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Sisters at the Well: Study of the Gospel of Luke Lesson 6: Luke 7-8
Lesson 6: The Gospel of Luke Chapter 7-8 Questions and Notes
⓵ Day One--Read Luke 7: 1-23
These chapters trace the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the cities of Galilee. Find Capernaun, Nain and Gadara on your map (Gadarenes means people of Gadara). For the first time Jesus uses his power to heal in behalf of a Gentile, a Roman centurion. When the man sent word to Jesus not to trouble himself to come to his home, it showed respectful awareness of the Rabbinical laws and traditions that forbid a Jew to enter a Gentile’s home, especially the home of a hated Roman “occupier.” In the end Jesus did not enter the man’s house, but he would have, for there was no Biblical law against entering the home of a Gentile. This over-reaching of the Oral Law was the kind of apostate tradition Jesus rejected, for it created pride, making the Jews feel superior to others. In fact, the Old Testament taught: “the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:34)
1. What is different about the healing of the centurion’s servant from the previous healings performed by Jesus? And what do we learn about Jesus’ power from this story?
In this section Christ first shows his power over death by raising a woman’s son from his bier during a burial procession. Because of the warm climate the custom was to inter the body on the day of death, or if death came on the Sabbath, on the next day. Thus the widow’s son had been dead only a short time when Jesus came upon the funeral procession.
2. What was the reaction of the people to this miracle and why do you think this was their reaction?
3. The people of Jesus’ day had all sorts of expectations of what the Messiah should be like and should do for them. What was John the Baptist’s situation, both physical and mental, at the time he sent his disciples to ask Jesus the questions in verse 19?
Jesus responds to John’s disciples by reminding them of the miracles that he had done. He was echoing two key Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah that were well known to those who were waiting for deliverance. The first is Isaiah 35: 4-6.
4 Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert....10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
The 2nd prophecy was the one Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in his own synagogue in Nazareth:
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives (like those possessed of devils), and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
4. a) Clearly Jesus fulfilled many parts of these Messianic prophecies, though some aspects were unfulfilled in his lifetime. Looking at the whole of these prophecies, why do you think John, and many others, still wondered about who Jesus was and what he had come to do?
b. Jesus says, Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Jesus often didn’t meet the expectations of those around him. He still doesn’t. People get offended when Jesus doesn’t act as they think he should[1]. Give an example from scripture, church history or your own experience when Jesus did not do what was expected or hoped and someone either responded with faith, or were “offended in him?”
⓶ Day 2 Read Luke 7:24-50
After John’s disciples leave, Jesus praises him to the crowds. He asks why they had come to hear John in the first place—certainly not because he was like a shifty politician, a reed in the wind, waving about with every change of public opinion. Neither was he a wealthy power broker. All knew and most respected John’s rough-hewn desert ways. The people clearly regarded John as a prophet straight out of the Old Testament mold. When Jesus says that he was more than a prophet, he refers to the specific roll that John, alone among all the prophets, had as the herald of the Messiah. His coming fulfilled a prophecy in Malachi 3:1, which Jesus quotes in verse 27. Those who heard John, repented and were baptized, were softened in their hearts and thus ready to hear and accept the teachings of Jesus.
5. John did not live to see the Church of Christ set up with all its ordinances and spiritual gifts. Jesus said, “He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than [John].” What privileges do you have in the kingdom of God that John could not have?
6. Who accepted and who rejected the message of John? (Cite verse) What did these same groups think of the message of Jesus?
7. To criticize the Pharisees and lawyers, Jesus tells a little parable about spoiled children playing in a town square who won’t dance when someone plays them a merry tune, and then won’t weep when mourners come by. Like Goldilocks they reject the porridge, first because it’s too hot and then because it’s too cold. He is contrasting his teaching and way of living with John the Baptist’s. What did the Pharisees criticize about the two men’s different “styles”? Cite verse.
Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to his house for dinner, not because he had faith, but because he was curious to find out more about Jesus. But before the evening was through, it was Simon’s heart that had been revealed. Simon showed hostility by not providing any customary courtesies due an invited guest: no water basin and towel, and no warm greeting. The woman who approached Jesus during dinner had been healed by Jesus of 7 tormenting devils. Her actions supplied all the things Simon withheld. She was moved by overflowing love and gratitude, for Christ had healed and helped her rather than simply rejecting her for being a sinner as Simon had. Simon’s “religion” made him hard and judgmental.
8. What two things does Jesus do at this dinner that show his supernatural (beyond natural) or divine powers?
9. Why does a woman with a sinful past have an advantage over Simon, the upstanding pillar of the community, in being able to recognize who Jesus is? Or in other words, what is Simon’s fatal flaw?
⓷ Day 3 Luke 8: 1-18
10. It was unheard of to allow women in a public ministry like Jesus did. The Rabbis held that women should not even be taught the law. What do you learn in this reading about the place and function of women in the ministry of Jesus?
The Parable of the Sower: The word parable means “to put alongside.” It’s a story which sets a spiritual truth alongside a picture of daily life. Jesus’ story was very familiar to his audience. A farmer is walking through his field in the old-fashioned way, with a bag of seed over his shoulder, slinging handfuls of seed in large arcs across the ground. Perhaps it should be called the Parable of the Soils because it is not the seed that makes the difference, but the kind of soil that the seed falls into.
11. What are the three different kinds of “bad” soil and what do they represent?
12. We often think this parable applies only to those hearing a missionary message for the first time. But it’s also true of the word of God in our lives. We hear many messages in church or Conference or come across scriptures in our reading. What are the ways we can respond to the word as it comes to us in the church, that correspond to the four soils?
1. Hard path
2. Rocky ground, thin soil
3. Thorns
4. Good soil
After Jesus tells this parable he says, “he that has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples immediately ask him what this parable means. Before explaining he says, “To you is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand.” Some think this harsh, as if Jesus were saying he only wants certain people to understand him. But Jesus wants all men to come to him. Any limitations come from within men themselves. Nephi said “I am left to mourn because of the unbelief…and the stiffneckedness of men, for they will not search…or understand great knowledge.” If Jesus had spoken gospel truth without parables—in plain unmistakable language—and the people had rejected it, they would have been guilty of a far worse sin than just the spiritual laziness and blindness we see here. Teaching in parables protected them.
13. a. What key thing do the disciples do in verse 9 that leads them to understand the meaning of the parable?
b. Ears to hear are ears that want to hear. How is this a key for us in unlocking the mysteries of God? (see D&C 42:61 found in Scripture List at the end of the lesson)
14. Jesus tells his story of the lighted candle (lamp) to illustrate what we should do with light, or truth, once we have received it. Jesus says it is wrong to put that light under a bed, or a vessel or a bushel.
For fun, match these ways that people have of “hiding” the light they have received.
1. Bed A. Daily cares and worries
2. Vessel, a kitchen pot B. Business, commerce, money making
3. Bushel basket, for selling C. Laziness or immorality
and measuring
⓸ Day 4 Luke 8:19-40
15. We are often afraid our boat is sinking. Judging from this story, what is the best way to guarantee that you’ll get safely to the other side (of whatever experience you have to cross)? And how can we boost our faith when the winds start howling?
Jesus and the apostles arrive safely on the other side of the Sea of Galilee in the country of the Gadarenes. These people are from the region around Gedara, one of the cities of the Decapolis: ten Greco-Roman cities in the area east of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We can tell they were Gentiles because Jews would not be pig farmers. In the story of the demon possessed man, the demons beg Jesus not to send them into the “deep.” The Greek word is abussos, and it means bottomless pit or abyss. (See LDS footnote v.31) This is the same word translated “bottomless pit” in Rev. 20:1-3, the place where Satan and his angels will be bound for 1000 years. The evil spirits knew that a terrible judgment day lay ahead of them when they would be cast into this abyss. This story shows Christ’s power over the unseen forces of Satan. These demons recognized Jesus at once and had to obey his command to depart out of the man. They asked to go into a herd of pigs. The effect on the pigs of being possessed was to act exactly contrary to their own welfare.
16. a) What effect did the evil spirits have upon the man and upon the pigs?
b) What conclusions can we draw about the effect that Satan has in the lives of people when he has control over them?
⓹ Day 5 Luke 8:41-56
17. Jairus was “a ruler of the synagogue,” so he was a Pharisee or at least a devoted follower of the law. Why would he come to Jesus with faith when most of his colleagues rejected Jesus? How common is this pattern in life?
As Jesus makes his way through a crowd to Jairus’ house, a woman who has had an issue of blood for 12 years takes advantage of the crowd to try and touch Jesus in secret. Her affliction made her ceremonially unclean according to Jewish law, and anyone she touched would also become unclean. In shame and desperation she took the only step she thought she could. But Jesus recognized immediately what had been done, for he felt something, as if a current had passed through him as she was healed. He turned, looked at her and asked, “Who touched me?” Now she could no longer hide and was forced to come forward. But what was this! Something miraculous had happened! She felt inside that she was healed and her long years of suffering were over. Her uncleanness had not been transferred to Jesus as she had feared, but rather his grace had been transferred to her.
18. Though she had hoped to keep her purpose hidden, what benefits came to the woman when Jesus made public what had happened?
19. a. Jairus must have been frantic as Jesus took time for this sick woman, because his only daughter lay dying. His worst fears were realized when someone arrived to say it was too late; she had already died. What two things did Jesus tell the man to do when they heard this news?
b. Personal: Can you tell of a time when you had to determine not to fear, but to believe in the power of God, and go forward in faith through a very difficult situation?
20. What mighty forces—ones that give men and women much reason to fear in this life—does Jesus dramatically show his power over in this chapter?
Scripture List:
D&C 42:61 If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.
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[1] To those of you who have read The Narnia Chronicles, you will recognize the principle: “Aslan is not a tame lion.”