Luke 8, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Women follow and support Jesus. The parable of the sower. A lamp under a basket. The storm stilled. Legion healed. Jairus’s daughter raised. A hemorrhaging woman healed.
Four movements. Teaching, storm, exorcism, two healings.
Luke 8 is a chapter of demonstrations. The same word is sown in four soils. The lamp is meant to give light. A storm is stilled with a word. A man tormented by a legion of demons is restored and sent as a missionary. A woman who has spent everything is healed by a touch. A dead girl is raised. In every case the question underneath is: what kind of person is this?
A chapter in 4 movements.
Tap any numbered marker to read its part
“The seed is the word of God. Those beside the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts.”
The sower. Four soils. The lamp. Take care how you hear.
Jesus goes through cities and villages proclaiming the good news. The twelve are with him, and also some women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, Susanna, and many others, who provide for them out of their means. He tells the parable of the sower. A sower sows seed on the path (taken by the devil), on rock (received with joy but withered), among thorns (choked by cares and riches), and on good soil (heard and held in an honest heart, bearing fruit with patience).
The disciples ask what the parable means. Jesus explains it and adds: no one after lighting a lamp covers it. Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. Take care then how you hear. His family comes seeking him. He says: my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
“He awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.”
The storm stilled. Where is your faith?
One day Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples: let us go across to the other side. As they sail he falls asleep. A windstorm comes down on the lake. The boat fills with water. They wake him: master, master, we are perishing! He awakes and rebukes the wind and the raging waves. They cease. There is a calm. He says: where is your faith?
They are afraid and amazed, saying to one another: who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him? The disciples have followed, heard the parables, been with him on the mountain — and still, in the storm, they are afraid. The gap between what we know about Jesus and what we trust when the water rises is the subject of the rest of the Gospel.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”
Legion. The Gerasene demoniac. The first Gentile missionary.
They sail to the Gerasenes. A man from the city who has demons has been living naked among the tombs. He has been bound with chains but broke them. When he sees Jesus he falls down: what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Jesus asks: what is your name? Legion, for many demons have entered him. They beg to be sent into a herd of pigs. Jesus gives permission. They enter the pigs. The herd rushes into the lake.
The people of the city come and find the man sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they are afraid. The man begs to go with Jesus. Jesus sends him back: return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. He goes through the whole city proclaiming how much Jesus had done for him. The first Gentile missionary is sent not by the church but by Jesus himself, from a graveyard.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Jairus’s daughter and the hemorrhaging woman.
When Jesus returns, a crowd welcomes him. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, falls at his feet and begs him to come to his house, for his only daughter, about twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus goes, the crowds press in. A woman with a discharge of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, comes up behind him and touches the fringe of his garment. Immediately the discharge stops. Jesus: who was it that touched me? Power has gone out from me.
The woman comes trembling and declares why she touched him and how she was immediately healed. Jesus: daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace. While he is still speaking, someone comes from the ruler’s house: your daughter is dead. Jesus: do not fear; only believe. He takes Peter, John, James, the parents, and enters the house. He says: she is not dead but sleeping. They laugh. He takes her by the hand: child, arise. Her spirit returns and she gets up at once.
“Do not fear; only believe.”
The lamp parable and listening warning are placed directly after the sower parable. The point: the word is sown indiscriminately, but how it is received is not indifferent. There is a way of hearing that accumulates understanding, and a way of hearing that loses even what seemed to be possessed. The chapter then demonstrates this with a series of responses to Jesus.
The chapter of hearing and seeing.
Women travel with Jesus: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others, who provide for him from their own resources. Jesus teaches the parable of the sower and explains it. The seed is the word of God. Four kinds of soil, four kinds of hearer. Then: no one lights a lamp and hides it. Take care how you hear.
One day he gets into a boat with his disciples. A great windstorm comes. The boat fills with water. They wake him: master, master, we are perishing! He rebukes the wind and the waves. Calm. He says: where is your faith? They are afraid and amazed. They cross to the Gerasenes. A man tormented by Legion meets him. The demons are sent into pigs. The man is restored. He sends the man back: return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.
“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”Luke 8:39 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.