LUKE LESSON 21
We will begin this lesson in Luke 8:16 "No man, when he hath
lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth [it] under a
bed; but setteth [it] on a candlestick, that they which enter in may
see the light."
The purpose in lighting a candle is to brighten a darkened room.
If you light a candle and cover it up with a vessel or hide it under a
bed, you would defeat the whole purpose of lighting it. Jesus is the
Light of the world. His Light does away with darkness. To hide the
gospel of Jesus Christ would be denying His Light to do away with the
darkness of Satan.
Luke 8:17 "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest;
neither [any thing] hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."
Satan deals in darkness. When the Light of Jesus is applied, it
does away with Satan's work of darkness. Nothing can hide from the
Light of Jesus. II Peter 1:19 speaks of this Light that shines in a
dark place, II Peter 1:19 "We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts:"
Luke 8:18 "Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to
him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
even that which he seemeth to have."
Jesus is talking primarily to His disciples and close friends who
are traveling with Him. He tells them that those who diligently seek
the Scriptures for truth shall increase in knowledge, but those who do
not take their Christianity seriously will eventually even forget the
truth that He has already taught them. A Christian is constantly on
the move. If he or she is not going forward, growing constantly in the
Lord, then they are going backwards and losing what they already
learned.
Luke 8:19 "Then came to him [his] mother and his brethren, and
could not come at him for the press."
Most expositors believe that this visit by Mary and Jesus' half
brothers was to talk Him into slowing down His ministry. Mary
certainly must have believed Him, but His half brothers probably
didn't believe; because they had been raised in the house with Him. By
this time, probably thousands of people were following Him and these
brothers and Mother couldn't get to Jesus for them.
Luke 8:20 "And it was told him [by certain] which said, Thy mother
and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee."
We don't read who brought the message. Whoever brought it was
thinking of brothers in the flesh. Jesus really is not a flesh man. He
is a God man.
Luke 8:21 "And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my
brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it."
Jesus speaks, here, about the spiritual family of God. All
believers in Christ are members of the family of God. this is what
Jesus is speaking of here. Jesus always speaks of His Spirit relation
to man, not His physical.
Luke 8:22 "Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went
into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over
unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth."
To go by ship out into the lake was one way that Jesus had of
getting free from the great multitude of people who thronged Him. His
body would get tired, and He needed to rest. this was the Sea of
Galilee. and Peter's boat and James' and John's boat was always near.
They could have used either for this trip.
Luke 8:23 "But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down
a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled [with water], and
were in jeopardy."
The Sea of Galilee is well known for the sudden storms that come
up, and many ships have been caught and gone down in the storm. As I
said. Jesus was tired and was taking a nap. This storm had gotten
really severe, and the disciples feared for their lives.
Luke 8:24 "And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master,
master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging
of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm."
These disciples. you remember. had been professional fishermen and
had weathered many a storm. This had to be a worse than ordinary
storm. The disciples knew where to go for help. Jesus has control of
everything including the elements of the wind and waves. When Jesus
speaks, they must obey. The wind ceased and the waves stopped building
up and became calm.
Luke 8:25 "And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they
being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is
this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him."
You see first a reprimand of the disciples for lacking enough
faith to pray and believe for a miracle. The problem with the
disciples is that they are still looking at Jesus as a man. This is
God the Son in the body of a man. Jesus created the wind and the
waves, and He had control of them, because they were His creation.
They must obey their creator. Read in St. John 1 the first few verses,
and you will see that Jesus was Creator God.
Luke 8:26 "And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,
which is over against Galilee."
Wherever this country of the Gadarenes is, it was near the Sea of
Galilee. Location is really not the important message here. It is the
miracle Jesus does.
Luke 8:27 "And when he went forth to land, there met him out of
the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no
clothes, neither abode in [any] house, but in the tombs."
Demon spirits would be more prevalent around graveyards, because
they departed the dead and looked for another body to dwell in.
This man near the tombs has received inside himself many of these
disembodied spirits. His torment from these evil spirits has been so
great that probably somewhere along the way he tore his clothes from
his body. A person this tormented could not stay in a house. In these
days when Jesus met this man, no one tried to cure people who were
thought to be insane. They just drove them off, and they lived
wherever they could.
Luke 8:28 "When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before
him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
[thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not."
As we said in a previous lesson, these demons recognized Jesus
because they had lived in heaven with Him before their fall when they
followed Lucifer. They know they have a terrible fate awaiting them at
the end. This is really not the man speaking to Jesus, but these
terrible spirits in the man. You see, these spirits call Jesus, Son of
God.
Luke 8:29 "(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of
the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with
chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the
devil into the wilderness.)"
This man had been so tormented that the town's people had chained
him. He had broken the chains and run to the tombs in the wilderness.
Now Jesus commands this evil spirit to come out of him. A fetter is a
shackle for the feet.
Luke 8:30 "And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he
said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him."
A legion is 2,000 or a whole regiment. Jesus was speaking to the
head demon in this man, not the man.
Luke 8:31 "And they besought him that he would not command them to
go out into the deep."
The one place these demon spirits do not want to go is into the
deep. Jesus can command them to go wherever He wants to, and they must
obey.
Luke 8:32 "And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on
the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter
into them. And he suffered them."
A demon's first choice of a body to dwell in is a man's. If they
cannot inhabit a man, their next choice is an animal. They do not want
to be sent to the bottom of the sea.
Luke 8:33 "Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into
the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the
lake, and were choked."
These swine (hogs) became mad, too, when these demon spirits went
into them, and they ran into the sea and drowned themselves.
Luke 8:34 "When they that fed [them] saw what was done, they fled,
and went and told [it] in the city and in the country."
If these hog herdsmen were Hebrews, thy were raising unclean
animals to sell for meat, At this time, hog meat was forbidden for
Hebrews to eat. They were so shocked that they told everyone they saw
of this strange miracle.
Luke 8:35 "Then they went out to see what was done; and came to
Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed,
sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they
were afraid." Luke 8:36 "They also which saw [it] told them by what
means he that was possessed of the devils was healed."
This was literally the talk of the town. this man had been a
terror to all of them, and now he is completely sane, fully dressed,
sitting at the Master's feet. Don't you know his love and gratitude
were beyond measure toward Jesus who had delivered him? The people
were afraid, because none of their holy men were capable of doing this
type of miracle. They have realized that Jesus is no mere man.
Luke 8:37 "Then the whole multitude of the country of the
Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were
taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back
again."
This fear that gripped this whole area was fear of their sins
being found out. There were many of them owners of herds of swine.
They, also, were afraid Jesus might convert them to Christianity. He
had more power than they were prepared to face. If a person then or
now does not want salvation, Jesus will not force Himself upon them.
He left again by ship.
Luke 8:38 "Now the man out of whom the devils were departed
besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away,
saying," Luke 8:39 "Return to thine own house, and shew how great
things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him."
The natural thing for this man to want to do was to be near the
Great One who has set him free. Jesus tells him to go to the ones who
had seen him in his terrible state of insanity and show them the
wonderful miracle God has done for him. He must be a living witness of
the greatness of God. Perhaps, he will lead his family and friends by
his wonderful testimony to Jesus so they, too, may be set free to live
for Jesus.
Luke 21 Questions
1. When a man light a candle, where does he put it?
2. What is the purpose of lighting a candle?
3. Who is the Light of the world?
4. Whose work is darkness?
5. Jesus tells them to take heed what they__________.
6. Who is Jesus primarily speaking to when He tells them that
whosoever hath, to him shall be given?
7. What is this speaking of?
8. What members of Jesus' physical family came to seek Him?
9. Why could they not get to Him?
10. Why did Jesus' half brothers not believe in Him?
11. What question did Jesus ask when He was told of His relatives
being there to see Him?
12. Who did Jesus say were His mother and brethren?
13. Which family is Jesus speaking of?
14. Where did Jesus go to get away from the mob?
15. What did Jesus do while they were going to the other side of the
sea?
16. What happened that frightened the disciples?
17. When the disciples woke Jesus, what did He do?
18. What reprimand did Jesus have for them?
19. What did the disciples wonder?
20. When Jesus arrived in the country of the Gadarenes, who came to
meet Him?
21. How was he dressed?
22. Where did he live?
23. When he saw Jesus, what did he do and say?
24. Who was really doing the talking?
25. What is a fetter?
26. Where had the devil driven this man?
27. What question did Jesus ask him?
28. What did he answer?
29. How many demons did he have?
30. What did the demons go into?
31. What happened then?
32. What happened to those who had been feeding the swine?
33. When the people of the town came out, where and in what condition
did they find the man who had been delivered?
34. Why did the people ask Jesus to leave?
35. The man wanted to stay with Jesus, but where did Jesus send him?
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