Luke 8:1-21

We heard that Ramadan has started this week. Lent started this week, so we are now counting down to Easter, 6 Sundays from now. Just be aware that this is a very spiritual time, as we have heard, there are enemies of the Cross also fasting and praying at this time. This weekend we’ve had our friend Simon come to stay with us who visited PCC last year and taught us about healing. He is in Auckland by invitation from one of the churches to preach the message of the Gospel and pray for people for healing, mostly though to impart to other believers the same ability to do what he’s doing. The whole of the last year he travelled from place to place doing the same thing. Last night he was at Sylvia Park with a group from Pioneer Ministries and he did that his little team led 6 people, all foreigners, to the Lord. He flies back to Palmerston North on Tuesday and back to his home in Germany in May. He is certainly a good example of someone who fits the category of a true believer that we read in today’s passage on the Parable of the Sower.

Luke 8:1-3

Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance. 

The women who provided for him had been truly saved from sickness and demons. The contrast in their lives before and after meeting Jesus could not be more stark. They now followed him around and gave to Jesus the things he needed to continue his ministry. Every ministry needs support to be able to continue whether that be money, food, accommodation or friendship. 

Luke 8:4-8

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 

If you can understand the message, if it seems obvious to you, it has been revealed to you, you are very privileged because not many people can understand it.

Luke 8:9-10

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’ 

That might seem very hard, that the Lord hid his message by way of parables. Why didn’t he spell it out in plain language? In some ways it’s mercy if you don’t understand. If you do understand and rebel against the message you are far worse off.

Luke 8:11-12

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 

The wayside is hard ground. Many people today are hard. They might have been abused, lied to, let down, cheated on and their way of coping is to become hard. They don’t trust or believe anybody. Or alternatively, they might be proud of their achievements, the life they’ve built. There’s no room for God in their hearts just like the footpath where no flowers can grow. They believe this life is all there is and to live it to the maximum before you die. What happens? One day they hear the Word of God being spoken but immediately they switch off or get distracted by something or someone else that interests them. The Word of God gets taken away, eaten by the birds. 

The truth is that to be saved only requires us to believe. However, there is  a very real threat to us. There is a predator who quickly comes to make you forget the message you heard, he’s called the Devil. He will throw every discouragement and doubt at us to try to prevent us from simply believing. 

Luke 8:13

But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 

Others are like rocky ground. The earth that sits on top is shallow with rock mixed in and underneath. Plants grow there but they need constant watering. People like this judge by emotion, how it makes them feel. If something feels good they’ll go with it. They hear the Word of God and they love the message, and the blessings, the friends they make in the church. But then life throws a curve ball at them. They have trouble at work because they are a Christian, the boss wants them to work on Sunday. Or else someone comes along who is attractive but not a believer and they quickly get pulled away because that person makes them feel good. They fall away because they have no depth just like the rocky soil. I’ve seen that a few times in my life. In church one week then gone suddenly the next without any explanation. 

Luke 8:14

Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 

This type makes me scared because it’s so easy to get distracted by the things in this life. In the parable, the seed turns into a plant but it’s growing up amongst weeds. In our world today there are so many things that scream for your attention and take your time 24 hours a day. You got mobile phones , you got sport, you got music, you got money, you got TV. It takes your time and money. You find so little time for God, that you produce no fruit. There is no evidence to convict you of being a Christian, your life looks just like everyone else in the World.

What a tragedy to believe, not produce any fruit and waste your life. One day time will be called on each one of us and we will each have to give an account of what we did with our lives. The Lord will examine us for fruit, for evidence that we truly believed.

Luke 8:15

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. 

Many people think they are a good person, not just Christians. But are they bearing fruit (Galatians 5:22), are they bringing others into the Kingdom of God?

The command to bear fruit has been there from the beginning.

Genesis 1:28

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Many people wonder why they’re here. We’re here to bear fruit for the Lord. He’s invested in each one of us. We owe him a return but what will we bring? Will it be acceptable like Abel or unacceptable like Cain?

You know Auckland is built on 40 volcanoes. Volcanic soil is different to rocky soil. Because volcanic materials are often porous, they break down faster than other rocks, turning into nutrient-rich soil more quickly. It is exceptionally fertile because it is young and rich in volcanic ash and weathered rock (basalt, pumice) that release essential minerals—potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and iron—as they break down. These soils have high water retention, high porosity for roots, and form unique clay minerals (allophane) that boost nutrient uptake. 

They say a good heart is hard to find. You probably know someone like that in your life. Someone different from the rest. The person who is truly following Christ is like a light to the World. 

Luke 8:16-18

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” 

We need to take heed how we hear. This means to notice our own response when we hear the Word of God. How does it react inside of us? 

• Do we quickly disregard it?
• Are we put off by it’s difficulty?
• Do we easily give up when the going gets harder
• Do we even try to bear fruit?
• Do we know it’s true but have many other things that keep us busy?
• Are we putting our faith into action?
• Are we sharing what we’re learning with others?

Luke 8:19-21

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

When you become a Christian, you become part of the family of God the World over. Wherever you go, you can find believers and when you meet them you find so much in common because they are family. They are even more your family much as you love your blood family. 

The parable of the Sower is about spiritual life, it reveals the types of responses to the Gospel. Ultimately it calls the listener to produce a crop. In the parable, only one out of four of the listeners that heard the word kept it, and bore fruit to maturity. The remaining three had heard it more or less in vain. What made the difference? It was the soil where the seed fell. The soil which produced the crop had been been broken up, turned over, rocks and weeds removed. Our hearts need to be soft, need to be free of sin and focused on the Lord, then we will be like the good soil and produce a crop for him. 

Luke 7:36-50

The last messages I gave in December were from Vannes where we were enjoying the lead up to Christmas with our boys and Hannah.

As it turned out it was a white Christmas, something of a rare event captured in these photos I took on Christmas morning, it felt a special gift from the Lord.

The December messages from Luke 7 were firstly on faith - the Roman Centurion who needed his servant healed, the widow who needed her son raised from death. And secondly in the same chapter a message on the doubt of John the Baptist. Yes even the greatest of believers can go through a period of doubt. Doubt is not unbelief.

Maybe not to the extent of John the Baptist but our faith is tested by trials, God turns up the heat to bring the dross to the surface so that we can be made into pure gold.

Today we move to the last part of Luke 7 to a woman whose great sins were forgiven. The message is about repentance, love and forgiveness. You might not know too many people living the kind of life she was living. If someone as rotten as her can be saved, then there is hope for us all !

Luke 7:36-40

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” 

Who was the woman? Who was Simon? There is this passage in John;

John 12:1-8

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

If the 2 passages are in fact the same story, then Mary would be Mary Magdalene, whom the Lord cast 7 devils out of which is mentioned in the next chapter of Luke. 

Luke 8:1-3

Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

It would also explain some of the motive that Judas had in betraying Jesus if he was angry at the rebuke Jesus gave both to his father Simon (Luke 7) and Judas himself (John 8). The Lord chastens the ones he loves but how we respond to his chastening can determine our eternal destiny. Think of Cain, of Esau, of Saul.

But that’s just by the way, it doesn’t matter if they are the same story, the point being made is the same.

Back to our passage today, the Pharisee said that if Jesus was truly a prophet, he would not allow her to touch him as that would cause Jesus to be defined by her sin. The World and the Devil will try to define you by your sin. But this story of the woman is not about her sin but about her repentance and love for the Lord. 

The Pharisee was exactly right by the the law but he was missing the point of what was happening right before his eyes. There is mercy from the law and for the most surprising reason. Repentance. 

Our stories get rewritten when we truly repent. For the first time the Pharisee is named. He was Simon. Jesus told Simon this.

Luke 7:41-47

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” 

Where does our love for the Lord sit on the sliding scale? Is it some where near zero like Simon or is it somewhere near ten like the woman? Jesus said that our love for him is directly proportional to how much we’ve been forgiven. The trouble for a so called good person like Simon is that they don’t think they’ve done much wrong. Whereas the woman was fully aware of the magnitude of her sins. Would to God that we would all realise how great our debts are!

There is something important here about repentance. See the woman was weeping. It’s not always easy to tell just from someone’s tears if they are truly sorry. Some people are only sorry that they got caught or for the mess they are in. In truth, they would do it again if they could avoid the consequences.

Genuine tears produce repentance that results in a change in eternal destiny. It is hard to repent and it’s hard to confront sin. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the terrible sin in their Church;

2 Corinthians 7:8-11

For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

The woman was a sinner and by the law deserved death and Hell. How did Jesus judge her? Jesus could see her heart. This woman was genuinely sorry for her sins, she was changed on the inside. 

Luke 7:48-50

Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Notice this, to others Jesus said go and sin no more but to this woman he said go in peace. If someone loves Jesus as much as this woman, there is very little possibility that they will sin again.

Can love alone stop someone from sinning? It really should. But the sin within each one of us is very powerful. So the love must be stronger. 

I’m sure you know the author Philip Yancey who wrote the best-selling book « What’s so amazing about Grace ». He used the term « the scandal of Grace » in his book. Philip Yancey has been in the news lately, he has confessed to a scandal in his own life. Of course many people have written Philip Yancey off now but I think his work still stands. Just like David’s Psalms. But what I think isn’t important. How will Jesus judge Philip Yancey, only Jesus can see his heart and see if his tears are real.

Having your sins forgiven is a big deal, it is a scandal of Grace. Is it right for a judge to let someone go free just because they are genuinely sorry for what they’ve done? Surely they must pay a price. Yes, That is the Gospel. It is right because Jesus suffered on the Cross paying the price for our sins. Our eternal destiny depends on this truth. Would to God that we would all be granted the grace of forgiveness shown to this woman. Our sins may be scarlet but we can be washed whiter than snow.