Bible Study with Jon

She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” - Luke 8:44-46 ESV This woman believed Jesus had power in Him to heal, and that by just a touch, she would be healed. And she was. And Jesus knew she had been, and I feel that He knew exactly who had been healed, where she was in the crowd, and why she had wanted to be healed. He was now giving her the chance to come forward. Commanding her to come forward. Not in anger it would seem, but to explain to her why she had been healed. Why? Healing without change only helps the body, not the soul. Comfort for the lost without pointing them to Christ leaves them spiritually in the dark and, unless the light shines upon them, eternally lost. As I thought of this p...

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. - Luke 8:30-32 ESV According to the Amplified Bible, "abyss" is a reference to the bottomless pit of Revelation 9:1. The demons fear the torment that comes and do not want it. They'd rather go into swine than the bottomless pit. --- Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told th...

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” - Luke 8:22-24a ESV His disciples may have been running to warn Him so He could prepare for a capsizing. They may also have been coming down in the hope, or belief, that He would do something about the situation. The Scripture doesn't say, so we shouldn't get dogmatic about what the disciples were thinking. One thing is for certain, when things got rough, they went to their Master, as should we. He is in control, and we are able to overcome all things through Him. "Yet not I but through Christ in me." I also like the fact that Luke brings attention to Jesus being tired. A simple fact recorded; Jesus got tired. Fully man, fully God. Teaching...

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” - Luke 8:4-8 ESV I've heard some say that the sower is Jesus alone, but it would seem that, since the seed is the Word of God, the reception of the Word is not limited only to when Jesus preached, but includes how the Word is received when presented by His followers. Land on the path and birds eat it - devil come and takes away anything that could sprout in their lives so they're left empty, with no seed even sprouting (v12). Th...