We continue our study of the Gospel of Luke Chapter 8. Please open your Bibles there.
Luke 8 starts with “After this”. What happened before Chapter 8? Jesus talked about faith in Luke Chapter 7. We can note from what Jesus said that faith is based on truths and truths come from God. And as people trusted and followed Jesus Christ, He shared more truths to whoever had a listening ear. Jesus speaks through the Bible.
Let us pause here for a moment and ask ourselves, “If I claim Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, do I really have a listening ear when Jesus speaks?”
Let us pray our commitment to God’s Word…
We have noted in the last weeks that it is God’s desire for Believers of Christ to grow spiritually so that through Christians the Kingdom of God would increase. Now, because Jesus may say things which may sound strange to us, let us make sure we realize this great truth! Jesus tells us that the truth will set us free, but there are many times when we don’t want to accept His truths and we end up enslaving ourselves.
It is Christ’s desire that all His Believers constantly grow spiritually and produce godly fruit! Jesus Christ greatly loves us and desires the best for each one of us; therefore, no matter how strange what Jesus may say, we must trust and obey Him.
In preparation for our passage today, let’s briefly review what we’ve learned from Luke Chapter 8.
Luke 8:1-3 tells us that faith results in actions.
Luke 8:4-15 tells us that Jesus will use good and noble hearts for His glory!
Luke 8:16-18 tells us that God is looking for people who are faithful, inquisitive, available, and teachable.
Next week we will learn from Luke 8:22-25 that Jesus will put His disciples’ faith to a test.
In Luke 8:26-56, we will note the simplicity of faith and the stubbornness of men in spite of witnessing the power of God.
In the beginning of Luke 9, we will note that Jesus Christ empowered His disciples and charged them to do the work of Christ by faith.
And so in Luke 7, Jesus defined faith. In Luke 8-9, Jesus explained further the many aspects of faith.
And now we will look at our passage in the middle of these lessons about faith. Jesus talks about His family. Why would Jesus do this? What was Jesus’ intent to bring up family as He was teaching about faith?
Let us also note the setting. We note from the beginning of Luke 8 that Jesus has been traveling and He has been speaking to crowds of people. Jesus left His family to do ministry.
Let us read Luke 8:19-21 in context…….
What are the facts from this passage?
a. Jesus had a physical family!
From the beginning of the Gospel of Luke we can note that Jesus’ physical mother was Mary. In Mark 6:3, we can note that Jesus had at least 4 physical brothers (James, Joseph, Judas and Simon).
b. Jesus’ physical family was looking for Him; wanting to see Him!
It doesn’t tell us why they were looking for Jesus; maybe they missed Him? But don’t you think they were looking for Him because they wanted to talk to Him? Jesus was about 30 years old at that time, what do you think Jesus’ family wanted to talk to Him about??
We really cannot be sure why Jesus’ family wanted to see Him but we can note a few things from how Jesus responded……v21….
Jesus really did not deny or rebuke His family, did He?
Now, we cannot be sure at that time which of Jesus’ family members truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah! We know that James eventually became a minister for Jesus Christ, as he wrote the book of James. Yes, the family has seen all sorts of miracles by Jesus, but Jesus has just been talking about heaven and that He would have to die and rise again from the dead, BUT, none of that has happened yet. Do you think Jesus’ family had doubts and concerns about Jesus? Let me remind you of what God said before Jesus gave the Great commission to His disciples who have been with Jesus for over 3 years: Matthew 28:16, Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
It is possible that many of Jesus’ physical family had concerns and doubts about Him; I bet some of them even thought Jesus was “nuts”! But whatever their intent towards Jesus, we really do not see a direct rebuke or denial from Jesus to His physical family.
And so, lets us note this:
c. Jesus did not deny or rebuke His physical family even though He was spiritually beyond them!
How did Jesus respond to the situation and what was the implication of his response? What type of family did Jesus emphasize??
You see,
d. Jesus turned the discussion from the physical to the spiritual!
Jesus did not deny his physical family, but His focus was on the spiritual!
And so, why was this passage here in the middle of discussing growing faith? Isn’t it simply this? Belonging to the family of God has nothing to do with the physical! Belonging to the family of God is not by physical relation but by faith, which is hearing the Word of God and living them out! Each one of us must personally believe on our own that Jesus Christ is our only Saviour and God.
And so what biblical principles can we apply to our lives?
If Jesus Christ came to us today, will He say we are in His family?
Remember what Jesus said? “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
Have you truly heard the words of Jesus Christ and are you practicing it? In other words,
1. Listen carefully to what Jesus says and live according to it!
And based on how Jesus handled His physical family,
2. Just because we are Christians bound for heaven, we must not deny our own physical family if they are not Christians.
How should we handle our non-Christian family members??
Pray often for your non-Christian family members.
Show your non-Christian relatives how to live for Christ!
Tell them how to be a Biblical Christian (John 3:16).
And one more Biblical principle which we should apply in our lives; Just like Jesus,
3. We must always look for opportunities to turn discussions to the spiritual!
How do we do this?
a. As Christians always remember that you are a citizen of heaven;
Put on the Helmet of Salvation!
b. Know your Bible!
c. Yield to God the Holy Spirit within you.
d. Pray always!
