Luke 08 Round Two- Let's Talk About Parables

What happens when desperate faith meets divine power? Luke chapter 8 takes us on an extraordinary journey through some of Jesus' most compelling miracles and teachings, revealing his authority over nature, demons, illness, and even death itself.

Luke, the investigative physician, documents Jesus' revolutionary approach to ministry—beginning with the remarkable inclusion of women like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna who financially supported his work. This radical elevation of women's roles in first-century religious circles demonstrates Jesus' counter-cultural values that recognized dignity and worth beyond gender barriers.

As Jesus introduces parables to illustrate spiritual principles, we discover the profound impact of how people receive God's Word. Like seeds falling on different soils, the message bears fruit only in receptive hearts. This teaching method brilliantly separates casual hearers from committed followers, challenging us to examine our own response to spiritual truth.

The chapter builds to a crescendo of supernatural demonstrations: Jesus calming a violent storm with mere words (while his professional fisherman disciples panic), freeing a demon-possessed man who lived naked among tombs, healing a woman considered untouchable due to chronic bleeding, and ultimately raising a 12-year-old girl from death. Each miracle reveals different facets of Jesus' authority while emphasizing one consistent theme—faith transforms everything it touches.

Perhaps most striking is the varied human responses to divine intervention. Some beg Jesus to leave their region after witnessing his power, while others fall at his feet in worship. Where do we fall on this spectrum? As we witness these accounts through Luke's careful documentation, we're invited to move beyond mere observation to personal transformation. Will you, like the healed woman, reach out to touch the fringe of his garment today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Luke's Gospel
• 2:56 Women Who Followed Jesus
• 3:33 Understanding Parables
• 7:32 Jesus Calms the Storm
• 9:50 Healing the Demon-Possessed Man
• 13:53 Woman Healed and Girl Raised
• 17:34 Application and Closing Prayer

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at thebiblebreakdowncom. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello everybody, and welcome back to your tour through the Gospel of Luke Today. Luke, chapter eight, and man. We're having so much fun just going through the Bible and thank you once again, everybody for your feedback and your good ideas.

Speaker 1: 0:29

Someone told me recently that my intros are too long, to which I first replied uh, rude. And then I listened to it and was like man, they're right, so we're going to jump right into God's word, but we always want to remind you of what we talk about, and that is. I want you to remember that Luke was an investigative journalist. He was a doctor by trade, but he has been commissioned. He's been sent by this guy named Theopolis to affirm the things that he has heard about Jesus, and that's what he's doing is. The first chapter says that he went and he investigated the claims for himself. He talked to the people who had been healed, and now he is writing back to Theopolis that everything was true, everything that happened to Jesus man. We could confirm it and it was true. And I always love to think about as we jump into this, and I want you to think about these, these ideas. Who is he talking to when he wrote these down? We're going to look at the women who follow Jesus. We're going to discover what a parable is as Jesus really begins to dig into this. Then we're going to see that Jesus is going to calm a storm, heal a demon-possessed man and do some other healing as well. And I wonder if, for the second half of this, maybe Luke was interviewing the man who had been demon-possessed. Nobody knew, like that guy, what had happened. So I don't know. But we're going to jump into this and we're going to read these together and just see what God's Word has to say. Once again, the more we dig, the more we find. So let's get started. I'm going to read the first section and then I'm going to get you ready for the next half by talking about this thing called a parable. But first let's read the first few verses. Luke 8, verse 1 says Soon afterward, jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the good news about the kingdom of God.

Speaker 1: 2:07

He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, who he had cast out seven demons, joanna, the wife of Chusa, herod's business manager, susanna, and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. This would have been really important, by the way, for Luke to remind everybody that Jesus elevated women in his ministry Instead of women being on the outside looking in. It seems as though many prominent women were part of his company. Now, while Jesus' 12 disciples were 12 men, there were a lot of times when you can see that women had an active role in the ministry of Jesus. I think that's amazing to remember as we move forward Now.

Speaker 1: 2:53

Next, what we're going to see is Jesus is going to tell two different parables, and we want to make sure that we know what this phrase is. So have you ever heard of that? A parable? That is Jesus taking a complex spiritual principle and illustrating it with a story. So instead of trying to explain to somebody what E equals MC squared is, he would tell a story that will help you get your mind around it. That's what he would do. He's taking these complex spiritual principles, complex things that would be hard to get our mind around, such as the kingdom of God and how the kingdom of God works, and he'll tell a story to kind of help us get our minds around what it is. And so I want you to kind of hear this one as he says this, and then we'll break down what it means. Bible says this Luke 8, verse 4,.

Speaker 1: 3:36

One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him. He said and when he had said this, he called out Anyone who has ears to hear should listen and understand. But his disciples asked him what the parable meant, and he said but his disciples asked him what the parable meant, and he said this is the meaning of the parable. Now, before I do that, pause Once again. What is happening is Jesus is telling these people in parables and spiritual principles wrapped up in a story, but what he's saying is I'm telling these people parables so that the only ones that will understand are the ones that are truly listening. That's what that scripture was saying is, when they look, they won't really see, and when they hear, they won't understand. In other words, that they're only going to understand if they're truly listening. So Jesus is saying that I'm telling them parables, so they have to really pay attention to get what I'm trying to say. So he just got through talking about a sower.

Speaker 1: 5:12

A farmer goes out and he scatters seed. Some of it falls on the footpath where you walk, some of it falls among the weeds and the thorns. Some of it falls on some other parts of the ground, some of it falls in the good soil. Now he says this is what that actually means. The seed is God's word Verse 12. The seed that fell among the footpath represents those who hear the message only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved Verse 13. The seed that was on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy, but since they don't have any deep roots, they believe for a while. Then they fall away when they face temptation Verse 14. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this world, and so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Speaker 1: 6:13

So once again, as you see, jesus is taking a complex spiritual principle of how God's word is received by people. Some people receive it willingly, some people receive it skeptically, some people receive it for a moment and then, when bad things happen, they throw it away, and some people don't receive it at all. But instead of saying it like that, he puts it in a story so that people can truly understand. He tells another one like this in verse 16, no one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand where light can be seen. So pay attention how you hear. So once again, jesus is talking about this idea of thinking of the Word of God as a light, and when you light in your life, you let it light up your life. It gives you light all around, and also for those around you as well. But if you don't, then it just gets confusing. So let's go. Here we go.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Verse 19,. Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn't get to him because of the crowd. Someone told Jesus. Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they want to see you. But Jesus replied my mother and my brothers are those who hear God's word and obey it.

Speaker 1: 7:35

Verse 22,. He's going to talk about calming a storm. One day Jesus said to his disciples let's going to talk about calming a storm. One day Jesus said to his disciples let's cross to the other side of the lake. So they got into the boat and it started out. As they sailed across, jesus settled down for a nap, but soon a fierce storm came down on the lake and the boat was filling with water and they were all in real danger. Disciples went and woke him up, shouting Master, master, we're going to drown Like. Pause for a moment, jesus. So there is a storm. It is such a storm. Now listen, jesus. At least four of the 12 disciples are professional fishermen. They have been in water all their life. They are so terrified by this storm that they go and they have to get Jesus. But Jesus is sleeping.

Speaker 1: 8:22

The Bible says in the next verse when Jesus woke up. When he woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So that says two things. Number one Jesus was a hard sleeper. That is amazing to me. Number two is Jesus wasn't worried about any of this. That's amazing. Number three is Jesus was in a mortal body and so he was so exhausted that he had passed out. Man, he was so sleepy and they have to go and wake him up. But suddenly, after he told all the stuff to be quiet, the Bible says suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. And he asked them this is verse 25, he asked them where is your faith? Well, I'm just going to tell you something. If Jesus is sleeping and now, all of a sudden, the waves are going everywhere and he just tells them all to calm down, and they calm down, where's your faith? It's in him. And also, I am terrified at that point to ever not do something, jesus says.

Speaker 1: 9:20

The Bible says this second half of verse 25, the disciples were terrified and amazed. Who is this man? They asked each other that when he gives a command, even the wind and the waves obey him. Is that not really true? When you truly encounter the presence of God, you are both terrified and amazed. You know, can I tell you I am praying for God to do that in our generation, to do something so amazing that we are both terrified and amazed at the awesomeness of God. All right, here we go. Verse 26,.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. So they arrived at a region of the Gadarenes across the lake of Galilee. As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town. As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed. The spirit had often taken control of the man, even when he was placed under guard and put chains or shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon's power. Jesus demanded what is your name? Legion, he replied, for he was filled with many demons. The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission in the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran, people rushed out to see what had happened and a crowd soon gathered around Jesus and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.

Speaker 1: 11:23

I'll pause for just a moment. Isn't that amazing? I heard somebody say one time this is the first case of deviled ham. That is like the most dad joke ever. It's great, I love it. But what had happened was is this guy, for whatever reason he had, become possessed by these evil spirits? And the Bible says that they would often try to restrain this guy, but nothing happened. Nothing was working. He was a social outcast, so the only place that was left for him was to live in the caves and live in the catacombs, because he had been completely ostracized from the local community, and this was likely a Gentile community.

Speaker 1: 11:57

We don't know that for sure, but possibly because of them herding these pigs and pigs were considered, you know, unkosher, and so the Jewish society would not have kept them at large, and if it wasn't, it was Jewish people. But they were still herding these unkosher pigs, and so many scholars think that the reason why these demons wanted to get inside these pigs is that many of these pigs would be used in idol worship to the god Zeus, the false god Zeus, and so they still were wanting to become part of a paganistic thing, thinking they were getting the last laugh on Jesus. What they didn't realize is that these pigs were going to go and they were going to commit suicide. Sorry, last pig joke for the day. And in the end of the day, jesus was going to get the last laugh because this man was going to be healed. And I love the idea that the Bible says, when they found the man, that he was sane, he was clothed and he was at the feet of Jesus learning about the good news. I think that is absolutely amazing. But look what the response was to these people Verse 36,. So they had sought a great thing, but instead of being amazed, they were terrified and asked Jesus to go away. The next verse says Verse 40.

Speaker 1: 13:53

And fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come home with him. His only daughter, who was about 12 years old, was dying. As Jesus went to him, he was surrounded by the crowds. A woman who was in the crowd, who suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding, but she could not find a cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe immediately the bleeding stopped. Touched the fringe of his robe immediately the bleeding stopped.

Speaker 1: 14:14

Who touched me? Jesus said Everyone denied it. And Peter said, master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you. But Jesus said someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me. And when the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell at his feet on her knees in front of him. The crowd heard her explain why he had touched him and she immediately was healed. Daughter, he said to her your faith has made you well. Go in peace.

Speaker 1: 14:43

And while he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived at the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, and he told him your daughter is dead. There's no use troubling the teacher now. But Jesus heard what had happened and he said to Jairus Do not be afraid, just have faith and she will be healed. And when they arrived at the house, jesus wouldn't let anyone go in except for Peter, john and James and the little girl's father and mother. And the house was filled with people weeping and wailing. But he said Stop the weeping, she isn't dead, she's only asleep. But the crowds laughed at him because they all knew she had died. Then Jesus took her by the hand and said to her with a loud voice my child get up and at that moment her life returned and she immediately stood up and Jesus told them to give her something to eat. And her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they tell no one, not tell anyone. Excuse me what had happened. So let's back up real fast and we're going to end up our day for today.

Speaker 1: 15:40

So first of all, that lady. Well, in the book of Leviticus it was said that if a woman had a flow of blood, she was considered unclean, so she was technically not supposed to be in any crowd, and if she was caught being in any crowd she could be subject to judgment and possibly death. So one of the reasons why she snuck up to touch Jesus was because if anybody recognized her, she was possibly going to die. So she put everything on the line in order to get healing and the Bible said that she touched the fringe of his garment. Now, the fringe would have most likely been the prayer tassels on his prayer shawl. As an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, he would have had a prayer shawl he took with him, and the prayer shawl would represent the promises of God and the power of God that Jewish rabbis would hold as they would pray. And so she was literally touching the authority and the power of Jesus. When she touched not just any part, but when he specifically says the fringe, it doesn't necessarily mean that she touched the very edge, the very tip of the garment, but she's very specifically touched the authority of the prayer of Jesus. And so that's when she knew exactly the part likely that she was touching. And then boom, that's when the power of God left out of Jesus and into her and she was healed immediately. So that's one thing that's amazing. It's not always known about that scripture.

Speaker 1: 16:57

But then also I love the idea that Jesus, even in the face of opposition, was telling Jairus and the mother just have faith, even when everybody else doesn't believe. You believe what I said, and I think that among many things we could take from this chapter, be a really good application for us today. In life there's going to be a lot of different things that's going to happen. Jesus is telling parables in this story about how some people are going to receive the gospel, some people are not. He tells we learn rather about him calming a sea, about him healing a demon, possessed man, and now this lady reaches out and touches his prayer shawl and receives healing. And all this. There's going to be many times in our life when we're going to have a choice Are we going to trust Jesus? Are we going to trust what we see? Can I encourage you to always trust Jesus, because he'll never lead you the wrong way. I want to give you a resource and I want to pray for us, and we're going to be in today.

Speaker 1: 17:49

If you'd like to know more about this idea of looking at the Bible through the eyes of an investigator, there's a wonderful apologist named J Warner Wallace. He was a cold case detective turned Christian, and he wrote a book called Cold Case Christianity. He teaches a lot of people how to use different investigative methods to look at the gospels and find their authenticity. So they're really, really good. I would encourage you to continue this study and go deeper and use some of the tactics of cold case Christianity to help you.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Let me pray for you today and we'll be done. Father, thank you so much for everything you're doing in our lives. Thank you for the gospels, because it helps us to know about how you, jesus, operated in the world and that many times you give us a template. You give us the ability to understand how we can also walk through this world, holding on to you. I pray, holy Spirit, that you will enlighten our hearts to know you more and you'll give us a fresh hunger for your word every day. Thank you for your goodness in our life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, all right, god bless you. I'll see you next time for Luke, chapter 9. Thank you.