Luke 8
EverettLuke 8:1-21
Discourse: Jesus Teaches on Obeying His Word (Galilee) – In Luke 8:1-21 Jesus teaches parables that reflect an emphasis on the Word of God and how it operates in the Kingdom of Heaven. Outline: Here is a proposed outline:
- Jesus Ministers with His Disciples — Luke 8:1-32. Jesus Teaches the Parable of the Sower — Luke 8:4-153. The Parable of the Light Under the Bushel — Luke 8:16-184. His Family is the One Who Obeys the Word — Luke 8:19-21 Luke 8:1-3 — His Disciples in Service (The Women) – Luke 8:1-3 emphasizes the fact that many other disciples ministered to Jesus, especially women. Women are practical in that they understand a family’s daily physical needs.
They understand the need to dress the children, to cook the food and to have comforts in life. Although they were not ordained as were the twelve apostles, they joined together and began to do what they can do, which was to give financial and material support to the ministry. They were obedient to God’s Word. This passage of Scripture is contrasted to Luke 8:19-21 where the family of Jesus comes to Him and He declares that His mother and brothers are those who hear and do the Word of God. Luke 8:2-3 — Comments – Luke 8:2-3 records the first incident of partners in the ministry of Jesus Christ. These early partners were women. These women partnered with Jesus Christ in order to make sure that He was free to walk in his Anointing and minister to others without being short of the basic necessities of life. Luke 8:4-15 — The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20) – Luke 8:4-15 gives us the Parable of the Sower and its interpretation. Luke places this story at a strategic place in the narrative of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. His public ministry has now reached its peak of acceptance among the multitudes. Jesus needed to balance the true picture for His disciples of what was taking place in the hearts of the people. They were seeing some people reject His ministry, while others simply sought Jesus for their own personal gain. The disciples observed others following Him with some devotion for a while and then depart.
There were a few who fully committed themselves to Jesus and served Him, such as the women listed in the opening verses of Luk 8:1-3. After this teaching, we are about to see even His own family reject His Messiahship. In the midst of these many relationships and observations, Jesus took the opportunity to teach His disciples about the hearts of men by using an analogy of a sower sowing seed in the ground. The First Recorded Parable of Jesus – According to the Synoptic Gospel accounts, the Parable of the Sower is the first parable that Jesus Christ taught to the people (Matthew 13:3, Mark 4:2, Luke 8:4). Jesus explains in Mark 4:13 that this parable is a key to understanding all of the other parables He will teach. This implies that all other parables teach on various aspects of this parable or base their truths upon the principles laid down in the Parable of the Sower. This implication is seen in Mark’s record of the parables that follow this opening parable (Mk). Mark 4:13, “And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” The Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower - Here is the interpretation of the Parable of the Sower: The Sower - On November 4, 2001, I had a dream where I saw one person scattering seeds randomly and with no cultivation and care. I then saw a well-maintained field, cultivated and well watered. I believe that the first picture is representative of how many believers are ministering the Gospel and receiving very little results. The second picture represents a ministry that is producing results for the Kingdom of God. I believe that Lighthouse Television is one of these productive ministries. We often focus on the harvest of the seed in this parable, but it is clear that the sower is making a decision on just where to cast his seed.
I believe that the sower represents ministries that use various methods of spreading the Gospel. Some ministries are much more productive than others because they find good soil and cultivate the seed that is sown. Other ministries, with very little leadership from God scatter seed so randomly that the harvest is poor. The Seed - The seed represents the Word of God. The Soils - In the Parable of the Sower, the soil represents the spirit of man, and the different types of soils represent the different types of hearts that are found in man. God sends His Word to all people, into all types of hearts. Andrew Wommack notes that the life of the plant is in the seed, and not in the soil. We must learn to be nourished by God’s Word rather than by man or circumstances. As individuals, we can prepare our lives and hearts to become more and more receptive to God’s Word as we grow in Christian maturity, so that God’s Word can eventually take root and produce fruit in our lives.[208] Note other passages that give an analogy of man’s heart in comparison to soil. [208] Andrew Wommack, “Laying a Sure Foundation,” in the series “A Sure Foundation,” [on-line]; accessed on 4 January 2010; available at Audio; Internet.Jeremiah 4:3, “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. “ Hosea 10:12, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” 1 Corinthians 3:9, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” The different types of soil also reveal to us the progression of events in the development of every believer’s life. The soil in the roadside represents the initial proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the hardened hearts of the world. Satan is often able to steal this Word out of their hearts before they are saved. For those hearts that are receptive, the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the World is the first step in discipleship. We find in the four Gospels and Acts an emphasis upon the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The stony soil represents the heart that has received the message of the Gospel, but it has no depth. That is, this person has not learned the doctrines of the Church in order to become established. He has not grown in the grace and knowledge of the things of God. We find Church doctrine in the nine Church epistles of Romans through 2 Thessalonians. If they will become established in the teachings of the Word of God, they will be able to persevere. Others will be offended because of persecutions from the world. We find in the epistles of Hebrews, James and 1 Peter the exhortations to persevere under persecution from the world. The soil with thorns represents the heart in which the Word of God is choked out because of worldly pursuits. This person has grown in the doctrines of the Word of God and even overcome persecutions. However, in the life of a believer, he must persevere not only amidst persecutions, but against backsliding due to false doctrines embraced by the Church itself. We see exhortations to persevere despite false doctrines from within the Church in the epistles of 2 Peter , 1, 2, 3 John and Jude. These epistles place emphasis upon the believer’s perseverance against false doctrines. For, if they are embraced, a believer will fall back into the deceptions of the world and be overcome. Finally, the fertile soil represents the heart that fully embraces the Word of God and grows thereby. This person has become established in the doctrines of the Church. He has persevered against persecutions (stony soil) and against false doctrines (thorny soil). He has come to a place of producing fruit for the Kingdom of God. The degrees of fruit described as thirty, sixty and one hundred-fold represent the fact that there are various levels of Christian maturity. Another insight is to say that growth of a person’s fruit may be based upon the talents given to him initially by God. Or, we can say that the 30-60-100-fold harvest is determined by how much of the Word of God a person applies to his life. When trying to understand the meaning of “30-60-100 fold” we may go to Romans 12:2 and note that there are three levels of which a believer can walk within God’s will. He may be walking in God’s good acceptable or perfect will. Perhaps these three levels of walking within God’s will produce three levels of fruit, just as we read in Mark 4:20, “and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Thus, the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-20) reveals the first aspect of our spiritual journey when a believer first embraces the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is justified by faith. The next parable of the Light Under the Bushel (Mark 4:21-25) explains how he then becomes rooted and grounded in the faith through the knowledge of the doctrines of the Church. With such a foundation, he is able to persevere against persecutions and false doctrines while continuing to sow his seed, as reflected in the Parable of the Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-29), so that he can reach the goal of his salvation, which is glorification in Heaven with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which is reflected in the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-32). Luke 8:4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: Luke 8:4 — Comments – The disciples of Jesus were those who sought Him. To them, Jesus spoke plainly. To the multitudes, Jesus spoke in parables. Note Jesus’ explanation as to why this was so: Matthew 13:10-13, “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Thus, all of Jesus’ recorded speeches were addressed either to His disciples with plainness, or to the multitudes in parables, and thirdly to the religious leaders in rebukes and woes. We must recognize His intended audience in each of His speeches in order to better understand His message. For example, we can see that the five major discourses found in the Gospel of Matthew were directed to His disciples, while the story of the Parable of the Sower was told to the multitudes.Luke 8:10 — Comments – Of our five sense gates by which we receive all information about our natural world, it is the seeing and hearing that most influences our decisions. Luke 8:13 — “which for a while believe” - Comments – Faith is God can be temporary and non-enduring. Luke 8:16-18 — The Parable of the Light Under the Bushel (Mark 4:21-25) – In Mark 4:21-25 Jesus gives us the illustration of the light hid under the bushel as way of explaining how hearing and receiving God’s Word works in our lives. This parable follows immediately after the Parable of the Sower. He explained that if we will hear and obey what we know to do, more understanding would be given unto us. The Parable of the Light Under the Bushel teaches us that as the light of the Gospel shines forth into our hearts, we become indoctrinated with God’s Word; and we are not to hide this light and hold back our testimonies of God’s goodness in our lives, but are to continue sowing seeds of God’s Word to others. This light is symbolic of our indoctrination into the Word of God, which follows our justification after having received God’s Word. As we examine this parallel passage in Luke 8:16-18 we gain further insight into the meaning of this parable. As the Gospel is preached, the hearts of men are exposed to the light and their true qualities identified (Luke 8:17). For those who repent, their hearts are transformed so that they can receive more light. But for those whose hearts are hardened and reject what little light they have been given, their hearts are darkened even more (Luke 8:18). Luke 8:19-21 — His Family are Those who Obey the Word (Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:31-35) – Luke 8:19-21 gives us the account of Jesus being approached by His family and how He responded to their requests to see Him. His passage of Scripture is contrasted to Luke 8:1-3 where the twelve disciples are following Jesus while certain women minister to them of their substance. These are the ones who are truly obeying God’s Word.
Luke 8:22-10
Divine Service: Jesus Testifies of Divine Service – In Luke 8:22 to Luke 10:37 Jesus testifies of divine service in the Kingdom of God. In Luke 8:22-56 He demonstrates His authority in divine service by calming a storm (the natural realm), casting out demons (the spiritual realm), and healing two individuals who exercised faith in His word (the physical realm). He then delegates this authority to His disciples and allows them to go out and preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and feed the five thousand (Luke 9:1-17). This experience will culminate on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Luke 9:18-50). Jesus will deliver a discourse to the Seventy to prepare them for divine service (Luke 10:1-24). It is the story of the Good Samaritan that best illustrates the spirit of divine service, which is loving our neighbour (Luke 10:25-37). Outline: Here is a proposed outline:
- Narrative: Jesus Demonstrates Divine Service (Galilee) — Luke 8:22 to Luke 9:502. Discourse: Jesus Trains 70 Disciples (Faces Jerusalem) — Luke 9:51 to Luke 10:37