Day 73

Memorize: Rejection by the Gerasenes

Luke 8

Key Verses: 3, 5, 15, 18, 25, 28, 34, 44, 50,

Women play a vital role in Jesus’ ministry, a very counter-cultural move for Jesus. That is because Jesus elevates everyone to the same level. We are all equal in Christ. This would have been offensive to many in that day. Men often didn’t have much to do with women in social settings, and yet Jesus does.

The seed is the message that lands in people’s hearts. The message is the same, it is the heart’s reception that changes. Some people respond to the message and some don’t. Some grow and reproduce, some don’t. The heart determines the growth of the word that is heard. Perseverance is essential to producing a crop. If we want to be fruitful in life, we have to stick to the task. We can’t give up, even when hard times come. We must continue to believe and act.

If we put into action the things we do know, and continue to trust Him, then more will be given to us. If we sit on what we get, we will lose it. We must be careful how we listen. We need to listen with a willingness to obey. If we pick and choose what to obey, then we are in charge, not the Lord. We have to choose which family will be first in our lives. When we become a Jesus-follower our loyalty shifts from the earthly to the heavenly. This doesn’t mean we neglect our earthly family, just that our priorities get shifted. Eternity rises to the top of the priority list.

As Jesus exits a boat a demon possessed man shows up. The demon recognizes Jesus and His ultimate role on Judgment Day. He thinks Judgment Day has arrived, because the Judge has arrived. The demons are sent into the pigs, which then opens the door to the message spreading. When the towns people come to see for themselves, the man is completely changed. He gets a new mission in life. No more living in a graveyard. He is sent to the town to share his testimony.

The next two accounts show faith in action. The woman touches Jesus clothes in faith, and she is healed. Jairus risks everything as the leader of a synagogue to beg Jesus to come heal his daughter. She dies, but Jairus still believes Jesus words. Jesus brings her back from the dead. Both this woman and Jairus had to ignore the crowd that would deny them grace. The woman could have let the social stigma of her condition prevent her from touching Jesus. Jairus could have listened to the negative reports and stopped believing. But both continued to believe.