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Scripture Reading: Luke 8:22-56
In this message we come to 8:22-56. This portion of the Gospel of Luke covers three matters: the quelling of the storm (Luke 8:22-25), the casting out of a legion of demons (Luke 8:26-39), and the healing of a woman with a flow of blood and the raising up of a dead girl (Luke 8:40-56).
These three matters are put together not only in Luke but also in Mark and Matthew. In Mark they are put together in order to show the authority of the kingdom of God. By the authority of the kingdom, the storm is calmed, the demons are defeated, the sick are healed, and the dead are raised. In Matthew the same three matters are put together in order to show a dispensational change. But in Luke these things are put together in order to show the journey we must make as those who believe in the Lord Jesus and follow Him.
We have seen from 7:36—8:21 that the Christian life begins with the forgiveness of sins and continues with living in peace, following the Lord, ministering to His need, and growing in life so that we may shine. Eventually, we become the Lord’s real relatives, His members. Then in 8:22-56 Luke goes on to show that those who believe in the Lord are on a journey with Him. This journey is not chosen by us; rather, it is ordained by the Savior.
Luke 8:22 indicates that the journey of which we are speaking is ordained by the Lord: “And it came about on one of the days that He got into a boat, and His disciples; and He said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake; and they launched out.” Here we see that the Lord told the disciples to go over to the other side of the lake. This indicates that the journey was not initiated by the disciples, but was ordained by the Lord. This indicates further that after we become the Lord’s relatives, the members of His Body, we do not have the right to choose our own way. Instead, we must take the way chosen by Him, the way ordained by Him. The disciples, therefore, launched out at the Lord’s word. He said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake,” and they took His word and launched out.
Verses 23 and 24 tell us what happened on the journey: “And as they sailed, He fell asleep. And a whirlwind came down upon the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing! And He, being awakened, rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm.” Here we see that while the Lord was asleep, a whirlwind came down upon the lake, and the boat was being filled with water. The disciples were frightened and called on the Lord. The Lord awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.
Why did the Lord rebuke the wind and the raging of the water? Why would He rebuke something that is without life? He rebuked the wind and the water because behind them were evil spirits and demons. The evil spirits are in the air, and the demons are in the water. Both the evil spirits and the demons follow Satan and trouble us in our journey as we follow the Lord. This means that the evil spirits and the demons will cause a “storm” to frustrate us in our journey.
Verse 25 says, “And He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” Here we see that after quelling the storm, the Lord rebuked the disciples, asking them, “Where is your faith?”
According to the New Testament, faith is always based on the word of the Lord. If we did not have a word from the Lord, we would not have any basis for our faith. The Lord’s word produces faith. Faith, therefore, is based on the word of the Lord. What was the word given to the disciples by the Lord in this instance? It was the word, recorded in verse 22: “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” Since the Lord had spoken this word, certainly He would fulfill it.
In 8:22-25 the disciples had not only the Lord’s word but the Lord Himself. He was with the disciples in the boat. In that situation the disciples had the word of the Lord and the Lord Himself.
Since the disciples had both the Lord’s word and His presence, they should have been at peace, not caring about the storm. The Lord had told them to go to the other side of the lake, and the Lord was with them in the boat. They should not have been frightened by the storm.
Our trouble as today’s followers of the Lord is that when a storm comes we often forget the Lord’s word. Furthermore, instead of looking at the Lord, we may look at the storm. We all need to learn that whenever we are on a journey following the Lord and a storm arises, we should look at the sleeping Lord and not at the storm. We should not care for the storm — we should care for the Lord’s word. The Lord has said, “Let us go over to the other side,” and whatever He says will come to pass. Once the Lord speaks concerning a certain thing, it is settled. The Lord always fulfills His word. Hence, when He tells us to go over to the other side, we may be sure that we shall reach the other side, no matter what kind of storms may come.
We need to believe in the Lord and not look at our environment or circumstances. Instead of looking at the storm, let us look at the resting Lord. Which will you follow — the storm or the resting Lord? We may even want to say to the Lord, “Lord, since You are resting, I shall rest with You. Let the wind blow. Because You are resting, I can rest with You.” However, it is easy to say this, but it is difficult to practice it. As one who has been practicing for more than fifty years to look at the Lord and not at circumstances, I must confess that I am still learning this lesson.
Often in our journey with the Lord we shall encounter a storm or a whirlwind. Then we may become distracted and forget the Lord’s word and the fact that He is with us and is at rest. Are you able to say, “Lord, since You are resting, I shall rest also”? Let us all learn to practice this.
Luke’s account in 8:22-25 does not show a dispensational change; neither does it present the authority of the kingdom of God. Here Luke portrays the Christian journey. According to the portrait in Luke, while we are taking the way ordained by the Lord, the Lord will be at rest, and the enemy will be busy. The evil spirits and the demons will be active to cause storms to frustrate us on our journey. We need to remember that actually this is not our journey; it is the Lord’s journey, and we are journeying with Him. We are taking His way, and He is on the way with us. In fact, He is even in the boat with us. We may say that the boat here signifies the church. For the Lord to be with us in the boat means that He is with us in the church. Although the “boat” of the church may be in the midst of a whirlwind and raging waters, we should not be troubled. Instead of being troubled, we should have peace in the resting Lord.
Eventually the Lord and His disciples reached their destination, “the country of the Gerasenes, which is across from Galilee” (8:26). Immediately they met a certain man who had demons (v. 27), a man possessed by a legion of demons (v. 30). The Lord cast out all these demons, giving them permission to enter into the many hogs that were feeding nearby (v. 32). “And the demons, coming out from the man, entered into the hogs; and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned” (v. 33). The picture in 8:22-39 corresponds to our spiritual experience. When we take the Lord’s way, journeying with Him, there will be storms. Nevertheless, we eventually reach our destination on “the other side of the lake.” Then we shall see that in such a place the Lord casts out a legion of demons and clears up the unclean business of hog raising. In the Life-study of Mark we pointed out that the business of raising hogs signifies the unclean industry of today’s world. In the world there are legions of demons, and everywhere there is unclean business. But wherever the followers of the Lord Jesus go with Him, the result will be that the demons are cast out and the business of hog raising is cleared up.
As indicated by the request of the multitude in the country of the Gerasenes that the Lord depart from them, the worldly people are offended when the demons are cast out and the business of hog raising is cleared up. It certainly is a good thing to cast out demons and to clear away the filthy business of hog raising, but this is not pleasing to worldly people. Although we are doing what is best for society, the people of the world do not appreciate us. Do not expect to be welcomed by worldly people. Because our journey will cause damage to their unclean business, we shall not be welcomed by them.
We have pointed out that demons dwell in the water. We may say that today’s society is a huge lake of dirty water and that this water is full of demons. Wherever we go on our journey with the Lord, we shall meet legions of demons, and the demons will be cast out, and the unclean business will be removed. However, this is offensive to today’s society. As a result, just as the Gerasenes begged the Lord to depart from them, the worldly people will ask us to go away from them.
In 8:40-56 we have an account of the Lord’s healing a woman with a flow of blood and His raising up a dead girl. In 8:41-42 Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, asked the Lord Jesus to heal his daughter, who was “about twelve years old, and she was dying.” While the Lord was on the way to heal the girl, “a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who could not be healed by anyone, approached Him from behind and touched the fringe of His garment; and instantly her flow of blood stopped” (vv. 43-44). Since this woman’s case is merged with the case of the ruler’s daughter, and since the twelve years of her sickness are the age of the girl, and they are both females, these cases may be considered a complete case of one person. In this view, the girl was born, so to speak, in the woman’s death sickness and died of it. When the woman’s death sickness was healed by the Man-Savior, the dead girl rose up from death. This signifies that every fallen person is born in the death sickness of sin and is dead in it (Eph. 2:1). When his death sickness of sin is dealt with by the Savior’s redeeming death (1 Pet. 2:24), he rises up out of death into life (John 5:24-25).
The flow of blood in the case of the woman signifies the leaking out of life. To lose blood means to lose life. This also is an aspect of the condition of today’s society. According to the picture presented in Luke, fallen man’s society is filled with demons and with the unclean business of hog raising, and it is characterized by the leaking out of life, which brings people into death.
In order to understand the record of the Gospel of Luke, we need to see the significance of all the cases included in this Gospel. The man with the legion of demons signifies the situation of human society. Human society is filled with possessing demons. The business of hog raising signifies the unclean business among the fallen human race. Now we see that the woman with the flow of blood signifies that fallen people in society are leaking out life, and the result of the loss of life is death.
On their journey the Lord Jesus and His disciples met a legion of demons, those working in the unclean business of hog raising, one with a flow of blood, and another one who had died. This indicates that in our journey to follow the Lord, we shall come in contact with four things: demons, the business of hog raising, the leaking out of life, and death. In our journey we may follow the Lord to a certain place, and there we shall meet legions of demons and unclean industry. Then we may go with Him to another place and there meet the leaking out of life and death.
In 7:36-50 we are represented by the sinful woman who had her sins forgiven and then began to love the Lord and live a life of peace. As those who have experienced the forgiveness of sins, we love the Lord and live a life of peace. Then, according to chapter eight, we follow Him, minister to His need, grow in life, shine as lamps, and become real relatives of the Lord. Hence, in 7:36—8:21 we see a picture of our Christian experience starting with the forgiveness of sins and ending with becoming the Lord’s relatives, the members of His Body.
According to the record in 8:22-56, we should not stop with becoming relatives of the Lord. Rather, we must go on to take the way the Lord has ordained for us. This means that we should take the journey that He has ordained. We make this journey at the Lord’s word and with Him in the boat.
We should not think that if we take the journey ordained by the Lord everything will be easy. On the contrary, we should be prepared to face storms. Because we are journeying at the Lord’s word and with the Lord Himself in our boat, we should not be frightened by the storms. The Lord is resting in the boat, and we should learn to rest with Him. However, this is not easy for us to do. When a storm arises, we may call on the Lord and tell Him that we are perishing. From experience we know that we are more likely to call on the Lord in a storm than when we are safe and at peace.
On our journey with the Lord, at a certain place we shall meet demons and the business of hog raising. In other places we shall meet the leaking out of life; we shall also meet death. But as followers of the Lord Jesus taking the way He has ordained for our journey, we shall always become a blessing to society. When we come to a place like that of the Gerasenes, a place filled with demons, the demons will be cast out, and the unclean industry will be cleared away. Even if others reject us, we shall still be a blessing to them. Then we may be led to another place and become a blessing to those who are suffering from the leaking out of life. As a result of our being in that place, some may be healed and others may be raised from the dead.
Wherever we journey in following the Lord, demons will be cast out, the business of hog raising will be cleared up, those suffering from the leaking out of life will be healed, and the dead will be raised.
We have seen that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the same three instances we have been considering in this message. We have pointed out that Matthew’s purpose is to show a dispensational change, and Mark’s intention is to show the authority of the kingdom of God. But in Luke these events are recorded in order to show us the journey that has been ordained for us by the Man-Savior. Through reading the account in Luke we see the way we should take as followers of the Lord Jesus. Because we take this journey at the Lord’s word, we shall reach our destination no matter how many storms there may be. Then at our destination we shall meet demons, unclean industry, the leaking out of life, and death. However, we shall always bring a blessing to these negative situations. The demons will be cast out, the unclean business will be cleared up, the disease of the leaking out of life will be healed, and the dead will be raised.
