Year 1, Day 217: Luke 8

The Twelve and the Women

At the beginning of Luke 8 we get the feeling that there was a transition happening here.  Up until now Jesus was largely doing ministry in and around Capernaum.  But now Jesus begins to expand a little.  Historically, here’s what we think is happening.  The Jewish leaders are getting tired of Jesus.  The synagogues, which were once open to Him, are now being more and more closed.  As Jesus’ reputation grows, so does His opposition!

But here’s the neat thing.  Jesus doesn’t get upset.  He doesn’t picket the synagogues.  He finds the people around Him who like Him, listen to Him, and serve Him.  And they go into the world and do what God has called them to do.  Yes, it’s really that easy.

We get so caught up in building things: building buildings, building programs, building reputations, building legacies, building a future name for ourselves.  When we get caught up in the hype, things tend to get really difficult.  But when we have the intelligence to step back and refocus, we can really get a sense of what God has actually asked us to do.  In the example of His Son we see how easy it is.  Preach and teach.  Find some people who listen and who are willing to serve His ministry.  Then go.

That’s what Jesus’ Twelve and the Women are all about.  They support Jesus.  But don’t miss an important point.  When Jesus is collecting people, He includes both men and women.  From the very beginning Jesus was including both genders in His inner core, in His discipleship group, and in the leadership.  True Christianity embraces men and women together.

Soil and the Gerasene Man

As I was reading through Luke 8, my mind went down a bit of a rabbit trail.  I’ll tie it back in, but give me a little leeway for a paragraph or two.  As I was reading about the Gerasene man sitting at Jesus’ feet once the exorcism was over, I began to think about the parable that Jesus said about the man who has a demon cast out of him but the demon returns to him and invited others to come with him.  (Luke 11:24-26)

So I began to compare the true story in Luke 8 with the parable in Luke 11.  The significant difference in the story is that this man in Luke 8 – who had been possessed in a very real sense – was now soaking up Christ.  This man didn’t let the part of him that had once been filled with demons stay empty; he replaced that part with Christ!  This Gerasene man was not left empty so that “Legion” could find its way back home.  Rather, this man was filled with Christ’s Spirit.  His house was swept, in order, and occupied.

Let’s ramp it up a bit.  Let’s now apply this to the parable of the soils that comes first in Luke 8.  Remember the lesson of comparisons between the Luke 8 story and the Luke 11 parable: swept, in order, and occupied.

1. The first soil is the path.  Satan comes along and steals the message of Christ before the seed can even grow.  This is a case where the person doesn’t even get the sin within them kicked out!  The message bounces off of them like a racquetball smacked against a wall.  The person is not swept – the seed takes no root.  The life is not in order – the seed cannot establish roots and grow.  The life is not occupied with Christ – the person’s life is already too full of whatever it already contains.
2. The second soil is the rocky ground.  The seed comes into the person, takes what root it can, but the person isn’t really interested in giving all that much room to the root.  This is the person who is fascinated at first with the idea of Christ but isn’t willing to let Christ replace everything in their life.  This life is swept – the seed does take root.  This life is not in order – the root cannot grow in shallow soil.  This life is certainly not occupied with Christ.
3. The third soil is full of thorns.  The seed comes, takes good root, but the thorns choke it out.  Here is the perfect parallel to the Luke 11 parable I mentioned earlier.  This life is swept – the seed can take root.  This life is in order – the seed can grow well.  But this life is not occupied with Christ – thus weeds come back and choke out the good seed of Christ.
4. The fourth soil is exemplified by the Gerasene man of Luke 8.  The sin in his life is kicked out and he finds himself sitting at Jesus’ feet soaking up Jesus.  This life is swept clean – the seed of Jesus takes root in his life as his demons are cast away.  This life is in order – the seed can take good strong root as he sits at Jesus’ feet learning from Him.  This life is occupied – the seed grows strong as he become Jesus’ disciple, leaving no place for weeds.

Jesus and the Lamp

This can naturally lead us into the teaching of the lamp, too.  Jesus is saying that we should be careful to do what is expected with what we hear.  Yes, Jesus is calling us to be good soil – to be swept, in order, and occupied with Him.  Yet we are not just to be good soil, but also to bear good fruit even!  To use the image of the lamp, bearing good fruit is akin to letting God shine His light through us.

Jesus and Family

Of course, this naturally leads us into Jesus’ teaching on family.  Many of us get wrapped up in blood: genealogical connections.  We think that just because someone came from the same genetic pool of DNA that we should feel connected to them.  I’m not going to argue against that, although I will confess to not feeling this way in my life.  The people that are truly important to me are important for reasons other than I share genetic material with them. 

Jesus says that His family members are those who are spiritual with Him.  They follow His ways.  They seek after the Father.  In many respects, Jesus says that His family members are those who are swept, in order, and occupied with God.  Now that’s family, folks!

So here’s the question.  If we don’t bear good fruit – or let our light shine – are we really occupied with Jesus?  We might be swept.  We might be in order.  But if our light is not shining forth, are we occupied with Jesus Christ?  If our light is not shinning and we are not bringing the message of Christ to the world around us, are we not in danger of having what we have taken away as Jesus says in this parable?  After, if Christ really means something to us, then we should want to give it away to others!

Take this warning from Jesus seriously.  Take this whole passage seriously.  Follow the example of the Gerasene man.  Jesus can sweep anyone clean if they want it.  Jesus can order anyone’s life if they want it.  But the true disciple – the one planted in good soil – will be occupied with Christ as a response to God’s initial grace in coming to us.  They will do His will, follow God’s ways, bear good fruit, and bring light into this world.

Jairus, His Daughter, and the Woman

Remember what I said at the beginning of this blog post?  Jesus went away, probably because the synagogues were being closed to Him.  So here comes Jairus to Jesus.  The religious leaders may be asserting themselves and not allowing Jesus to come among them, so Jairus humbles himself and falls at Jesus’ feet.  Jairus has always been a man who has impressed me for this reason.  Jairus is willing to break with the human expectations of tradition and find where God is truly at work.  Jairus is a man of humility.

For that matter, I have always loved the woman for the same reason.  Here is a woman whose name is never recorded.  She’s a complete unknown.  But she reaches out to touch Jesus’ cloak.  She had no reason to think that Jesus would have the time of day for her.  But her testimony and healing is brought before Jesus for the glory of God.  Even the so-called unknown people are known and useful to the Almighty God.

As a neat ending to this section, let me take an opportunity to summarize some really cool juxtapositions of faith that we see in these stories:

• The known synagogue leader and the unknown woman both find place in Christ.
• Jairus’ daughter was twelve years old and the woman’s discharge had also been going on for twelve years.  The girl was at the beginning of adulthood; the woman was well into her adult life.  God cares for the young and the old alike.
• The girl is Jairus’ only daughter.  The only Son of God who came to die meets Jairus’ only daughter so that she might live.

Jesus in the Home of Jairus

I do want to stop for a moment and take a look at something unique that happens once Jesus does get to Jairus’ home.  Notice that Jesus makes everyone stay outside except for Jairus, his wife, and Jesus’ inner three disciples.  What’s going on?   Is it as simple as saying Jesus didn’t want to become a show?

I actually don’t think it has anything to do with the “show.”  Jesus has done some really miraculous things in crowds.  In Luke 7 we heard that Jesus raised a man being carried out on a funeral bier.  Jesus isn’t afraid of the crowds.

Rather, I think this is a discipleship move.  Jesus knows that He’s got a prime opportunity to do something powerful and turn it into a teaching moment.  Jesus isn’t afraid to select His inner three and invite them along while leaving the crowd and the rest of His disciples outside the house!  Some lessons are just best taught in the intimacy of the small group.

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