Read Luke 8:49-56

Jesus is Lord over death.

When He arrived at the home of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, the usual death wailing was in full swing. Over the din, Jesus says to Jairus and his wife, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed” (v. 50). The mourners laughed at Him, of course.

Always thoughtful, Jesus did a very tender thing. He shut everybody out except the parents and His three closest disciples. Why? He could have advertised His powers by letting everybody in to see the great miracle take place. Was it to keep the awakened child, a girl of 12, from being terrified by a room full of noisy strangers when she returned to consciousness? Was it to protect her parents from the merely curious at an intimate family time?

Jesus did something else tailored to the needs of the people most intimately concerned. He told her parents to give their newly resurrected daughter something to eat. Why? The obvious answer is because, having been so ill, she probably had been without food for some time. But think of the parents’ shock. What should they do? Stand there dumbfounded, rooted to the floor? Jump up and down? Grab her and hug her hard? Obeying this simple direction gave them something useful to do. This activity helped break the spell of awe and terror.

Jesus hasn’t changed. He is still understanding of our human weaknesses.

Read Luke 8:40-48

Jesus is Lord over physical health.

How were Jairus and the nameless woman alike? Both had desperate needs beyond their own power to help.
The similarity ended there. Jairus was a man of prominence, comparative wealth, power and social position. The woman was poor, sick, and ceremonially unclean.

As God, Jesus knew that divine power had gone out. But He subjected Himself to a human limitation, looking about to see to whom the power had gone. The disciples did not know whether to be amused or disgusted. They said, “What do you mean, ‘Who touched me?’ You’re being jostled on all sides” (v. 45).

Being God, Jesus could have looked out over the crowd, pointed to the woman, and terrified her further by announcing to the crowd, “You did it! You touched me! How dare you?”

He did not do that. But He did force her to take the first step. Why? To embarrass her? No, not to make her uncomfortable. He wanted her to take the initiative. She supposed the power of Christ was magical and mechanical. He showed her His healing of her body was not an act of magic but of love and God’s power.

Jesus’ healings were always inseparable from divine knowledge and love. She got more than physical healing, for Jesus, seeing her heart, added, “Go in peace.”

Read Luke 8:26-39

Jesus is Master over Satan, the god of this world.

When Jesus asked the man his name, the demons, for once, gave an honest answer: “Legion,” because so many of the foul critters inhabited the man.

The pigs’ debacle provided witnesses for what Jesus had done (vv. 32-35). The folks didn’t come out to help the demon-possessed man, but a herd of demented pigs plunging into the lake brought them out in force. And there sat the man dressed and in his right mind (v. 35).

The record says the poor fellow hadn’t worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time (v. 27). He was homeless, yet a captive. Then Jesus came and set him free.

Did you ever wonder where the newly sane man got his new clothes? If Jesus had an extra garment, He probably gave it to the man. But in that society, most folks had only one set of clothes, the ones on their backs. Of course Jesus could have done another miracle and created new clothes for the man. He could have turned around to find a tasteful new cloak neatly folded on a nearby rock
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It’s fun to speculate, but Luke doesn’t tell us how Jesus dressed the man. His point is that Jesus is stronger “than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We could add that Jesus is faithful, supplying all of our needs.

Read Luke 8:22-25

Jesus is Lord over nature.

Whose idea was this trip anyway? Jesus suggested it. He must have been exhausted, falling asleep quickly. We marvel at someone who could sleep through heavy weather.

Such windstorms were not unusual on the Sea of Galilee, the scene of this event. The lake lies 680 feet below sea level and is surrounded by hills. As the air on the heights cools toward the end of the day, it descends to the lake surface, churning it up.

This must have been a pretty good blow to alarm the seasoned fishermen with Jesus.

These men were not landlubbers or easily-frightened weekend sailors. They knew the lake well. What answer would you give to the disciples’ question, “Who is this” (v. 25)? Jesus’ miracles are wonders of God’s kingdom. Jesus is God, Who controls nature, along with everything else (Matt. 28:18).

What lesson can we learn from this event about following Jesus? It was Jesus’ idea, yet they got into difficulty. Living in obedience to God does not assure us of no troubles. We cannot conclude that because we experience distresses we are out of God’s will.

Another thing we can see from this is that we need God’s power to get safely through adversity. The boat might have been swamped, as the disciples feared, had they not called upon Jesus urgently.

Read Luke 8:19-21

The oddest people in the world are the folks we are kin to.

Jesus must have believed it one day when His mother and brothers showed up, attempted to interrupt His work and take Him home. Matthew and Mark also record the incident, Mark adding that they did it because Jesus’ family thought He was mentally ill (Mark 3:21).

Mary heard the angel say that her first baby was to be the Son of God, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah (Luke 1:33-33). She heard Simeon, with the eight-day-old Jesus in his arms, say now he had seen the Lord’s salvation (Luke 2:30).

Mary and Joseph heard the 12-year-old Jesus refer to the temple as “my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). Luke records that Mary pondered the meaning of these things (Luke 2:51). Yet now, perhaps under the influence of her other sons who didn’t believe their older brother was Messiah (John 7:5), Mary joins them in an attempt to halt Jesus’ ministry. For His own good, of course.

Jesus uses the situation, not to denounce their misguided intervention, but to show us how inclusive He is.  Indicating all His disciples, Jesus says (Mat. 12:49-50 paraphrased), “Whoever obeys God, doing the will of the Father, is My family. Nobody—absolutely nobody—is left out.”

If your earthly family is small, Jesus’ words are good news. We have family. We have an Elder Brother, a loving Father.

Read Luke 8:1-18

Can we say anything new about the parable of the sower?

We all know about the four kinds of soil. We all know what happened to the seed. Do we remember what immediately follows? Jesus said truth would be disclosed, even if it seems hidden at first (8:17).

So what should we do about the obvious truth Jesus teaches here? Jesus says we had better take it seriously and act on it (8:18).

Notice that the seed remains the same throughout. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). It is we hearers who are different.

Four kinds of hearts pulse to life in this story. First the hard-hearted, who hear but are so hardened they will not heed what He is saying (vv. 5, 12). Then Jesus calls our attention to the shallow-hearted. They think the gospel “cute” or “nice” but if it requires effort, forget it (vv. 6, 13).

Next come the half-hearted. These people know the way to God, but they don’t act on it (vv. 7, 14). Notice Jesus links this response to personal responsibility. The devil doesn’t make them do it. They’re just busy with their own affairs.

Last of all is the kind of person every teacher lives for, the whole-hearted. He or she hears, the message takes root, and that life produces a golden harvest, a well-lived life obedient to Christ (vv. 8, 15).

Read Luke 7:36-50

Jesus could be pretty blunt sometimes.

Evidently He had said nothing when Simon denied Him the common courtesies of the day. Now He lets Simon have it between the eyes (7:44-46).

Jesus wasn’t the only one who spoke plainly that day. The unnamed woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, anointing them with expensive perfume, said no recorded words. But what she did spoke loud and clear.

Perhaps it was the custom of the day for outsiders to stand around listening at someone else’s social function. And, from what Simon said to himself, perhaps the woman was accustomed to advertising herself on street corners. Still, to do what she did took courage. She was so sick of her sin she found the bravery for desperate action. Perhaps she had talked with others who had found the unexpected release that came from having Jesus say to them, “Your sins are forgiven.” That woman was at the end of herself, willing to risk anything, for relief from the load of sin. She was not disappointed.

Notice that Jesus makes no effort to defend Himself to the other guests (7:49). Instead, He reassures the woman. Is this an application of the principle that light rejected prevents further illumination? These learned persons were never going to understand Jesus until they, like the woman, came in humble repentance for their sins.
At the point of our personal repentance, Who Jesus is becomes clear.

Read Luke 7:18-35

What on earth was the matter with John?

John should have had no doubts about who Jesus was? Their mothers were related, so they were family. Just six months older than Jesus (Luke 2:36), John must have grown up on his mother’s story of Jesus’ mother, Mary, visiting when both women were pregnant (Luke 2:39). Thirty years later John baptized Jesus. He must have seen the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on that occasion (Luke 3:22).

Yet now he sends a committee to inquire, “Are you the Messiah?” Why? What was his problem? And why didn’t Jesus just say, “Yes, I am the Messiah”? Wouldn’t that have been more satisfying to John than Jesus’ recital of what He had been doing lately?

Part of the trouble was that John was in jail, a discouraging situation. Maybe he had assumed he would be Jesus’ right-hand man, sharing a long, fruitful ministry with his kinsman. Now he couldn’t do anything. If Jesus had simply said, “Tell Cousin John, yes, I’m the Messiah,” that might have satisfied John for the moment. But with nothing but Jesus’ pat answer, in the long, lonely stretches of the night, John might have doubted again. Jesus’ recital of His acts of healing and compassion gave John’s mind something to chew on.

Notice that Jesus praised John, doubts and all (Luke 7:26-28). Shouldn’t this give us hope in our times of uncertainty?

Read Luke 7:11-17

Was it something in Jesus’ quiet authority?

Nobody asked Jesus to raise this young man from death. With the quick sympathy for which He is famous, Jesus said to the sorrowing mother, “Don’t cry,” and touched her dead son’s coffin.

The record says that when He touched it, the bearers stood still. Why? We have all seen pictures of funeral throngs in the Middle East. Everybody is jostling together, in motion, touching the coffin as they go. Why did they stop when this man touched it? Did the crowd grow suddenly quiet?

Only then did Jesus speak. Out of deep compassion for this sorrowing widow whose only source of support probably died with her son, Jesus calls him to life again. The record says that the young man sat up and began to talk. It’s a shame nobody thought to record what he said. Did he and his mother go home, walking along together? In time did he marry and give his mother grandchildren from her son who was dead?

Luke alone of the four gospel writers records this story. If Luke wanted to emphasize the tender compassion and love for suffering humanity of Jesus, the perfect Man, he could hardly have picked a better incident from Jesus’ life than this one.

Read Luke 7:1-10

Did you ever suffer from lack of self-esteem?

Join the crowd; almost all of us have, including this unnamed Roman army officer. He was desperate to get help for his valued servant, but so sure Jesus would not help a hated Roman that he asked his Jewish friends for help. When Jesus responded, the man got cold feet.

Addressing Jesus as “Lord,” and not supposing himself worthy, he says, “Please, just heal him from a distance.” Then he tries to explain himself to Jesus: “I’m an unworthy wretch. But I do have sense enough to hold a good job! Don’t bother with me! But I do have a lot of power. Yet I’m so far below you I can’t ask you to come under my roof” (vv. 6-8). We get seasick listening to him.

A humble Roman centurion. Is that an oxymoron or what? This army officer didn’t know much about Jesus. Yet in humble trust, he believed Jesus could heal with just a word. That’s a remarkable concept. Jesus called it the greatest faith He had seen. You wonder where the man got the idea.

What’s the “take away” for us? That Jesus honors sincere, humble faith wherever He finds it? That you don’t have to be a member of some inside group for Jesus to help you?

That Jesus’ work in our lives is always a “God-thing,” not dependent upon our worthiness or our vaunted “self-esteem”?