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LUKE CHAPTERS 7 & 8 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Lk 7,1-10 (67b) Authority >> Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He is above all other authorities – Jesus never contended that this person was worthy of Him. It wasn’t important that they knew Jesus at the time; in fact, He even tried to hide His true identity from them, but it would be important that they knew Him after His resurrection and ascension. He was the savior of the world; He came to save Israel and the whole world from their sins. His heavenly ministry as the Great High Priest was far greater than His ministry on earth. So when the centurion's slave landed on his deathbed a second time, he had better know Jesus as his savior with the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, so when he dies he can go to heaven. The whole purpose of Jesus preaching the gospel and healing the sick and doing what no one else could do was to prove that He was the Messiah, the expected one. (125b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Faith and love >> Faith toward God and love toward man – The biblical concept of faith is interwoven into the qualities of goodness, righteousness, faithfulness…, that is, interwoven into the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5-22,23). In other words, the fruits of the Spirit are created by faith, which once created also establishes our faith. The centurion demonstrated many of the fruits of the Spirit by the rapport that he developed with his servants through the kindness he showed to the Jews, being a clear example of Genesis 12-3, "I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." The centurion was blessed with faith that Israel should have had for their Messiah, being fond of his sick servant. There have been many slave owners who treated their slaves like dirt, but this man treasured the people who worked for him. The messengers thought a lot of him too, saying to Jesus that he was worthy of Jesus to come to him, but as it turned out the centurion didn't feel worthy of Jesus. The centurion’s faith, having derived from his military experience as a soldier, showcased that he was both in authority and under authority, just like Jesus. Lk 7-4,5 (174e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Justifying yourself Lk 7,6-10 (77h) Thy kingdom come >> Tapping into the power of God through humility >> The high position of a humble servant (114a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ word (192c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Life for life >> Losing your identity to gain God’s identity (253j) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is under the authority of the Father >> Jesus obtained power through subjection to the Father – The centurion understood the concept of delegating authority, which is why he sent servants to tell Jesus, “Just say the word and my servant would be healed.” That is, the word itself directed the power of God to the centurion’s house and healed his servant. This is something that the Roman centurion understood, but Israel as a whole did not. The centurion had a level of faith that excited Jesus; He highly praised the man, exclaiming, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” What made the centurion’s faith so great? It was that he believed in delegated authority! The Kingdom of God is based on this principle. Angels in heaven do God’s work, sent throughout His creation performing their duties, so God Himself does very little. God does the things that only He can do and delegates the rest to His creation. God could not give power to anybody to create the universe, so He created it Himself through Christ (Col 1,15-17), meaning that Jesus is part of the godhead. The Father is above all, Jesus is below Him, the Holy Spirit is below Christ, then the angels, and finally man. We are least of all, yet all things are for our sake. The fact that Jesus sits on His throne suggests that God is at rest. So this concept of delegating authority is central to the way God operates, and the centurion understood this. The great faith of the centurion was understanding that Jesus was able to use this principle to heal the sick servant remotely from where He stood, for it was not He who did the healing but His Father. Moreover, the Roman centurion knew the difference between the power of His word and the word of His power (Heb 1-3). Lk 7,6-8 (72e) Authority >> Transferring authority >> Men delegate authority by their words – Jesus commended the man who said, “Say the word, and my servant will be healed.” The man understood how authority works, indicating that He understood Jesus’ relationship with His Father. He understood that Jesus wasn’t doing whatever He wanted but did what His Father told Him. The centurion had been in the military his adult life and understood the hierarchy of authority and seemed to understand that the Kingdom of Heaven was based on these same principles, inviting Jesus to say, “I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.” The centurion understood that Jesus’ authority was not His own, and that His position as the son of man was to obey His Father, who is head of all things. God the Father is Jesus’ Lord and Master, past, present and future. Many people don’t understand this; they think Jesus did what He wanted, because that is probably how they live, undisciplined, unrestrained and unyielding. The centurion understood that the power of God that passed through Jesus’ fingertips originated from the tip of His tongue. God is not a bodybuilder; He is not strong in that way but is strong in the sense that He has all authority in heaven and on earth, over the stars and planets and galaxies millions of light-years into space, having spoken them into existence. Therefore, when Jesus spoke, He was speaking truth and light into existence in the hearts of those who would believe in Him for eternal life. The centurion understood that when Jesus laid His hands on somebody, their healing was through His words, and God has given us this authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all creation that some may be saved. The substance of their bodies came into existence by the word of God, yet they themselves do not believe in Him. Their form is the only thing in all creation that does not bow to His mighty power. Unbelief is an enigma. Stars and planets obey Him, but men do not. Man has been given a choice to believe in Him or to reject Him, yet the only decision with a future is to submit like Jesus did. He was with the Father before eternity began, and He was given the words to speak the creation into existence, but it was the Father’s imaginative creativity that caused it to appear and for each body to receive its own specific attributes. Jesus knows that the Father has everything under control and makes the very best decisions to benefit everyone involved. He will create a kingdom that no one can imagine, though He does things that many don’t agree, that if they had the power to create worlds, they couldn’t make anything as wonderful as heaven. Jesus has been with the Father from eternity-past and knows that He excels in everything He does, and now Jesus is calling us to trust the Father implicitly as He does, knowing we will be beneficiaries of our faith in ways we cannot comprehend. (73d) Authority >> Respect Positions Of Authority >> In the Church Lk 7,7-10 (145a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by speaking the word Lk 7-8,9 (66e) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> His position with the Father >> Jesus is under His authority Lk 7-11 (143l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> It is popular to follow Jesus KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,12-17 (108i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Revelation of the mysteries of God – The moment Jesus commanded the man to rise from the dead he sat up in the coffin. An obvious question: where was the man's spirit before Jesus spoke to him? Did he have to travel billions of miles back to his body? The spirit realm is a complete mystery to us because of our flesh. Imagine if we belonged wholly to the spirit realm and were only told about the physical realm consisting of complex molecules formed from inert matter that came to life. It seems unimaginable even to us who are in the flesh, much less if we lacked experience of these things. No wonder the spirit realm is an abrupt mystery—we don’t even understand the physical realm! Since there is no time in eternity, there is likely no space either. These are all concepts we cannot comprehend, because we live in a three dimensional world that is subordinate to time and space. If we could touch the spirit realm with the toe of one foot, where would it exist? We are not allowed to ask where! Jesus talked about Abraham’s bosom versus hell in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31). Where Abraham’s bosom is “located” is where this dead man must have been, but we don't know if that is an actual place. In the story Jesus talked about a chasm between the rich man and Lazarus, an impasse, not like a difficult canyon, but like separate realms, no more possible to cross than for us to pass into the spirit realm before death. These two realms were like light and darkness; they cannot exist together, so heaven and hell cannot exist together. Wherever this man was before Jesus raised from the dead, he immediately jumped back into his body after Jesus made it habitable again. The man didn’t have a choice; he wasn’t in a position to decide; there was no wrestling of wills involved. God absolutely controls the spirit realm, as opposed to this natural realm where He has relinquished control to man, to the elements, and to Satan. These are all things that are far from grasping with the mind. We have a body that scientists have only begun to understand. We get sick and go to the doctor and they have certain medicines and surgical procedures. They have names for all the body parts and understand many of the physiological processes, but in terms of how it all works is a challenge that man will never understand. Beyond the physical realm there is the spirit of the man, and this is something that we know nothing at all, and we never will until we enter the spirit realm of either light or darkness. There are mysteries in life that remain aloof, and many of them will be explained in heaven, but even then mysteries will persist throughout eternity. Lk 7,12-16 (115g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >> Seeing signs, wonders and miracles Lk 7,12-15 (123e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Being willing because you are able – Jesus raised the dead man for his mother’s sake, not for the dead man himself. Jesus exercised His power based on compassion, which is a spiritual emotion, opposed to all other emotions that are born of the flesh. In contrast, His disciples in the book of Acts chose to heal a man crippled from birth, not based on their compassion, but based on the leading of the Holy Spirit, as it suggests in Act 3-12, “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Just because the apostles had compassion for someone didn’t mean they could heal the person. God’s gracious choice was not based on their compassion, but on God’s willingness to demonstrate His power, and according to our finite perspective that willingness seems capricious, healing some and not others for no apparent reason. This was not the case with Jesus, who in some cases healed everyone, and in other case healed very few or none at all, based on the people's faith. (147g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Raising the dead (245h) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> The resurrection is a manifestation of His life Lk 7,18-21 (142i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Having a reputable ministry >> A reputation of ministry in the word – After all that John the Baptist had done and all the faith and boldness he had shown, when he was in prison and knew his life was about to end, he began to doubt just like all of us. So, did that make John the Baptist less of a person? Did it detract from his reputation as a minister of the gospel? Did it cast a shadow on all that God thought of Him? No, King David sinned too, and God didn't think less of Him. (221g) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from the mind of man >> He denies His kingdom to man’s stubborn will Lk 7-19,20 (20g) Sin >> Doubt is the consequence of the fear of death Lk 7,20-22 (152e) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Apostles >> Jesus is our great apostle KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,21-23 (141e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the healer – To bolster John’s confidence Jesus quoted the Old Testament. There was nothing Jesus could have said that would have sealed John’s faith in concrete more than this, more even than the miracles Jesus performed. John could now die in peace, knowing that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, which was absolute affirmation of his life-purpose and ministry. John must have thought to himself, ‘We have a miracle worker here, but is he the expected one? Was I deceived by this man?’ When John realized he was about to give his life for his faith in God, he began to doubt, but the moment he heard these words, he knew no one could have fulfilled the prophecies but the man for whose sake they were written. Lk 7-23 (2l) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not stumble over Him – God would never ask us to put away our reasoning, but use it to understand the truth. In the face of so many miracles, they conscientiously had no choice but to put away all their memories about Jesus as a boy growing up in their community, but they refused. His family and friends probably said something like this, 'He is a nice guy, but He isn’t the Son of God.' If our truth is only as accurate as people lie, then we simply don’t know the truth. It was a total shock to everyone who believed in Him when Jesus died on the cross. Nobody is ready for anything God does. We see things happen and our mouths drop in total astonishment at the difference between our expectations and what actually happened. (169e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Darkness has a blinding effect – John the Baptist had to ask if Jesus was the expected one because he too was duped with the rest of the nation into believing that when Israel's Messiah came, He would deliver them from all their enemies. This is the influence society has over people to make them assume certain things without ever questioning them. An unquestionable assumption is the most dangerous thought that the human mind contains, because it is off limits to examination. When so many people think the same thing, it is easy to make the assumption they everybody is right. For this reason the general consensus of the world has a blinding effect on the individual. Lk 7,24-28 (193d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin to God – Jesus raised up John the Baptist as someone greater than Elijah, who was known as the greatest prophet of Israel. Moses too was a prophet, and more than a prophet, which Jesus said about John the Baptist, who had a special ministry preparing the way of the Lord through baptism, which had never been done until John. He broke the ice, so when Jesus came with His preaching and teaching, His words would not fall on virgin ears. Look at the miraculous signs Elijah performed, even raising the dead. How could Jesus say that John the Baptist was greater than Elijah and give him equal status with Moses? Jesus was speaking in terms of endtime prophecy, in that Moses and Elijah will return as the two witnesses, not them but their ministries and anointings. That is, the purpose of the two witnesses will be to restore the Church and to lead God’s people to the promise land, which this time will be heaven itself! They will orchestrate an endtime revival that will incorporate billions of people coming to the Lord in the last days. It even says in Mat 11-14 that John the Baptist was in effect Elijah, whose ministry was to restore Israel. The two witnesses together will share a ministry similar to John the Baptist to restore not just Israel, but also the Church throughout the world. The two witnesses will raise up the 144,000, which is the Jewish restoration, and they will in turn restore the gentile church among the nations to the true faith; in case you didn’t know we have gotten away from it. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Harvest at the end of the age); Mat 9,35-38; 129d Lk 7,28-30 (200c) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the will of God >> Rejecting God’s purpose – The Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves. Why? They were contrary to the works of God. Long before John the Baptist or Jesus appeared, the Pharisees and lawyers and those who were in charge of God’s word were following wrong spirits and being handsomely rewarded for it. They knew in their hearts that John the Baptist and his Lord were working for God, but they were completely entangled in the spiritual bondage of their own making and were unable to part with their business of religion and join what God was doing. It would have meant publicly recanting all they have said and done throughout their illustrious careers as teachers of the law, and it would have meant making amends to the people for placing them in bondage to a cruel religious system they had designed to funnel money into their pockets. For this reason they didn’t believe the testimony of John or of the Lord, because it didn’t correspond with their interpretation of the law. Although the Pharisees and the lawyers knew this was the work of God they still rejected God’s purpose, because they were not the leaders of it, and for that reason they wanted nothing to do with it. After a long ancestral reputation as leaders of Israel Jesus came along and bypassed them, because of their disobedience. They were treated as though they didn’t have a place with God, left behind and out of the loop. Jesus excluded them, yet they excluded themselves. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7-28 (56k) Paradox >> Opposites >> Least are gre atest >> Smallest in the eyes of men are big to God – In the Kingdom of God the greatest is the least and the least is the greatest, and who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God? Jesus! “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). Jesus “Emptied Himself and took the form of a bondservant, and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (Phi 2,5-10). Jesus made himself less than any man (especially when you take His true identity into consideration), and for that reason He is far greater than all. Therefore, when Jesus said, “He who is least in heaven is greater than John,” He was referring to Himself. (225b) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> Equality in heaven – If you wonder what heaven is like, Jesus said there are people who will be greater than others, only they will be greater servants than those who are considered least in order to preserve equality. That is, those who are greatest will rule the Kingdom of Heaven though their service to others. Lk 7,29-35 (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – Jesus was saying through this parable that those who love God cannot please those who hate God. If we never touch a drop of wine in our lives like John the Baptist, they would just label us something else, but if we do drink wine then we are labeled drunkards. The Pharisees claimed John the Baptist had a demon; why did they pick this excuse to reject his message and baptism? What did John the Baptist do that made them think he had a demon? First, there was a lot of demon possession in society at the time. Then also, John was a prophet and he baptized people, which was never done before him. The Pharisees probably considered him a cult leader, yet the word of God was in his mouth, and it made him popular with the people and confounded the Pharisees, otherwise they would have stopped him. He rebuked them to their faces, exposing them to public humiliation. They needed to maintain their public status, which was far more important to them than the truth. According to the proverb, ‘it takes one to know one,’ they accused him of having a demon because they themselves were riddled with demons, possessed in ways that not even Jesus could exorcise. The Pharisees were using the wisdom of the demons to become rich, while the demons were using the Pharisees to corrupt society and interject their belief system into the world, which was one of many forms of unbelief. Lk 7-29,30 (75j) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people by abusing authority – There was a contrast between the tax collectors and the Pharisees, the secular crowd and the religious community, the general public and the affluent of society. When John the Baptist was preaching, the Pharisees and lawyers justified themselves in rejecting his baptism, but their decision came back to haunt them as the past often does. We think we can do whatever we want, but life is long enough to find us out. Suddenly the Pharisees found themselves outside the sway of society, which was a major issue to them, since they wanted to be the makers and shakers of cultural change. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected Jesus as a matter of necessity based on their objectives in controlling the public, and as a matter of personal choice they rejected Him based on the contrast between the Spirit of Christ and the spirits they followed. Their main goal in life was public acceptance so they could mold the general consensus to their political/religious objectives for the purpose of exploiting the people, but when they suddenly found themselves ostracized by the very people they were trying to control, they realized that playing checkers with God was not so easy. In hindsight they saw rejecting John’s baptism as a poor move, nothing more than that, but John the Baptist was wise enough not to have baptized them even if they had requested it. Lk 7-30 (173g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the will of God – The Pharisees sacrificed the baptism of John in order to hold to their dead religion. The Catholic Church is very much like the Pharisees. They act so much alike that they appear to have modeled themselves after the Pharisees. They wear long robes with long sashes and walk pompously through their ritualistic ceremonies, and place great emphasis on the temple buildings and invent religious doctrines to funnel money into their coffers. They fought against the emerging science, just like the Pharisees fought against Jesus. The priests during the Dark Ages wanted nothing to do with science and they persecuted those who dared wonder about the stars apart from the knowledge of the Catholic faith. The Church made its stand against alternative thought, and it was being left behind as the mountain of scientific knowledge rose above the authority of the Church. It happened to the Pharisees the same way. They rejected all the teachings of Jesus, but Christianity grew beyond them, and now 2000 years later the Pharisees are a mere speck of dust, used as an example of how not to live and relate to God. Lk 7,31-35 (200k) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Excuses for rejecting Christ >> Putting God in a no win situation – Jesus compared John the Baptist to a fruit player and the Pharisees were the audience, who did not dance to his music. Then Jesus came and sang a dirge, but the Pharisees did not mourn. He explained the analogy saying, “John came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He is a gluttonous man and a drunkard.’” So, if they don’t eat bread and drink wine, they are demon possessed, but if they do, they are gluttonous drunkards. Either way they can't win in the eyes of the Pharisees. The only right thing to them was John and the Lord to sing the song of the Pharisees and dance to their tune. They needed to be in control, and Jesus was taking that control from them, and they hated Him for it. He did not ask to be a part of their institution, and they certainly were not going to be a part of His. Jesus went over their heads and started something brand new and left them out of it, and they wanted Him dead, yet the fruit of His ministry was wisdom, which was vindicated by all her children. What kind of fruit did the Pharisees produce but toxic waste? Lk 7-34,35 (89g) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom is the key that unlocks the mysteries of God KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,36-50 (69a) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging between truth and error >> Correcting false reasoning – Jesus understood the mind of Simon through the gift of discernment, not being all-knowing; He left His omniscience in heaven when He stripped Himself of all the attributes of God and became the son of man and a servant of all. God promises the gift of discernment to all who believe in Jesus. (101g) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> Zeal comes from a grateful heart (143h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Popularity >> Sought commendably >> Seeking Jesus for His favor (156c) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> Loving God is evidence of salvation >> Expressing your feelings toward Him – If a person feels unsaved, it doesn’t mean he's not saved. God wants us to know that we are His children, and He cares about our emotions, and He wants us to feel His presence in our lives, but some people never get that. Many people in Christendom preach that emotions are evil, but how we feel is neither good nor evil. On the one hand, we should not live by our emotions, because they can lead us astray, but on the other hand, God wants us to know that we belong to Him, and one of the ways we know this is by our emotions. (193l) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God in your freedom to choose righteousness (207l) Salvation >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> God is kind to sinners >> He seeks and saves that which was lost (208k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Emotional relationship Lk 7,36-39 (174f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Comparing yourself with sinners -- These verses go with verse 47. “He who is forgiven little loves little,” Jesus said to Simon, if only he knew he was just as big a sinner as this woman. Simon calculated sin in terms of numbers, as though the woman had more than him. Perhaps she did have a thousand more sins than Simon because of her formerly promiscuous lifestyle, but the fact that everyone sins a thousand times a day is like adding one more day to her life. If a person lived to be seventy years old, that would calculate to 25,550 days. What is one more day? Simon had his own sin, so in reality they were equal sinners in the eyes of God. Unless we repent and believe in Jesus, the best of us will be cast into the depths of hell with the devil and his angels. This woman was forgiven, but what about Simon? Turns out, Simon was the greater sinner because he loved little. Based on this story, it would be safe to say that the less a person thinks he’s a sinner, the greater sinner he is in the eyes of God. In fact, Simon was so full of sin he couldn’t believe in Jesus. The woman knew she was a rotten sinner; society reminded her of it every day, but Simon had a prestigious position in society and was able to convince people that he was a righteous and holy man, but Jesus didn't buy it. Jesus compared him to a prostitute and found him the greater sinner because of his lack of faith and love. There are fleshly sins and spiritual sins; one is more insidious than the other. Fleshly sins are harder to hide; they consist of our actions and words, whereas spiritual sins pertain to what we believe about God and how we think about ourselves and others. Our minds are so malleable, the most depraved sinner can view himself as righteous. Most of the Pharisees used their positions as a front to become wealthy and seek prominence and perpetuate their religious heresies. They rejected the truth while proclaiming the truth as their main purpose in life, and Simon saw none of these faults in himself. He was blind to his own sin, which blinded his mind to the worthiness of Jesus to forgive sin, a trait in Him that this woman recognized and worshipped. (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not – Simon, up to this point, had not received the revelation of how much God would need to forgive him, whereas this woman clearly understood the level of her sin and God’s willingness to forgive. The thing in the way of Simon was self-righteousness. He felt in his heart that he did not need God’s forgiveness, since he was a religious leader. Simon didn’t commit nearly the sins that she committed, but then again, how did Simon know she was a harlot, perhaps by experience? How then was she a worse sinner than him? Self-righteousness has no basis in truth, but is merely based on a person’s self-image, which is not much different from standing in front of a camera and trying to look your best. A person creates his self-image on the basis of favoring himself on a whimsical belief system; hence, self-righteousness is tantamount to self-deceit. The woman may have committed more sins, but she was forgiven. Simon may have recognized a few sins and gave them to God, but the rest he withheld from Him as though God could not see what he did not show Him. Lk 7,36-38 (113i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anoint with oil Lk 7-37,38 (100l) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to God >> Devoted to worshipping God -- These verses go with verses 44-50 (234i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >> Dispose of every asset except Christ -- These verses go with verses 44-48 (252b) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for who he is -- These verses go with verses 44-50. John the Baptist understood the identity of Jesus Christ, but they were few who truly knew this man's true identity (Jn 1-27). This woman also demonstrated a deep understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. Had Jesus not been God in human flesh, He should have stopped her worshipping Him, for the First Commandment expressly says, “You shall have no other gods before Me... You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20,3-5). Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and to worship Him is to worship the Father through Him. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,39-47 (202d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God through a lack of character Lk 7-39 (18b) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Condemning God’s people – Simon the Pharisee condemned both Jesus and the woman and was wrong on both counts. Jesus was in fact a prophet, and He did know who was touching her. She probably entered this lifestyle because she didn’t think she was worthy of anything else. The world taught her that this was her place in life, a doormat for people to wipe their feet, a good for nothing tramp, to be used and thrown aside. She didn’t know how else to live, most likely having been abused as a child through no fault of her own, made to feel that being treated like scum was all she deserved. Men who had her were just as guilty as she, yet they condemned her while ignoring their own sin. How else did Simon know so much about her? (18h) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Can’t distinguish between good and evil >> Jesus is evil – Jesus was a virgin throughout his life, but our own generation of reprobates cannot stand His testimony of purity and innocence, so they try to shame Him. Nothing in Scripture says that this was Mary Magdalene, yet godless sinners try to tell us that the woman in this story is her, and use this heresy to discredit Jesus by making Him appear to be in a romantic relationship with her. They have the nerve to tell us we believe in fairytales, while they create fabrications based solely on their twisted imaginations. This foolish generation is wise in their own eyes, gods unto themselves, harboring blasphemous spirits of rebellion against the authority of Christ. (20ca) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Having a mind that is unable to receive >> Unbelief cannot distinguish light from darkness (166j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The carnal mind agrees with the devil (169b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blind to Jesus >> Blind to the holiness of God in Christ – Jesus had a tenuous relationship with the Pharisees at best; they were not technically His enemies and nor were they exactly His friends. What was the motive of this Pharisee inviting Jesus to His house? Scripture gives him a name; he was Simon, suggesting he had good intensions and was searching for truth, though there were many obstacles in his way of understanding the gospel Jesus preached, namely Judaism. Jesus graciously accepted Simon’s invitation and dined at his table with a houseful of witnesses to everything that was said and done. Simon was curious about Jesus; he wanted to know more about Him, but his mind was clouded by his religious beliefs. (186g) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> After they reject God’s faith how can they believe? KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,40-50 (31l) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Forgiveness is a function of God’s grace – Everything in this woman's life completely changed when she met Jesus; she realized someone loved her, so now she could stop her destructive lifestyle, but the men whom she had known remained corrupt, depraved and unforgiven. Repent and believe is the gospel of Christ. These two things happening simultaneously bring about change in a person’s life regardless of what they have done. One without the other does not effect salvation. When she repented, it had a life-altering effect, and when Jesus spoke to her about the grace of God, that it was not too late, that she had not committed the unpardonable sin, that God was willing to receive her as His daughter and offered her equal standing in His family, she cleaved to Jesus with a brand new life. She was born-again. (108hb) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation >> Revelation of His love – Simon didn’t understand that the woman’s repentance and faith in Jesus wiped away all her sins, so she no longer was a sinner. Simon condemned her while she lay prostrate before the Lord washing His feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair, demonstrating her gratitude of forgiveness that Simon did not know. She came to a revelation of this, making her acceptable before God as though she never sinned. She was perfect in the eyes of God, though she knew many men in the past and led a life of depravity, obviously hating that lifestyle. (120i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness is an act of mercy >> Forgiveness sets you free – There are un-forgiven sins in each of us; how then can we be saved? The prefix “-for” in forgive implies paying it forward. When God for-gives us, He gives His grace before we prove our love to Him. Then there is the unsaved person like Simon the Pharisee, who didn’t see the need to be forgiven. This self-righteous Pharisee had no sense of humility. The woman washed the feet of the foot-washer, who cleanses us when inadvertent sins cling to our feet in the process of fulfilling our purpose and calling from God. (125a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of faith >> Love is the response of receiving from God – Jesus contrasted Simon with the woman in front of Him, saying, “Her sins which are many have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” The contrast Jesus made between them was not in how much sin they committed, but in how sorry they were about it. This woman had committed many sins as a prostitute. She didn’t like herself the way she was, and the moment Jesus came, she immediately sought to reinvent herself through the grace and love of God. She immediately embraced Him with all her heart, and the sins she acknowledged, which were many, were forgiven, but the sins that Simon was willing to acknowledge were few. For this reason he loved little. There is therefore a direct correlation between our revelation of God's forgiveness, and how much we love Christ: we cannot love Him any more than we acknowledge our sin. (252b) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for who he is -- These verses go with verses 37,38. Jesus did not resist the worship of this woman. He allowed her to worship Him, though He was without sin (Heb 4-15). There is only one possible explanation for this: Jesus is God! Had Jesus been any other man, letting her worship at His feet, He would have been sinning. The Bible condemns worshipping other created beings, including angels (Rev 19-9,10). Had Jesus not been God, He should have stopped her from worshipping Him because the Old Testament law says, “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20). Jesus allowing this woman to worship Him is therefore proof of His deity. On top of this, Jesus proclaimed her sins forgiven. No one can forgive sin except God alone. The religious friends of Simon could not believe Jesus said this, because they didn't believe He was God. Many of them saw Him heal people, and they were amazed and scoffed, and they looked for excuses to stop Him, because He was making the religious establishment look impotent. Jesus' apostles performed healings but none of them could forgive sins committed against God. Consequently, for Jesus to forgive sin is essentially claiming to be equal with God. The Pharisees besmirched Him for letting this woman wash His feet, but they condemned Him outright for His statement about forgiving her sins. Jesus never back-paddled or skipped a beat or showed any sign of overstating His authority. He is our mediator with the Father; only Jesus can intercede for us because He is the Son of God. All our sins represent nailing Jesus to the cross. Every sin we commit is a slap in His face, pulling out pieces of His beard, pounding a nail in His hand, whipping Him across His back. If Jesus is willing to forgive us for taking part in His crucifixion, then His Father will forgive us too. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,40-47 (19g) Sin >> Having the mental disease of the world >> Man’s twisted understanding (120a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Curse of God is broken >> Curse of God’s Judgment is broken (184j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Dragging God’s Grace Through The Mud >> Unwilling to honor God’s grace (203c) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God by not receiving Him Lk 7,40-43 (69f) Authority >> Righteous judgment >> Meditate on discernment >> Judging what is true – We treat the truth as though it were one of many eggs in our basket, but the truth has certain properties that make it distinct from all other attributes. Case in point, the closer we get to the truth the truer it becomes. Hence, looking for the truth is like looking for spent fuel rods from a nuclear reactor, the closer we get to them the more radioactivity our bodies absorb. Standing directly in front of a pile of them is certain death, so according to the analogy, the closer we get to the truth, the more we will need to die to our own selfish interests before we will be able to absorb the deeper meaning of the truth and apply it to our lives. See also: Nature of Truth; Jn 18-38; 17h (74e) Thy kingdom come >> Heart is man’s central value system >> Where man interprets worth – Jesus asked Simon the Pharisee a question, who would love his Master more, the one who was forgiven more or the one who was forgiven less? Simon answered correctly that it was the one forgiven more. Some of the questions Jesus asked were rudimentary and almost rhetorical. They dealt with conscience, and conscience is usually right, but whether we listen to it is the broader question. Simon knew the truth in this case, but he didn’t necessarily appreciate it. (225c) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about wealth >> Parables about a rich man (232l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the essence of his kingdom >> Seeking the truth Lk 7,44-50 (33n) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> God receives us – Jesus made this statement seven times in the gospels, “Your faith has saved you [healed you]” (Lk 8-48), but it has been warped by certain false teachers who suggest that our faith can actually save us. Jesus is our savior and healer. What was the woman's role in her salvation? Had she not reached out and received the salvation that Jesus offered, she could not have been saved, and it took faith to do that. Jesus did all the work, yet He gave all the credit to the woman whose only part was to receive His free gift. Just ask Simon; he was unreceptive to Jesus and his salvation was incomplete. (100l) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to God >> Devoted to worshipping God -- These verses go with verses 37&38 (122k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse circumstances >> Go in places of adversity – As an invited guest you would think Jesus should have shown Simon a little more respect in his own house, but in fact Jesus was showing Simon the way to God. Jesus would have disrespected him by not telling him the truth. When everyone left, Simon remained in his house, reliving the scene where it all happened around his dining room table, making the truth all the more poignant. For the rest of his life where he ate his meals, he had a continual reminder of the things Jesus said to his face. It was an incredible rebuke, not one that condemned but led to the truth if he could just believe it. Simon had a long way to go before his knees touched the floor; he was a very big man in his own mind, but he met someone who was infinitely bigger, yet infinitely smaller, and he needed to humble himself and submit to His authority and allow Jesus to save him and worship at his feet as this woman did. He would need to become like her if he had any chance of heaven. (178l) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Jesus rebukes the Pharisees >> Rebuked for having no love for God – Jesus was Simon’s dinner guest at his house. He accepted his offer knowing He would never find common ground with him or with his other guests reclining at the table with Him complaining, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus couldn’t care less what His enemies thought of Him. He would never back down from speaking the truth though He knew His audience would disagree with Him and would not understand. Jesus told them the truth no matter how much they didn’t want to hear it. His attitude was, ‘If you don’t want to hear the truth, then you shouldn’t have invited me.’ Even as a guest at His house Jesus was in charge, and they knew it. Lk 7,44-48 (234i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >> Dispose of every asset except Christ -- These verses go with verses 37&38 Lk 7-47 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin – Simon was just as great a sinner as the woman, for in the eyes of God we are all equally sinners. The person who understands the breadth of his sin also understands how much he has been forgiven. Simon the Pharisee didn’t realize he was a sinner, but the woman was not self-deceived, and for this reason she caught a glimpse of how much she had been forgiven and hence how much grace that had been bestowed upon her, and her response was gratitude. (174f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Comparing yourself with sinners -- This verse goes with verses 36-39 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 7,48-50 (228b) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Comforted >> God comforts you in times of adversity >> He comforts you in your grief (253a) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son has equal authority with the Father – Jesus’ enemies held him in contempt for confessing His authority to forgive sins. Had they merely changed their tone and wanted to know this man who could forgive sin, they may have gotten their own sins forgiven, but they had already made up their minds that no man can forgive sin but God alone, which is actually true. The Pharisees' fatal flaw of unbelief was not that Jesus could forgive sin but that they refused to believe He was God in the flesh, for had they believe that, they would have believed in His ability to forgive sin too. His divinity was the primary truth they rejected about Jesus that kept them in their sins, though they knew that when messiah came He would come as God in the flesh. This fact proves they didn’t reject Jesus because He claimed to forgive sin, but because He demonstrated to be their Messiah. They rejected Him because He was benevolent and humble, the antithesis of their expectation of Messiah. They rejected Him because He was so unlike them; He didn’t love violence or money like they did or was worldly or fought for their cause. Essentially, they rejected Him because they couldn't put Him in their back pocket. They thought they were completely in the right about everything, but they were completely ignorant about God, and they were the teachers of Israel. Lk 7-50 (41f) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of faith >> Saved by grace through faith – Salvation and healing go hand in hand; they are one and the same to God. “Jesus saves!” was a big slogan in the 70’s, yet no one can be saved or healed without Him, so what did Jesus mean by, "Your faith has saved [healed] you"? Some authors have used this statement to attribute a humanistic spin on the gospel, but that is preposterous. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jesus saves and heals through our faith. Jesus said in Jn 15-5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” The Bible teaches that we are saved because we believe in Jesus' blood sacrifice as sufficient to forgive sin. Therefore, we have an input in God’s grace: Jesus cannot heal anyone apart from faith (Mat 13,53-58), and for the that reason neither can He save anyone apart from faith. (119c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Freedom from satanic influence >> Free from sin _________________________________ LUKE CHAPTER 8 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8,1-3 (3i) Responsibility >> To the Family >> God addresses both genders >> Women leaders – Not all people who followed Jesus were men. Many of them were women, and He treated them equally. This in itself was a tremendous separation from the customs of Old Testament Israel. Jesus followed His Father in everything He did; He was not a follower of men, and by that He was a mover and shaker and a catalyst for change. Israel was a patriarchic society, and by that the Middle East developed their negative attitudes about women, so when Jesus came along and treated woman with equal respect, it was one of many expressions of His radicalism. (18e) Sin >> False Judgment lacks evidence >> Presumptuous speculation – This is the first time Luke mentions Mary Magdalene; nevertheless, there is a teaching that the woman in the previous chapter who anointed Jesus' feet with perfume, washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair was Mary Magdalene. This is completely unfounded. This same teaching postulates that Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ had sexual relations and had an ongoing affair. People who perpetuate these lies are irreverent, not just born from a lack of knowledge, but from a cold-hearted effort to discredit the character of Christ. The greatest blasphemy about this story was not the claim that Jesus was a fornicator, but that it was okay for Him to be one. The reason they have these views is that we as a nation are completely overrun with sexual promiscuity. We can no longer visualize someone living without sex. It is completely transparent these blasphemers are perpetuating these lies to excuse their own sin. That is not to say they have a conscience toward God, but the real travesty about this celebration of decadence is the world’s full intension of jumping off the proverbial moral cliff in the years to come, and they are looking for a parachute to keep them from splattering on the rocks of selfish hedonism. They figure Jesus must have taken advantage of this girl, because that is what they would have done. Jesus Christ is the rock against which all men bludgeon themselves in rebellion against righteousness. It is extremely difficult for people like this Pharisee to repent; hence, they will continue teaching that shame is nothing more than a negative emotion to be expunged from society. Paul is our example of repentance from a life of blasphemy, yet there is a difference between Paul and the blasphemers of our time. Paul really believed in what he was doing, whereas the reprobates of our time have maliciously concocted a story in attempt to obfuscate Christianity. Paul was sincerely wrong, but there is not a sincere bone in these people who are contriving such defiant stories. Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus and set him straight, but these people, the truth would not affect them, not even if Jesus personally appeared to them. Paul was pursuing the truth, but these people don’t even believe such a concept even exists! It is impossible to seek the truth and come to these conclusions. Instead, they are seeking demons for their wisdom and using it to distort the truth. Those who perpetuate these lies will find their place in hell with the demons they implore. (93f) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Leaving everything behind to follow Him Lk 8-1 (149f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the gospel to the world >> Preach "Thy kingdom come" Lk 8-3 (124b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Love takes from the rich and gives to the poor >> love is the act of giving to the poor (130h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Committed to caring for the needs of the body >> Commitment stimulates intimate bonding (235b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Tithing >> Be faithful in your tithes >> Tithing is a true sign of faithfulness KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8,4-15 (128i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> Be fruitful and multiply >> Growing spiritually Lk 8,4-8 (225h) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables about the garden of the kingdom >> Parables about seeds -- These verses go with verses 11-15. The person whose seed fell along the road never got saved; the person whose seed that fell on rocky soil got saved but fell away; the person whose seed fell among the thorns depicts the worldly Christian. He has compromised his faith, and as a result his spiritual growth was stunted and was unable to bear fruit, which defined it as dead. The person whose seed landed in the good soil is the exemplary Christian. The first three seeds never made it to heaven, but the last seed did. The good soil is where a seed is planted and grows almost without fail, and notice that there are no competing plants growing around it. Essentially, Jesus is talking about a garden. Good soil would be where every known plant should already be growing, but the soil is bare, because it has been prepared for a special seed. This requires a gardener, where God prepares the garden of some people’s hearts. By this parable He is also alluding to the idea of Christianity dominating a certain area, region or country, and making the whole of it a garden, a nurturing environment where faith can grow and Christianity can flourish. Lk 8-4 (143k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His words Lk 8-5 (74l) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Insensitive to the things of God -- This verse goes with verse 12. The seed beside the road never had a chance; it was taken from the sack and thrown on the road and destroyed. Even if no one stepped on it or the birds didn’t eat it, it still wouldn’t have grown because it fell on hard-packed dirt that the roots could not penetrate. The hard-packed road represents the condition of a person's heart. (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air -- This verse goes with verse 12 Lk 8-6 (207a) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> Perish By Losing Your Faith >> The apostasy (walking out the same door you came in) -- This verse goes with verse 13 Lk 8-7 (172d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> Worldliness in the Church -- This verse goes with verse 14. Jesus used thorns in His analogy to emphasize the kind of influence the world has on people of faith. It is not enough to simply rob the newborn Christian of sunlight but to goad them in the process. The thorns represent the unpleasant, abrasive and unbelieving people of the world whose touch is painful. Christians should not have thorns; it should not be odious to be around them, except to be pierced with the conviction of sin, but that pain is with a promise of benefit, whereas those who inflict pain just to be around them is a sign they are not Christians. Lk 8-8 (106e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Having the ability to hear KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-10 (108i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Revelation of the mysteries of God – There are three kinds of people in the world, those who have ears to hear, those who don’t, and those who hear but do not understand. If we are like the disciples and can hear but cannot decipher what He is saying, then we are between chosen and not chosen, in that though they were literally chosen by Jesus Christ Himself, yet the Holy Spirit didn't come until Pentecost. In our case, though, the Holy Spirit has come and we are nearing the end of the age of grace, so if we cannot hear Him, other reasons may be involved. (168l) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> God does not speak to people who will not hear Him – The least amount of interpretation is usually the most accurate rendition of the Scriptures. We know what He meant by His parables, though the people of His time did not, because they were not ready to hear it. Had they rejected Him after telling them the plain truth, their judgment would have been far worse; He was sparing them by speaking to them in parables, so God couldn’t judge them, since they didn’t understand what He was saying. Meanwhile, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of their Messiah preaching the gospel (Lk 4-18,19), "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (taken from Isaiah 61-1,2). (186k) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Rejected by God – Those who do not seek the knowledge of God never find Him even if He stood in their presence and spoke the word of God directly into their ears and still not heard a word of it. They choose not to hear it. Also, how is it that God is rejecting them if they are the ones rejecting Him? They are the ones choosing to remain ignorant and refusing to ask Him for an explanation. (219d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God chooses to speak to whomever He wishes – God’s gracious choice is indeed a real concept in the Bible. There are some who are chosen to hear and believe the words that God would speak to them and be welcomed into His Heaven, and there are others who are not chosen. His parables conveyed the truth to those who wanted to know God and effectively shut out those who didn’t, yet there is something much deeper transpiring here. Most theology oversimplifies predestination, saying that God chooses some and hardens the rest. The thing people don’t understand about predestination is that man’s choice has an equal part in God’s salvation, so that God does not attempt to choose a person who doesn’t want to be saved and find Himself in a wrestling match with him. God is willing to fight for a human soul so long as it is not in vain. Freedom is the primarily motivation of God, and for this reason He is unwilling to infringe on our will, otherwise He would inadvertently redefine us as no longer made in His image. Keep in mind, that anyone could have asked Jesus to explain His parables; His disciples did; anyone else could have too, but they didn’t. Had He explained the parable to them, they would have understood it. (221b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who are looking for Him – Some gathered around Jesus to see His miracles, but others sought to hear His word and to be convinced through His miracles. To those who were not seeking His truth, His parables went in one ear and out the other, and Jesus never explained Himself to those who didn’t want to know. They never understood what Jesus was saying, so God couldn't judge them for doing nothing with the truth. 2Pet 2-21 says, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” In other words, Jesus speaking in parables was yet another act of mercy. God hides His kingdom from those who are not looking for Him, and He shows Himself mute to those who refuse to hear, as Mat 7-6 says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Lk 8,11-15 (225h) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables about the garden of the kingdom >> Parables about seeds -- These verses go with verses 4-8 Lk 8,11-14 (203i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the truth Lk 8-12 (74l) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Insensitive to the things of God -- This verse goes with verse 5 (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air -- This verse goes with verses 22-25. The devil is effective when he has wings like a bird and can fly. The prince of the power of the air does not want to be grounded and possess a man in the form of the antichrist and be confined to the weakness of human flesh. Jesus defeated Satan in the weakness of human flesh, but when it’s the devil’s turn to wear our flesh it will not go well with Him. After Satan punished and tortured Christ and mercilessly hung him on a cross through the wickedness of evil men, God will mercilessly punish and torture the devil when he assumes a human form and then throw him and the false prophet alive into the lake of fire. See also: Satan (Prince of darkness); Lk 22,1-6; 19c (183h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of unbelief KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-13 (207a) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> Perish By Losing Your Faith >> The apostasy (walking out the same door you came in) -- This verse goes with verse 6. Those planted on rocky soil are happy with the gospel and with their newfound faith at first, but they never get rooted in the word of God, expecting God to do it for them. These are the ones who wait for God while God waits for them. Instead of using the power of God at their disposal to grow "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2Tim 2-1), they fall away. The Church’s contemporary depiction of grace is faulted with inaccuracies, such as the belief that we are passive recipients of everything God has for us. They quote Isaiah 64-6, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags,” and say that they are unable to help themselves being so sinful. On the contrary, because they are so sinful they devise theology like that. While it stands true that our works outside Christ are filthy, yet He would have us do His works that He has prepared for us (Eph 2-10). Jesus said that those planted on rocky soil fall away, meaning they lose their faith, suggesting they won’t be going to heaven. Those who fall away will bring nothing but excuses into judgment with God, and it won’t go well with them. See also: Trail of good works (works that God has prepared for us) walk on this trail or perish; Jn 12-24,25; 55k Lk 8-14,15 (137g) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing in Jesus is hard work >> Maturity is the process of growing Lk 8-14 (172d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> Worldliness in the Church -- This verse goes with verse 7. Seeds that fell among the thorns are those who get saved well enough, but they still love the world; they just can’t seem to let it go. They want this world and heaven too, but God wants us single-minded; He wants us all to Himself. He doesn’t want to share us with the world. He considers it a mistress and a prostitute whenever we fall prey to its flattery, pleasures and wealth. It is a trap that steals our attention, and before long we have replaced our faith with a theology that is willing to embrace both the Kingdom of God and this world, which is idolatrous and heretical. It is the theology of easy-believism. (249j) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> World’s perception of wealth >> The world's wealth erodes good values >> The world’s wealth is deceitful Lk 8-15 (100c) Thy kingdom come >> Perseverance >> Persevere in abiding in Christ (219d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God chooses to speak to whomever He wishes – The existing concept of predestination, where God is by definition in absolute control while man remains a spectator, is just as absurd as the Church’s contemporary version of grace, where God does everything and man’s role is a mere receptacle of God's love and mercy. “To [those] it has been granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” (v10), “These are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance.” These are all verbs, not pointing at God but at man, at the believer who bears fruit with perseverance. These verbs are too big to maintain the contemporary ideas of predestination and grace, where man's role is merely a passive spectator of God’s gracious choice. What then do we do with the word "perseverance"? Consider this statement: ‘God chooses us as we choose ourselves.’ KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-16,17 (112e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Jesus light in us overcomes darkness >> The light of His truth – We should display our faith to the world as Christians, not as the Pharisees who displayed their religion. They displayed themselves, whereas we are called to display Christ. We don’t have to go around espousing our beliefs to everybody, for people will know we are Christians by our love. We should not let our Christianity be merely external or confined to moral ethics, for there are many moral non-Christian people. Being moral is not what makes us Christians, but the indwelling Holy Spirit, who leads us to do His works. We need to display the hope we have in Jesus, not in word only but also in our good behavior. We have no choice but to speak our faith if it dwells in our hearts, so don’t resist the Holy Spirit who wants to put His handiwork on display. (153k) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Living for Jesus exposes sin >> Your walk with God puts others to shame – Our light can be an offense in a world of darkness. People may take offense at us, effecting our persecution, for the light is not partial, shining even on those who want to remain in darkness. Lk 8-18 (222j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> Give to him who has >> Take from him who does not have – Jesus is referring to the light when He counsels us to take care how we listen to the word of God, for this is how we add to the brightness of our luminosity. Jesus is saying that if we possess only a little, it is grounds for taking it away from us and giving it to the one who has the most. That might sound unfair, but it is also the way of the world. It seems about the only universal principle that applies both to the kingdom of light and to the kingdom of darkness. God wants us content, but not with our spiritual immaturity. If we were born among thistles and are happy to be a thistle with them, He says beware, because what we think you have will be taken away from us. The world uses the same principle in its monetary system so that the more money we have the easier it is to get more. The more of whatever we have, the easier it is to obtain more of it, whether it's money or poverty or the anointing. See also: World (Social/Political issues); Act 21,30-36; 158i Lk 8,19-21 (29i) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> God identifies with us >> Jesus is our brother – Jesus knew His own mother and brothers, but pointed around the crowd saying, ‘These are the ones who will be My mother and brothers in heaven.’ That is, we will be His equals. We are the children of God, just as Jesus is the Son of God. We are therefore the siblings of Christ and will inherit whatever Jesus receives from His Father. Imagine spending eternity with Jesus and sharing His status with the Father, seated next to Him. Paul made this clear, “He raised us up and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2-6). This is far beyond our imagination that God would give us such status in heaven; not even the angels have been given so much glory. (86k) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Do the words of Jesus – Heaven makes all the things we must suffer in this life worth it. However, He made a condition for those who hear the word of God and want heaven, they must do what He says. In many other cases Jesus said, “He who believes in Me…” (Jn 11-25). What is the difference between believing in Jesus and doing what He says? They are the same, but a mere hearer of the word (not a doer) is not a true believer, as James taught in his epistle. Therefore, lets make sure we believe in Jesus by doing what He says. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8,22-25 (22l) Sin >> Pride glorifies self >> Seeking the glory of man – The disciples woke up Jesus saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Jesus awoke and quieted the storm, and then turned to the disciples saying, “Where is your faith?” What did He mean by that? Did He mean “Where is your faith” that they didn’t quiet the storm themselves, or that they woke Him only as their last option? They saw the storm foaming into a monster, and they felt the descending gale of wind coming upon them and the waves splashing against their boat, yet they left the Master of the universe snoring on the floor of their vessel. Jesus rebuked His disciples for trying to solve problems that only He could fix. They tried to handle the situation so they could earn fleshly bragging rights. That way when they successfully beached the boat on the other side of the lake, they could nudge Jesus and say, ‘Boy, you just missed all the action; we let you sleep because we figured you needed the rest.’ That would have filled them with pride. Instead, Jesus taught them a lesson that next time they should put down their pails and ask Him for help as their first response. When God solves problems that only He can, it bolsters our faith. He actually takes offense when we try to solve His problems because there is never a good motive behind it. (23o) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of death – The disciples feared for their lives on the Sea of Galilee; they didn’t want to die, so they woke up Jesus and asked Him for help with the storm. That actually sounds a little strange. Captains of giant ships have large vessels and heavy cargo, giving them stability in the water even during some of the biggest storms, but the ocean is even bigger and capable of churning up waves that would sink any ship. The captain never attempts to manage the storm itself, but turns the ship into the wind and waves and speeds up the prop and fastens the hatches and secures the hold. There is little else he can do except hope for the best that no rogue wave hits him broadside or that the storm doesn’t drive the ship into shallow water. In contrast, the disciples had a small boat but held an ace in their hand; they had Jesus in their boat and if facing against the wind and oaring into the waves wasn’t enough to save them, they would play their ace and wake up Jesus and ask Him for help, since they had already seen some pretty amazing things from this man. (39f) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Victory >> He overcame every circumstance – A chill went down the spine of the disciples, giving them the creeps, but over time they recalibrated their thoughts and began to wonder what it might mean for them to hang with a guy who could calm the wind and the sea. This would invariably affect them somehow. First and foremost, He would demand all the more from them, so there were real reasons they feared Jesus, and it all points to the unknown. On the one hand, they had somebody who had the power to protect them in every situation imaginable, but on the other hand they had somebody who would call them to enter some very dangerous situations, requiring a level of faith they were not sure they could muster. Jesus had already talked to them extensively about faith; they knew where this was going, and now that they realized He could do virtually anything, He would tell them that if they had faith in Him He could do anything through them, and that was exciting and scary at the same time. This is exactly how God feels about us; it is how He wants to use our lives; He wants us to understand that He can do anything through faith in Him. Then there is the fear of failure, such as the next time they were in a situation like this Peter actually got out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus and he began to sink because he started to doubt. They feared for their lives, not because of the storm anymore, but because of what they knew Jesus would ask of them. They were beginning to understand that the miracle worker would want to perform miracles through them. This was the language Jesus spoke to them, and the more they saw His miracles the more they believed in Him, but also the more they were required to believe in Him. They didn’t have a choice; witnessing His miracles implicated them; now they had no excuse for their unbelief; now they must become conduit through whom God would perform miracles in the future, because they knew what He could do. So it works like a two-edged sword; Jesus’ miracles made it easier to believe in Him, but it also placed a greater demand on them. (108h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation >> Revelation of His identity – The truth of Jesus' identity sunk in a little deeper that day. When they met Jesus, He turned their common lives as fishermen into a living drama, but they had a hard time believing it. Their experience on the lake helped opened their eyes a little further to see His Father's authority reigning in Him. They knew He was the Son of God, but they didn’t really believe it on a practical level. This experience was by no means their ultimate revelation, for they had not even begun to believe compared to their faith at Pentecost, which was the formal beginning of their revelation of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the only way for any of us to know God's truth. It must have been a source of frustration to finally understand Jesus only after He had ascended into heaven. The disciples spent 3 years with Him and on the day of Pentecost they finally understood Jesus the way He wanted them to believe. His anointing illumined their hearts to the truth, and suddenly all their thoughts about Him came to life. Jesus spent those years building the word of God in their hearts, so when He added the anointing, like the burning bush it burst into flames as living truth. When they received the Holy Spirit, they knew it was the essence of Jesus. Realizing they didn’t need His physical presence, the Spirit contained everything they needed for life and godliness. (117d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on your circumstances (133k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> Having an awareness of God’s holiness >> The fear of God makes us aware of His holiness – With Jesus, nothing could harm them, yet they were afraid of Him. We fear the unknown. They suddenly realized this person in their boat was a complete stranger; they thought they knew Him, and now they must start from scratch broadening their perspective again, and paradigm shifts are always strenuous. They had a job to do; they had to come to terms with a more realistic view of Christ. They feared Him like an alien of a spaceship that came and settled on the earth and a life form hopped to the ground. We would instinctively fear it because we wouldn’t know what it could do or would do. They knew Jesus didn’t mean them any harm, but they still viewed Him as an alien, which is an accurate depiction of Him. They feared Him because they began to realize how different He was from them, yet eerily the same. (162a) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Carried away by the storms of the devil – Some of the disciples were seasoned fishermen and they were terrified; they had been on the Sea of Galilee many times, and they had braved many storms, but this one was obviously different. The disciples loved the Lord, never wanting to be anywhere but at His side, but sometimes it was a dangerous place; even on the lake the fishermen felt completely out of their element. Meanwhile, Jesus was totally in His element in the ministry having no fear of anything. The disciples thought they were entering their element when they set sail on the Sea of Galilee; they probably wanted to show Jesus their exceptional mariner skills, but they couldn’t cross the lake without His help, and their pride took a serious pounding. Things were different since they met Jesus; it seemed they didn’t even know how to keep a boat afloat anymore, but what they didn’t know was that Jesus had an invisible enemy, who was also their enemy, who knew only how to steal, kill and destroy. (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air -- These verses go with verse 5. Remember that Satan, the prince of the power of the air, said he would return to Jesus at an opportune time; well, crossing the Sea of Galilee was an opportune time. Satan was trying to kill Jesus, and the disciples would have become collateral damage. The storm represents Satan, the waves represent a sea of people in the world, and the boat represents the Church. The lake itself represents a spiritual impasse that the disciples had to cross before they could minister to the demoniac in the country of the Gerasenes, just like the Red Sea was an impasse for the Israelites, which led to the promise land. Satan’s tactic is to stir up the world to destroy the Church; he has attempted this countless times throughout the generations, persecuting God’s people to the death, but with Jesus in their boat all of Satan’s efforts were in vain. Lk 8-22 (140e) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> The entrance exam KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-23 (1l) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Taking on responsibilities that are not yours – It was good that Jesus was in their boat, but it was bad that He was asleep. This is the scenario transpiring in the Church today, the very picture of apostasy. The disciples were carrying a false burden by trying to save their own lives during a storm that was greater than themselves. With Jesus in their boat, they were responsible to awaken Him and ask Him for help. Any other response was unbelief, which is offensive to God. (37f) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations (125k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The God of peace – During a storm of this caliber, the boat was filling with water. It says He was sleeping on a cushion, which must have kept Him above the rising water line. How exhausted would a person be to sleep through a storm like this? Jesus had a peace about Him that could sleep through anything. The disciples didn’t know what Jesus could do when they woke Him; they saw Him heal people though His touch, even raising some from the dead and feeding five thousand people with food enough for only one person. Some of the disciples were fishermen and were accustomed to being at sea with storms and knew this one was big enough to swamp their boat. After He calmed the storm they were amazed; apparently they didn't expect Him to do that, so what did they expect Him to do, perhaps hand Him a pail, maybe one more hand would turn the tide? Once Jesus calmed the storm they were so amazed at Him they began the fear Him more than the storm. They should have been all the more excited to learn that He had power over the elements. Being with Jesus had apparent risks, yet being with Jesus in a raging storm was safer than hibernating in bed on a Saturday morning. (182l) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Unaware of the spirit world – The disciples didn’t recognize this storm as coming from the devil but as it appeared, just another storm; they had seen lots of them and braved them all. Maybe if Jesus weren’t with them it would have been just another storm, or the storm wouldn’t have come at all. When we invite Jesus in our boat, we can expect storms beyond the ones that naturally occur. Some people spiritualize everything so that every storm is from the devil, yet not every storm is from the devil. When we are following Jesus and He is in our boat and asleep, we can be suspicious about the storms that assail us. Satan waited for Jesus to fall asleep before he threatened the disciples’ lives, and note that the devil was more after Jesus than the disciples, trying to catch Him off guard. When we think about Him lying on the bottom of the boat on a cushion where all the water collected, He was soaking wet yet still asleep. We can explain some of this by the fact that He was the very epitome of peace, and we can also say that Jesus was probably exhausted, more than His disciples, why? He often lost a night sleep in prayer with His Father, being the only time He had; and when day came, they were back on the mission field. He had things to do, places to go and people to meet. They couldn’t stop because He was tired, so he would catch a nap whenever possible. (245l) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of the prince of the power of the air -- This verse goes with verse 33. The antichrist will capture the minds of the vast majority of the developed world through ignorance of the Scriptures. He is called the prince of the power of the air, and so in a spiritual sense he had been dominating the world through the airways. Ever since man fell into sin, Satan has been ruling the skies above him, but prior to coming in the flesh, this false Messiah was removed from the atmosphere of social consciousness. Essentially, Satan will be pushed into a corner through spiritual warfare and forced into the body of a man, after he is extricated from the spiritual realm, the first heaven, understood as the consensus of society. The mind of the general public has always been the domain of Satan, and the television set has been his favorite invention, because it made his job so easy. It is the perfect satanic communication devise that has been beaming his messages for the last hundred years. See also: Christ subdues His enemies through the Church (Satan is extricated as prince of the power of the air); Jn 2,13-17; 175b Lk 8-25 (88i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear God >> Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom -- This verse goes with verses 34-37. The mind of man is hard-coated with an exterior that readily believes facts and information about the natural realm, but reluctantly accepts the things of the spirit. It was difficult for Jesus to break through the disciple's encrusted hearts, more difficult than quieting a violent storm that was threatening their lives. “They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another who then is this that He commands even the wind and the water and they obey Him.” The Bible talks about the fear of the Lord being the beginning of wisdom. The disciples became afraid of Jesus perhaps more than they feared the storm just seconds earlier, though they knew Jesus loved them. This may have been the experience that started them realizing He had all power in heaven and on earth and could do anything, but hadn’t realized the full implications of His deity. They thought they knew Him, but all they really knew for sure was that He loved them, and they clung to that for mercy, just like we do. Lk 8,26-33 (39ia) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated Satan’s authority >> The demons are subject to Christ – Jesus could have commanded the demons into the abyss and they would have had to go. There were angels all around Jesus and they would have performed the word of Christ and grabbed the demons by the scruff of the neck and pitched them into the abyss, but since this was not yet the will of the Father, this statement is moot. Where is the abyss? When we talk about the spiritual realm; the word “where” is not an appropriate term. The spiritual realm is all around us; the abyss is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, just like heaven. These things are presently incomprehensible to us. (46f) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Fall of Satan >> Resisting Satan’s deception – The man ran to Jesus, and as he was approaching, the demons dominated the man’s will and spoke in his place. Had it been purely up to the demons, the man would have run the other way. The demons said to Jesus, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. I beg you, do not torment me?” The demon spoke in plural form and in singular form at the same time and were right on both counts, for there were more than one of them and they were united. Since the words "demon" and deception are one, the demons spoke deception to Jesus, pointing out that Jesus was opposite them. The demons added this statement, “What do I have to do with you…” to mean, ‘Leave us alone,’ as though the demons could order Jesus to do anything or control the condition of their relationship. Jesus primarily came in the flesh to forgive man's sin, but He also came to defeat His (and our) spiritual enemy, the devil. Another point of deception was that Jesus did in fact have business with Satan to take back the authority that originally belonged Adam. Jesus never allowed the demons to speak while exorcizing them because they were deceitful; they would attempt to trick people into believing something false about them or about Jesus, so He would not have asked the demons their name. Rather, Jesus asked the man his name to give him an opportunity to exercise his will over the demons, but the demons spoke in his place. Jesus didn’t care what the demons called themselves. These were highly rebellious demons; they were even rebelling against the Lord. He had been commanding the demons to come out of the man but instead of obedience they tried to argue with Him; just the fact that they spoke to Him was an act of insubordination. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8,26-28 (146d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> They know the Holy Spirit – This was obviously not the man speaking, but the demons. The question is: since the demons were afraid of Jesus who had all power and authority over them, and since it appeared that the demons were in charge, why did this man approach the Lord? We are seeing a combination of two wills here. It wasn’t the demons that ran to Jesus, but the man seeking release, and the man did not know Jesus, but the demons did. They inadvertently communicated to the man about Him, the man perceiving in himself that the demons felt threatened by the Lord. The man’s soul and the demons were woven together, both knowing each other’s thoughts, but they had duel interests, (double-minded), the demons wanted to control the man while the man wanted freedom. When the man sensed that the demons feared the Lord, he ran to Him against the will of the demons, so their power over him was not absolute. That is, when a person becomes demon possessed, they still have a will; in other words, the demons have no more control than the host gives them. The demons must be invited to enter the host, but once they move in it is very difficult to evict them without a formal exorcism. Prior to his possession the man was most likely playing footsy with the demonic world, and they slowly overtook the man, probably making him promises and then breaking those promises. For this reason never mess with an Ouija Board; don’t even have one in your house. The reason Ouija Boards are so dangerous is they imitate spiritual principles. When we look at our own walk with the Lord, God never tells us very much about our personal future; instead, He wants us to walk with Him by faith; each step leads to the next. That is how the Ouija Board works. Many people can play the Ouija Board at once; each user places his finger on the Planchette, and it begins to move across the board, representing a merging of wills between the people and whatever spiritual forces may be involved. The demons communicate to the players by moving the Planchette from letter to letter, each movement on the board understood only as it arrives at its destination, just like our walk with the Lord, so it mimics the principle of walking in the Spirit. In a similar way there was a merging of wills between this man and the demons that possessed him. See also: Demon Possession (Going from bad to worse); 2Pet 2,13-22; 163a Lk 8,28-31 (46l) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Jesus casts out demons – There were at least as many demons in the man as there were pigs in the herd of swine. The demons didn’t trick Jesus; He simply allowed all this to happen. The herdsman lost all his pigs; the demons were not chastised though they were forced out of the man, yet they were free to continue wreaking havoc on their next victims without any apparent consequences. They destroyed the pigs because destruction is all they know. They may have been trying to kill the man too, but they could not defeat his will. God has a different relationship with demons than He has with mankind, but their time is coming; there is no hope of redemption for them. Lk 8,28 (150h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word of the Spirit >> Speaking the words that God speaks – The demons called Jesus “Son of the Most High God,” ironically suggesting that the demons knew Jesus better than the disciples, who just got off the boat and were given a deeper realization of His authority, and then heard the demons speak about Jesus on a revelatory level that was far beyond their own. The demons knew Jesus and in the distant past; they actually have seen Him in His glory reigning at the right hand of the Father. The problem with demons giving the revelation of Jesus' authority is that the word of God has no place in their mouth, since they have rejected His truth for themselves; for them to speak the truth is blasphemy and the ultimate deception! Lk 8,29-33 (119j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Curse of sin is broken >> Bondage of Satan is broken Lk 8,29-31 (65ha) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >> Satan is united in his efforts to destroy mankind – There were five instances between verses 1-16 where Scripture referred to the demons as a single entity, even though it says they were many. These demons were united, for Jesus spoke to them also in the singular tense, so when we have all these demons working together as one, it is no wonder they have accomplished so much killing and destruction throughout the ages. We must look at the disharmony of the Church and its scattered administration as the work of Satan. The demons have unified their efforts against the Church to divide it and have greatly succeeded, and as a result, much of God’s will has never been accomplished. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-29 (146a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Superhuman strength (146b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Epilepsy – Jesus did not deny that the person was having a seizure, and He also made it clear that demons had possessed him, so the two of them should be considered the explanation of epilepsy in some cases, for seizures open the door for demons to enter. This demon-possessed man did not always act insane, whether demons always lived in Him or came and went we don’t know. We do know that the man was powerless against them and lived among the tombs. Jesus also was driven in the wilderness by the Holy Spirit at His temptation and so they both lived for a time in places where people normally didn't live. When Jesus cast out the demons, the man became normal; if he had epilepsy it was healed, and he integrated back into society. (160f) Works of the devil >> Led by the devil into the wilderness (163j) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy your own life Lk 8,30-33 (35e) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> Ask to receive Lk 8-30,31 (47a) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of sorrow >> It is a great fire prepared for the devil and his angels >> The lake of fire – Demons know many things; they know their future, and they know about the abyss, whereas so-called Christians continue to debate it, though the Bible clearly describes such a thing as hell. Demons do not debate it. They know it exists and they know there is nothing they can do to avoid it. Even if they acted nice, they would still be thrown into the lake of fire. In their mind there is no point in being nice when it will do them no good, so they might as well enjoy wreaking havoc on the human race. Their goal is to take as many people with them to hell as possible. They also know they will be judged based on the amount of evil they have done; the more destruction they cause, the greater their judgment, so we should take into account that demons are self-deceived; they are the authors of denial. Therefore, when we see people in denial about hell, it is suggestive that they are being manipulated by demons. That is, denial is a sign of demonic activity, even as demons deny their own hellish destiny. Another version of the gospel put it this way; “Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Mat 8-29). The demons know there is a certain time set by the Father when judgment will occur to them. (181k) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Deceiving and being deceived – Demons are disembodied spirits, very much in tune with the spiritual realm and are dedicated to the goal of thwarting God’s plan. Had the demons not gotten involved in human activities and not hindered the gospel over the centuries, God may have already returned, which means that Satan’s time to be thrown into the abyss would also have come earlier. By this Satan thinks that he is delaying the time of his demise, but what he doesn’t understand is that he is fulfilling God’s purpose, for God willed that 2000 years should elapse before He returned in order for more souls to be added to His kingdom. What is ironic is that if Satan were to ever get his way and man quit believing in the gospel, God would drop the curtain and bring an end to this age and consequently bring Satan's end closer into focus. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-31,32 (65a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> Jesus answers the devil’s prayer – Jesus could have had them thrown in hell, but look how merciful Jesus is to demons and He even answered their prayer. If Jesus is willing to answer the prayer of demons, how much more is He willing to answer our prayers? Lk 8,33-39 (240i) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Hindering people from entering the kingdom – The demons were exorcized from the possessed man and entered the swine, drowned them, and then entered the atmosphere as prince of the power of the air. Why this intermediary step with the pigs? Why didn’t they just enter directly into his preferred domain? Other versions of the gospel said they asked Him to leave because of what happened to their animals, for the farmers suffered a total loss in their herd of swine. The demon’s purpose in destroying the pigs was to anger the townspeople, so they would ask Jesus to leave. This was very strategic. If the demons got their way with Jesus, how much more do they get their way with us? The demons wanted Jesus to leave because Decapolis and the surrounding region of the Gerasenes was their playground. They had that whole area tied around their little finger, and this demon-possessed man was their trophy. Lk 8,33-37 (167i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil (Conspiracy) >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It rejects God – When we think of the field of psychology as a whole and weigh its pros and cons, what it has offered society and what it has taken from it, the world says that psychology made a tremendous contribution to understanding ourselves. When we listen to the voice of secularism and its language of unbelief in God, and when we study the tenets of atheism, the teachings of psychology are rooted in them all. The world would say that psychology has done great things for humanity, but it has only armed man with a whole dimension of defenses aimed against God, arguing against Christianity. For example if we have a psychological anomaly in association with a brain disorder, they would say that demon possession doesn’t apply in contradiction of the Scriptures, but that everything can be explained on a secular level. In contrast, the word “seize” is the root word for seizure, and the Bible says that the demons seized the man, causing him to have erratic convulsions. When we take into consideration that after World War II, after the Nazi movement and after observing Hitler’s highly successful propaganda machine, psychology was born. When we think of psychology in terms of its roots in Nazism, it is easier to understand psychology has never had a positive moment. Lk 8-33 (245l) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of the prince of the power of the air -- This verse goes with verse 23. It takes a demonic environment to produce a demon-possessed man. Demons cannot get much done when there is truth and light afoot. The more darkness in a region, the more demon possession. Imagine the difficulty some missionaries have had wrangling with demons in certain regions of thick spiritual darkness. Demons understand their realm, and they understand how humans think, and they know what to do to pull their strings and to sway the circumstances in their favor, but so did Jesus. The man who was once demon-possessed literally begged Jesus to let him come with them, not wanting to leave His side. He was afraid that the demons would return to him, but Jesus gave him a set of instructions, and he followed them, and for this reason he had no problem with demons again. Jesus’ instruction was to preach the gospel of the kingdom to his countrymen (Vs38,39), and he was faithful and did it, so when Jesus returned later to that area, the people were receptive to His word. What better evangelist than a living example of what God can do? That whole area knew this man, and here he was all cleaned up and presenting the gospel to them, and later many people came to Jesus to hear His word and to be healed of their diseases, but there was no mention of any demoniacs (Mk 7,31-37). The man the demons once possessed extricated them from his region by obeying the word of the Lord, and the people listened to him. Lk 8,34-37 (88i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom -- These verses go with verse 25. Everyone was afraid of Jesus, as though He were an alien from another world, and they were right. His own disciples were afraid of Him as they crossed the Sea of Galilee, and now the townspeople in the country of the Gerasenes were afraid of Him. They were afraid of the demon possessed man just like the disciples were afraid of the Sea of Galilee, but when Jesus solved their problems, they transferred their fear to Him. The whole country of the Gerasenes had completely given up hope of helping this man who had disrupted their lives, yet Jesus the moment His foot touch their land healed him. It made the people just as afraid of Jesus as they were of the demoniac. As the Pharisees accused Him, perhaps the people suspected He was the ruler of the demons. The difference is: the Pharisees knew Jesus was the Messiah whereas the people of Decapolis did not. Lk 8,35-39 (8h) Responsibility >> Preparing to interact with God >> Preparing for revival KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8-38,39 (241b) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >> Asking for something that is not in His will Lk 8,40-48 (72c) Authority >> Transferring authority >> Men delegate authority by obeying the word – Jesus' anointing is transferred from faith to faith, the word of God made flesh, who often said, “It is your faith that has made you well.” Jesus played a passive role in this woman receiving the healing virtue of God, illustrating this statement. At the time He was following a man to heal his daughter when the woman touched Him, and He stopped, turned and asked, “Who touched Me?” Everybody in the crowd was touching Him, but He asked, ‘Someone just received a measure of My healing virtue?’ The woman fell at His feet and confessed that it was her. He answered, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Usually, He would lay His hands on someone, making it look like His hands were transferring the Power of God, but this case emphasized that the person’s faith was tapping into Jesus. Laying His hands on them was only helping them believe. The woman set the condition of her own healing; touching Jesus’ cloak was the flashpoint of transfer. Touching Jesus wasn’t necessary, as in the time Jesus remotely healed the centurion’s slave; it wasn't necessary for Jesus to go to this man's house to heal his daughter, but He went for his limited faith. Without Jesus we cannot be healed, just like without Jesus we cannot be saved. This is not a New Age viewpoint that would try to push Jesus from the equation. Our faith cannot heal us; Jesus heals us, but He needs our faith to complete the transfer by a revelation of Him. This is the kind of faith that heals and saves. For this reason He did not perform many miracles in His own hometown, because they did not believe in Him. “Faith is the substance [of God]…” it says in Heb 11-1. She had heard about Jesus and probably had seen Him at work healing other people, so she knew He could do this and knew He was willing. ‘I only need to touch Him.’ Jesus turned and wanted her to give glory to God. He also wanted to meet this person, because He loves people of faith. They make Him feel at home. Heaven is a place of faith; it is a place that could not exist without faith; God could not exist without faith. When we operate by faith, we are acting like God and we will be rewarded for it. See also: God's substance is faith; Jn 3-16,17; 253ja (113j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anoi nting >> Filled with the Holy Spirit – When she touched Him, He felt His anointing decrease a little and when He felt His anointing draining, He would go back to the mountains to pray and fill up again. Then He would come down and minister to people and pour out His anointing on everybody, returning later to the mountains for more. He poured out Himself on as many people as would receive Him. (114h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus exercises His will through the will of His Father – Now we know what Jesus had received: the anointing in reference to His baptism that kicked off His ministry. He was like a filled vessel who felt the power emanating from Him to heal the woman. His Father was responsible for all the works that Jesus did. (144k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by touching Jesus – Jesus was very discerning of people’s faith, such as this woman who touched Him in a crowd. His disciples reminded Him that He was in the center of a large throng of people, and He said, ‘No, but I felt virtue leave Me,’ and that could have only happened through faith. She had a hemorrhage for twelve years, reached for Jesus, believing that if she could just touch the hem of His garment, she would be healed. This is an indication that we play a part in our healing through faith in Him, and power will proceed from the throne of heaven to heal those in need. We see very few healings in the world today, suggesting that an environment of faith and obedience is missing in the Church, instigating some teachings that God doesn’t heal anymore, but it could be that the Church doesn’t believe anymore. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and if He was willing to heal people in the days of His flesh, then He is also willing to heal from heaven in our century. (254d) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> God gives life to our faith in Jesus Lk 8-40 (143l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> It is popular to follow Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 49-65 Lk 8-42 (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works Lk 8-46 (70b) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Sensitivity To The Spirit KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 8,49-56 (38h) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus is the resurrection (107b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Word creates faith >> Jesus’ words create faith (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- These verses go with verse 40. Jesus told the girl’s parents to tell no one of this miracle, but He told the man who had been cured of many demons to tell everyone the great things God had done for him. The difference was in His popularity between the two places. When He returned to the region where He had been preaching and healed the girl, the last thing He needed was more publicity, for it was already difficult for Him to freely move around the countryside. (146j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Proof that Jesus is the son of God >> That the Church may believe – After the father heard the news that his daughter had died, Jesus immediately supported the man’s faith, giving him reason to continue believing. It was important that the parents witness to their own daughter’s healing. They didn't really believe anymore than their friends and neighbors, but they had a vested interest in Jesus' success. In preparation to heal the girl, He was careful not to allow any unbelief in the house with them. He didn’t want unbelief anywhere near Him when he raised this girl’s body, for a couple of good reasons. First, unbelief had the negative energy to stifle Jesus’ ability to perform miracles, and second, He didn’t want unbelief taking credit for the works of God, otherwise known as heresy. Jesus was the very essence of faith, yet He needed those around Him to believe. Verse 53 says, “They began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.” Who was laughing at Him? There was no one in the house but Peter, James and John and the girl’s parents, and His disciples wouldn’t laugh at Him. Jesus tried to hem up their faith, but it was no use, so He used the faith of His disciples that allowed Jesus to raise the girl. So, Jesus performed this miracle in spite of the parents; the only thing they gained from this experience was their daughter’s life. Notice that Jesus did not perform a grand theatrical ceremony or give a long speech or offer a lengthy prayer before He raised the girl, leaving all the drama to someone else. He didn’t appeal to the emotions but to the faith of God and to the hope of man. Prior to Jesus beginning His ministry, there was no cause for anyone to believe in Him, so He went around preaching the gospel of the kingdom, filling the people full of faith, and while all the people were in a state of expectation, His ministry of healing was born, and the whole countryside began believing in Jesus’ healing ability. Lk 8,54-56 (134e) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically excluded from the spiritual realm – He ordered that something should be given her to eat, because she may not have been eating properly throughout the period of her sickness, and she would be most certainly hungry, indicating that she reentered the same body she left, only healed of whatever affliction killed her. Everything was the same except the affliction. She needed food to regain her strength and perhaps also to prove that she wasn’t just a spirit. It says, “her spirit returned,” but from where? While she was gone, where was she? It’s the question of the ages, but it is not the right question, because there is no such thing as "where" in the spirit realm, just like there is no when. There is no time in eternity, just like gold has no value on a planet that is made of gold. There is so much of it that it becomes irrelevant. So also, time and space are irrelevant to the spirit realm, a realm that none of us are capable at this point to understand. See next page