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Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/23) Luke 12:22-34

Apr23

A 5-day per week study.

April 23 – Reading Luke 12:22-34

Read and believe in Jesus.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Luke 12:34

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The Gospel according to Luke

Review – Jesus talked about hypocrisy, fear, the value of sparrows, covetousness, anxiety, and then told a parable to conclude it all: “the Rich Fool”.

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Vss. 12:12-32.

Jesus had been talking about covetousness and greed (remember the brothers disputing their inheritance, and the rich farmer who didn’t know what to do with all the extra ‘blessings’ GOD gave him?)

In other words, stuff. Humans always want MORE stuff.  And when they have a lot of stuff, they have anxiety about losing it.  When they think they don’t have ENOUGH stuff, they are anxious about that too.

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(I say “they,” but I fall into these categories too.  Simply living in the United States makes me wealthier than most of the world. The poorest manual laborer here is rich compared to someone in a third-world country.  I have a home, clothes, food, cars, bank accounts, insurance and doctors to help me when I’m sick, and… Amazon for anything else.  And yet, I am still anxious about many things. Lord, help me!)

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Jesus tells His disciples,

“Do NOT be anxious about your life (how to live longer), about your body (what you will eat or what clothing you will wear).

  • Food: “Consider the ravens, they don’t sow or reap or use storehouses, yet God feeds THEM. How much more value are YOU?”
  • Life span: “Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to your life? If you can’t do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”
  • Clothing: “Consider the lilies, they neither toil nor spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass which is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe YOU.”

Jesus then rebukes them kindly.

“O, you of little faith!  Your Father knows that you need these things.  Instead, seek HIS KINGDOM, and these things will be ADDED TO YOU.  Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s GOOD PLEASURE to give you the kingdom.”

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Vss. 12:33-34.

The next thing Jesus says makes our jaws drop, and our eyes bulge.

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.”

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What??  Does Jesus mean ALL my possessions, or just the excess, the stuff I annually set out for the Goodwill?  

SELL my possessions? That means the valuable stuff, right?  I’LL be the needy one if I do that. Won’t I?  

Okay… so the house is pretty bare now… but what about my vacation plans?  My retirement savings?  My insurance policies?  Sell… them… TOO???

Can you see my thinking, above? Concern with stuff for the here and now.  Jesus wants me to look to my ultimate future: Heaven for eternity.  He wants my HEART to let go of these things, not to value them so much. I should be “looking for the Kingdom of God” that is coming soon.

I don’t believe Jesus demands us (all) to give everything away. We can use what we have to help the needy.  We can also stop stockpiling riches, like that fool in the parable, and begin looking with love to share with those around us.

(Even when the early church sold their possessions to share, Peter told them they did not have to give it ALL. Just how much they wanted to give. See Acts 5:3-4)

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“Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens.”

This treasure does not fail, cannot be stolen, or eaten by moths.

 Where your treasure is (in heaven or in your freshly built barn?), that’s where your heart will also be.”

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Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/20) Luke 11:14-32

Apr20

A 5-day per week study.

April 20 – Reading Luke 11:14-32

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”  Luke

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The Gospel according to Luke

REVIEW – Last time, Jesus taught on prayer. How to do it, and how to be humbly persistent. We can be confident of answers when we ask, seek, and knock because God, our Heavenly Father, wants to give good gifts to His children.

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Vss. 11:14-23.

What a curious thing that someone would accuse Jesus of doing a merciful act by conspiring with the devil!  It’s so wrong in many ways!

  1. First, Jesus is exercising power AGAINST the bondage of Satan.
  2. He is freeing a helpless man whom Satan maliciously bound.
  3. The righteous Son of God cannot be in league with the blasphemous son of perdition.
  4. Jesus is sinless, merciful, kind, good, self-sacrificing, and loving. Satan is greedy, a murderer, a deceiver, a liar, and an accuser of Christians.
  5. Good vs evil. White vs black. Beauty vs the stench of decay.

Seriously, people!

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus stated it plainly.

  • “A kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided house falls.”
  • “If Beelzebul (the devil) is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”
  • “But, if it is by the ‘finger of God’ that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

The King was in their midst, showing His sovereign power. He demonstrated that by binding Satan and his demons.

Jesus then illustrates this with a little story.

A strong man will fully arm himself to guard his palace and his “stuff.”  BUT, if a STRONGER one attacks and overcomes him, that one will not only take away the spoil, but … his armor as well.

Jesus not only freed the mute man from his suffering, but He also bound the demon. He took away his “armor.”   Jesus is all-powerful; He does NOT need Beelzebul’s help.

(These people – and perhaps many today – were spiritually blind.)

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Vss. 11:24-26.

Jesus then warns these “blind” spectators about their own false exorcists, who DO pair up with the devil for power. Jesus uses this story.

An unclean spirit is “cast out” by one of these so-called exorcists. The person cleans up his life, but there is no lasting power involved, so the demon gathers more of his evil fellows to dwell in the now “swept and orderly” person’s being, making the second state worse than the first.

THIS is not how JESUS works.  “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  (John 8:36)

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Vss. 11:27-28.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a woman yells out, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed!”

Umm…

Jesus doesn’t deny His mother’s blessings, but assures the woman and the crowd that it is WAY more blessed to HEAR the Word of God and to OBEY it.

Awkward moment averted.

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Vss. 11:29-32.

Earlier, some in the crowd, in order to test Jesus, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven, to prove Himself.

Now Jesus tells them that it’s an evil generation that seeks a sign for proof. (Jesus wants them to have faith.)  He says that they won’t get any sign except for the sign of Jonah.

Huh?

Disobedient Jonah? Swallowed by a fish, Jonah?  Disgruntled but obeying anyway, Jonah? Whining at the bad guys repenting, Jonah?

No.

Jonah was three days in the belly of the fish, as good as dead. Jesus was three days in the grave, truly dead.  Both emerge: Jonah to preach judgment to Nineveh, and Jesus as a judgment to come. Nineveh and the people of today both experience(d) mercy and grace. But judgment did (and will) come.

“Someone ‘greater than Jonah’ is here,” Jesus warned.

Jesus’ resurrection would be the “sign.” Would they then believe?

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/17) Luke 11:1-13

Apr17

A 5-day per week study.

April 17 – Reading Luke 11:1-13

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Lord, teach us to pray…”  Luke 11:1

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The Gospel according to Luke

Review – Last time, Jesus visited two sisters in Bethany. Martha is anxious because there is “so much to do.” She commands Jesus to tell Mary to help her! Jesus, kindly but firmly, says no. Mary’s choice to sit and listen to his teaching was a good one. Rebuked … what did Martha do?

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Vss. 11:1-4.

We don’t know where this happened, but somewhere, the disciples quietly watched Jesus as He prayed. After He finished, they asked Him to teach them to pray.  And Jesus did.

This is a shorter version of the “Lord’s Prayer” that Jesus taught the crowds in the Sermon on the Mount. At that time, He’d instructed them…

  1. NOT to stand up to pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by others, but to go into their room, shut the door, and pray to God in secret. God will hear that prayer.
  2. NOT to “heap up empty words” when they prayed as the pagans did. God knew what they needed even before they asked.

Here, Jesus gave them a simplified version.

  • Whom to pray to: the Father,
  • Worship/adoration: hallowed (holy) is Your name.
  • Humble submission to His will: (may) Your kingdom come.
  • Looking to Him for our needs: give us each day our daily bread,
  • Confession: forgive us our sins
  • Repentance: as we forgive everyone indebted to us.
  • Dependence on Him for holy living: lead us not into temptation.

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Vss. 11:5-7.

Jesus encourages His disciples not just to recite a prayer, but to be serious and urgent in their praying. We aren’t to kneel for a 5-minute morning prayer and a few “table graces” and think that is all we need.

Jesus then tells the disciples a parable to illustrate the persistence they should have in prayer.

The scenario Jesus paints is that of a man surprised by a friend who arrives very late at night from a long journey. The man wants to feed this tired and hungry traveler, but there is nothing in the “fridge.”

Even though it is late, he goes to his neighbor, who is also a friend. And, although this neighbor and his entire family have long since blown out the lamps and gone to bed, our guy pounds on the door.

“Please lend me three small loaves for a surprise visitor!”

“What? Are you serious? We are all in bed! I can’t get up to give you any bread!”

Knock, knock, knock. “Please! Just a few loaves!”

“Go away!”

Knock, knock, knock. “Please, I have nothing to give him at all!”

Silence.

Knock, knock, knock. “Please, neighbor! I am desperate. I have nothing!”

Silence.

Then a click and a creak as the door is opened.  A basket of bread is shoved out. Our man takes it and begins to thank his neighbor profusely, but the door closes.

Nevertheless, he joyfully returns home. He has something to feed his exhausted and hungry long-distance visitor.

(No, this is not teaching us to simply “bother God” with constantly repeating requests. Or that God is begrudging with His answers.  But with another’s need in mind, and with a selfless, dependent attitude, we are to be persistent before the throne of grace.)

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Vss. 11:8-10.

So, Jesus encourages His disciples in TWO WAYS to –

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

“For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.”

That almost seems like ‘carte blanche’. But note the examples of requests that Jesus gives in the next section.

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Vss. 11:11-13.

“If a son asks for a FISH (to eat), will the father give him a snake instead?

If a son asks for an EGG, will the father give him a scorpion?

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give THE HOLY SPIRIT to those who ask Him?”

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/14) Luke 10:1-24

Apr14

A 5-day per week study.

April 14 – Reading Luke 10:1-24

Read and believe in Jesus.

“”  Luke

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The Gospel according to Luke 10:1-24

Review –

In the last lesson, the disciples didn’t seem all that “spiritual.”  They argued about WHO was the greatest among them.  They tried to stop a person who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name JUST BECAUSE he wasn’t a part of “the Twelve.”  And James and John wanted to call down FIRE FROM HEAVEN on a Samaritan town because they wouldn’t let them stay there overnight.

Then, three men that Jesus called to follow Him turned back because it conflicted with their lifestyles.  What disappointments for Jesus as He steadily walked towards Jerusalem and all that would happen there.

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Vss. 10:1-12.

Jesus appointed 72 others of those who were following Him to go on ahead.  Their mission?  They were to prepare the people of the towns on the way to Jerusalem for Jesus’ visit.  Not for accommodations, but their hearts.

Jesus told them that the harvest in these towns was huge.  People’s hearts were ready to hear “good news.” He also told these missionaries to pray to God for even MORE workers.

Like when Jesus sent out the Twelve, He gave these workers instructions.

  1. They were to go out in pairs. (Two are stronger than a lone witness in any situation.)
  2. They were to carry no extra supplies (be self-sufficient), but to go in faith that God would use the townspeople to feed and house them.
  3. They were to announce their purpose right away. “Peace be to this house.” (They were not promoting a Messiah of insurrection.)
  4. Like their Master, they were to heal and preach that the kingdom of God had come.
  5. And … if the town did NOT receive them (like that Samaritan town in the previous lesson), they were to shake the dust off their feet as they left, as a sign that the kingdom of God had come near them, and they’d refused it.

A town’s refusal to accept His message was not about “them.”  It was a collective refusal of the mercy and grace of God, who had not spared His Only Son but sent Him, as a sacrificial Lamb, to take on the sin of the world and experience the death that was the “earned wages.”

“I tell you it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

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Vss. 10:13-16.

Jesus then names three towns in Galilee that had, for the most part, rejected His message. (Yes, they had gladly received His miracles!)

Chorazin (inland), Bethsaida, and Capernaum were all at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee.  And even though Capernaum had been the headquarters of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and had never forced Jesus out or tried to kill Him, their hearts had remained indifferent.

It’s kind of a shock that Jesus said, “If the mighty works done in these cities had been done in Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon, THEY would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.” And the people of these cities – because they had had the very Saviour of the world ministering in them for three years … would be held MORE accountable on the day of judgment.

Whoa.  A warning to my country, America, so privileged, with the Gospel, Bibles, churches, and ministries available on every hand. And still the cares and pleasures of this world seem more important.

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Vss. 10:17-20.

The 72 returned to Jesus WITH JOY. They were so amazed that “even the demons were subject to us in Your name!”

Jesus reminded them that HE had seen Satan fall like lightning from heaven (after his rebellion). Jesus was eminently more powerful than Satan, a mere fallen angel. He gave his followers authority over all the enemy’s power.  Nothing could harm them, apart from God’s will.

“Nevertheless, so not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

YES!  THAT is the important part. That our names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life. The greatest wonder of all is the reality of salvation – the whole point of the Gospel. (Philippians 4:3, Hebrews 12:23, Revelation 21:27).

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Vss. 10:21-24.

Then Jesus turns to His Father in prayer, rejoicing that “The Lord of heaven and earth had hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and had revealed them to ‘little children,’ for this was His gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son … and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Yes, Jesus, we are so privileged. We thank You!

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/10) Luke 9:21-45

Apr10

A 5-day per week study.

April 10 – Reading Luke 9:21-45

Read and believe in Jesus.

“There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:27b

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The Gospel according to Luke 9:21-45

Review – In the last study, we saw the Twelve sent out on a short-term mission trip and returned “pumped.”  Meanwhile, Herod is fearful of all that Jesus is doing and wants to see Him.  Jesus feeds the 5000, then asks His disciples who they say that He is.  “The Christ of God!”

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Vss. 20-22.

When Peter answers Jesus’ question about who THEY think He is, Jesus charges them to give NO ONE ELSE this information … at least not right then.  Many important things must happen to Him first, before they will understand, and the world can receive it.

The disciples have now confessed their “faith” in Him as the Messiah.  Jesus begins to prepare them for His death, the whole reason He has come.   This is the first of three times He tells them….

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

It goes right over their heads.

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Vss. 23-27.

Then Jesus tells these men something even more cryptic.

  • “If ANYONE would come after me, let him DENY himself, TAKE UP HIS CROSS daily, and FOLLOW Me.
  • “Whoever would SAVE his life, will LOSE it, but whoever LOSES his life for My sake will SAVE it.
  • “What does it PROFIT a man if he gains the whole world and FORFEITS himself?
  • “Whoever is ASHAMED of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man BE ASHAMED when He comes in glory.”

“The cross” was a horrific, shameful instrument of execution for the vilest of criminals.  It meant guilt, condemnation, judgment, and excruciating suffering. WHY would Jesus tell His followers that they must submit to this self-denial … daily … in order to be His disciples?

Loss = salvation; forfeit and shame = profit.

This also goes right over the disciples’ heads.

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..And then Jesus says, “I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not TASTE DEATH until they SEE the kingdom of God.”

  • Some standing there (Peter, John, and James)
  • Not taste death (it will happen soon, and they will not die when it happens).
  • See the kingdom of God (the transfiguration of Jesus, a glimpse of His former and ultimate glory).

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Vss. 28-36.

This is another experience that the disciples kept silent about until after Jesus was resurrected. (See 2 Peter 1:16-18)

As Jesus was praying, He was endued with glistening, brilliant white light (think a constant strobe spreading out from Him) – His face, form, and clothing.

It was as though He pulled aside the veil of His humanity so these three could glimpse “the glory that He had with the Father before the world existed.” (See John 17:5)

With Him, they saw Moses and Elijah, representing “the Law” and “the Prophets,” which Jesus totally fulfilled.  Curiously, they were discussing His upcoming death (departure or exodus).

The three disciples fell into a deep (coma) of sleep. When they were awakened, Peter burst forth with “the greatest idea he’d ever had!”   “Let’s make three tents here; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!!!” 

Have you ever done something like that?  Blurted out something entirely stupid and inappropriate?  He probably would have babbled on if not the cloud of God’s glory hadn’t overshadowed the scene, and the voice of God hadn’t interrupted him.

“This is my Chosen One; LISTEN TO HIM!”

And then it was over, and they were walking silently down from Mt. Tabor’s peak.

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Vss. 37-43.

In the crowd that met Jesus was a desperate man with a totally demon-possessed little boy.

(NOTE: this was his ONLY child.  Alone in the Gospels, Dr. Luke mentions that, and previously that the Nain widow’s dead son was her only child, and that Jairus had only his one daughter.  Doesn’t it remind you of the sacrifice of God, who gave His ONLY Son, Jesus, to be sin for us?)

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For some reason, the disciples were unable to cast out this vicious demon  (though they had done exorcisms many times on their evangelistic tours).

Jesus, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?

Who was Jesus talking to/about?

His own disciples, who vacillated between great faith and “O, ye of little faith.”

The desperate man describes the horrible things that the demon does to his little son. “It seizes him so that he cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth. It shatters him and will hardly leave him alone.”

(NOTE: Although this may seem like a bad case of epilepsy to modern ears, Dr. Luke clearly identifies it as demon possession.)

As Jesus approached the boy, the demon made one last attempt to kill this only son.  But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and, like the resurrected son Jesus “gave back” to the widow of Nain, Jesus gave this little boy back to his father.

And all were astonished at the MAJESTY of GOD.

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Vss. 43b-45.

As the crowd was all marveling at everything Jesus was doing, He took his disciples aside and said, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

(Were the disciples thinking – with the crowds – that Jesus was about to come into his glory, and be crowned the King and save the nation?? Jesus had to bring reality to their thinking.)

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The sad thing is, “they did not understand. It was concealed from them, so they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask about it.”

WHY?

Because it was God’s sovereign design that they would NOT UNDERSTAND until after Jesus’ resurrection. His death for sinful mankind would then be understandable to them.

 Luke 24:45-48 – “Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses to these things.’” 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/8) Luke 8:40-56

Apr8

A 5-day per week study.

April 8 – Reading Luke 8:40-56

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Do not fear, only believe.”  Luke 8:50

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The Gospel according to Luke 8:40-56

Review –

Jesus reacted to family (natural & spiritual). Jesus slept during a storm but awoke and calmed the wind and sea. Across the Lake, Jesus calms a different kind of whirlwind and raging sea, that of the demon-possessed man. Pigs are involved, and a former demoniac becomes an evangelist in his hometown.

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We’ve already studied these next two side-by-side incidents in Mark.  Let’s see how Dr. Luke tells them.

It’s interesting how he writes the stories in pairs.  First, the Centurion’s servant and the widow’s only son were cured/resurrected. Then the raging wind and sea calmed, mirroring the raging madness and deliverance of the demon-possessed man.  Now two “daughters” are cured and restored to “life” at twelve years.

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Vss. 40-42.

Jairus’ VERY sick daughter.

As soon as Jesus crosses back over the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, a prominent, important leader of the synagogue falls at His feet, begging him to come heal his daughter of 12 years, who is at the brink of death.

“I will,” says Jesus, and goes with Jairus.

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Vss. 43-48.

A VERY unclean “daughter” of Israel.

But He is stopped by an unnamed woman who has been ceremonially unclean with an “issue of blood” for as long as Jairus’ daughter has been alive.  She cannot worship in the synagogue, be among “clean” women, or be touched by anyone without infecting them with her “uncleanness.”  And she is now destitute because she’s spent ALL her money on doctors to cure her, but NONE were able to help her.

(I bet that made Dr. Luke feel bad!)

In the crowd following Jesus, this “outcast” woman sneaks up and touches the fringe of Jesus’ prayer garment – one of the four corner tassels with blue threads woven through it. IMMEDIATELY, healing power flows into her, and she is HEALED!

Healed, yes.  But NOT RESTORED (cleansed) in the eyes of Israel.

“Who touched me?” Jesus asks.

“Are you serious, Jesus. All these people are crowding around you. EVERYONE is touching you!” says Peter.

“Someone touched me for healing, for I perceive that POWER has gone out from  me.”

Then Jesus SAW the woman.

She saw she could not hide and came trembling to Jesus. And IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL THAT CROWD, she declared WHY she had touched Jesus, AND that she’d been cured.

(Even today, those who are redeemed by the grace of God should not remain silent, but testify to all how Jesus saved them!)

Not in a rush, not stressed by the anxious Jairus pacing nearby, Jesus looked at the woman and said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Daughter. No longer an outcast. She now has the same standing as Jairus’s own innocent little girl.

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Vss. 49-56.

A VERY dead little girl.

Jairus is torn apart with anxiety and dread while Jesus ministers to the woman.

After all, HIS DAUGHTER is more worthy of Jesus’ attention; she’s an innocent little girl.  And HE, the leader of the synagogue, is surely more important than that woman. His daughter deserves Jesus’ attention more than she does.  HIS situation is more dire. That woman has waited twelve years; let her wait a few more minutes!!!

“I’m sorry, Sir,” whispers one of his servants. “Your daughter has died.  Bother the Master no longer.”

And like that, this important man’s world has ended. He falls to his knees with a deep wail of sorrow and “if only…”

Did he now feel the hopelessness and loss of all joy that the woman had felt for twelve years?

“Do not fear, only believe, and she will be well,” came Jesus’s words through his bitter anguish. He looks up through tears.

Numb, he stumbles along beside Jesus and approaches his house – so very close! (if only…)

Already, the paid mourners are weeping and wailing out front.

“Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping,” Jesus said.

And taking Peter, John, and James along with the girl’s parents, Jesus goes into the house, where the body of the little girl lies. He takes her by the hand.

“Child, arise,”  Jesus says, and the little girl’s spirit RETUNS to her. (Yes, she WAS dead.)  She sits up at once, and Jesus directs that some food be brought to her.

(If she’s been sick a while, she NEEDS food.  But also, at least with Jesus and the disciples after HIS resurrection, eating food is proof positive that indeed the dead one has been brought back to life.)

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And so, there was joy in two households that day. Two daughters had been restored to life. One goes back to a normal way of living, loving, enjoying fellowship, and the other goes back to literal breathing and eating.

JESUS IS the Resurrection and the LIFE.  PRAISE HIM!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/7) Luke 8:16-39

Apr7

A 5-day per week study.

April 7 – Reading Luke 8:16-39

Read and believe in Jesus.

“”  Luke

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The Gospel according to Luke 8:16-39

Review – In the last study, women follow Jesus and use their resources to support the group. Jesus’ teaching is now in parables as both a judgment and a mercy. The parable of the Sower/Soils puzzles the disciples, but Jesus explains it to them.

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Vss. 19-21.

Jesus is surrounded by crowds, no matter which town or village he goes to.  He is healing and teaching, although now more in veiled parables.

  1. He ended the Parable of the Sower/Soils by describing the “good” soil as “Those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, AND bear fruit with patience.”

While He is teaching, Jesus’ mother (Mary) and his brothers come to him. But they cannot get TO Him because of the crowd. We know from other accounts that Mary is concerned about Him because he doesn’t even take time to eat. (Sounds like a mom, right?)  Perhaps she brought his half-siblings along to maybe physically take him aside to eat.

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Yes, Jesus had brothers and sisters.  These are those who were born AFTER Jesus’ virgin birth.  They had Mary as their mom, but Joseph was their birth father, unlike Jesus.

(NOTE: Both Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3 give the names of the brothers: James (who became the leader of the Jerusalem church and wrote a book by that name), Joseph, Simon, and Judas (or Jude), who also wrote a book in the New Testament – that shortie right before The Revelation.  Matthew mentions “all” of Jesus’ sisters, so He had at least three, although they are not named.)

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Jesus loved and respected His mother, but since his ministry, and eventually the way to the cross, began, His family had to take a secondary position.  He was now “Messiah,” “Savior,” and “Redeemer.”  Faith, not family, was primary.

  1. Jesus said to those who were telling Him His family was summoning Him, “My mother and my brothers are those who HEAR the word of God and DO it.”
  2. This was the point he made with that Parable. It was also something His brother, James, remembered.  In James’ letter (1:22), the church leader wrote, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

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Vss. 22-25.

After this, and to get some rest and alone time with His disciples, Jesus suggested, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”

As soon as they set out, Jesus fell asleep on the bench at the back of the boat.

  • The disciples took turns rowing.
  • The wind freshened, then started to blow in earnest. It whipped up the waves, and they began to wash over the sides of the boat.
  • The disciples bucketed out the water, but they couldn’t do it fast enough, and the water level rose. The boat sank deeper into the Sea.
  • They were in serious danger!
  • One sloshed to the back of the boat, shaking Jesus. “MASTER, MASTER, we are perishing!”
  • Jesus sat up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves.
  • Both ceased, and there was a calm.
  • Silence and awe.
  • Jesus, “Where is your faith?”
  • They whispered among themselves, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and water and they obey Him?”

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The disciples were about to meet ANOTHER crazy whirlwind and dangerous, angry storm as soon as they reached the other side of the Lake.  A wild, dangerous demoniac. Jesus’ words would once again bring calm and peace.

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Vss. 26-39.

AS SOON AS they stepped out of the boat, the crazy, naked, menacing, demon-possessed man met them. (Talk about stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire!)

This poor man had been uncontrollable, both by himself and by the men of the town.  They had restrained him, but he broke the shackles and ran around naked in the graveyard, screaming and cutting himself.

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(This is a picture of Satan and what he would love to do to us all.  Praise God that Jesus defeated him, not only in the wilderness temptations, but would do once and for all on the cross.)

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  • The demons in the man slammed him down to the ground before Jesus. (They had no choice.)
  • Jesus commanded the demon(s) to come out.
  • “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!”
  • “What is your name?” Jesus demanded.
  • “Legion, for we are many,” they said and begged Jesus not to send them into the Abyss.”

(NOTE: The Abyss was the pit, the underworld, the prison of bound demons who disobeyed. 2 Peter 2:4 adds about fallen angels, “God committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.”)

  • Jesus instead commanded that this “legion” of demons be sent into a large herd of pigs nearby. The swine promptly ran over the cliff and perished in the lake.
  • This, of course, upset the swineherds and the townspeople, and they asked Jesus to “depart from them.” This, even though the former demon-possessed man was now sitting at the feet of Jesus, fully clothed, “in his right mind.”

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(We haven’t heard a peep out of the disciples. Were they standing around, first in fear, then in awe, then in amazement?  Did they ask themselves again, “Who then is this that a legion of demons obey Him?”)

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The released, whole, and sane former slave to Satan begged Jesus that he might go with Him.  But Jesus told the “new disciple” to return to his home and “declare how much God has done for you.”  

Saved, freed, and now a witness and preacher in his own hometown. “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”

Again, one who heard, believed, and became a “doer of the Word.”

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/6) Luke 8:1-15

Apr6

A 5-day per week study.

April 6 – Reading Luke 8:1-15

Read and believe in Jesus.

“They are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”  Luke 8:15

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The Gospel according to Luke 8:1-15

Review – While Jesus was at a pompous Simon’s home, a “woman of the city” came and fell at Jesus feet, wetting them with her tears and anointing them with ointment. Simon was disgusted. The woman was forgiven and saved by her faith. Jesus sees hearts.

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Vss, 1-3.

After leaving Simon’s house, Jesus went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.  The TWELVE disciples were with Him, AND ALSO some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities,

Luke – perhaps because he was a physician – often highlighted, or at least provided more detail about, the women Jesus interacted with than the other Gospel writers did. Here, he names three, but there were “many others” who followed Jesus.

  1. There was Mary, called Magdalene (because she was from the lakeside town of Magdala). Jesus cast out seven demons from her. (And no, this does not mean she was a prostitute, not the woman of the city in the previous account in Luke 7.)
  2. Joanna is an interesting and independent woman. Her husband, Chuza, was King Herod’s household manager. They were probably a wealthy couple, but I wonder how she met Jesus. Was she healed of some horrible disease?  (She could have been the one who supplied Luke with the details of Herod’s house in Luke 23:8 and 12.)
  3. And there was Susanna. This gal is mentioned nowhere else in scripture. Perhaps she was someone Luke knew personally.

These women “provided for Jesus and the Twelve out of their own means.”

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Vss. 4-8.

Here is when Jesus’ ministry takes a turn.  Up until now, He has been teaching plainly about the Kingdom of God. (The sermon on the mount, etc.).  NOW, Jesus begins to use parables to teach.

WE kind of like parables. We like to think about and even debate their meanings. We often teach them to children.

**** However, unlike the analogies Jesus used (you are salt of the earth, light of the world, etc.), parables required more explanation.  Jesus used them to “obscure the truth from unbelievers.”  Doing this was both a judgment and a mercy. They “loved the dark and had rejected the light,” and more truth would only add more condemnation.

Even the disciples were not sure what Jesus meant by these stories.  They would often ask Him the meaning in private, and, of course, Jesus would explain it to them.

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This first one is very well known. The Parable of the Sower (or sometimes, the Soils) would have resonated with the local farmers. They knew this happened to the seeds that they cast out in sweeping arcs from the bags.  They knew that not all the seed germinated and produced a crop.

BUT what the seed and the soil stood for, and what those hinderances to a plentiful crop signified in Jesus’ teaching, was beyond them.

  1. Some seed fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
  2. Some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
  3. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
  4. Some seed fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.

Jesus ended the parable with, “He who has ears to HEAR, let him hear.”

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Vss. 9-10.

When the disciples asked Him what He meant, Jesus said, “To YOU it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but FOR OTHERS they are in parables … so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand.”

Now this seems hard for us to take in. Doesn’t Jesus want the crowds to know and understand the truths He’s teaching?

Well, yes, but hardened hearts do not WANT to understand. They figuratively put up their hands and turn away from the truth. The religious leaders are prime examples.  Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9, where God blinds unbelievers.

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Vss. 11-15.

Then He explains the parable to His disciples.

  1. The seed is the Word of God.
  2. The “packed-down” soil along the path that gets seed but does not take it in are those who have heard, but the devil comes and takes it away from their hearts so they may not believe and be saved.
  3. The soil on the rocks also receives seed, and perhaps the seed springs up quickly “with joy” (it sounds good, but they don’t really apply it to their heart). When testing coms, they fall away.
  4. The thorny soil seems to take in the truth, but the “thorns” (cares, riches, pleasures of life) soon choke out the precious Gospel truth, and they do not mature.
  5. The good soil represents those who hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Ah, it seems so clear after Jesus explains it.

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Vss. 16-18.

Jesus says that even though He was now teaching in parables, His message WAS NOT meant to be kept secret for a few elite disciples.

The LIGHT is to be put on a lampstand so it can be seen.   STILL, only those “with eyes to see” will see it.

And then that cryptic message: To the one who HAS, MORE will be given, and from the one who HAS NOT, even what he thinks that he has WILL BE TAKEN AWAY.

(Those who scorn the light of the Gospel NOW, will have all light removed from them in eternity…..)

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (4/1) Luke 7:1-17

Apr1

A 5-day per week study.

April 1 – Reading Luke 7:1-17

Read and believe in Jesus.

“I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”  Luke 7:9b

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The Gospel according to Luke 7:1-17

Review – Jesus taught about LOVE: our enemies and each other (possible only with the indwelling Holy Spirit). He gave three illustrations: 1) A man with a speck of sawdust in his eye, and ME with a log in mine. 2) Two trees, bearing good or bad fruit, and what our hearts produce. 3) And two homebuilders with different foundations (knowing Christ or not) and different results in a storm (safety or destruction).

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Vss. 1-10.

From teaching on the hillside, Jesus goes into the town of Capernaum.

There was a Roman Centurion living there who “loved Israel” and had, in fact, built the synagogue for the Jews.

(He reminds me of the Centurian, Cornelius, in Acts 10, who loved God, and after Peter preached to him, was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and many in his house.)

This Centurion is unnamed, but his faith is strong as well. Knowing how Jews feel about entering a gentile home, he sends some elders to “Rabbi Jesus” to ask for healing for his deathly ill servant.  They plead his cause earnestly, saying that “He’s worthy.” And Jesus goes with them.

But near the Centurion’s home, they are met by some of his friends with the message, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.”

He tells Jesus that he’s a man of authority, and at his word, soldiers and servants obey. He sees Jesus with just such authority.  “Say the word and let my servant be healed.” And Jesus does. And from that moment, the servant is healed.

Then Jesus, marveling at this, turns to the crowd and says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

(Matthew’s account says Jesus adds these words, “Many will come from the east and the west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.”)

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Vss. 11-17.

Soon afterward, Jesus, His disciples, and “a great crowd” go from Capernaum to a town called Nain, about 35 miles south-west of Capernaum.

As they got near the gate to the town, “a considerable crowd” was coming out of the city. It was a funereal procession. The only son of a widow was being carried out in an open bier to the graveyard.

Imagine the chaos when these two huge crowds met and mingled outside the gates to Nain.  But still … JESUS SAW THE WIDOW.  Yes, she was in black, but many mourners were too.  Yes, she was weeping, but mourners wept and wailed all around.  Jesus’s eyes and heart were drawn to that woman. Such empathy and compassion!

With no husband and no children to support her, she would probably become destitute, a beggar. Fear and despair mingled with her sorrow.

Jesus came near to her and said, “Don’t cry.”

Then Jesus TOUCHED the open coffin (officially in the eyes of the Jews, making Him “ceremonially unclean”). The procession stopped. Jesus said to the dead body of the widow’s son, “Arise.”  It was a command.

The dead man sat up and began to speak.

Imagine the astonishment! The fear! The people stumbling backward!  The rubbing of eyes in disbelief!

And gentle/powerful, kind/and kingly, Jesus “gave the boy to his mother.”

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

That last statement was truer than they realized. Immanuel (God with us) was indeed there.

And yet another “report” about Jesus’ miracles went out through the surrounding country.

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(NOTE: The town of Shunem was just a couple of miles away.  This is where (800 years earlier) the great prophet Elisha stayed with a wealthy family when traveling.  The barren couple had asked him to pray for a son, and God answered his prayer.  Later, the couple’s son died, and when Elisha prayed, he was revived.   Surely, this was what was in the minds of the people of Nain when they said, “A great prophet has arisen among us!”   But so much greater was Jesus, the Son of God.)

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (3/31) Luke 6:27-49

Mar31

A 5-day per week study.

March 31 – Reading Luke 6:27:49

Read and believe in Jesus.

“As you wish others would do to you, do so to them.” Luke 6:31

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The Gospel according to Luke 6:27:49

Review – Jesus, after a night in prayer, chose twelve of all the disciples to be Apostles.  Then Jesus began teaching the Sermon on the Mount to His disciples, starting with the Beatitudes.

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Vss. 27-36.

Have you ever read (and really pondered) 1 Corinthians 13?  If you have time, do it now.  It describes the selfless LOVE we are to have towards each other: the self-sacrificing LOVE Jesus had for sinners when He died in their place.

Now, read these verses in Luke about loving OUR ENEMIES.

REALLY??  Our enemies?  (And yet, isn’t that what sinners are to a Holy God?)

  1. Love your enemies,
  2. Do good to those who hate you,
  3. Bless those who curse you,
  4. Pray for those who abuse you,
  5. Willingly accept a blow to the other cheek,
  6. Give to him more than what he takes from you,
  7. Generously lend to him, and neither require nor expect anything back.

And WHY does Jesus say His disciples are to do this?

“You will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.”

And also, “your reward (in heaven) will be great.”

(Of course, there is no way we can do this without the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Romans 5:5 tells us that “God’s LOVE has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

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Vss. 37-45.

BAD judging and GOOD judging.  FIRST, the BAD kind.

“Judge not, lest you be judged. Condemn not, lest you be condemned.” 

This is the self-righteous, pompous, looking-down-your-nose, wagging-your-finger type of judging.  It says, “I” certainly would NOT do that!

The thing is, WE probably WOULD do the offence, given the right circumstances.  We are ALL sinners.

(And as my Hubby likes to say, “When you point a finger at someone, the other three fingers are pointing back at YOU!”)

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No, Jesus tells His followers to, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven, give and it will be given to you, and in a measure you will barely be able to hold!”

And to illustrate His words, Jesus tells them to “picture” a big LOG in your eye, keeping you from seeing anything.  Then, picture a tiny speck of dust in your brother’s eye.   SERIOUSLY, you need to remove that “log” before you can help your brother.

(Jesus was not talking about literal logs and specks, but those faults that we are so eager to point out in others, when OURS are totally larger and more grievous. Go to God, humbly confess your sin, repent of it, and then with tenderness and understanding you can help your brother.)

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GOOD judging.

We aren’t to be “judges” of others, but we CAN be “fruit inspectors.”

Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.”

And again, it is a HEART issue.  What is in the DNA makeup of a tree determines what fruit it will bear, and what is in the heart of man is what will come out in his life and through his mouth

We can try to be sweet and kind.  We can try to bear sweet juicy peaches.  But if our unsaved nature is to be a “crabapple tree,” all we can bear is … crabapples.   Again, it is the Holy Spirit of God, given to us when we are saved (regenerated), who can change our selfish selves into Christlike ones.  THEN, the “fruit of the Spirit” will grow freely and naturally.

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Vss. 46-49.

Jesus now gives a familiar illustration of two homebuilders.

One is thorough, spends more time and money, but builds a sturdy house on a bedrock foundation.

The other is impatient, does not seek out or listen to building codes, and puts up a “quickie” pre-fab home on soft, golden sand.

What happens when a storm breaks the upstream dam, and a huge flood of water rushes at the houses is both reassuring and horrific.

  • The house on the rock (Christ) stood firm.
  • The house built on sand went “smack,” as kids clap their hands when singing that song.  (“It fell, and great was the ruin of it.”)

Okay, so trees and houses, what is Jesus teaching?

Come to Him … hear His words … obey.   Simple.  Let the Word of Christ change you from the inside out, and you will be strong, loving disciples in His kingdom.