CHAPTER 8

(A.D. 31)

THE GOSPEL

¹And it came to pass afterward (refers to the events of the previous Chapter), that He went throughout every city and village (His Love unchilled by unbelief and hatred, He visited every city and village with the glad tidings of the Gospel), preaching (man magnifies sacraments and ceremonies, and belittles preaching; God magnifies preaching) and showing the glad tidings (Good News) of the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of God is the Gospel of Jehovahs King, the Lord Jesus Christ; it is a dispensational term and refers to Messiahs Kingdom on Earth; it was offered by both John and Jesus, but was rejected and thus postponed until Christ comes the Second Time [Rev., Chpt. 19]): and the Twelve were with Him (means that the Twelve remained with Him constantly),

²And certain women (women are prominent and honorably mentioned in Luke; it was not a woman who sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver; it was not women who forsook Him and fled, etc.; it was women who were the first to visit His Tomb on the Resurrection morning), which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities (healed of that which had been caused by evil spirits), Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils (she was from Magdala, a little town near Tiberias; she loved much because she had been forgiven much; there is no proof that she is the woman who anointed His Feet with the ointment of Lk. 7:37-38),

³And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herods steward (is believed to be the family whose dying son was healed by Jesus [Jn. 4:46]), and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance (some of these women were wealthy, and they used their money to minister to the Lords necessities; He could with a few loaves feed thousands, but He did not feed Himself; thus, He proved that He was a man like His fellowmen; true disciples now as then minister to Him; mere professers do not).

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

⁴And when much people were gathered together, and were come to Him out of every city, He spoke by a Parable (Parables had a tendency to confuse His opposers, and to enlighten those who were truly His followers):

⁵A sower (in this case, the Evangelist) went out to sow his seed (the Word of God): and as he sowed, some fell by the way side (referred to an area which had not been prepared for the seed); and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it (demon spirits).

⁶And some (seed) fell upon a rock (covered by a very shallow layer of soil); and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture (due to the rock, the roots could not go down into the soil where the moisture was).

⁷And some (seed) fell among thorns (pertains to good ground, but yet the competition of the thorns would prove to be a debilitating factor); and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

⁸And other fell on good ground (means ground that was not full of rocks or thorns), and sprang up (refers to bountiful growth), and bear fruit an hundredfold (presents a tremendous harvest). And when He had said these things, He cried, He who has ears to hear, let him hear (many did not have ears to hear because their hearts were hardened; some few did, and they changed the world!).

⁹And His Disciples asked Him, saying, What might this Parable be? (This proclaims the story being understood perfectly well, but not its meaning.)

¹⁰And He said, Unto you (all who sincerely seek to know the Lord, and have a deeper understanding of His Word) it is given to know the mysteries (the word implies knowledge withheld; however, Jesus is saying that the Scriptural significance to these mysteries is about to be revealed, at least to those who hunger and thirst after Righteousness) of the Kingdom of God: but to others in Parables (the Divine story would be veiled to the careless and indifferent); that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand (pertained to a willful blindness and a willful lack of comprehension; they had no desire to know).

¹¹Now the Parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.

¹²Those by the way side are they who hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the Word out of their hearts (he is able to do this simply because they have little regard for the Word), lest they should believe and be saved (a willful blindness resulted in a judicial blindness).

¹³They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away (completely refutes the unscriptural doctrine of unconditional eternal security).

¹⁴And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (actually means that there is a beginning of fruit, but it is not allowed to ripen and is, therefore, unusable; they believe for a while and then fall away; there are many like this).

¹⁵But that on the good ground (constitutes the fourth group which will bring forth fruit to perfection, i.e., fruit to maturity) are they, which in an honest and good heart (tells us that the problem is with the heart and not with circumstances), having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience (merely hearing the Word is not enough; one must keep it as well).

THE CANDLE

¹⁶No man, when he has lit a candle, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed (means that Christ using Parables is not meant to hide Truth from sincere, inquiring hearts, but rather the very opposite); but sets it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light (the teaching of Christ was designed to appeal to the honest, seeking heart; He wants men to see the light).

¹⁷For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest (addresses itself to the mysteries of the Gospel); neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad (it would all be made known in the New Covenant).

¹⁸Take heed therefore how you hear (refers to not only what is heard, but how it is heard): for whosoever has, to him shall be given (constitutes a Divine Law that whosoever accepts Truth will be given Truth); and whosoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have (light rejected is light withdrawn).

TRUE RELATIVES

¹⁹Then came to Him His mother and His brethren (refers to those of His immediate family), and could not come at Him for the press (the crowd was so large that they simply could not get to Him).

²⁰And it was told Him by certain which said, Your mother and Your brethren stand without, desiring to see You.

²¹And He answered and said unto them (presents a principle which places God first in all things), My mother and My brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it (plainly proclaims allegiance to God, is even more solemn than family ties; Jesus here refutes the Catholic contention that Mary is above all).

THE STORM

²²Now 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 (from the western shore of Galilee to the eastern shore). And they launched forth.

²³But as they sailed He fell asleep (physical exhaustion from healing and delivering, as well as teaching; this portrayed His Humanity): and there came down a storm of wind on the lake (from the Greek Text a furious storm or hurricane); and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy (they were actually in danger of sinking, and of even losing their lives).

²⁴And they came to Him, and awoke Him (refers to them not doing so until the danger was acute), saying, Master, Master, we perish (He Alone can stop the soul from perishing). Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water (refers to an evil spirit behind the storm attempting to kill the Disciples; Satan knew that Jesus could not be killed, but he also knew the Disciples to be very mortal): and they ceased, and there was a calm (the change was instant; no power on Earth can even begin to approach such Authority; as well, He can instantly calm the storm in a mans soul).

²⁵And He said unto them, Where is your faith? (Christ is the answer concerning all the storms of life.) And they being afraid wondered (the Disciples had accepted His Messiahship, but had a most inadequate view of the same), saying one to another, What manner of man is this! (They evidently did not recognize all the implications, which His Office carried with it.) for He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him (proclaims His total control not only over demon spirits, sickness, and death, but as well, the elements).

DELIVERANCE

²⁶And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes (was on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee), which is over against Galilee (refers to the part of Decapolis which bordered the Sea of Galilee on the southern tip and the eastern side).

²⁷And when He went forth to land (when they beached the boat), there met Him out of the city a certain man (he was from the nearby city, but no longer lived there), which had devils (demons) long time (had long been possessed), and wore no clothes (a type of man in the spiritual who is naked to the Judgment of God because of being in rebellion against God), neither abode in any house, but in the tombs (death is the end result of sin).

²⁸When he saw Jesus (the spirit world of darkness is subservient to the Lord Jesus Christ), he cried out (for fear), and fell down before Him (an acknowledgment of Him as Lord and Master), and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God most High? (Even though most of mankind professes not to know, demon spirits know Who Jesus is.) I beseech You, torment me not (proclaims them knowing and realizing that Jesus has the Power to do with them whatsoever He desires; proper Faith in Christ and the Cross will put us in the position of tormenting demons, instead of them tormenting us).

²⁹(For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man (speaks of the head spirit or demon who was the leader of all the others, a great host, as we shall see). For oftentimes it had caught him (refers to this spirit or spirits taking control of this man and giving him, as we shall see, superhuman strength): and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters (restraint was attempted, but to no avail); and he broke the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) (He was totally taken over by demons and had no choice but to do what they desired.)

³⁰And Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? (This proclaims these demons as personalities.) And he said, Legion (could refer to as many as 6,000; that this many demons could inhabit one human being is startling to say the least): because many devils (demons) were entered into him.

³¹And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep (refers to the bottomless pit [Rev. 20:1-3]).

³²And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain (is recorded as being about 2,000 [Mk. 5:13]): and they be sought Him that He would suffer (permit) them to enter into them. And He suffered them (if demons have to ask permission from the Lord to enter swine, surely it should be understood that He wouldnt allow them to enter the Sheep of His Pasture).

³³Then went the devils (demons) out of the man, and entered into the swine (refers to these demons doing exactly what the Lord told them to do): and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked (drowned).

³⁴When they who fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country (means they told not only the owners, but any and all who would hear them).

³⁵Then they (the owners and others) went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils (demons) were departed (no doubt, as they had never witnessed him before), sitting at the feet of Jesus (our Lord was teaching him), clothed (no doubt, the Disciples had loaned him some clothes, and he was also clothed with Salvation), and in his right mind (perfectly sound of mind): and they were afraid (they couldnt understand such power).

³⁶They also which saw it told them by what means he who was possessed of the devils was healed (they gave a blow-by-blow account to the owners of the hogs, plus others).

³⁷Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them (presents one of the saddest episodes in the Gospels; they felt they could not keep both the Saviour and their swine, of the two they preferred the swine! What an indictment on the human race, for this mirrors most of humanity); for they were taken with great fear (constituted fear, which should have brought them to the Lord, but instead they responded in the opposite manner): and He went up into the ship, and returned back again (to the western side of the lake).

³⁸Now the man out of whom the devils (demons) were departed besought Him that he might be with Him (proclaims the very opposite of his countrymen, which is quickly noted by the Holy Spirit): but Jesus sent him away, saying (constitutes a denial regarding his request, but yet with a mission to perform; He carried it out to great distinction),

³⁹Return to your own house, and show how great things God has done unto you (constitutes a commission for this man, and for all Believers; for all Believers, the Lord has done great things). And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him (doesnt tell us exactly which city, but does proclaim this mans success; the day before, he was a demon-crazed maniac, totally insane; twenty-four hours later or less, he is an Evangelist for the Lord Jesus Christ).

HEALINGS AND MIRACLES

⁴⁰And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned (to Capernaum), the people gladly received Him: for they were all waiting for Him.

⁴¹And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the Synagogue (this man was a fair representative of the wealthy and highly Orthodox Jew): and he fell down at Jesus feet, and besought Him that He would come into his house:

⁴²For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying (proclaims the acuteness of the situation). But as He (Jesus) went (to the house of Jairus) the people thronged Him.

⁴³And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years (probably referred to a female disorder), which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any (there was no earthly remedy for her sickness, as there is no earthly remedy for sin; but there is a remedy, as we soon shall see!),

⁴⁴Came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment (pertained to one of the four tassels, which formed part of the Jewish mantle; the blue of the tassel, which was worn by most men, reminded Israel that their help came from above, and of their duty to keep the Law [Num. 15:28-41; Deut. 22:12]): and immediately her issue of blood stanched (her cure was permanent, and she would never be troubled with this problem again).

⁴⁵And Jesus said, Who touched Me? (In fact, many were touching Jesus, but none with the Faith this woman had.) When all denied, Peter and they who were with him said, Master, the multitude throng You and press You, and You say, Who touched Me? (This is actually as much an exclamation as it is a question.)

⁴⁶And Jesus said, Somebody has touched Me: for I perceive that virtue (Power) is gone out of Me (Jesus didnt touch the woman, she touched Him; this tells us that if the Lord doesnt touch us, we still can touch Him, and receive that which we need).

⁴⁷And when the woman saw that she was not hid (means that she evidently was trying to hide), she came trembling (it startled her that Jesus would stop, in essence, calling for her, especially considering the great throng of people), and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him (she withheld nothing, telling all) and how she was healed immediately.

⁴⁸And He said unto her, Daughter (at first she was referred to as a woman, and now she is referred to as Daughter; this speaks of relationship, pertaining to both Salvation and healing), be of good comfort (addresses itself to her fear concerning her previous uncleanliness; she need have no fear that anyone would judge her unclean now): your faith has made you whole (Faith is the only requirement); go in peace (Justifying Peace; she was now just in the sight of God because she had trusted Christ, Who Alone can bring about our Justification; tradition says her name was Veronica, and she lived at Caesarea Philippi).

⁴⁹While He yet spoke, there came one from the ruler of the Synagogues house, saying to him (to Jairus), Your daughter is dead; trouble not the Master (while sufferers and their friends, and even the Lords Disciples in countless instances, asked Him to heal, etc., no one ever asked Him to raise the dead to life; to the last, despite what they had seen, none could persuade themselves that He was indeed the Lord of death as well as of life, until after the Resurrection).

⁵⁰But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, Fear not (in essence, saying, despite death, everything is going to be alright): believe only, and she shall be made whole (the only requirement is Faith in Christ).

⁵¹And when He came into the house (refers to the home of Jairus), He suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden (represents the first time these three Disciples had been singled out; they would be singled out a total of three times [Lk. 9:28; Mat. 26:37]).

⁵²And all wept, and bewailed her (represents paid mourners, which was then the custom): but He said, Weep not; she is not dead, but asleep (in fact, she was physically dead, but to Jesus she was only asleep).

⁵³And they laughed Him to scorn (the paid mourners), knowing that she was dead.

⁵⁴And He put them all out (the Greek Text proclaims the fact that it must have been very close to a forceful ejection, as in the case of the cleansing of the Temple), and took her by the hand (a firm grip), and called, saying, Maid, arise (continues the exhibition of His Authority).

⁵⁵And her spirit came again (demonstrates the separate existence of the spirit as independent of the body; her spirit and soul were once again reunited with her body, with the body instantly coming alive), and she arose straightway (immediately): and He commanded to give her meat (food).

⁵⁶And her parents were astonished (they were transfixed to the spot, actually barely able to move, if at all): but He charged them that they should tell no man what was done (Jesus sought neither publicity nor admiration).