(Luke) 26 - the Clincher Miracles — Ed Miller

What we all know and know so well, and that is when we come to study God's Word, we trust the Holy Spirit. He's the one that gave us the Bible, and he's the one that helps us see the Lord. So if you'll bow with me please, we'll commit our time unto him.

Our Father, we do thank you again this morning that we can gather here in this place and have our Bibles and our hearts open, and we can trust your Holy Spirit to focus our hearts and our attention in a fresh and living way upon the Lord Jesus.

We thank you for every part of the Bible, but in a special way today for Luke chapter 8, when you guide our meditations and we just pray that we might behold him again, enable us to be detached from all that would take our attention, all the cares of our life, and for these moments just to concentrate in an unhindered way on you.

Thank you Lord that you're going to meet with us and minister unto us because we claim it in the all-prevailing name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Okay, I'll ask you to turn please to Luke chapter 8 if you would, and let me give a little review, as I just said we're in lesson 26, so too long of a review is not profitable.

Luke 8 as the Transition to Judea

In our discussion we've come to the end of Luke chapter 8, and Luke chapter 8 I remind you is the transition between the Galilean ministry of our Lord and the Judean ministry, which we'll pick up in chapter 9.

In Luke chapter 8, God gives us three parables and four miracles. We've already looked at the parables, and last time we looked at the introduction miracle. Now let me try to set it all in perspective, and then we'll pick up where we left off.

For eight chapters, God has been presenting the Lord Jesus as the son and friend of all mankind, and in these chapters he's a doer, and he's a savior of action, he's healing, he's ministering, he's helping the poor and the oppressed.

But now as he moves toward the teaching section, where he becomes the teacher of all mankind, he narrows down the truth. We say Jesus is the friend of all mankind. Now we need to define all mankind, and in the three parables he tells us what he means by all mankind, and the three parables teach us that he means all receptive mankind.

He's the friend of all who are open and who receive, and that's where he gives us that wonderful parable of the sower, and the soil, and how important it is to have good soil to receive the word of God, and so on.

Then in the four miracles, we looked at the first one, the miracle of the stormy sea, verses 22 -25. Let me just list the miracles for you. The demon possessed man, verses 26 -39. The woman with the issue of blood, stuck in between there, chapter 8, verses 40 -48.

And then Jairus' daughter, the main part of that story is in 49 -56. Now in the first miracle, in the calming of the stormy sea, he narrows it down again. He's the friend of all mankind, that means the friend of all receptive mankind, but what does it mean to be receptive?

So now he focuses on that, and last week we looked at that first parable, to be receptive means to have faith in the Lord. That's what it means. Now the stormy sea defines faith, and let me just get that before you again.

Faith is not coming to the end of yourself. That's how many people think that's what faith is, coming to your wit's end. We know that because the disciples on the stormy sea came to the end of themselves.

Faith is not dumping your problems on Jesus. We know that because the disciples ran and woke Jesus up, they were at their wit's end and they said, you've got to help us, nobody else is here. Faith is not getting out of the way and allowing God to do what only God can do, and not interfering.

Because that's what they did. They came to the end of themselves, they gave it to Jesus, they got out of the way, and God did a marvelous miracle, so that they said, what kind of a person is this, that even the winds and the waves obey him?

Yet, look at verse 25, Luke 8, 25, and he said to them, where is your faith? Isn't that amazing? They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

Matthew, in this account, Matthew 8, 26 says, they had little faith. Mark, in his record of this account, Mark chapter 4, 40 says, they had no faith. And so Matthew says they have little faith, Mark says they have no faith, Luke says their faith is displayed.

Where is your faith? As if it were in the wrong object. The point being, here is a group that came to the end of themselves, they dumped their problems on Jesus, they got out of the way and let God work, and God said, where is your faith?

I would look at that and cheer, I'd say that's real faith, come to the end of yourself, give it to Jesus, get out of the way, watch God work, I'd give him an attaboy, I'd say, that's tremendous, that's wonderful faith.

But he said that's not faith, faith, good morning, faith in this context, and that's why Luke is focusing on it, it has to do with verse 22, and verse 22, he said, let's go over to the other side. They knew they were going to make it to the other side.

And then Jesus went down, and symbolic, literally, he went to sleep, symbolically, he rested. And so he said, we're going to the other side, trust me, believe my word. But somehow they thought, we're going to the bottom, when they saw the storm and all.

So what they did was, they took their eye off the promise, we're going to the other side, and first they looked at the storm, they looked at the circumstance, and you know how easy that is to do, to take your eyes off the promise and look at the storm.

Secondly, they looked at their savior, who seemed detached, he seemed unconscious, he was sleeping, as if he had no idea what was going on in their lives, he didn't browse to help them, he was passive, he was inactive, so much so that they said, don't you care that we are perishing, you take your eyes off the truth of God and put them on the storm, take your eyes off the truth of God and put them on a God who seems unconscious and detached and uncaring, who sees nothing, knows nothing, feels nothing, say, where are you Lord, I've got this problem.

What is faith? According to this story, faith is letting Jesus sleep. Faith is not waking him up. Faith is believing that even though the storm looks violent and even though it looks like God is not doing anything, believing he's still in control because he did give the word, we're going to the other side, and surely they were.

So right at the beginning, he's now saying that he's the friend of all mankind, that is the friend of all receptive mankind, that is the friend of all those who believe, that is the friend of all those who just trust God no matter what, that's, he's the friend of that kind of person.

The Three Miracles as One Message

So that brings us this morning then to the final three miracles in chapter eight. Now rather than looking at them one by one as if they carried three separate messages, I want to do what God has done.

He did it in Luke, he did it in Mark, and that is he grouped these three miracles together as a set, as a unit, in fact almost an organic unit with these three. They should be studied together, all three as if they were one, much like the parable we will look at when we get to Luke 15.

It says he spoke a parable, singular, a parable unto them, the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. Now doesn't that sound like three parables? It's not three parables, it's one parable. He spoke a parable with three fathers.

And just so, these are three miracles, but it's really a one message, it's illustrated in three different ways. Now rather than read the whole section, there's quite a few verses, let me just give you the heart of each of the miracles, read selected verses, and then give you what I think is the heart of God in this section.

Glance please at 26 to 39, the miracle of casting the legion of demons out of the man who lived there among the tombs, there at Gadareh. Now remember this is the story where Jesus allowed the demons to go off into the swamp.

Verse 27, And when he had come out unto the land, he was met by a certain man from the city, who was possessed with demons, who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.

Verse 29, For he had been commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, kept under guard, and yet he would burst his fetters and be driven by the demon into the desert.

Then verse 35, And the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.

And they became frightened, those who had seen it, and reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. Alright, that's the first story. The second is in chapter 8, 43 and 44, let's read that.

This is the woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years, and remember reached out and touched the fringe of the garment of our Savior. Verse 43,. A woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.

That's a familiar story, and I'm sure you all know it well. Finally, the third miracle actually has two parts. Verses 40 to 42 is where it begins, and then it picks up again in 49, and goes to 56. Let me read a couple of verses.

Verse 41,. Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus' feet and began to entreat him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about 12 years old, and she was dying.

Verse 49, and while he was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the teacher anymore. And then verse 52,. And they were all weeping and lamenting for her, but he said, Stop weeping.

She has not died, but is asleep. And they began laughing at him, knowing that she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, Child, arise. And her spirit returned, and she rose immediately, and he gave orders for something to be given her to eat.

Now, except for the details, that's pretty much the miracles, those three miracles, the demon-possessed man, the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead. Now, I told you I wanted to look at those three miracles as a group before we home in on the revelation of Christ.

Five Characteristics of the Three Miracles

Let me make five observations about the three miracles as a group, and then I'll home in on the revelation of Christ. I won't develop these, I'll just suggest them. The first observation is this, that these three miracles include all of mankind.

What I mean by that, the first miracle is done on a man, the second miracle is done on a woman, and the third miracle is done on a child. Who is receptive mankind? Every man, woman, and child who will be open and look to faith, to the Lord.

The second observation has to do with the development, the progressive development of faith as you move from one miracle to the other, you see a progress. The first miracle illustrates liberty through receiving.

This man surely needed to be delivered, he needed to be set free from his bond, liberty through receiving. The second illustrates peace through believing. The woman, when it was all over, Jesus said, we read it, go in peace.

But he didn't really say go in peace. In the original language it's go into peace, as you would go into a house. And when she departed she was to go into an environment of peace. And then the final illustrates life through grace.

This little girl, you know we can put a lot of emphasis on faith, if you have faith it will be done unto you. This little girl had no faith, she was dead. And God did it by grace. And so it's all, this life comes through grace.

So liberty through receiving and then peace through believing and then life through the pure grace of God. That's how he does it in our lives, by the way. First he delivers you from your bondage, deliverance from.

Then he delivers you unto peace, deliverance unto. And then you walk in newness of life. There's a progress in these miracles and it's the progress of the Christian life. The third observation of the miracles as a whole has to do with the extreme cases.

We'll touch on that when we take them one by one. But the first miracle has to do with the strongest enemy. We're talking about Satan, this legion. You couldn't get a more desperate case than this poor fellow who lived among the tombs.

The second has to do with probably the smallest amount of faith ever exercised, pictured illustrated by the touch of a finger on the edge of a garment. This great enemy, Satan, this small thing. And then of course the last one has to do with man's most unsolvable problem, death.

What an extreme. Nobody comes back from death except by this mighty power of God. The fourth characteristic has to do with access to the law. And you can see how these miracles belong together. In the first miracle, Jesus came unsolicited to the man.

In the second story, the woman came to Jesus. In the third story, someone brought Jesus to someone else. And that's how it always is. Either he comes to you or you go to him or someone brings you to him or you bring someone to him.

And so it's just sort of a comprehensive set of miracles. And then the final observation, and this is where we'll spend our time, has to do with the revelation of our Lord Jesus. Every miracle presents him in a slightly different way, found on the great revelation of the whole section.

He's the friend of all mankind. What does that mean, friend of all mankind? Well the first miracle presents him as the mighty deliverer. We'll look at that in some detail. The second miracle presents him as the sensitive savior.

We'll look at that in a little detail. And then the third miracle presents him as the Lord of life. You put all those together and you know what it means, that he's the friend of all believing receptive trusting mankind.

He's the mighty deliverer, he's the sensitive savior, and he's the Lord of life. I'm going to ask you to glance at each miracle individually so that we can home in on that special revelation of the Lord.

Christ the Mighty Deliverer

Chapter 8, 26 to 39, Luke, the Holy Spirit through Luke, presents our Lord Jesus as the mighty deliverer. Let me illustrate that several ways. Did you notice that in this context, God uses the singular and the plural, this man had a spirit, singular, a demon.

Then God said, what's your name? He says, we are many. One, more than one, it's almost like the church is one more than one, it's corporate, and so on. Now look at verse 30, and Jesus asked him, what is your name?

He said, legion, for we are many. Many demons had entered in. How many? When God says many, we don't really know how many. In Mark 5, 13, when it talks about the pigs, it says there were 2 ,000 pigs that went off the cliff into the drink.

So we know how many, at least 2 ,000. We learn from the word legion, that's a military term. They had a legion of soldiers. He's already saying, automatically saying number, and he's saying conflict. These legion of demons were in to give trouble.

They say that a legion is at least 6 ,000. And so when Jesus said, don't you know that there's 12 legions of angels ready to come to my defense, he was saying there's at least 72 ,000 angels leaning over the battlement of heaven.

If I desired them, they would come. Most say a legion is not 6 ,000, but twice that, 12 ,000. How many demons were in this man? At least 2 ,000. Because they went into all the pigs. Probably 6 ,000, maybe 12 ,000.

I don't know, all I know is this man had some problems. You gotta admit, and when you're talking about the power of God, we're talking about his power to command. In one command, at least 2 ,000, maybe 6 ,000, as many as 12 ,000.

Now add to this problem that this guy in verse 21 is naked. He doesn't have on a stitch of clothes, and he's living among the tombs. He's living in the cemetery. He's living with the dead. Add to that that he's bound with chains and shackles.

Evidently, they bound him so he wouldn't hurt others, and so he wouldn't hurt himself. Matthew 8 .28 said, he was so exceedingly violent, no one could pass by the road. They stayed away from this man.

Matthew actually says there were two demon-possessed men, but this guy was in such bad shape, the focus goes on him. Mark adds this, that the more chains and shackles that they put on him, he used to snap the chains and the shackles.

They were not able to bind him. They tried with chains and shackles, but this man had such power by the demons that were in him that he was able to just snap them. So you picture this guy. I'm trying to paint the picture to show the power of God.

This guy with all of those demons, naked, living in the cemetery, bound hand and foot with chains, and he used to break those in pieces. And then Mark 5 .5 adds this, he kept crying out and gashing himself with stone.

So he was self-inflicting all kinds of pain on himself. Well I hope you see from that, this was a hopeless case. Now we just sort of say he's a mighty deliverer, our savior. Look at verse 35 please. And the people went out to see what happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they became frightened.

Isn't that a tremendous verse? Sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Oh the power of this Lord Jesus. I call attention to that in case you know somebody who's a hard case. You read this hard case.

In case you're praying for someone who's in bad shape and under the power of the enemy and living among the dead and in shame and in bondage and so on. Don't give up on hard cases. The second way this story illustrates Jesus as a mighty deliverer is in verse 31 and 32.

And they were entreating him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain and the demons entreated him to permit them to enter the swine and he gave them permission.

In verse 31 the demons were afraid of his command. In verse 32 they're begging his permission. Who is Jesus? Now think about it. The demons are afraid of his command and as soon as he commands them to come out of the manor, they have to obey immediately.

And now they're begging permission to enter into swine. Don't read these things la la la. Remember when we studied together the temptation of our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. It's an amazing thing to see Satan trying to tempt Jesus, bow down before me, worship me.

Look here, as soon as Jesus shows up, 2 ,000 at least, maybe 6 ,000, maybe 12 ,000 demons, they fall down and they begin to pray and to beg from Jesus. Now not in faith. They didn't fall down before Jesus as Lord, but they fell down before him as tormentor.

First their words almost sound like a saint speaking. And the demons say in verse 28, Jesus, son of the most high God, and that sounds like a confession of faith. Jesus, son of the most high God. But they also said, what do we have to do with you?

That showed their heart. The point being that these demons, Jesus is so great, they have no choice. They have to fall down before him. They have to acknowledge who he is. I laugh at these people who call themselves atheists.

All you have to do is, even the demons confess who he is. And there will be a day when every knee will bow and acknowledge. Of course, it will be too late. Satan is scared to death of Jesus. You know, it was in the Old Testament where it said that Samson, remember he broke those robes?

We know Samson didn't break those robes. God, through Samson, broke those robes. And we know this man did not break those chains. We know the devil, the demon, Satan, through the man, had power to break the chains.

I call attention to that because look how powerful he is. And there he is now, the demons whimpering before Christ. By one command, they have to come out. And he said, don't torment us before the time.

They know there's a time. And they know that they're condemned. Look at verse 32, I love this. He gave them permission to enter the swamp. What a picture of the almighty power of Christ. The demons in hell need to get permission from Jesus before they can do anything.

Even enter the hogs. Even enter the pig. You know the Old Testament illustration of Satan trying to get permission to do something. What would that be? Satan asked permission if he could touch one of the children of God.

Who would that be? Job. And the sons of God came before the Lord in order to get permission. And Satan can't do anything. I don't know what that does to your soul. But that blesses me to realize that God has Satan under control.

You know we hear so much bad news in the world and we know that this is Satan's world and so on. If it's fearful to see what Satan can do by God's permission, isn't it comforting to know that he can't do many things because he's not allowed.

Now we don't know why God gives permission for some of the things that take place. But you ought to take great comfort, child of God, to know that Satan has to have permission before he can raise one finger against you or your loved ones or your friends.

I want to call attention to one further illustration of the power of Christ in this miracle. He not only has the power to deliver a man like that. He not only has power to command Satan and to insist on his permission.

But did you notice verse 37? And all the people of the country, the garrisons, and the surrounding districts asked a thousand and more demons just with a word. Here's one powerful enough that the demons have to get his permission.

Powerful enough to take a man like this, Oakland, and close him and put him in his right mind at the feet of Jesus. He has power to do anything he wants to do. And they said, depart from our coast. And he said, OK, I won't force myself on you.

Here's one that could force himself on them. He will never force himself on anybody who doesn't want him. Some have criticized the Lord Jesus in this passage for destroying other people's property. They said, what right did he have to destroy their livelihood?

They were keepers of pig and so on. And what right did he have to do that? Well, the context shows that they were rejecters. And if they could read it with a spiritual eye, they would see that was an act of great mercy because he took their possession.

He could have given them permission to go into the townspeople. What a terrible thing that would have been. But he didn't do that in mercy. It's clear at the end of the story, it was because of their love of hogs and their anger for the loss of their material possessions that they rejected Christ.

Leave. We don't want you. We want our pig. We don't. And God does this just to illustrate the awful heart of man. But he'll never force himself on any. What a testimony was left in the town. Do you notice in verse 38, the man comes and begs Jesus, please let me go with you.

And Jesus said, no, verse 39, return to your house and describe what great things the Lord has done. Of course, the word got all over the town. One thing that is interesting, I don't know when you read the Bible, if you let your imagination go.

I do. And I try to picture all these things. This guy had a family. Return to your house. Return to your family. I can't imagine his children, if he had children, seeing him come up the walk, I bet they jumped under the bed or locked themselves in the closet.

Here comes dad. Oh, no. Because they remembered. A powerful testimony as he would come into the house and explain what great things Christ did for him. Well, that's the first revelation, mighty deliverer, able to deliver man in his worst condition, able to control Satan in his most malicious activity, but still in his great power, he'll never force himself on anybody who doesn't want him.

Christ the Sensitive Savior

The second miracle, I think, presents Christ as the sensitive savior. Luke has given us this graphic description of faith, this woman reaching out and touching the fringe of the garment of the Lord Jesus.

Now, I don't know how you pictured this. I've often thought that she was like on her hands and knees crawling through the crowd in order to touch the hem of his garment. Mark just says in verse 28 of chapter five, if I just touch his garment, Luke says that she came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes.

King James calls it the border. You've heard it called the hem. She touched the hem of the garment. And so I always pictured a hem at the bottom. And so she probably reached down and touched by his feet, touched the hem of his garment.

But it's possible to have a hem somewhere else on your garment, maybe on your sleeve or something like that. We don't know for sure where the hem was. Now, Weiss, in his expanded translation of the New Testament, translates Luke 8, 44 this way.

And she touched the tassel of his outer garment hanging over his shoulder. I don't know where he gets that, but somehow that's supposed to be in the Greek. The point is that she reached out and touched some part of his garment.

It doesn't matter if it was his sleeve or his collar or the hem at his feet. For years I missed the wonderful revelation of Christ in this because I was so taken up with her faith. You know, she just said, oh, if I could just touch his garment.

She was beyond all human help. Listen to Mark as he describes her situation. Mark 5, 25, 26. A woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years, had endured many things at the hands of many physicians, had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse.

So that was her situation. She spent all of her resources trying to get better and she was not broke. She had nothing left. I thought it was so wonderful that she reasoned according to Mark 5, 28. She thought, if I can just touch his garment, I shall be made well.

And so I was focusing on her faith. It was a wonderful faith, but that's not the point. The point is not her faith. The point is the object of her faith. Why did it work when she touched the hem of Jesus' garment?

And the answer is because Jesus was in the garment. That's why it worked. And she really touched him. And from him, the virtue left. If Jesus were not in the garment, and she said, oh, if I can just touch his garment, I'll be made whole.

Do you think she would have been made whole if Jesus were not in the garment? See, not at all. It would have been in vain. The point is, she touched the one in the garment. Verse 45, and Jesus said, who is the one who touched me?

He didn't say who touched my garment. Who's the one who touched me? And while they were all denying it, Peter said, Master, the multitudes are crowding and pressing upon him. Many people were touching Jesus.

But there's a difference between touching Jesus and touching Jesus. One's a touch of faith. They were touching Christ, but they weren't really touching him. Let me illustrate what I mean about touching the garment or touching Christ in the garment.

Now, I hope these Bible studies are a blessing to you, and I hope that through the Bible studies, you see the Lord. Bible study is wonderful if Christ is in it. If he's not in it, it's just a garment.

The Lord's table is a wonderful thing if Christ is in it. If he's not in it, it's just a form. It's just a ritual. It's just going through the motions. A Christian ministry is a wonderful thing if Christ is in it.

If he's not in it, it's just a garment. Fellowship of believers, what a precious thing it is to get together with those of like faith if Christ is in it. If he's not in it, it's not an edifying thing at all.

And so whatever you can think of, whether it's music or prayer or art or some program you're involved in, the point is this. Are you touching Christ in that thing? If you're touching him, it's profitable, otherwise it's not.

So it isn't her faith, it's Christ, the object of her faith. Now, I suggested that the revelation of Christ here is the sensitive Savior. And the illustration is so beautiful because, again, I just picture a finger touching the edge of just a slight touch.

Now, I might be wrong on that, but that's the picture that I get. And the point is, he felt it. Amazing sensitivity of your Savior. It's not her faith. It's how sensitive Jesus was. Imagine being jostled around by rude people, a multitude, you've been in crowds and so on.

And then someone just touches the edge of your clothes. Well, you wouldn't even know it. That's why pickpockets can succeed, because we're not sensitive. But our Lord Jesus is the sensitive Savior. Call attention to that because if you're like me, and sometimes you just feel like, oh, I wish I had more faith, or I wish I had stronger faith, or I wish I had greater faith.

You don't need more faith or stronger faith or bigger faith or greater faith. You need God to dawn on your heart as I need God to dawn on my heart a vision of the sensitive Savior. A little faith can touch a great Christ.

And that's the point here. It isn't how great her faith was. It's how great and sensitive the Lord Jesus was. Now, before we close, let me look quickly at that last miracle, the raising of Jairus' daughter.

Christ the Lord of Life

I suggested here that the revelation is the revelation of Christ as the Lord of life. Not only because he raised the little girl from the dead, but also because he infused life into the faith of Jairus.

A glance, if you would, verse 52. They were all weeping and lamenting for her, but he said, stop weeping. She has not died, but is asleep. And they began laughing at him, knowing she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, child, arise.

Her spirit returned, and she arose immediately, and he gave orders for something to be given her to eat. Her parents were amazed, and he instructed them to tell no one what had happened. This shows the amazing power of the Lord.

It's as easy for Jesus to raise the dead as it is for us to rouse the sleeping. That's the idea. Some try to use this text to prove when a person dies, he's unconscious until the final day. Soul sleep, they call it.

The Bible doesn't teach soul sleep. You're not unconscious. If you died today, your body would be in the grave. Your body would be dead, but your spirit would be conscious and alive immediately with the Lord.

You'd be in the presence of the Lord. This whole idea of being unconscious. That isn't the point. He's using sleep here as an illustration to show, just as actually in the Greek, he went up to the girl and said, little girl, darling, I say unto you, arise.