Return Home and Tell

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

RETURN HOME AND TELL

Luke 8:34-39

34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

NIV

Here we have the man who had been possessed by a legion of demons being cured by Jesus, and for whatever reason all the town’s people were overcome with fear. Would they have rather this man be out of his mind, naked living in the tombs? Why would they have asked Jesus to leave them? Did they think it was some supernatural trick or were they just afraid to be in the presence of God because they were sinners themselves? All we know for sure is they were filled with fear because Jesus healed this man. We also do not know why Jesus didn’t take this opportunity for a teaching moment, to share the good news about the kingdom of God, but what we know is that he did leave them. He got into his boat and sailed off into the sunset. But the rest of this story is our life lesson. This healed man wanted to go with Jesus, to join the group of travelers, the band of brothers so to speak, but Jesus refused him. Jesus told him instead of becoming one of the group, go back home and tell all the people just how much God has done for you. This man did exactly that, he returned home and told everyone what Jesus had done for him. Here it is. When God does something wonderful in our lives, and he has done just that for each and every one of us who believe, what do we do? We might tell a few people, but then we join the group, the band of brothers, the fellowship, the church and hang out there the rest of our natural born lives. It seems we would rather be with the group then returning home to tell how much God has done for us. This returning home is not to a particular place, but a state of mind. What did we think before we accepted Jesus? We need to return to those who think likewise as we did and tell them what God has done for us. This is not preaching the four spiritual laws to them, but simply being a witness to what God has done for us. Yes, it is a good thing to gather together with other believers to worship God. But let us not simply hang out with other believers, but let us return home, to the place we once lived, in the darkness of sin, and tell everyone what God has done in our lives. How he cast all our demons into the pigs, so to speak, and healed us from living in a tomb, for that is where they are now living. We have been raised from the tomb, from having a dead spirit, and have been born again, alive in Christ. Let us return home and tell everyone what God has done for us. 

Drowned

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

DROWNED

Luke 8:26-33

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,

which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

NIV

It seems clear we are once again seeing the power of Jesus over all things, especially over evil spirits. We just saw him command the wind and the waves, the physical and the now we are seeing him command demons, the spiritual. Why we are told that he spoke with them, asking their name, is a little strange other than for the purpose of letting us know this man was possessed by many demons. Are we to believe that the spiritual demons which possessed this man actually died with the pigs as they drown? If the spirit world is the spirit world including the demons, there would be no death for them until the last judgment when Satan, the beast, the false prophet and all those who have the mark of the beast, which certainly would include all the demons are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. So if these demons did not die, then what is the life lesson for us? Could these many demons represent our many sins before we met Jesus? Could it also carry a meaning that even with the many sins within us, there is that awareness of who Jesus actually is? Could we secretly not want to be tortured by Jesus for our sin, but rather would just want him to cast them away, which in fact he does do. Jesus casts our sin, in fact, he takes our sin, and actually he already took our sin to the cross. But could this narrative sort of give us that picture of his authority over the sin in our life? The temptations, the sins that vex us so, that causes us to do crazy things, to act undignified, breaking the chains of restraint, being out of control could very well be seen as the demons of our life. Jesus has the authority over those demon, and he has, if we are willing, the authority over the demons in our life. We just need to ask him to command them to go elsewhere, and he will do it. Perhaps the point of his asking their name could imply we need to know the name of our demons, that is we should not ignore some, or try to rename or justify any sin, but to be open and frank with Jesus, giving him all their names, admitting the name of every demon, every sin. All of them, the legion left the man and went into the pigs and so it is with our sins, no matter the number or the severity of them. They are in fact drown, but not in the sea, but rather in the blood of Jesus. Our sin has been drowned. 

"Where is your faith?"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

“WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”

Luke 8:22-25

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

NIV

Although this is a great story about how Jesus even commands the wind and the raging waters, it is not a teaching moment about the power of Jesus. We know he has the power, as he created all things that were created. We know he is the Son of God, and that he is in fact God in the flesh and therefore has the power over all things. So then the life lesson for us today is in the question Jesus asked his disciples and us, “Where is your faith?” We can be certain of one thing in this life and that is we will at some point, if not numerous times, experience a storm. This is not a storm of weather, but a storm of life, a difficult situation in which it seems as though we would drown. There are times when life simply delivers a harsh blow and we have the choice to respond in several manners. We could be filled with fear, as those disciples were, thinking they were in danger of drowning, but if we do that, we can also be sure Jesus will be asking us, “Where is your faith?” We could also simply allow this storm in our life to continue and try as best as we could to row through it on our own, but we must know that we cannot overcome the storm alone, we need Jesus. We need to know he has the power and he is willing to not only travel through it with us, but he will make sure we do not drown. But we should not wait for his question, we should already have that faith. Having faith when the sea is calm and life is as a bed of roses, everything is going so well and we have everything, no troubles. But what happens to us when trouble finds us? Do we question if God still is with us? Do we get all upset and fearful thinking we are going down for the count? Do we start looking for a way to sail out of the storm on our own, or do we look to Jesus and simply know he will take care of us? The one question we do not really want to hear is, “Where is your faith?” He should already know our faith is in him, always has been from the moment we accepted him as our Lord and Savior and always will be even after we step into eternity. Our faith is in Jesus. 

Family

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

FAMILY

Luke 8:19-21

19 Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." 21 He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." 

NIV

There has been much made of this event by a lot of different opinionated scholars, which is supposed because of their various denominational affiliations. There is thought based on another gospel account his mother and brothers were concerned about the state of his mind and that is the reason for their appearance at this time. There is much discussion about whether this was actually his genetic brothers in the sense that Joseph and Mary had children of their own, making Mary no longer a virgin, which of course would only make sense. But the truth we are supposed to learn has nothing to do with his mother and brothers, but in his response to being told they were there. Again some would say he showed disdain for his mother and brothers, but the tone of his voice was not recorded. Was Jesus putting his family down, or casting them aside? No,not at all, his love for all is the same, yet even being fully God, he was also fully man, who had been loved and cared for those years before this time. This was his loving and caring family he grew up in, and it is inconceivable he would say anything harmful toward them. This sort of attitude toward family would not be a life lesson for us, yet in some sense it is. Jesus was merely demonstrating that he needs to be the first in our lives. Yes we all have families who we love dearly, he never meant for us to abandon our families. But we are to love him with all our being, putting our faith in him and our love for him before all else. That is to say if some members of our family were to try to take charge of us, thinking we have lost our minds, that we are being taking in by this foolishness about Jesus, then we would have to tell them we love them, but we love Jesus more and we are going to follow him, not them. If we have family that does not acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, as it appears some of his family had not yet, then we cannot follow them, but follow Jesus. Putting his words into practice, not works, but the practice here in order to be members of his family is acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of our soul. Putting into practice means in order to be a member of his family we must be born again. There is no work, no deed, and no human effort that can make us his mother and brothers, but only our acceptance of his work, his sacrifice for us. If we accept Jesus into our lives, we are his family. We are the family of God. 

Be Real

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

BE REAL

Luke 8:16-18

16 "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." 

NIV

Several truths here that could be taken on their own merit, and perhaps have been, yet this is the follow up statements of the four kinds of soil parable and its explanation to the disciples of Jesus. So he tells them if they are the good soil and produce a great crop, that is they allow the word of God to grow in their hearts and become the men God desires them to be, they should not hide that change in them. They cannot keep their knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom to themselves. They must stand tall and let everyone around them see the light of truth in their lives.  If we keep our salvation, our secrets of the kingdom of God completely to ourselves of what value is that? If we hide our knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom would we be in danger of even losing that knowledge? It appears that is want in fact Jesus is saying. If we only think we have the secrets but hide them away, not sharing them with anyone else, not showing the world the light, the enlightenment within us, either the devil, or the cares and desires of this world will steal or choke out this knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom we think we have. But if we allow this truth to make a real, not just a perceived change in our lives, then we not only will produce a great crop, but we will actually be given more knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom. The brighter we shine, the more we grow in Christ, the more we share the truths with others, the more they see the actual change in our lives, the more we grow and the more we learn about the secrets of the kingdom. So what is our response to having been given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom? First be that good soil and allow the word planted within us to grow in full view of everyone around us, then allow them to enjoy the crop, the fruit which the word has produced in our life, sharing with them all that we have knowledge of. Be real, not just appear real.  

Good Soil

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

GOOD SOIL

Luke 8:11-15

11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

NIV

What can we add to these words of Jesus? None. His words are self-evident, self-explanatory, therefore there is no reason to try to find the truth here as Jesus himself tells us that truth. What we have to see as our life lesson is that we not only are, but must always remain good soil, with a noble and good heart. We have heard the word and we are retaining his words and therefore we are persevering in the word within our heart and mind, always being aware of the word in every aspect of our daily life. Then and only then by doing this, by being the good soil we will produce a crop. The question is, which Jesus does not explain, is what is the crop we produce? Is it the fruit of the Spirit? Is it more souls for the kingdom? What kind of crop do we produce? It is most likely that as the Spirit dwells within us his fruit would become a part of our life. This fruit is a crop which multiplies greatly as we encounter others who are able to enjoy the fruit we produce. The word however, produces souls for the kingdom of God. It produced us and therefore it will produce more, and as we have this word within our hearts, we can produce more souls for the kingdom. This would mean we grow in our faith, which also implies growing the fruit which represents the kingdom of God as well. The whole point is we need to always remain good soil, allowing the Spirit to plow, till and plant the word deep within, keeping it watered daily from the spring of living water, and growing such a fine looking crop that all will want to be in the field we are growing in. We must be forever good soil.

The Secrets

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

THE SECRETS

Luke 8:9-10

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, "'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'  

NIV

Is it just that we have already read Jesus’s explanation of this parable or that we have heard so many sermons over the years using this parable as the text or are we really the ones who are seeing, hearing and understanding? It would seem by their question they did not understand it at first. Are we that much smarter than them? Then again we have read the explanation and how can we ever forget that we have so as to actually be in the same situation as they had been? But still the point is clear that the secrets of the kingdom of God have been given not just to them, but to us as well. It is also clear that there are some people who have read the scriptures and do not understand the secrets of the kingdom. These people dismiss the scripture as nothing more than a book written by men, rather than from the mouth of God. They see nothing, they hear nothing, and they understand nothing. But we read and we see the truth, we hear the words of God and we hear the truth and we understand those secrets deep within our being. Have we been chosen to do so, is that why? No, these secrets are available to anyone who cares to invite Jesus into their life. When the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us, when he comes to dwell within, he is the one who leads us into all truth, he unlocks the secrets of the kingdom. Anyone can have this truth and understand the secrets within. But the fact remains, there are those who do not see, hear and understand. Yet here we are the one who does see and hear with understanding. How precious this gift of the Spirit is. Had we never read the explanation, we would have known the meaning because of the Spirits guidance. This fact holds true for all the rest of scripture, even those parables without an explanation, for we have been given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God.