead (Lu 8:53, Lu 8:55, “her spirit returned”). Why, then, did Jesus say that she was asleep? His words were a parable with one meaning for those who believed in Him and another meaning for those who scoffed. For those who believed, there was the hope that she would be awakened. In Jesus’ presence, death was only temporary, like sleep. But for those who scoffed, Jesus was a simpleton who didn’t know what He was talking about. He didn’t know as much as they did. They were confirmed in their unbelief. Jesus put them out and later gave strict orders to Jairus and his wife not to make known how He had raised their daughter back to life. To those who had, more was given; to those who did not have, even what little they had was taken away. When we face fearful situations, believing in Jesus is not easy. We will face hindrances and setbacks which can shake our confidence in Him. The world will often laugh at us and say, “What a fool to trust in Jesus! We have the facts on our side.” But we must overcome these hindrances and cling to our Savior. Just as He called Jairus to faith in the face of fear, so He calls us. 3. In fearful situations we must put our trust in Jesus. I love the way that Jesus encouraged and nurtured Jairus’ weak faith in this crisis. He does the same with us today. Note these four ways Jesus encourages us to trust Him in fearful times: A. Jesus’ willingness to accept us where we’re at encourages us to trust Him. Jairus believed in Jesus, but it wasn’t an especially strong faith. The nobleman from Capernaum had believed that Jesus’ word spoken in Cana would heal his son from that distance. The centurion from Capernaum believed that Jesus could heal his servant by speaking the word without entering his house. But Jairus didn’t go and plead, “Speak the word and my daughter will get well.” He asked Jesus to come and lay His hands on her. It was a weak faith in comparison to the others, but Jesus accepted it and worked with Jairus from that point. The Lord Jesus is so gracious! He doesn’t refuse to work with you unless your faith is perfect. You may have to cry out, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24). Come to Jesus wherever you’re at, cast yourself upon Him, doubts and all, and He will begin the process of perfecting His good work in you. B. Jesus’ power in working with others encourages us to trust Him. Jesus started to go with Jairus, but then got interrupted by this woman with the hemorrhage. This was a hindrance to Jairus’ faith, in that while Jesus was dealing with her, word came that Jairus’ daughter had died. But it also served to strengthen his faith, as he saw Jesus’ power heal this needy woman. She had been 12 years in her affliction, the same number of years that Jairus’ daughter had lived. When Jesus called the woman “daughter,” He may have said it partially for Jairus’ benefit. In effect He was saying, “Jairus, this woman is My daughter who has been unclean for 12 years; I must heal her, too! What I do for her, I can do for your daughter.” Jairus was put on hold while Jesus answered the call of this woman. Sometimes God puts us on hold. Our prayers don’t seem to be getting through. When that happens, it’s easy to think, “What’s going on? Why isn’t God answering my prayers?” But then we hear of how He has answered someone else’s prayers, and we’re encouraged. He can do for me what He did for that person! C. Jesus’ tenderness encourages us to trust Him. When word came that his daughter had died, Jairus’ face must have reflected fear and panic. But Jesus quickly and tenderly calmed him: “Don’t be afraid; just trust Me” (Lu 8:50, Living Bible). Notice how tenderly Jesus dealt with the little girl. He took the dead girl’s hand, a defiling act for a Jew. But Jesus could not be defiled by death. His touch communicated that He cared for her. Then He spoke tenderly to her, “Child, arise.” Then Jesus told the exuberant parents to give her something to eat! In all of the excitement, that practical matter could easily be overlooked. Jesus tenderly cares for the whole person. Doesn’t this glimpse of Jesus’ tenderness make you want to trust Him! Like a father helping his youngster learn to ride a bike, Jesus comes alongside and cheers, “Attaway! Keep going! You’re doing great!” If we fall and skin our knee, He tenderly cleans and bandages it and helps us get up and start over again. D. Jesus’ mighty power over death encourages us to trust Him. For Jesus, raising the dead was as easy as raising a sleeping child would be for us. He merely spoke the word and the dead girl came to life. Each time Jesus raised the dead, He did it by speaking: To the widow of Nain’s son, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (Lu 7:14). To Lazarus, “Lazarus, come forth!” (Jn 11:43). Jesus said, “An hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear [My] voice and shall come forth,” some to eternal life, others to judgment (Jn 5:28). What a claim! On that coming day, His voice will cause bodies decomposed for centuries to be resurrected! Even now He speaks to those who are spiritually dead and imparts new life to them by His grace (Jn 5:25-26)! Because Jesus is powerful over death, we can trust Him! John Calvin said, tongue in cheek, “There is no room to fear that [your] faith will be more extensive than the boundless power of God.... Our faith, however large, will never embrace the hundredth part of the divine goodness” (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker reprint], Harmony of the Evangelists, 1:414). No matter how fearful the situation, Jesus wants us to trust Him. He may or may not deliver our loved ones or us from death. But even if He does not, we can trust His mighty power and know that one day He will speak the word and all we who have trusted in Him will be gathered with Him, triumphant over sin and death. Conclusion - The great Bible teacher, G. Campbell Morgan, lost his firstborn daughter. Forty years later, preaching on the story of Jairus, he said, I can hardly speak of this matter without becoming personal and reminiscent, remembering a time forty years ago when my own first lassie lay at the point of death, dying. I called for Him then, and He came, and surely said to our troubled hearts, “Fear not, believe only.” He did not say, “She shall be made whole.” She was not made whole on the earthly plane. She passed away into the life beyond. He did say to her, “Talitha, cumi,” “little lamb, arise”; but in her case, that did not mean, stay on the earth level. It meant that He needed her, and He took her to be with Himself. She has been with Him for all those years, as we measure time here, and I have missed her every day; but His word, “Believe only,” has been the strength of the passing years. (Jill Morgan, A Man of the Word [Baker], pp. 82-83.) However fearful your situation, Jesus’ word is for you: “Don’t fear, just trust Me.” He wants you to move from fear to faith in Him. Jesus is the only One who can calm our fears, because He alone has conquered death. On another occasion He said, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn 14:1-3). Discussion Questions Does faith require that we believe that Jesus is going to answer our prayers affirmatively or is it enough to believe Him whatever the answer? Why does God sometimes delay the answers to our prayers? What would you say to a critic who taunted, “How can you trust a God who allows a child to die?” Is fear sin? Is it ever okay? If so, when? (From Fear to Faith - Steven Cole)