Luke 8

By this point in our story, Jesus is surrounded by a faithful band of followers made up of the 12 disciples and others, including a number of women. Chapter 8 can be divided into two distinct parts. 

The first part teaches about the word of God -- and its power to take root in people and bear fruit, shine a light in darkness, and bind believers together with Jesus as a family. The second part is about the word of God, too -- as spoken by Jesus, to wonderous effect. Those who experienced it responded with fear, trembling, amazement and astonishment. 

Faith is the subtext of it all. In the first part, it is an essential nutrient that makes the "soil" of hearers good enough for the word of God to thrive. In the second part, Jesus questions, commends, inspires or encourages it in those he encounters. 

Parables can be hard to decipher, as the Parable of the Sower apparently was for the disciples (v. 9). So Jesus conveniently lays out its meaning for them. The seed the farmer sows is the word of God (v. 11) and we see how well it does when heard by various people (v. 12-15). Something to think about: What type of soil does the seed of God's word land in when you hear it?

Jesus builds his parable in v. 5-8 around planting a crop, something that's very familiar to his listeners. He goes on to mention a very common occurrence, lighting a lamp, in the next parable (v. 16-18). But maybe you're still struggling to understand what sort of a crop the word of God produces or what a shining light means. 

This language is used elsewhere in the Bible to explain attitudes that should be central in a believer's life: love, kindness, patience, gentleness, compassion, self control. Even in situations where it would not be our natural tendency to respond in this way, the word of God can produce these attitudes (and the resulting good deeds that we do for others). Those who do put God's word into practice, Jesus declares in v. 21, are his mother, brothers (and, I'll add, sisters) -- a family that supersedes blood relationships.

But when we talk about what hearing the word of God can produce, understand that this is full immersion. While we may hear it in church, Sunday school and youth group, we also need to read, study and meditate upon it regularly. That enables us to internalize it and allows the Holy Spirit to transform us. Otherwise, we may be those who receive the word of God "with joy" but fall away in times of testing (v. 13). 

Here's a question we could talk about on Sunday: Does Jesus want the crowd to understand his teaching, or is he hiding it from some? After all, he speaks in parables and talks about secrets and people not understanding (v. 10). 

In the second part of the chapter, Jesus displays the power of his words. The centurion said it well when he alluded to the authority of Jesus in healing his servant in chapter 7 (if you haven't read it yet, now would be a good time). We see here Jesus' authority over nature (v. 22-25), the spirit world (v. 26-39) and human mortality (v. 40-56).

But what I really see, again, are lessons about faith (or the lack of it). Jesus chides the disciples' faithless reaction to a storm at sea. In the midst of their panic, he brings peace (v. 24-25). It's interesting to note that the disciples didn't really understand who Jesus was, but the demon in the next story did (v. 28).

Faith is transformative for others in this chapter. A formerly demon-possessed Gentile becomes an early evangelist for Jesus (v. 38-39), physical brokenness becomes wholeness for the woman with a hemorrhage (v. 47-48) and a dead girl is raised back to life (v. 50-56). What type of soil do you think God's word found in them?

Luke 7

We see the variety of ways people perceive and react to Jesus in Chapter 7 that provide more opportunities to think about our understanding of faith. We touched on this in chapter 5, and Michelle suggested that faith is when you believe something without scientific evidence. A couple other ways that could be expressed based on the chapter 5 stories is that faith results in obedience to Jesus, enables belief despite circumstances and empowers us to repent of our sin. 

In this chapter, Jesus notes the faith of the centurion (v. 9) and the woman who anointed his feet (v. 50). Questions of faith relate to others who appear in the chapter, as well.

The story of the centurion (v. 1-10) is another example of Luke's emphasis on Gentiles seeking and following God. Jesus marvels at finding such great faith, which he hasn't seen even among his Jewish countrymen. What is it that makes his faith so great? I think it may revolve around his statement "Just say the word, and my servant will be healed" (v. 7). The centurion provides some insight into the power and authority with which Jesus heals when he insists the Lord doesn't need to show up in person to make the servant better.

Our prayers are, in a way, analogous to the centurion's approach to asking Jesus for help. He petitioned Jesus long-distance, asking friends to relay his request. Jesus doesn't appear in the flesh whenever we bring something to him in prayer. Like the centurion, we have to trust that he will act on our behalf. So, when you pray, ask with complete belief that God will hear you and provide an answer. It is a great act of faith.

This is followed by an astounding incident where no one makes a request of Jesus or exhibits any faith in him (v. 11-17). Yet, he acts to raise a widow's son during the funeral procession. Jesus was moved by compassion to help the woman (v. 13), often a motivation for him to help others in the Gospels. We all know that Jesus was raised from the dead, but were you surprised to read that Jesus did this for others during his ministry? 

John the Baptist has a choice to make -- believing Jesus is the "Expected One" or waiting for someone else to fill that messianic role. It's another question of faith, which Jesus answers by referencing what he's been doing (v. 22), some of which we've read stories about in the last few chapters. It's not exactly the same, but Jesus' words echo his scripture reading in the synagogue (4:18-19). So he is restating the purpose of his ministry.

As Jesus talks about who John is (v. 24-34), we get another critique of the Pharisees. They are not repentant (v. 30) and critical of the ways other speak about God (v. 31-35). It continues during a dinner at a Pharisee's house (v. 36-50).

A sinner or immoral woman (perhaps meaning a prostitute) comes in weeping, anointing Christ's feet. The Pharisee is concerned about her status as a sinner, Jesus cares about her attitude. She is repentant, crying over sin, turning away from it and towards Jesus. This is the response of someone who has faith in Jesus, unlike the Pharisee. It results in forgiveness (v. 48).

Jesus emphasizes this with the parable of the two debtors (v. 40-43) and the contrast he draws between the woman and the Pharisee (v. 44-47). And he makes the point that it's because of her faith she is forgiven and, thus, saved.