In Today's Email:
Luke 8 Notes
In this chapter Christ ministers around Galilee
vs. 1-3 – Christ continues to travel around Galilee with His disciples. Here is also highlighted some of the women that followed Him: Mary Magdalene (“from Magdala,” a city in Galilee), Joanna (“grace of God”), and Susanna (“lily”).
vs. 4-18 – This parallels Matthew 13:1-23 and Mark 4:1-20. Christ gives the Parable of the Sower and discusses the meaning. The sower is one sharing the Gospel, represented as the seed. The various ways that men receive or reject it are illustrated by the soil the seeds fall upon.
vs. 16-18 – This parallels Mark 4:21-25. The truth of Gospel is not to be hidden. It is to be broadcast to the world. God never intends for His doctrines to remain secret.
vs. 19-21 – This parallels Matthew 12:46-50 and Mark 3:31-35. A group of Christ’s family come to see Christ, but they are unable to get through the crowd around Him. Christ is informed of their presence, insinuating He was neglecting His duties to His family. Christ declares that the spiritual brotherhood of the redeemed is greater than blood ties.
vs. 22-25 – This parallels Matthew 8:18-27 and Mark 4:35-41. Christ and the disciples enter a boat to sail across the Sea of Galilee. Christ is asleep when a storm come that scares the disciples. Christ rebukes the storm and the disciples for not having more faith. They should have trusted in God’s protection and power.
vs. 26-40 – This parallels Matthew 8:28-9:1 and Mark 5:1-21. Gadara is an area southeast of the Sea of Galilee populated by Gentiles. A demon-possessed man appears that had been a terror to the people in the area. Demons hold powers greater than our own. The man identifies himself as Legion, indicating the many demons within him. Christ allows them to be cast into a herd of swine, which they drive into the sea to their deaths. The people are more upset at the loss of the swine than thankful for the deliverance of the man. Christ departs, but the man is left behind as a witness.
vs. 41-56 – This parallels Matthew 9:18-26 and Mark 5:22-43. Christ returns to Capernaum and performs two notable miracles. While on the way to heal the daughter of Jairus, a woman with an issue of blood (note again who Dr. Luke loves to diagnose these disease) is healed by touching Christ’s garment. Arriving at their destination they are told the young girl is dead. Christ takes her parents the inner circle of disciples into the house. The believed she was past hope, but to Christ death was only a sleep to be awakened from. He calls her to rise and she obeys. This is the second recorded time He raised someone from the dead.
Luke 9 Notes
In this chapter Christ prepares to go to Jerusalem.
vs. 1-6 – This parallels Matthew 10:1-11:1 and Mark 6:6-13. Christ sends the Twelve out on a preaching tour throughout Galilee. The are commissioned to preach the Gospel and perform miracles. They are instructed to go in faith, trusting in God’s provision. If they are rejected, they are to move on and testify against the place that would not receive them.
vs. 7-9 – This parallels Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29. Luke does not record the death of John the Baptist here as Matthew and Mark do. Instead, he talks about Herod Antipas’s response to Christ’s growing popularity. His conscience is troubled, fearing that John had somehow risen from the dead.
vs. 10-17 – This parallels Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-14. As the disciples return from their preaching tour Christ goes to an uninhabited area near Bethsaida (“house of fish”). Multitudes of people flock to Him, no doubt brought on by the confusion after the John the Baptist’s execution. Christ ministers to their needs but as the hour grows late there is concern that there is not enough food to feed them. Five loaves and two small fishes are produced, which Christ blesses and are miraculously multiplied as they are distributed to the people. Over five thousand are fed with twelve baskets of leftovers.
vs. 18-21 – This parallels Matthew 16:13-20 and Mark 8:27-30. Christ presses the disciples for the people’s opinion of who He was, and then for their personal opinion of it. Peter answers that important question correctly: Jesus was the Messiah (The Greek Christ and the Hebrew Messiah both “anointed one”), the Son of God. Everyone must deal with this question, and the way we answer it defines our eternal destiny. We must confess Christ is our hope of salvation.
vs. 22-27 – This parallels Matthew 16:21-28 and Mark 8:31-9:1. Christ begins to tell of what lies ahead for Him with the crucifixion and resurrection. Christ then speaks of the cost of serving Him.
vs. 28-36 – This parallels Matthew 17:1-13 and Mark 9:2-13. Christ takes the inner circle of disciples apart to pray. They witness Him transfigured into His glory and speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter calls for three tabernacles (tents) to be erected that the moment may continue with the three glorified figures dwelling there. The glory of God envelops them, and the Father speaks again of His approval of Christ.
vs. 37-42 – This parallels Matthew 17:14-21 and Mark 9:14-29. Christ and the inner circle of disciples return to find the other disciples failing to aid a young man possessed by a demon. Christ easily delivers him and rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.
vs. 43-45 – This parallels Matthew 17:22-23 and Mark 9:30-32. Christ continues to warn the disciples of what will happen on their next visit to Jerusalem.
vs. 46-50 – This parallels Matthew 18:1-35 and Mark 9:33-50. Christ deals with issues with the disciples’ pride. First, in that they fought over who would be the greatest. Christ uses a child as an object lesson to show their mistaken ideas about greatness in God’s economy. Second, John tells of rebuking others that had performed miracles in Christ’s name. Christ rebukes him for doing so, directing Him to not worry about those that were on their side.
vs. 51-56 – This parallels John 7:2-9. Christ departs to go to Jerusalem and what awaited Him there. A town in Samaria refuses hospitality to Him because He was going to Jerusalem. Remember that the Samaritans had their own form of worship at Mt. Gerizim and rejected the Temple in Jerusalem. James and John want to pray for divine punishment against the city. Christ rebukes them instead, pointing to His mission to save and not destroy men’s lives.
vs. 57-62 – This parallels Matthew 18:19-22. The potential disciples are tested and found wanting. The first boldly proclaimed his intention to follow Christ but is dismayed at the way of life Christ describes. The second asks to follow after his father’s death (he was not dead yet) but Christ called men to serve immediately. The third wishes to say goodbye to his family to which Christ says that once you start following Him should you look backwards.
Closing Thoughts
Following Christ is not always popular nor is it always easy. Serving Him will cost you something. Maybe it is friends or popularity. Maybe it is our own ambitions and dreams. While the Bible consistently warns us of these simple truths, it also tells us we are not alone. Believers have one another. We have God guiding and enabling us. This is the best life we can live in view of eternity. Anything that seems a sacrifice to us will barely be remembered in Heaven.
Hymn for Today
Our hymn today is “Take Up Thy Cross,” written by Charles W. Everest in 1833.
Take up thy cross, the Savior said,
If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.
Take up thy cross, let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart and nerve thine arm.
Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,
And saved thy soul from death and hell.
Take up thy cross then in His strength,
And calmly sin’s wild deluge brave,
’Twill guide thee to a better home,
It points to glory o’er the grave.
Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
Nor think til death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.
To Thee, great Lord, the One in Three,
All praise forevermore ascend:
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.