“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “ ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.”
Today’s devotional is written by my friend Julia Peterson! Make sure to go check out her page @juliaapoe. I’m so excited to learn from her today! Here it is!
If you've ever wondered what a day in the life of Jesus might look like, Luke chapter 8 gives us some clues and examples. This chapter is so action-packed that it would take all day to fully dive in, but since you're here for a devotional, let's do a flyover of the main lesson. This passage gives us a glimpse into the life of Jesus and shows us His power to heal, restore, transform, and cultivate the life of a believer.
The first thing we see is Jesus teaching the Parable of the Sower. As random as this may seem, it was culturally relevant to the crowd He was speaking to, as most of them probably had some type of farming experience. This made me wonder: What would Jesus use as a parable to a crowd today? TikTok, football plays, grades? I honestly couldn't think of many, so if you come up with something, let me know!
Thankfully, we don’t really have to wonder what this parable is about because it is one of the only ones that Jesus actually explains. So why is Jesus telling this parable? Perhaps the very people He was speaking to had hearts of rocky, thorny, or uninhabitable soil. Much of our world today has hearts with a similar “soil” composition. We can learn from this parable even today as to why different people respond to the gospel differently. As believers, we have already had the Word of God take root in our hearts, so maybe we can be a light to those around us and shine the love and light of Jesus to prepare their hearts to receive the Word of God. A kind word, a loving gesture, true hospitality, or companionship may remove weeds, rocks, and thorns from non-believers' hearts and prepare them to receive something that will change their lives forever.
The next thing we see is Jesus and His disciples take a boat to the other side of the lake. While Jesus was taking a nap, a storm arose. First of all, I would like to mention that I take so much comfort in knowing that Jesus also took naps. Can I get an AMEN? Naps are biblical!!! We can talk about that another time... back to the story.
The disciples were absolutely convinced they were about to die due to the storm that arose and went to wake up Jesus, begging Him to save them. As much as I would like to judge the disciples here, I probably would have done the exact same thing. If you are like me, maybe you wondered when reading, why would Jesus ask the disciples where their faith was? We need to remember that at this point, the disciples had seen Jesus do SO much, and you would think that by now they would trust in His ability to protect them from this storm. Jesus asks them this question to challenge the depth of their faith in Him and to broaden their understanding of His power over all things—even the wind and the waves. The takeaway here for us should be the same. Do we fully understand the depth of Jesus' power and His ability to take care of us?
This is displayed further with the next few verses, where Jesus shows His authority over the demon-possessed man. This man had been tormented for so long that many probably thought he was beyond repair. But demons, darkness, and all powers of evil obey and must bow to Jesus as well. Jesus redeemed this man and restored him because of His power over all things. So, as we go about our days, let us remember that we serve a God who is obeyed by darkness and even the wind and the waves, and that same power lives inside of us!
Finally, we come to the story of Jesus healing a woman and raising a little girl from the dead. The woman who had the issue of blood had been suffering for so long, and had faith that we all should marvel at and desire for our lives. She went against all cultural bounds and societal norms to crawl to Jesus and just touch the hem of His garment. She had enough faith to know that a simple touch from Jesus would make her well. All the doctors, the money, and the time she had spent couldn’t make her well, but she knew Jesus could. Jesus not only healed her health issues, but He saw HER and called her "daughter," which culturally doesn’t make sense but displays His love all the more. This is all happening while Jesus was on His way to heal a man's daughter who was sick. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to save his daughter, which shows extreme humility and faith because this man was going against cultural and religious norms to admit he needed help and fall at the feet of Jesus. While He was stopped, the little girl died, and a leader from the man's house came and told him not to waste Jesus’ time. Obviously, the father would be devastated, but Jesus encouraged this man to have faith and told him that his daughter would be made well. Jesus arrived and raised the little girl from the dead—against all odds and probabilities, she was alive, only by the power of God.
May we all marvel at the faith of both the father and the woman who was sick in this story. They had heard about and understood Jesus' power that was displayed throughout this entire chapter, and they gave us an example of how to live out extreme faith in our own lives. May we live each day reminding ourselves of the power of God and living in extreme faith and dependence on Jesus.
1 Is there someone or multiple in your life that has a heart of thorny, or rocky soil? Take a moment today and pray for them and their hearts to be opened to the gospel, and pray for yourself to have the boldness to share the love of Jesus with them.
2 Take an evaluation of your view of God’s power in your life. How can you better remind yourself daily of His power and capabilities to take care of you and everything you face?