Luke 8
Bible Passage: Luke 8
We continue on our journey with Jesus as He carries on with His work.
Today’s chapter brings us to many places and shows us a rather bewildering number and variety of events, not to mention the riches in teachings it offers.
Maybe it’d be easier for us absorb the wealth of teachings and information if we have a thread linking them all so I’m sharing the link that I identified – the steps to being a true believer.
You may have your own way of organising this rather long chapter so feel free to share it too! 🙂
Seeking
…a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city… (4)
…His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”… (9)
…His mother and brothers came to Him… (19)
…and he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house… (41)
…came from behind and touched the border of His garment… (44)
As we can see from the chapter, a great number of people sought Jesus for many different reasons – to be healed, to see miracles, to understand and so on and so forth. This is the same today, for it is true that many people are still seeking Christ today.
The question is: why do we seek Him?
As we can see from the chapter, most of the people who sought Jesus were more concerned with what He can do for their physical lives and material needs.
What we must remember, however, is that Jesus wants to give us so much more than the things of this life for no matter how rich, how powerful, how healthy or how successful we are, there will still come a time when all these will come to pass and we will face judgement.
For this reason, what Jesus wants to give to us is the ability to face this judgement without fear, ‘having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water’ (Heb 10:22), which comes through the truth that He speaks and our obedience to this truth.
Understanding
And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’ (10)
After seeking and finding, we must strive to make sense of what we have found so that our faith does not become superstitious.
This is why we are instructed to meditate on the Word of God and as what Pr Aun Quek mentioned on Tuesday, our understanding of God’s word must not be shallow and superficial so we should make the effort to go ‘deep’ into His teachings and understand them.
Although there is much we still do not understand because the wisdom of God is so infinite, we know and have seen from examples in our church that a person who sincerely and humbly seeks to understand the Word of God truly receives much wisdom from Him and in turn, greatly edifies the church.
Accepting
The step that closely follows understanding is accepting. While a person who understands may not necessarily believe, a person who accepts the Words of God and makes it his own is one who believes.
This means to say that this Word is no longer something external or theoretical but something that we make our own and becomes our standards, principles and values.
Living
…the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience… (15)
…sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light… (16)
…My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it… (21)
As we all know, believing is shown through our actions; not just a momentary or one-time things but a life-time reaction. This is why accepting is necessary but not quite enough because it is still rather passive.
Believing is shown in the way we lead our lives and thus is a very a very active process.
The fact that Jesus said that we have to ‘bear fruit with patience’ tells us that this process is gradual and may become tiresome or difficult but because we know its outcome, we are willing to keep at it.
So today, as we go about our lives calling ourselves Christians, let us also ask ourselves which step we are at and if our lives reflect ourselves to be His true believers.