THE SEND: Luke & ActsSample

As you read Luke 8 today, notice the theme of faith. It will help us to see how all these stories fit together.

Jesus shares a parable about the word of God being sown like seed. He teaches that there’s a harvest for those who are honest, good-hearted, and cling tightly to what God says (Luke 8:15). Throughout this chapter, we see people clinging with faith to the word of God. As they do so, Jesus brings empowerment, freedom, and a breakthrough in their lives.

But Jesus doesn’t just invite us into a life of faith; he models a life of faith.

Now, Luke doesn’t tell us why Jesus crossed the lake of Galilee to visit the region of the Gerasenes (Luke 8:26). But I wonder if Jesus went to the area of the Gerasenes for the sake of this one man who was naked, homeless, and alone (Luke 8:27). What does it say about Jesus that he would sail through a storm for the sake of this one man?

Throughout the chapter, you might notice the way people respond to Jesus and the message he brings. He faces quite a lot of rejection. His disciples get scared that he won’t protect them (Luke 8:24). The people in the area of the Gerasenes beg him to leave (Luke 8:37). Peter rejects His claim that someone touched him (Luke 8:45). And even the mourners try to reject Jesus’ entrance to a young girl’s deathbed (Luke 8:53).

Even though so many people respond to him with fear, doubt, or rejection, Jesus chooses to press in and sow seeds in bad soil as much as good soil. Jesus’ choice not to give in to the rejection means that a man gets freed from demons, a woman gets healed of a chronic condition, and a twelve-year-old girl is brought back to life!

Notice too that the man from the area of the Gerasenes joins the family of God because he heard God’s word and obeyed it (Luke 8:21). He is someone who is honest and good-hearted, someone who heard God’s word and clung to it (Luke 8:15). And I just wonder whether he was also someone who would patiently produce a huge harvest (Luke 8:15). What do you think happened when he went throughout his hometown proclaiming all the great things Jesus had done for him (Luke 8:39)?

I don’t know about you, but I have felt discouraged from sharing my faith before. Yet, the example Jesus gives us in Luke 8 is one of continually sowing seeds of the Kingdom, knowing there is a harvest for those who cling to it.

What would it look like for you to be faithful in sowing seeds of the Kingdom in the areas God has placed you? How does Jesus want to bring empowerment, freedom, and breakthrough through you today?