Listen... and Obey (Luke 8)

In Luke 7, we saw that our response to Jesus is based on who we think He is. We can think of it as being directed to any person, "Who do you say that He is?"

Now in Luke 8, I believe the story is focused on the disciples and their training. Jesus' discipleship of the Twelve is in very hands on. Luke 8:1 says that "soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village and another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God." Luke makes a point to note in the very next sentence that "the twelve were with Him" and some of the women He had healed and others who were giving Him financial support. (8:3)

Luke 8:4-14 is the very familiar Parable of the Sower. I am not going to get into the parable in the conventional sense, since it is well known, but more importantly, Jesus plainly explains the parable to the disciples. There are a few important details which shed light on why Jesus told this parable.

Luke 8:4 "When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable..." It seems that Jesus taught by way of a parable because of the crowds. As I noted in my thoughts on Luke 6, the many people surrounding Jesus had varying depths of intimacy with the Lord. Here the groups with which He had the least intimacy, crowds from the surrounding cities, were coming to hear Him teach.

The last part of Luke 8:8, after Jesus had told the parable, He concludes mysteriously, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The word or idea of hearing and listening is all over this chapter. For some reason, Jesus taught, but understanding was only granted to the disciples! Luke 8:10-

"To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND."

The disciples asked for an explanation of the parable (8:9) so He explained it, in Luke 8:11-15. In His explanation, the central theme is hearing then what is the response to what was heard- the Word of God. The various types of ground represent the people, and all do hear the Word, represented by the seed. But all have different outcomes or responses to the Word.

Jesus told taught by way of the parable for He was in the midst of the crowd; in terms of the parable, there were all different types of soil. Some would get what He was saying, some wouldn't. Now why would Jesus want some to get it and others to not get it? Back to Luke 8:8, He clearly says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus is actually quoting from Isaiah 6:9-

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9He said, "Go, and tell this people:
'Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.'
10"Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed."

11Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered,
"Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
12"The LORD has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13"Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled
The holy seed is its stump."

The message that Jesus is bringing is the same one that Isaiah was sent to preach. Paul actually quote the same verse at the end of Acts which is very enlightening. In Acts 28:11-31, Paul finally arrives in Rome and the Jews want to hear what he has to say about this "sect" (Christians), who they knew "it is spoken against everywhere." (Acts 8:22) So these were Israelites living in Rome and, in modern church lingo, we would call them "seekers."

Paul proceeds to share the Gospel with them, but they have a mixed response. Acts 28:24-28-

24Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe.

25And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

26saying,
'GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY,
"YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
27FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES;
OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM."'

28"Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen."

In the end, it appears that none of the Jews accepted Christ, as far as we can know from Luke's account. (Remember? Luke also wrote Acts!) Some were persuaded, but other's would not believe. Because they couldn't agree, I'd say they gave up and left. Then Paul quotes Isaiah 6 as a judgement against them, sadly, "hearing they do not hear." I think Jesus had the same judgement when met with the crowd in Luke 8.

Jesus concludes the explanation of the parable with the good soil, Luke 8:15-

15"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Recently, I was listening to one of Blythe Followwill's "New Covenant Parenting" classes where she noted that to "listen and to obey" is a Greek idea. Where as, in Hebrew, the listening, or hearing, implies obedience. In Chinese, it is the same, when we say that a child listens to his parents, the obedience is assumed. Jesus teaches in this way perhaps He knew His Words would be read by Gentiles like you and me. Further Luke was definitely Gentile, and likely, a Greek.

So Jesus concludes by describing the good soil and the fruit it will bear.


Luke 8:16-21, The Parable of the Lamp
Jesus immediately follows up with another well known parable about the lighting of a lamp. On its own, this parable is very nice with the obvious meaning which Jesus explains. By telling this parable after the parable of the sower, which ends with the good soil, I believe this parable is a continuation of the previous parable using a different illustration. If the hearers (soil) received the Word (seed) in an "honest and good heart, and hold it fast" then fruit will come w/ perseverance. The lamp represents the disciples who have light now (the light of God) and that light will shine. This parable is directed squarely at the disciples.

Finally in Luke 8:18, Jesus ends this short parable on the hearing theme again, "So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."

When Jesus' mother and brothers came to Him, He has a very peculiar response, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." What a strange way to speak of your mother and brothers! Is He dissing them? If He is, then it's pretty messed up! But I don't think that's what He's doing here. Jesus is saying that those who are most intimate with Him are those who hear the word of God and obey. There's that theme again of listening and obeying!

This concludes the teaching part of listening and obeying, now Jesus demonstrates it in amazing fashion in the rest of this chapter.


Luke 8:22-25, Jesus Stills the Sea
One day, Jesus and the disciples got into a boat and He says to go to the other side of the lake. So they go. The disciples listened and obeyed!

As they were on the lake, Jesus falls asleep and a storm comes upon them. The disciples are terrified for their lives. They wake Jesus. Luke 8:24, 25-

He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. 25And He said to them, "Where is your faith?"

Kind of interesting: Jesus rebukes the storm, then He rebukes the disciples! "Where is your faith?" The disciples response is telling- Luke 8:25b, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" Again, Jesus speaks (the Word of God) the winds and water listened and obeyed!

Luke 8:26-39, The Gerasene Demoniac
This story interesting because it clearly shows that demons and evil spirits recognize that Jesus is the Son of God. We're not demons or evil spirits so how does this relate to us? It is not enough to merely recognize that Jesus is the Son of God, even the demons recognize that, but we must put our faith in Him. We must give ourself completely to Him; as Paul says, a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

In the previous story, we saw how Jesus is Master of the physical world- commanding even the weather! Here, Jesus is Master of the spiritual world- He casts out thousands of demons inhabiting a single man.

After the healing is performed, the man is sitting down at Jesus' feet (8:35), presumably, listening to the Lord's teaching. Jesus tells the man to go home and testify of the great things God has done for him and he obediently goes.

Luke 8:40-56, Two Miraculous Healings
This section seems to be a sort of transition section leading in to Luke 9. After the parables of the sower and the lamp, Jesus has taught the disciples by taking them along with Him as He ministers. I bet the miracles and healings were as much about compassion and omnipotence as much as they were meant to teach the disciples by illustrating Jesus' truth.

Here Luke tells us about the healing of two people amidst two different circumstances. As Jesus is on His way to heal the synagogue official's daughter, a woman with a twelve year hemorrhage is healed by faith when she sneaks in touch His cloak. He commends her for her faith and sends her off in peace. Jesus healed her by her faith.

In contrast, when He finally arrives at the official's house He tells the family that the girl is merely asleep. They have the audacity to laugh at Jesus for they knew she had died! (8:53) Jesus proceeds to heal the girl though! Jesus raises the girl from the dead in spite of the family's lack of faith! I wonder if this synagogue official was in fact a desperate Pharisee. Though they doubted Jesus and every turn and sought to find Him doing wrong, this father went to get Jesus to heal his daughter, probably as a last resort. His unbelief is really striking, and I hope they counted their blessings as their daughter was raised from the dead. In fact, I would love to ask God in Heaven, "Did this synagogue official happen to be a Saducee?" With God's sense of humor, I wouldn't put it past Him! For the Saducees did not believe in the resurrection. (Luke 20:27) I'm guess that their unbelief is the reason Jesus instructs them not to tell anyone of the event.


Conclusion
In this chapter, Luke describes Jesus' training program for the disciples. Jesus teaches in a way that is appropriate in a mixed crowd of skeptics and devoted disciples by way of two parables. Understanding has been granted to the disciples. The parable of the sower teaches that all will hear the Word of God, but not all will believe. The parable of the lamp on the lampstand teaches that those who believe will be like a shining light that should not be hidden. It is those who listen and hear and obey the Word of God. It is these who are most intimate with the Lord, deeper even than familial bonds.

Then Jesus lives out His teaching on hearing and obedience by taking the disciples to different places, encountering different people, places and things. If the physical elements obey Him, if the evil spirits recognize His authority and obey Him, should we not as disciples obey Him even more so?

This chapter of the training is over. In Luke 9, Jesus give the disciples His authority to go and teach and heal; the same things He's been doing all along. Now it's their turn!