Hey friends, welcome to December 8th. Luke 8 is massive, with one storm, one legion of demons, a desperate father, a desperate woman, and one unstoppable Saviour. The whole chapter keeps asking the same breathless question: “What manner of man is this!” (v. 25). And by the end, every honest heart has the same answer: there is NONE like Jesus.
Scene 1 – A Man with authority to Declare Truth. The Word and the Heart (vv. 4-18) Jesus tells the parable of the Sower. The seed is the word of God. Same seed, same Sower, four different hearts.
- Wayside: hard, the devil snatches it away.
- Rocky: quick joy, but no root, falls away in testing, showing faith never rooted in Christ.
- Thorny: choked by cares, riches, pleasures.
- Good ground: “an honest and good heart” that hears, keeps, and brings forth fruit with patience (v. 15). Jesus ends with a warning: “Take heed therefore how ye hear” (v. 18). The measure you give to the Word is the measure you’ll get back.
Scene 2 – A Man with authority over DISASTER. The Storm and the Boat (vv. 22-25) One evening Jesus says, “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake” (v. 22). They launch, He falls asleep on a pillow, and a sudden windstorm hits. The boat is filling with water. The disciples, experienced fishermen, are panicking: “Master, master, we perish!” (v. 24). He arises, rebukes the wind and the raging water, and suddenly there is a great calm. Then He turns to them: “Where is your faith?” They are afraid and amazed, whispering, “What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”
If Jesus said, “We’re going over,” then nothing in hell or nature can stop you getting over. The storm didn’t wake Him, only their unbelief did. He was sleeping in perfect peace because He knew His own word would not return void. May we learn to rest in the same promises.
Scene 3 – A Man with authority over DEMONS. The Legion and the Madman (vv. 26-39) They reach the other side, exactly where He said they would, and meet a man possessed with a legion of demons, naked, homeless, living among the tombs, unbreakable by chains. The second the man sees Jesus from afar, runs, falls down, and worships. Jesus speaks one sentence: “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit” (v. 29). Thousands of demons beg not to be sent into the deep. They enter a herd of swine; the pigs rush down the cliff and drown. The whole city comes out, sees the man sitting, clothed, and in his right mind at Jesus’ feet, and they are afraid. They beg Jesus to leave. But the delivered man begs to stay with Jesus. Instead, Jesus gives him the same commission He gives every saved sinner: “Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee” (v. 39). And he went and published it throughout the whole city.
Scene 4 – A Man with authority over DISEASE & DEATH. The Touch and the Raising (vv. 40-56) Back on the Jewish side, a huge crowd is waiting. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, falls at Jesus’ feet: “My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live” (v. 42). On the way, a woman who has bled for twelve years pushes through the crowd, thinking, “If I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be whole” (Matt 9:21). She touches the border of His tallit, and immediately the fountain of her blood is dried up. Jesus stops everything: “Who touched me?” Peter says, “Master, the multitude throng thee.” Jesus answers, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me” (v. 46). The trembling woman falls down and tells all the truth. Jesus says, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (v. 48).
While He is still speaking, a messenger arrives: “Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master” (v. 49). Jesus overhears and says the line that carries the whole chapter: “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole” (v. 50).
At the house the mourners are already laughing Him to scorn. He puts them all out, takes the girl by the hand, and says, “Maid, arise” (v. 54). Her spirit came again, she arose straightway, and He commanded to give her meat, and her parents were astonished.
Four scenes. One message ringing from the boat, the tombs, the crowd, and the deathbed: What manner of man is this?
- He speaks and the storm obeys.
- He speaks and a legion flees.
- He speaks and death lets go.
- One touch of faith and twelve years of misery vanish.
Friends, the same Jesus who slept in the storm, delivered the demoniac, healed the outcast woman, and raised Jairus’ little girl is alive right now. He still says, “Let us go over to the other side.” He still says, “Fear not: believe only.” He still says, “Return home and tell how great things God hath done unto thee.”
So take heed how you hear today. Touch the hem of His garment by faith. And when the storm rages and the demons rage and death itself seems to have won, remember the question that turned to worship: “What manner of man is this?” There is none like Him. None.
See you tomorrow for Luke 9. Grace and peace! 🙏
