#530 13-Apr-12 2:30 p.m.
Luke 08:
Reading #530 The little things
Jesus and His companions now spent many weeks going about Israel teaching from the Bible about how the time had come (their 490 years were nearly up, Daniel 9:24; Mark 1:15), and warning the Jews that their opportunity to fulfil God’s desire would soon pass. There were many more than twelve in Christ’s group, and they all needed food and lodging wherever they went, and in the next verses we are given a little glimpse of how this was accomplished.
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Luke 8:
1 And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him, 2and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, 3and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward[his butler], and Susanna, and many others, which ministered to Him of their substance.
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Not only Christ, but His disciples also, laboured in the cities and villages, for they were by now fulltime workers; and those who had been in the truth longer than the new converts, supplied the finance and other things which were required in the work.
We should mark the example of the divine Teacher at that time: “The people sought Him, and came toHim, and stayed with Him, that He should not depart from them. And[but]He said to them, ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent’.” Luke 4:43 (Isaiah 61:1-3).
And in another place: “In the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with Him followed after Him[began to look for Him]. And when they had found Him, they said toHim, ‘All men seek for You’. And He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for therefore came I forth’. And He preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils“ Mark 1:35-39.
Although He was sowing the word of God and attracted large crowds, He knew that the final results would not really be spectacular, so He tried to explain this to the disciples.
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Luke 8:
4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to Him out of every city, He spoke by a parable:
5“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundredfold”.
And when He had said these things, He cried, “He that has ears to hear[attentive ears], let him hear”.
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We too can be “sowers of the word”. When we speak to people who have ears to hear and hearts to understand, they will be hungry for the Word of the LORD, and will hear to a purpose. As the word of life is explained in plain, simple language, the Spiritwill beahead of us, softening and subduing hearts. Oh, how our heart should yearn for the precious souls who are being invited to look and live! But it seems that the disciples had not yet reached that point, for they did not understand the parable!
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Luke 8:
9 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “What might this parable be?”
10 And He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand”.
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The mighty evidence given to the Pharisees of that time did not convert them. Religious men and women can so encase themselves in unbelief, doubt, and infidelity that even the raising of the dead would not convince them. (See Luke 16:29-31.) Because of their attitude they would remain in the same unbelieving position, unconvicted, unconverted even if they saw that.
But all those who have hearts to receive the truth and ears to hear, glorify God. They often exclaim, “We have never seen it like this before!”
So Jesus explained the parable to His followers:
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Luke 8:
11“Now the parable is this:
The seed is the word of God[our job is to plant it].
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13“They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation[and trouble] fall away.
14 “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience”.
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Although the word is always the same, the “soil” is different, therefore the results are different. Jesus is not here telling us that only one in four will respond and accept the truth (other places in the Bible give other figures), but simply that the majority will turn away for various reasons. This is the “mystery of iniquity” spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. It can never fully be known why sin is so attractive, and the “way” so hard to accept, or why “few there be that find it”. Matthew 7:14. After all, God lost one third of the angels when rebellion first arose, and He spoke directly to them!
The actions of the last group of the parable are described in another place; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law[that can condemn, Romans 8:1]. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.Galatians 5:22-25. If this is what the rejecter sees it may help him or her to change their mind, but, of course, they may not recognise that behaviour. After all, many did not recognise Jesus’ perfection!
Jesus carried on:
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Luke 8:
16“No man, when he has lighted a candle, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed; but sets it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
18“Take heed therefore HOW you hear: for whosoever has[a connection with the Spirit], to him shall be given; and whosoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have”.
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In another place Jesus explained that Christians are like “salt”, bringing out the flavour of life, as well as “candles” showing the way of life. Matthew 5:13-14.
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Luke 8:
19 Then came to Him His mother and His brothers [and sisters], and could not come at Him for the press. 20 And it was told Him by certain which said, “Your mother and your brothers [and sisters] stand without, desiring to see You”21 And He answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers [and sisters] are these which hear the word of God, and do it”.
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While Jesus was still teaching the people, one of His disciples brought the message that His mother and His brothers were outside and desired to see Him. He knew what was in their hearts, and “He answered and said to him that told Him, ‘Who is My mother? and who are My brothers [and sisters]?’ And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers [and sisters]! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother’.” Matthew 12:48-50.
All who receive Christ by faith are united to Him by a tie closer than that of human kinship. They become one with Him, as He is one with the Father (John 17:11). Therefore, as a believer and doer of His words, His mother was more nearly and savingly related to Him, than through her natural relationship.
In like manner, His stepbrothers and stepsisters would receive no benefit from their connection with Him unless they accepted Him as their personal Saviour. (It seems that some did. James became well-known in Jerusalem later as a leader in the church, and I believe that Jude, another brother,wrote the New Testament book titled by his name. See Matthew 13:55 and Galatians 1:19 and Jude 1:1. They are mentioned as being in Jerusalem for the meetings leading up to the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 1:14.)
The scene now moves to a sail across Lake Galilee:
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Luke 8:
22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a ship with His disciples: and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake”. And they launched forth. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we perish”. Then He arose, 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 they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, “What manner of Man is this! For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him”.
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When Jesus was awakened to meet the storm, He was in perfect peace. There was no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His heart. But He rested not in the possession of almighty power. It was not as the “Master of earth and sea and sky” that He had slept. That power He had laid down, and He says, “I can of My own self do nothing”. John 5:30. He trusted in His Father's might. It was in faith – faith in God's love and care – that Jesus rested, and the power of that word which stilled the storm was the power of God.
It was the same in the next experience:
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Luke 8:
26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against[opposite] Galilee. 27 And when He went forth to land, there met Him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs[the cemetery].
28 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 God most high? I beseech You, torment me not”.29 (For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he broke the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion[thousands]”: because many devils were entered into him.
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Since the birth of Jesus some thirty years before, the devil had stepped up his campaign against the freedom of truth (John 8:32), and his followers had been able to possess many. This particular man was so easy a target that an unnumbered group of evil angels were constantly pulling him this way and that way. Possession requires a willingness to submit at the beginning, but soon develops into a cruel and relentless power. (We don’t have so many obvious cases of possession today because the conditions do not require it, but they do occur occasionally because it is still regarded as a “sport” among rebellious angels.)
But even without possession, there is a continual transgression of nature's laws,which is also a continual transgression of the law of God. The enormous amount of suffering and anguish which we see everywhere, the present deformity, decay, disease, and craziness now flooding the world, make it, in comparison to what it might be and what God designed it should be, like a “lazar house”, a hospital for persons with infectious diseases.
Lateral thought:
Sin is like leprosy,for the words spoken of Israel also apply to the whole world. “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward. Why should you be stricken any more? [Because]you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment”. Isaiah 1:4-6.
The name “Lazar”comes from the patron saint of lepers – Lazarus. There were leper colonies in Australia until recently, one in Western Australia and two in Queensland according to Wikipedia, but they are now closed, although a few cases of leprosy are still occurring in Australia. The clinic in New Zealand {set up in 1874} is still going strong. They say that 500,000 people were diagnosed as lepers worldwide in 2004! See
So from God’s point of view, the world we live in is in a quarantine-type situation! And the present generation is even more feeble in mental, moral, and physical power than those in Christ’s time. All this misery has accumulated from generation to generation because rebellious mankindcontinues to break the law of God. Sins of great magnitude are today committed through the indulgence of perverted appetites without the need of angel possession.
A change of habitat:
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Luke 8:
31 And they[the devils] besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep. 32 And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought Him that He would suffer[allow] them to enter into them. And He suffered them. 33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
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Mad (rebellious) angels like to dominate other creatures – that’s why they asked for permission to control the pigs. I’m not sure why they were allowed to possess pigs but not the man (although he must have asked for help), for the end result was that the pigs immediately committed what appears to be suicide. However, as mentioned once before in another reading, I do believe that they will be suitably recompensed.
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Luke 8:
34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and He went up into the ship, and returned back again[to Galilee].
38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought Him that he might be with Him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your own house, and show how great things God has done to you”.
And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done to him. 40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received Him: for they were all waiting for Him.
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All that the owners and keepers of the pigs saw at first was the loss of money they had incurred. Of course, their occupation was unhealthy for them, but they had ignored the still, small Voice, and were prepared to risk it for the profit. (See Deuteronomy 14:8.) Later, after they had heard the full story from the madman’s lips, they were sorry that they had ordered the Son of God to leave them. That’s why it’s nice to read that they were ready and waiting when He returned another day.