LUKE LESSON 20

    We will begin this lesson in Luke 8:1 "And it came to pass
afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching
and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve
[were] with him,"

    We see, here, that Jesus has left the Pharisee with whom He had
dinner and even left Capernaum and began to travel from city to city
carrying the gospel of the kingdom. He took his twelve disciples with
Him.

    Luke 8:2 "And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits
and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven
devils," Luke 8:3 "And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and
Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their
substance."

    You see, from these two verses here, that there was a group of
women who accompanied Jesus on this missionary journey, as well as the
disciples. It appears they gave to Jesus' ministry. Jesus seems to
have great compassion for women. He cast seven devils out of Mary
Magdalene and healed several women specifically mentioned, such as
Peter's Mother-in-law. Jesus loved and still does love people. He does
not first check to see if they are men or women. With God there is no
male and female, as we read in Galatians 3:28. With mankind, there is
male and female. God is not interested in flesh. He is interested in
spirit.

    Luke 8:4  "And when much people were gathered together, and were
come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:"

    Everywhere Jesus went. He was thronged with people, and this was
no exception. It seems His fame had spread so that a very large group
of people had come from all the cities to hear Him and see the
miracles.

    Luke 8:5 "A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some
fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the
air devoured it."

    This is the famous parable about the seed {Word of God} which was
sown. This is one of the parables that Jesus gives the exact meaning
to. Jesus spoke in parables throughout the Bible, and it is necessary
to ask the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the meaning of these parables
to us many times. Jesus spoke in parables so that the world could not
use head belief to come to Him. A person must give his heart to God,
not his head.

    Luke 8:6 "And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung
up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture."  Luke 8:7 "And some
fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it."
Luke 8:8 "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit
an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear."

    This parable is dealt with more fully in the 13th chapter of
Matthew and the 4th chapter of Mark. We will touch it briefly again
here. Notice especially, that Jesus does not explain this parable to
the great masses of people. He waits until He gets with just the party
that is traveling with Him.

    Luke 8:9 "And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this
parable be?"

    It seems so obvious to us, that we cannot believe the disciples
could not understand. They were not baptized in the Holy Spirit at
this time, and their understanding had not been opened. Before this,
Jesus had not spoken in parables. This was a new type of teaching. I
really believe that these parables contained messages not for the
worldly people, but for those who chose to follow Jesus. These
parables would be revealed to the Christians by the Holy Spirit of
God.  These were not flesh messages. these were messages to be
revealed to the spirit.

    Luke 8:10 "And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they
might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

    We find in this type of teaching a separating of the people. The
Bible and its meaning is revealed to those who diligently search the
Scriptures and truly desire to know the will of God in their lives. To
the worldly, it is a book that is too difficult to understand. They
throw it down saying they can't understand it anyway. the Bible is
understood by the heart and not the mind. The Bible is to be
understood by the spirit of mankind. Parables (a special type of
teaching introduced by Jesus) are God's way of concealing from those
worldly people His message of salvation. They can see the literal word
and cannot understand its meaning. They can look at Jesus Christ the
righteous (Messiah) and see nothing more than a man. The sad thing is
that many church goers who proclaim Jesus as their Saviour still see a
man. In the next few verses, here, Jesus will reveal the meaning of
this very important parable.

    Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."

    Jesus, in revealing this particular parable, here, is also
teaching the disciples, and in fact, all of His followers, to look for
deeper meaning in all of His Scriptures; not just the obvious
parables. When we see the seed anywhere in the Bible, we know that it
symbolizes the Word of God.

    Luke 8:12 "Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh
the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they
should believe and be saved."

    This person could even be a casual church goer. Somehow, through
preaching or some way, they are exposed to the Word of God. The world
and the lust of the flesh seem to have a greater call on their life.
They do not accept the Word of God into themselves. A common way to
say this would be: it went in one ear and out the other one. The
devil, in this instance I believe, is just saying the sins of the
world caused this person not to retain the Word of God.

    Luke 8:13 "They on the rock [are they], which, when they hear,
receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while
believe, and in time of temptation fall away."

    We have all seen this type of person in the church, An exciting
evangelist comes through town and they get all excited and are going
all out to live for Jesus. Troubles or trials or sometimes even good
times come along and they fade away. There is danger in teaching that
if you receive the Lord only good times, health, and wealth await you.
If hard times, sickness, or poverty comes to those people, it would
destroy their faith. Problems come to every one. It rains on the just
and the unjust. Suffering comes with the territory. Jesus told Paul
that He would show him what great things he would suffer. At any rate,
this person in verse 13 cannot stand up during trials. Their faith in
God and His Word will not bare up under testing, and they lose the
faith, because they have no root.

    Luke 8:14 "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when
they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and
pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection."

    Strangely enough, not only hard times run you away from God. Great
wealth is a real problem. Just like the rich young man who went away
sorrowful without receiving God when he had to choose between God and
his money. Our generation seeks pleasure more than they seek God.
Worldly pleasures are more available to the wealthy. Jesus said it is
difficult for a rich man to make heaven. It is not impossible, but it
is difficult. These people work a short while for Jesus and then give
up. They have no fruit, because they give up.

    Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an
honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring
forth fruit with patience."

    This describes the Christian who not only receives Jesus as his
Saviour, but as his Lord. this person learns everything he or she can
and uses that to bring others into the kingdom.











                           Luke 20 Questions

1.  When Jesus went from city to city, what was His mission?
2.  Who went with Him?
3.  What had Jesus done for Mary Magdalene?
4.  What did these women have to do with the ministry?
5.  Does Jesus love men or women the most?
6.  God is not interested in ________. He is interested in ________.
7.  What kind of new teaching did Jesus start here?
8.  Give 2 reasons why these great throngs of people followed Him.
9.  What is this parable all about?
10. What happened to the first seed?
11. What is the seed symbolic of?
12. Why did Jesus speak in parables?
13. Where did the second seed fall?
14. Where did the last seed fall?
15. What did Jesus tell them about hearing?
16. Why did the disciples not understand these parables?
17. Jesus told these disciples that unto them He would reveal the
    _________ of _________.
18. What does this type of teaching show us?
19. The Bible and its meaning is revealed to whom?
20. When worldly people look at Jesus {Messiah}, they see just a
    ________.
21. Who were those by the wayside symbolic of?
22. Who were they on the rock symbolic of?
23. Not only hard times cause you to lose your faith with God but
    ________  _________, as well.
24. The seed that fell on good ground are symbolic of whom?
25. What lesson can we learn for our day?