Life Application Study Bible For All Generations - Flipbook - Page 10
THIRD EDITION
New Living
Translation
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The Life Application Study Bible
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Luke 8
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page 2268
page 2269
47“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has
shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little
love.” 48Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that
he goes around forgiving sins?”
50And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Women Accompany Jesus and the Disciples (73)
8
Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages,
preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God.
He took his twelve disciples with him, 2along with some women who had
been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene,
from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Her
od’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing
from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.
Luke 8
4:10-25)
7:48-49
Luke 5:20-21
8:10
†Isa 6:9-10
8:1
Matt 4:23
8:2
Matt 27:55-56
Mark 15:40-41
Luke 23:49
8:11
1 Pet 1:23
8:12
1 Cor 1:21
8:3
Matt 14:1
4One
day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that
had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5“A farmer went out to plant
his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath,
where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6Other seed fell among rocks.
It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.
7Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the ten
der plants. 8Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced
a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he
had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and
understand.”
7:47 Overflowing love is the natural response to forgive- visible but just as essential. Offer your resources to God,
whether or not you will be on center stage.
8:4 Jesus often communicated spiritual truth through
short stories called parables. Each parable describes a familiar object or situation and gives it a startling new twist.
By linking the known with the unknown or hidden and
forcing listeners to think, parables can point to spiritual
truths. A parable compels sincere listeners to discover truth
for themselves, and it conceals truth from those who are
antagonistic, preoccupied, unmotivated, or hard-hearted—
they simply cannot understand it. In reading Jesus’ parables, we must be careful not to read too much into them.
In each, search for the central point and meaning.
8:5 Why would a farmer allow precious seed to land on
the footpath, on rocks, or among thorns? This is not an irresponsible farmer scattering seeds at random. He is using
the acceptable method of the day for seeding a large field—
tossing seeds by the handful as he walks through the field.
His goal is to get as much seed as possible to take root in
good soil, but waste is inevitable as some falls or is blown
into less productive areas. That some of the seed produces
no crop is not the fault of the faithful farmer or of the seed.
The yield depends on the condition of the soil where the
seed falls. Our responsibility is to spread the seed (God’s
message), but we should not give up when some of our
efforts fail. Remember, not every seed falls on good soil.
9His
disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He replied, “You are
permitted to understand the secrets* of the Kingdom of God. But I use par
ables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘When they look, they won’t really see.
When they hear, they won’t understand.’*
7:50
Matt 9:22
Jesus Tells the Parable of the Four Soils (77/Matthew 13:1-9; Mark 4:1-9)
ness and the appropriate consequence of faith. But only
those who realize the depth of their sin can appreciate the
complete forgiveness that God offers them. Jesus has rescued all his followers, whether they were once extremely
wicked or conventionally good, from eternal death. Do you
appreciate the wideness of God’s mercy? Are you grateful
for his forgiveness?
7:49-50 The Pharisees believed that only God could
forgive sins, so they wondered why this man, Jesus, was
saying that the woman’s sins were forgiven. They still did
not grasp the fact that Jesus is indeed God. (Also see 5:1726 and the notes there.)
8:2-3 Jesus lifted women up from degradation and servitude to the joy of fellowship and service. In ancient Jewish
culture, women were not the disciples of rabbis like men
were. By allowing these women to travel with him, Jesus
was showing that all people are equal under God. These
women supported Jesus’ ministry with their own money.
They wanted to support him because he had driven demons out of some of them, had healed others, and was
teaching them all about God’s Kingdom.
8:2-3 Here we catch a glimpse of a few of the people
behind the scenes in Jesus’ ministry. The ministry of those
in the foreground is supported by those whose work is less
•
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Four Soils (78/Matthew 13:10-23; Mark
8:14
Matt 19:23
1 Tim 6:9, 10
2 Tim 4:10
11“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12The seeds
that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have
the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from
believing and being saved. 13The seeds on the rocky soil represent those
who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep
roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face tempta
tion. 14The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the
message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and
riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15And
the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, goodhearted people
who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
8:10a Greek mysteries.
JESUS AND
WOMEN
8:10b Isa 6:9 (Greek version).
Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman at the well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John 4:1-26
Jesus raises a widow’s son from the dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 7:11-17
A sinful woman anoints Jesus’ feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 7:36-50
Jesus forgives an adulterous woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John 8:1-11
A group of women travels with Jesus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 8:1-3
Jesus visits Mary and Martha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 10:38-42
Jesus heals a crippled woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 13:10-17
Jesus heals the daughter of a Gentile woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark 7:24-30
Weeping women follow Jesus on his way to the cross. . . . . . . . . Luke 23:27-31
Jesus’ mother and other women gather at the cross . . . . . . . . . . . John 19:25-27
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark 16:9-11
Jesus appears to other women after his resurrection. . . . . . . . . . . Matthew 28:8-10
As a non-Jew recording the words and works of Jesus’ life, Luke demonstrates
a special sensitivity to other “outsiders” with whom Jesus came into contact. For
instance, Luke records five events involving women that are not mentioned in
the other Gospels. In first-century Jewish culture, women were usually treated
as second-class citizens with few of the rights men had. But Jesus crossed those
barriers, and Luke showed the special care Jesus had for women. Jesus treated all
people with equal respect. The above passages tell of his encounters with women.
8:10 Why didn’t the crowds understand Jesus’ words? 8:11-15 “Footpath” people, like many of the religious lead-
Perhaps they were looking for a military leader or a political
Messiah and could not fit his teaching style into their preconceived idea of what he would be like. Perhaps they were
afraid of pressure from religious leaders and did not want
to look too deeply into Jesus’ words. God told Isaiah that
people would listen without understanding and watch without learning anything (Isaiah 6:9), and that kind of reaction
confronted Jesus. The parable of the four soils was an accurate picture of the people’s reaction to the rest of his parables.
ers, refuse to believe God’s message. “Rocky soil” people,
like many in the crowds who followed Jesus, believe his
message but never get around to doing anything about it.
“Thorn patch” people, overcome by worries and the lure of
materialism, leave no room in their lives for God. “Good soil”
people, in contrast to all the other groups, follow Jesus no
matter what the cost. Which type of soil are you?
