Author: Bill Hall

Luke 8:43 “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,”

   This woman had exhausted all human help. Evidently she was a person of some financial substance because doctors were not cheap. It is not completely clear what her malady was. Luke, being very exact, would surely have offered details if possible. But, propriety may have prevented him from being more specific in this case.
   Regardless of the exact nature of the problem, this would have caused the woman great difficulty as she would remain unclean all the time. Much like a leper, the crowd would have recoiled from her if they had known of her problem before her healing.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for helping us. Without Your deliverance we are all slaves to sin. Thank You so much for Your mercy and grace! We are not good, but You are good. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:42 “for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.”

   Luke gives us all the details we need to understand what goes on in the narrative. He is known for his thorough treatment of subjects, and it is little wonder that we have both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles from his hand.
   The Bible is of course a Divine book in that the Holy Spirit is the author. However, it must be understood that it is also a human book. The Spirit did not pen it, but used humans to do that. Luke’s own unique style and thought thus shows through. This does not in any way undermine the authorship of the Spirit, but it does create a unique document. The Bible is one of a kind, being the book of God and the book of man at one and the same time.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for the truth! You have given us an accurate account of all that has come before. You have not asked us to stake our lives upon myths and legends. You have given us plain facts of real events. You are so wise and so good! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:41 “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house,”

   I’ve always thought it was nice of Jesus too meet this man’s faith where it was. Jesus could easily have healed/raised the girl from a distance. But Jesus doesn’t make a big deal out of this. He simply follows Jairus.
   Jesus always has a balance in this. He goes to the needs. But also, He waits for the needs to come to Him. In this case, Jesus was well aware that this man’s daughter was sick. However, Jesus was not headed to Jairus’s house until Jairus came and asked Him to come. Once asked, Jesus came.
   We can see this play out over and over in the time that Jesus was here with us. He went to teach the truth. But then He waited for people to respond. Then again, once that response came, He once again went to the need. It is this model of going, and then waiting for response, that gives us the precedent for how the gospel is to be taken to this world. We go where there is a general need and teach the truth, but we wait for the specific needs to come to us. And, once they do we make it a point to meet those specific needs.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for all that You have done! You do not force Yourself upon us in our lives, but You do tug on our hearts to let us know You are there. Thank You for Your mercy! Thank You for Your love! Thank You for Your tender care for us! We are sheep, but You have given us the Good Shepherd. You know what we need. I will praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:40 “So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.”

   At this point in the ministry of Christ He still had quite a large following. This serves as a stark contrast to the folks on the other side of the lake who had just asked Him to leave. One group was afraid to keep Him, and the other was afraid to lose Him. But did either truly know or understand Him? Surely some among the multitude did. But many were just there to see what He might do next.

   Heavenly Father, I do want to see what Christ will do next. But, not for the sake of seeing miracles. I want to be involved in the work of Christ wherever and whenever it takes place. To be a part of what He is doing in this world is the most amazing thing I can ever hope to do. I love You Father. Give me a clear view of what You have for me to do each and every day. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”

   Yes, that is right. Jesus sent this man home. He didn’t call him to go to some foreign land. He didn’t even take him over the lake and to places close by. Nope. He sent him home.
   There are many missionaries that have ministered all over the world, but are at a loss as to how to minister to their own families. They find it quite easy to share the gospel with strangers, but with family, that is a different thing altogether.
   Jesus knew this man would be most effective right where he was. This region where the man lived was full of spiritual darkness. People were living in superstitious fear. They were pagan by and large. But also, they knew this man. He was one of them and could reach them in a way they would readily understand.
    And, the man was one of the main sources of the devil’s deception before this transformation. Just as Jesus chose the Apostle Paul, Jesus chose the demoniac as the most unlikely of missionaries. I can only imagine hearing this guy telling his city about Jesus. He wasn’t afraid, I can tell you that. I’m sure holy boldness easily animated this man. He was used to the possession of evil, so the freedom of the Spirit of Truth was surely a great experience for him.

   Heavenly Father, only You understand Your ways completely. I just stand in awe of how You plan things. You make the best plans and purposes. You know exactly what needs doing. I want to follow You, not just what I think You want, but what You actually want. Thank You for leading us in the ways that are best for us, even if they are not our first choice. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:38 “Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,”

   This is one of my favorite little tidbits in the gospels. The previous verse had already said that Jesus got in the boat and returned. But, now we get the details of what happened with the man who had been delivered.
   The picture being painted here is that the guy was trying to hop in the boat. He wanted to be with God. He wanted to be near the spout where the blessing comes out. He wanted to follow Christ like the other disciples. If Jesus had said to him, “Follow Me” he would have had no hesitation.
   But Jesus didn’t do that. Jesus jumped to the next step with this guy. He deployed him right away as we will see in the next verse. There are some who are truly meant to bloom where they are planted. Jesus had a plan for this man’s life that the demoniac would discover soon enough.

   Heavenly Father, I don’t want to stand in the way of Your plans for me. I will tell You what I think You want. But, I will listen to hear You have something different in mind. I will run from ‘good enough’ to chase after ‘best’. I want to give my life to You, to put at Your disposal for Your purposes. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:37 “Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.”

   This isn’t the only time in the ministry of Christ that He experienced such wholesale rejection. The fact is that the history of the truth is not filled with a lot of big miracles if you really think about it. For most of the history of the Church, and for most of Israel’s history, most miracle work on God’s part has been low key. Why? We, like sheep, are skittish. We tend to fear what we don’t understand. The folks living in this area were very afraid when they heard what had happened. Rather than investigating and getting to the truth, they did what they could to erase the mystery.
   We can see this sort of thing throughout human history. However, the good news is that Jesus has a plan. He would yet reach this region with the truth. And, He reaches the skittish all over the world each and every day.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for understanding us so well! You alone really do understand. We think we know ourselves, but we don’t. We think that somehow You must be held to our rules, but You never are. You do what You have planned, and You never change at all. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:36 “They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.”

   The event had a profound effect on the eyewitnesses. They would never forget what they had seen. Though superstition was strong, the experience they had on this day would forever stick out in their minds and hearts. Even if it did not bring them to a place of belief, they would never be able to escape the amazing power of the person of Jesus Christ.
   Notice the word ‘healed’ at the end of this verse. It is the biblical word for salvation. It has two aspects. The man was first of all saved from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of glorious light. He was delivered from his sin and given life in Christ. But secondly he was healed, or made whole. This is important because it shows that a person completely animated by the energies of evil is handicapped. They are incomplete and imbalanced. This flies in the face of all that satanic or new age thinking would claim, but it is true.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for making me whole! Without You I would always be incomplete. You make me the best me I can be. Only in You may I exist, and only by Your great grace, love and power can I live for all eternity. I am in You, and would have it no other way. I love You Father! Thank You for life in Christ! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:35 “Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.”

   Here we have a contrast that really shows the state this world is in. What had happened in this man’s life was absolutely amazing. He was made completely whole again. The demonic influence was gone and he was ready to learn from God. It was a total transformation.
   And yet, those living in the area, his countrymen, were gripped by fear. How could this be? Why were they not overjoyed? Easy, the devil. He will spend his time in nothing but making people afraid. His methods of control are night and day different from God’s. He cannot handle people the way God can. He has to keep them in a corner, keep them cowed, scared, and confused. He needs to weaken and only strengthen when he thinks he has it under control. He is petty and limited.

   Heavenly Father, may I never forget that You are not limited! You have nothing to hold You back. You are free and fierce. You exist as a consuming fire, and You rip through time and space at Your pleasure. You need no tricks or methods of control. You ask only for that which is best for us because You made us to fit it. When we resist You we are trying to jump from a bed of roses to a bed of nails. I will seek You forever, You are worthy! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 8:34 “When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.”

This verse is simply reporting the result of the pigs being drowned. Of course the guys tending these pigs were quite upset. This was their livelihood. But more than that, they were scared. This region, though surely inhabited by Jews, was largely pagan. This helps explain the presence of the pigs. Superstition was the religion of virtually all pagan culture. This death of the pigs was surely an omen of some kind in their minds and the people of the region were immediately afraid. Thus, it was a society motivated by fear.
This type of fear motivation is still common today. In the absence of other good motives, fear will find its place. Fallen human nature tends to take this as the default.

Heavenly Father, deliver us from fear! May our hearts be motivated only by Your amazing glory. To know You is the best motive anyone could hope to have. You are worth knowing and loving and seeking. You alone are a good goal for our existence. You have made us to need You and want You. You have given us the desire for Your truth. Without You we would always live in fear. Thank You for Your love. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.