Luke 8
CHAPTER 8
The parable of the sower
And it came to pass soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of God; and companying with him were the twelve, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary that was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them out of their means.
4 And when a great crowd came together, and they of every city had come to him, he spoke by a parable: 5 The sower went to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he cried: He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 And he said: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest the parables remain as parables; so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
11 Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that have heard; then comes the devil and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, they for a while believe, but in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among the thorns, these are those that have heard, but as they go on their way, they are choked with cares and riches and the pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 And that in the good ground are those with an honest and good heart, who having heard the word, hold it fast and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 Nobody, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, so that they that enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hid, that shall not be revealed; nor anything secret, that shall not be known and come to light.
18 Take heed therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him shall be given; and whoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that which he thinks he has.
Jesus calms the storm
19 And there came to him his mother and relatives; and they could not come to him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told him: Your mother and your relatives stand outside, desiring to see you. 21 But he answered and said to them: My mother and my relatives are these that hear the word of God and do it. 22 Now it came to pass on one of those days that he boarded a boat, he and his disciples, and he said to them: Let us go over to the other side of the lake. And they cast off. 23 But as they sailed, he fell asleep; and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filling with water; and were in danger for their lives. 24 And they came to him and woke him, saying: Master, master, we perish! And he awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said to them: Where is your faith? And being afraid they marvelled, saying to each other: Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?
The healing of Legion
26 And they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when he had arrived upon the land, there met him a certain man out of the city, who had demons, and for a long time he had worn no clothes and abode not in any house, but in the tombs. 28 And when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said: What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.
29 For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For oftentimes it had seized him, and he was kept under guard and bound with chains and fetters; and breaking the chains apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.
30 And Jesus asked him: What is your name? And he said: Legion. For many demons had entered into him. 31 And they begged him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss.
32 Now there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would give them leave to enter into them. And he gave them permission. 33 And the demons came out from the man, and entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the hill into the lake and were drowned.
34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and reported it in the nearby town and in the countryside. 35 And they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man, from whom the demons had left, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus; and they were afraid. 36 And they that saw it told them how he that was possessed with demons had been healed. 37 And all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into a boat and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons had left pleaded with him that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying: 39 Return to your family, and declare what great things God has done for you. And he went his way, publishing throughout the whole city how great were the things Jesus had done for him.
40 And when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him. For they were all waiting for him.
Jesus raises a dead girl
41 And there came a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue; and he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come into his house. 42 For he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age; and she was dying. But as he went, the crowds crushed him.
43 And a woman who had suffered from chronic bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood upon doctors and could not be healed by any, 44 came behind him and touched the border of his garment; and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 And Jesus said: Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter and they that were with him said: Master, the crowds press upon you and crush you. 46 But Jesus said: Someone did touch me. For I perceived power going out from me. 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people for what reason she touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 48 And he said to her: Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace.
49 While he yet spoke, there came one from the house of the ruler of the synagogue, saying: Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher. 50 But Jesus hearing it, responded: Fear not. Only believe, and she shall be made whole. 51 And when he came to the house, he did not permit anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John and James, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 All were weeping and bewailing her, but he said: Weep not. For she is not dead but sleeps. 53 And they laughed at him with scorn, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he, taking her by the hand, called, saying: Little girl, arise. 55 And her spirit returned and she rose up immediately, and he commanded that something be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he ordered them to tell no one what had been done.
Commentary
8:3 Jesus attracted a group of poor men and wealthy women. He calls very different people into contact with Him and therefore each other, making the true church of Jesus an example of extraordinary unity; it’s not composed of just one psychological type, one social class, colour, race or gender. It’s a wonderful mixture. It’s the very opposite of a social club, which attracts the same types together.
8:8 He cried- Jesus so desperately wanted- and wants- people to understand His teaching.
8:16 If we hide our spiritual light, it will go out. Witnessing to our faith is for our benefit as well as that of those who receive our preaching.
8:21 Do we perceive our spiritual family as even more significant for us than our natural family? This is very hard to do, as hard as it was for Jesus to speak as He did here.
8:28 If Jesus is Son of the Most High God, then He cannot be equal to God in a Trinitarian sense; for God is the most high.
8:32 Keeping pigs was illegal for Jews as pigs were unclean animals.
8:42 Often we have been rushing to do something very important, and then somebody or something else demands our attention. The phone rings as we are rushing out of the door; a child insists upon having our attention as we are in the middle of an important conversation. In those moments of frustration, remember Jesus here. How calm He was, never flustered; how caring for people, to the point that He never ultimately ignored anyone’s genuine need.
8:45 Jesus knew who had touched Him. But He wanted the woman to come out openly in front of the crowd and declare her faith. Jesus works in our lives to ensure that we openly declare our faith before the world, even when we try not to.
8:50 Fear is the opposite of faith.
8:54 Taking her by the hand- Jesus knew the girl would be scared when she woke up alive, without any human touch. We see His total faith that the miracle would happen; and also His extreme sensitivity to people, how He thought ahead to how they were going to feel. Likewise with His command to get her something to eat. May His sensitive spirit be ours, always thinking ahead to how others will be feeling in response to events.
