We may think that Jesus was personally wealthy, but that isn’t what is indicated here. It seems that there were people, not his disciples, that were following him and supporting his work in Luke 8:2-3 “some women” and “many others who were helping to support them from their possessions”. After ministry to crowds, Jesus went across the sea of Galilee and as he spoke to the storm, it quieted. And then he spoke to the demons that had possessed and tormented a man. The demons left. Jesus demonstrated the authority of the kingdom of God over nature and over spirit beings. Even so, his disciples still didn’t understand as they said in Luke 8:25 “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him?” They really won’t understand until after the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8.
And Many Others Who Were Helping to Support Them From Their Possessions
Luke 8:1-3
We often think about Jesus and his twelve disciples traveling together from town to town through the years of his ministry. But there are few references to the others that were with them. Yes, there were crowds of people and there were scribes and Pharisees from many cities in
Luke 5:17 “Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem”
Here we find in Luke 8:2-3 “some women” and a few by name and “many others who were helping to support them from their possessions”. This does not include men because “The Greek phrase used here appears in the feminine form, indicating that Luke is referring specifically to women. (and the phrase) helping to support them from their possessions Refers to financial support, as well as food and lodging (compare Matt 27:55).1
We sometimes think everything came to Jesus supernaturally. And there were times when he fed the thousands in Matthew 15:36, Luke 9:12-15, when he sent his disciple to get a coin from the fishes mouth to pay the tax in Matthew 17:24-27, when he told Simon to cast his net on the other side of the boat in John 21:6. But much of Jesus ministry was supported by others. Jesus was willing to receive support. Others were willing to give it.
A Large Crowd Was Gathering
Luke 8:4-8
The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God
Luke 8:9-10
The Seed is the Word of God
Luke 8:11-15
Nothing is Secret That Will Not Become Evident
Luke 8:16-18
Hear the Word of God and Do It
Where is Your Faith
Luke 8:22-25
Jesus has been pressed by the crowds so much that in Luke 8:19 “his mother and brothers came to him, and they were not able to meet”. This was an intense time, so much that even the writer can only pinpoint that in Luke 8:22 “it happened that on one of the days both he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” His disciples didn’t know it, but Jesus was headed to a demonic encounter that would alter the spiritual environment for the whole region. For his disciples, it was another day, but with some short respite from the crowds as they crossed the sea. That was until in Luke 8:23 “a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in danger”. In their fear, they woke Jesus and in Luke 8:24 “he got up and* rebuked the wind and the billowing waves of water and they ceased, and it became calm”.
Even though they had been walking with Jesus and he had been teaching them, they still had not understood. Jesus said in Luke 8:25 “Where is your faith” expecting that they should already know to speak to the storm. And the disciples said to each other in Luke 8:25 “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him?” and how is it that they still don’t know? But they really won’t understand until after the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8.
He Commanded the Unclean Spirit to Come Out
The Demons Entered Into the Pigs
Luke 8:32-39
Jesus had one intention in mind, these demons had to leave this man. It seems that the demons had a right to exist in that region because when they asked permission to enter the pigs in Luke 8:32 “he permitted them”. And, in response
Luke 8:33 “So the demons came out of the man and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned”.
It isn’t surprising that in Luke 8:34 “when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and reported it in the town and in the countryside.”
Two things happened here. First, the herd of pigs was drowned which destroyed the livelihood of these herdsmen in Luke 8:33. Second, in Luke 8:35 “they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting there clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus”.
But remember that there was no peace for people in this region because these tormenting spirits that could not be restrained or contained ruled through this man in
Mark 5:4–5 “he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles had been shattered. And no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 And during every night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was crying out and cutting himself with stones”.
After Jesus came and cast out the demons, there was peace and the man was in Mark 5:15 “clothed and in his right mind” and in Mark 5:20 “he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him”.
This mans transformation came at a financial cost to the herdsmen but it delivered a productive young man to the community, it reset the spiritual climate and brought peace to everyone in the region.
Study Verses
- Luke 8:1-3 And Many Others Who Were Helping to Support Them
- Luke 8:22-25 Where is Your Faith
- Luke 8:32-39 The Demons Entered Into the Pigs
Today’s Reading
- Luke 8:1-39
References
- 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Lk 8:3). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.