Luke 8 - Who is this Jesus? (part 1)

(Click here to read Luke 7)

(Click here to read Luke 8)


 Luke 7:49-50 (ESV)
49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

As the pharisees ask this question at the end of chapter 7, we the reader are encouraged to do the same. Jesus himself answered his cousin John earlier in the same chapter (v22) by encouraging him to judge the things he does. He reminds John that the deaf hear, the blind see, and the poor hear the good news. Chapter 8 follows this question with demonstrations of Jesus' ministry, allowing us, the readers, to also judge for ourselves.

The first half of Luke's eighth chapter begins with Jesus' teaching. First he tells a parable of a sower, scattering seed on different soils, and the resulting harvest from each (8:4-15). He explains to his disciples that he teaches in story because those that are willing to hear will better understand by his illustrations, and those who are not listening will be further unable to discern. Here we are given a multiple layered challenge. Are we listening? Can we discern? Upon which type of soil is the seed of the word of Jesus falling within us?

 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Luke 8:8b)

Verses 16 to 18 end the teaching section as Jesus challenges the disciples to listen and judge carefully what they see and hear. All will be revealed eventually, but our response to truth will determine our outcome.

"Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. "(Luke 8:18)

Just as Jesus made clear at the end of his Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), Jesus reminds us that his words are not meant to be taken as empty rhetoric. He intends for us to be changed, for his teaching to be demonstrated in our actions. 

"My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and *do it*"(Luke 8:21b)

The second half of Luke 8 records active miraculous demonstration of Jesus' power. In verses 22-25, he rebukes a storm before his frightened disciples. When the winds stop, their question echoes the Pharisees in the previous chapter. 

 “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” (Luke 8:25b) 

they say, once again encouraging the reader to do the same.

After he cures a man oppressed by a demon, he sends him to his town to tell people what Jesus had done for him. The demonstration of Holy Spirit's power testifies to Jesus' identity.

Finally, the story of the woman healed of an issue of blood illustrates to the reader the result of knowing, believing, and acting upon faith in who Jesus is.

 Luke 8:44,47-48 (ESV)

44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Rabbi Jesus wore a prayer shawl, a long tasselled garment wrapped around his shoulders and hanging down at his legs. Each of these tassles had five knots, reminding a religious Jew of the five books of Moses. These tassles had a name in Hebrew that translates to English as "wings".

Three times in two chapters the identity of Jesus has been questioned. Both the Pharisees and Jesus' disciples ask "who is this" in response to his unusual or miraculous actions. The Pharisees ask because he forgives sins (7:49). The disciples ask because he commands nature (8:26). John the Baptist asks more pointedly whether Jesus is the Messiah, the coming deliverer promised in the Hebrew Scriptures.

This woman would have also been waiting for Messiah, and she knew the promises in scripture. One such promise is from Malachi, the last book of the Hebrew scriptures prophesying the coming Messiah:

 Malachi 4:2 (ESV)
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

She knew and believed that when the promised deliverer would come, he would be a healer. The healing is in his tassels, the knotted ends of his prayer shawl that represented the scripture. Someone might interpret the promise to mean the power of healing present in the word of God. Or perhaps it meant healing would come by the word of Messiah, who would speak the word of God. Maybe it means that the prayer of Jesus would heal the sick.

Scripture gives examples to show all are true. But this woman's bold faith is strong enough to test it literally. She grabs his tassels, his wings of healing, and she is healed. With a beautiful bookending to the passage, just as he does for the woman of bad reputation at the end of chapter seven (7:49), Jesus says that it is her faith that saved her.

Luke 8:48

And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
 

Whoever has ears, let them hear. 

(See tomorrow's entry at 9:00 AM for the conclusion, "You are the Christ of God" - Luke 9) 

Luke 8 - Jesus loves the ladies

(Click here to read Luke 8)

Luke 8:1-3 (ESV)

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Luke has more references to women among Jesus' company than any of the other four gospels. In John 4, Jesus simply speaks with a woman at a well, and the text regards the story as unusual. This is just one example from the gospels that illustrate the attitude of the day and time. Women were not as highly regarded as men. It isn't surprising that they show up less often in the story of Jesus' life.

In Luke, however, it seems that stories of women are highlighted. This may fit the theme of Luke that Jesus is present for the less fortunate and marginalized. For example, Matthew records the story of rich wise men from the east coming to visit Jesus after his birth, while Luke does not mention them. Instead, Luke is the only gospel to describe the story of lowly and unimportant shepherds coming to visit Jesus at his birth. While Matthew records the expectation of Jesus' birth from Joseph's perspective, Luke gives us his mother, Mary's perspective, and tells us more about her than any other gospel account.

Luke also came from a different culture than the other three gospel writers. It may be that his more "progressive" urban Greek background gave him a different perspective on the story of Jesus as well. Perhaps it was no special intention, but simply a product of his worldview. I personally believe that Luke was intentional and observant enough to recognize the cultural differences, and probably used his unique perspective to point out an aspect of Jesus' ministry that may have been more likely overlooked by someone more culturally similar.

In any case, this portion of Luke gives us many opportunities to see this unique character in this gospel. At the beginning of chapter 8 there is a brief but significant mention of women who join the company of Jesus' disciples. We notice that the writer mentions them by name. Not only that, but he makes special mention that one is the wife of a man who serves the king. She is a woman of high regard, power, and means. When so many women highlighted in the gospels are widows or prostitutes, it is important to notice the diversity of women among Jesus' company in the book of Luke. Women are not necessarily powerless, needy, or sinful in this book. In fact, these women are listed as the financial supporters of Jesus' ministry. There is no protest by Jesus or the disciples on this point, it is simply a matter of fact. One should consider this story when studying a biblical perspective on gender roles and men as the necessary provider.

But women are not only shown as equal in their power or finances. Such a perspective would be as classist as the other would be sexist. In Luke 7:1-17, two stories are paralleled. The first is the story of a powerful and influential Roman soldier seeking healing for his servant. The second is a poor and powerless woman whose only son has died. She is in dire straits, economically hopeless in that culture and time. Jesus heals both the son and servant, and the stories are told in such lock step that the reader cannot place any greater importance or preference on the high ranking soldier over the broke widow. Luke preaches equality across all lines.

In Luke 7:36-50, Luke compares a woman of poor reputation to proper religious folk as Jesus is confronted with both at a house party. The woman is portrayed as courageous, generous, and faithful, while the religious men are stingy, apathetic, and judgmental. Jesus identifies with the woman at the expense of his own reputation with the religious men.

At the end of the eighth chapter, Jesus performs two healings, one is to raise a girl from the dead, and the other is to heal a woman with an "issue of blood", a uniquely feminine problem. In both cases, he touches the women in need of healing. In both cases, the law of Moses would have declared Jesus ceremonially unclean for doing so. But just as he is willing to touch a leper, his touch causes both women to become whole. In both cases, the text uses the Greek word "SOZO", meaning "saved". He tells the woman healed of bleeding that her faith has "sozo" her. He "sozo" the daughter of Jairus. The word is a holistic and complete one, meaning salvation of one's entire being, sins forgiven, bondage broken, and body whole.

Jesus' ministry was and is not limited to an abstract or psychic renewal of a religious elite or a privileged few. The story of Luke shows a complete and universal gospel, one that brings wholeness and rightness to everything and offered to everyone, everywhere. From the centre of one individual's being, to our body, our finances, our relationships, Jesus brings a message of wholeness in the power of the Holy Spirit. From the highest throne to the lowest gutter, all races, genders, and cultures are included. From the life of one child, to the order of government and the expression of power between people, the gospel promises a complete renewal to justice that changes the order of everything.

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Jesus stands up for a sinful woman right before this chapter, two women are mentioned at the beginning, and he heals a woman of a feminine issue, and raises another woman from the dead at the end of the chapter.