STUDY
NOTES on previous study
Parables and Power
(Luke 8:1-56)
As chapter eight begins, we once again see the focused
purpose of the ministry of Jesus. He
proclaimed the good news of the
Beginning in verse four, we are introduced to one of
Jesus’ most often used and best known teaching methodologies - parables. The parable of the sower is one of the most
familiar, because it is one that Jesus himself interprets. We all know the “Bible school” definition of
parables - they are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. Parables were central to Jesus’ approach to
teaching. Jesus did not teach in a
classroom. He walked with His followers
in the teaching environment of real life.
His teaching was concrete – meaning He taught from the “stuff” of which
life was made. His teaching came from
the every day life of the every day person.
The word “parable” implies laying something “along side of” in order to
better understand it. Simply stated, a
parable is an analogy. Jesus would use His illustrations from every day life
and lay it beside a kingdom concept in order for the kingdom to be better
understood.
When Jesus is questioned by His disciples as to why He
used parables, He answered that it was a way of opening the kingdom to those
who were called by God to understand, and to hide it from others. These short stories (parables) are intriguing. For those with open hearts to the nature of
God’s kingdom, they are deeply revealing.
To those who refuse to open their minds to the nature of God’s kingdom,
the parables make no sense.
The parable of the sower is important at this point of
Luke’s gospel. Theophilus has to be
questioning how anyone could refuse to acknowledge Jesus as God’s Messiah. After the amazing miracles He has performed,
and the wonderful teaching He has freely given – it is abundantly clear that
Jesus is God’s special messenger to His people.
But some refuse to acknowledge Him.
Jesus explains in the text of a simple story that all could
understand. A sower holds powerful seed
in His hand. He indiscriminately sows
the seed, not concerned about where it lands.
Why? He knows the seed is
powerful. While some soil will not
receive it, other accepts it and produces an incredible yield. The normal excellent seed yields seven to ten
fold. This
extraordinary seed yields a remarkable hundred fold. The point of this parable is that the yield
of the kingdom seed is not dependant on the seed, but on the soil that receives
it. Clearly, the power of the kingdom
cannot be denied, but the seed can be refused.
Which soil would we be? What is
the fruit produced in our lives that demonstrates our willingness to accept the
kingdom truths deep into the soil of our hearts?
Jesus follows his explanation of the parable of the
sower with a brief analogy explaining God’s desire to make His word known. The mysterious parables are not meant to hide
the true nature of the kingdom. God’s
will is that all His mysteries be made known.
How will this happen? Through the
lives of those who understand the truth of God’s revelation in Christ. Our responsibility is indeed great. We must continually grow in our understanding
of God’s purpose for our lives so that we can be beacons of God’s light to a
dark and misguided world!
The evangelistic call of the gospel permeates Luke’s
gospel. Can a church be a church if not
involved in missional evangelism? As we
will continue to see, God’s purpose for His faithful children is the same as
for His faithful Son – we are the vessels through whom God proclaims His life
saving message to the world. The church
that is not missional in all it does is simply not God’s church. We are
reminded of our exalted calling in verses 19-21. We are called to be the intimate family of
Jesus. If we hear and obey the good news
of the kingdom, we become a part of the privileged family of Jesus. The family of Jesus is not determined by
birth, but by faithful obedience to God’s will.
The calming of the storm is often dismissed as
irrelevant to our daily lives (vs. 22-25).
While it is acknowledged as one of the most amazing miracles of Jesus,
what can it mean to those of us who’ve never experienced a storm at sea? Clearly, the heart of the story is the
question we all must answer, “Where is your faith?” Especially in the troubling times in which we
live, this story is not only relevant, but central to our understanding of
life. In which world do you choose to
live?
I was recently asked by an AP reporter if Lipscomb was
going to cancel its mission trips for spring break because of the world
situation. While I clearly would not
take our students directly in harm’s way, I answered that I choose to live in a
world where God is in control. If we are
as fearful as those who live in the world without God, where is our faith and
trust?
Jesus calls us to live in the world where God is in
control. We should not fear what others
fear. We should turn our anxieties over
to God, who will protect us as long as we are needed by Him. What perturbed Jesus most about the
disciples’ fear was that they seemed to have no clue that God had a purpose for
their lives, and thus they were safe, even in the middle of a terrible
storm. If we do not see ourselves within
the context of God’s kingdom – His eternal purposes – then we have every right
to be full of fear. But if we believe
God is in control, and He has a purpose for our lives, then we have nothing to
fear, regardless of the conditions of the world around us.
The healing of the Gerasene Demoniac continues to
raise big questions to this day, especially for animal lovers. The most obvious lessons we can draw from the
story are that Jesus clearly has more than enough power to defeat literally
legions of demons, and, that Satan’s ultimate desire is to destroy God’s
creation and creatures. The man
possessed of many demons was in horrible shape.
While the man was clearly very dangerous, Jesus had no fear of him. He ask the demon
possessed man his name, and the demons responded “Legion”. This indicated that there were many demons who had overtaken this man.
The demons do not want to enter that place of ultimate condemnation, so
they beg Jesus not to cast them there.
Obviously, by the nature of their request, Jesus had the power to do
just what they feared. We moderns are
disturbed that pigs were destroyed, but to the Jew, they were unclean animals
and had no value. The more difficult
question is why Jesus didn’t just destroy the demons. Why would he give them what they asked? Possibly it was an indication that the final
defeat of Satan and his demons had not yet come, thus Jesus allows them to
leave the man and enter the pigs. The
better possibility, in my thinking, is that Jesus wanted to show those
witnessing the event the ultimate desire of Satan. By allowing the demons to enter the pigs, and
the pigs then running into the lake and drowning, Jesus allowed all to see that
Satan wanted to destroy all that God had made.
The gentle scene of the once desperate man sitting at
the feet of Jesus, whole and healed, is interrupted by
the great fear of those who heard the story.
They ask Jesus to leave, and the healed man begs to go with Jesus. But Jesus has another role for this man – he
is the first commissioned missionary in Luke’s gospel. He is to go and tell all in his country what
had happened. This is in contrast to
others healed by Jesus who were told not to tell. The difference here is the region in which
this miracle occurred. Jesus would not
return here, so he wanted the soil prepared for the future expansion of the
kingdom. So the healed demoniac did just
what Jesus asked.
The last event in
chapter eight is a story within a story.
Jesus is begged by a ruler of the synagogue to heal his desperately sick
daughter. As Jesus responds to his
request and begins to move, in the midst of a great crowd, toward the Jairus’
house, Jesus stops. You can imagine the
anxiety that Jairus must be feeling as Jesus asks, “Who touched me?” You can also understand the disciples incredulity at this question. They are, after all, in the midst of a mob of
people – pushing and shoving as they made their way inland. But something significant had happened, and
Jesus wanted to make sure the one involved received the full blessing of her
action. We all know of the woman. She had suffered for so long, spent all she
had on doctors, and had not improved.
She should not have been in the crowd, because her condition made her
unclean – but once again, we find one who was willing to risk everything in
order to be near Jesus. Jesus wanted her
to know that it was not magic that healed her, but her faith. She had a deeper need than just to be healed,
and Jesus conferred on her the peace that only comes from God.
In the meantime, the
child of Jairus had died. Jesus
demonstrates His near disregard of physical death by saying that she only
slept. He knew she would live again. He tells the dead girl to rise and she
does. Though she had been very sick
before her death, her full healing is demonstrated by the fact she is now
directed to eat. While the healed
demoniac was told to proclaim the goodness of the Lord and what He had done,
the parents of the raised girl are told not to tell what had happened. Clearly, in the area where Jesus was
continuing to announce the good news of the kingdom, such stories of power were
wrongly interpreted. Jesus did not come
to heal, but to announce the good news of the
This amazing chapter
of parable and power is leading toward the first plot climax in Luke.
Parables and Power (Luke
8:1-56)
After having read the study notes,
answer the following questions:
1.
Why did Jesus teach using parables?
2. Does
your belief in God’s plan and purpose for your life manifest itself to
others? Or, would you be a
“little-faith” as Jesus called the disciples after calming the storm?
3. What
is Satan’s desire for us? How should
this influence our thinking toward sin?
4. What
does Jesus’ treatment of the woman suffering hemorrhages teach us about His
heart toward the suffering?
5. In
review of chapter eight, what is the most important aspect of the life of
Jesus’ teaching or ministry that you find?
The Kingdom
Read 9:1-6
1. What
did Jesus give the apostles as He sent them out?
2. What
were they to proclaim?
3. What
specific stipulations did Jesus give the twelve before He sent them out?
4. Why
do you think Jesus told them to do these things? Do these apply to us as well?
Read 9:7-9
1. What
perplexed Herod?
2. Why
do you think Luke included this small paragraph in this point of the story?
3. What
did some of the people think was occurring?
4. What
do these questions of Herod prepare us for?
When will he finally see Jesus?
5. Do we
have a clear idea of who Jesus was? What
might be some false understandings we hold about Him and His teachings?
Read
1. What
is Jesus’ reaction to the crowds who continued to follow Him, even when He
tried to get away? Why did He feel the
way He did about the crowds?
2. By
the apostles question to Jesus, do you get the idea their response to the
crowds continually following them was different from that of Jesus? Why?
3. Why
do you think Jesus asked his apostles to give the crowd something to eat?
4. Do we
sometimes, like the apostles, measure our response to needs by our own
limitations rather than seeking God’s infinite resources?
Read
1. Why
did Jesus ask the apostles what the crowds were thinking?
2. What
was Peter’s response to Jesus’ question about who He was?
3. Why
did Jesus immediately follow Peter’s confession with a pronouncement of His own
death?
4. What
must we do daily if we want to follow Jesus?
Have we done this? Do we
continually do this? Why is this a requirement for authentic discipleship?