Christ’s True Brethren
Luke 8:19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. :20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”
Luke 8:21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” What are you thoughts?
The Storm is Stilled
Luke 8:22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out.
In the remainder of this chapter Jesus is seen exercising His lordship over the elements, over demons, over disease, and even over death. All these obey His word; only man refuses.
Violent storms do rise quickly on the Sea of Galilee, making navigation perilous. Yet perhaps this particular storm was of satanic origin; it might have been an attempt to destroy the Savior of the world.
Luke 8:23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.
Jesus was asleep when the storm broke; the fact that He slept attests His true humanity. The storm went to sleep when Jesus spoke; this fact attests His absolute deity.
Luke 8:24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.
The disciples awoke the Savior, expressing anguished fears for their own safety. With perfect poise, He rebuked the wind and waves; and all was calm. What He did to the Sea of Galilee, He can do to the troubled, storm-tossed disciple today.
Luke 8:25 But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
He asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” They should not have worried. They did not need to awaken Him. “No water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.” To be with Christ in the boat is to be absolutely safe and secure.
The disciples did not fully appreciate the extent of the power of their Master. Their understanding of Him was defective. They marveled that the elements obeyed Him.
They were no different from us. In the storms of life, we often despair. Then when the Lord comes to our aid, we are astonished at the display of His power. And we wonder that we did not trust Him more fully.
Demons are Cast into Swine
Luke 8:26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. :27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.
When Jesus and His disciples reached shore, they were in the district of the Gadarenes. There they met a certain man possessed with demons. Matthew mentions two demoniacs, while Mark and Luke speak of only one. Such seeming discrepancies might indicate that they were actually two different occasions, or that one writer gave a fuller account than the others.
This particular case of demon-possession caused the victim to discard his clothes, shun society, and live in the tombs.
Luke 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” :29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
When he saw Jesus, he begged Him to let him alone. Of course, it was the unclean spirit who spoke through the pitiful man.
Demon-possession is real. These demons were not mere influences. They were supernatural beings who indwelt the man, controlling his thoughts, speech, and behavior.
These particular demons caused the man to be extremely violent—so much so that when he had one of these violent convulsions, he broke the chains that were intended to restrain him and ran off into the wilderness. This is not surprising when we realize that cooped up within this one man were enough demons to destroy about two thousand pigs (see Mark 5:13).
Luke 8:30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. :31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
The man’s name was Legion because he was possessed by a legion of demons. These demons recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. They knew too that their doom was inevitable, and that He would bring it to pass. But they sought a reprieve, begging Him that He would not command them to depart at once into the abyss.
Luke 8:32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. :33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
They sought permission, when cast out of the man, to enter a herd of many swine nearby on the mountain. This permission was granted, with the result that the pigs ran headlong down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
Luke 8:34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. :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. :36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.
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.
Darby observes: The world beseeches Jesus to depart, desiring their own ease, which is more disturbed by the presence and power of God than by a legion of devils. He goes away. The man who was healed … would fain be with Him; but the Lord sends him back … to be a witness of the grace and power of which he had been the subject.
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, :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.
Luke 8:40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.
A Woman is Healed
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, :42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.
Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson
