Luke 8
1 Soon afterwards, he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom. With him were the twelve,
2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;
3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions.
4 When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable.
5 “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.
6 Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7 Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.
8 Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit one hundred times.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
9 His disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”
10 He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those along the road are those who hear; then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
13 Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.
14 That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.
18 Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.”
19 His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd.
20 Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.”
21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it.”
22 Now on one of those days, he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples, and he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.
23 But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A wind storm came down on the lake, and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.
24 They came to him, and awoke him, saying, “Master, master, we are dying!” He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and it was calm.
25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” Being afraid they marveled, saying one to another, “Who is this, then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”
26 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”
29 For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized him. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.
31 They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.
32 Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into them. He allowed them.
33 The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country.
35 People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at Jesus’ feet; and they were afraid.
36 Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed.
37 All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.
38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
40 When Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
41 Behold, a man named Jairus came. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, and begged him to come into his house,
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him.
43 A woman having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by any,
44 came behind him, and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped.
45 Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me.”
47 When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t trouble the Teacher.”
50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed.”
51 When he came to the house, he didn’t allow anyone to enter in, except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.
52 All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, “Don’t weep. She isn’t dead, but sleeping.”
53 They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he put them all outside, and taking her by the hand, he called, saying, “Child, arise!”
55 Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. He commanded that something be given to her to eat.
56 Her parents were amazed, but he commanded them to tell no one what had been done.
Luke 8 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Luke 8 brings together teaching and miracles under one central question: how will people respond to Jesus and his word? Some hear without understanding, some respond briefly, and others endure until fruit matures. The same chapter then shows disciples, townspeople, a tormented man, a suffering woman, and grieving parents responding to Jesus’ authority in very different ways.
The miracles steadily increase the visible scope of Jesus’ authority. He commands a violent storm, overrules a legion of demons, heals a condition that had resisted every remedy, and restores a dead child. These are not disconnected displays. They show that neither nature, spiritual oppression, chronic illness, social exclusion, nor death lies outside his rule.
Yet power alone does not produce faithful response. The disciples are fearful, the local residents ask Jesus to leave, the healed man obeys his commission, the woman comes forward trembling, and Jairus must keep trusting after receiving news of death. Luke therefore presents faith not as denial of danger but as continuing to hear, approach, and obey Jesus when fear presses hardest.
Key Themes
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many other women travel with Jesus and provide for the group from their possessions. Joanna’s connection to Herod’s household suggests social reach, while Mary’s deliverance reveals profound personal restoration. Luke does not identify Mary Magdalene as the sinful woman of chapter 7 or as a prostitute. Here she is a healed disciple who later becomes an important resurrection witness.
The sower scatters the same seed across different kinds of ground. Jesus explains that the seed is God’s word, so the differing results do not arise from different messages. The parable directs attention to the condition of hearers and to what happens after the initial hearing. Exposure to truth is not identical with receiving it fruitfully.
Seed along the road is trampled and eaten before it can take root. Jesus identifies a spiritual opponent who removes the word so that hearers do not believe and receive salvation. This does not make human response meaningless; the command to hear remains urgent. It warns that indifference to God’s word is spiritually dangerous rather than neutral.
The rocky soil receives the word with joy but lacks root. Emotional enthusiasm can be genuine as an experience and still fail to become enduring discipleship. When testing arrives, the temporary response collapses. Jesus does not criticize joy; he exposes joy without depth, commitment, and perseverance.
The thorny soil describes people whose growth is crowded by cares, riches, and life’s pleasures. Anxiety and enjoyment may seem opposite, yet both can occupy attention until God’s word is no longer governing life. The plant exists but produces no mature fruit. The danger is not only outright rejection but a divided life slowly choked by competing loyalties.
Good soil hears, holds the word firmly, and bears fruit with patience. The hundredfold harvest emphasizes remarkable fruitfulness, not a promise of financial increase. Luke’s stress on endurance is essential: mature character, faithful witness, and sustained obedience ordinarily develop through continued trust rather than instant results.
Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah 6 shows that parables both reveal and expose. They disclose the Kingdom to disciples who draw near and ask, while confirming the blindness of those who remain resistant. Parables are therefore more than simple illustrations. They invite attentive hearing, but they do not force understanding upon people determined not to receive Jesus’ message.
The lamp saying continues the theme of revelation. Light is meant to be seen, and what is hidden will eventually come into the open. “Be careful how you hear” places responsibility on the listener: those who receive and act upon truth gain deeper understanding, while neglected truth can be lost even when a person assumes it is possessed.
When Jesus’ mother and brothers cannot reach him, he describes those who hear and do God’s word as his family. He is not rejecting Mary or abolishing ordinary family responsibilities. He is announcing a new community formed by obedient response to God. Nearness to Jesus is not secured by ancestry, familiarity, or public association alone.
Jesus’ sleep in the boat displays genuine human weariness, while his command to the wind and water reveals extraordinary authority. The storm on the lake is real, and experienced fishermen believe they are dying. Following Jesus has not prevented danger. His presence is not a guarantee of calm circumstances, but the storm cannot overturn his purpose to reach the other side.
After calming the lake, Jesus asks, “Where is your faith?” The question does not pretend that the danger was imaginary. It exposes the disciples’ failure to interpret danger in light of the one traveling with them. Their final question—“Who is this?”—is the proper theological center of the scene, because creation responds to Jesus as to its rightful Lord.
Across the lake Jesus meets a man living among tombs, unclothed and isolated under long-term demonic oppression. The setting appears predominantly Gentile, as indicated by the pigs. Luke neither romanticizes the man’s condition nor treats him as morally disposable. Jesus crosses geographical, social, and ritual boundaries to reclaim someone whom ordinary restraints could not restore.
The name “Legion” communicates the overwhelming multiplicity of the demons and may evoke the image of a large occupying force. Yet the many are immediately subordinate to the one Christ. They recognize Jesus’ identity and fear coming judgment, but accurate recognition is not saving faith. They resist his authority even while being unable to escape it.
The demons beg not to be sent into the abyss, a place associated with confinement and judgment. Jesus permits them to enter the pigs, and the herd is destroyed. Luke does not explain every question readers may have about the animals or the owners’ loss. The event visibly exposes the destructive character of the powers that had devastated the man.
The delivered man is found sitting, clothed, mentally restored, and positioned at Jesus’ feet—the posture of a disciple. The townspeople see undeniable restoration but respond with great fear and ask Jesus to leave. Miraculous evidence does not automatically create welcome. People may prefer familiar arrangements to the unsettling presence of one whose authority demands a response.
The man begs to accompany Jesus, but Jesus gives him a different calling: return home and tell what God has done. He obeys by proclaiming what Jesus has done throughout the city. Luke’s wording closely connects God’s saving action with Jesus’ work. Faithful testimony begins with truthful witness in the place where transformation is best known.
Jairus and the bleeding woman are socially different but equally needy. Jairus is named and publicly respected; the woman remains unnamed and approaches from behind. Both fall at Jesus’ feet, and both must trust him. The interwoven stories prevent readers from ranking whose suffering deserves faster attention.
The woman’s twelve-year flow of blood would have produced continuing ritual impurity under Leviticus 15, along with physical suffering and likely social strain. Her condition is not described as punishment for personal sin. She has spent her resources without finding a cure, making her sudden healing an act of mercy where human means had reached their limit.
Her touch should ordinarily communicate impurity, but contact with Jesus works in the opposite direction: she is healed, and he is not defiled. Jesus’ question brings the hidden act into public view. It is not presented as embarrassment for its own sake. His address, “Daughter,” publicly restores relationship and dignity, while his words make clear that faith—not a magical garment—has received his healing.
The delay appears disastrous when news arrives that Jairus’s daughter has died. Jesus answers the father’s fear with a call to continued faith. “Only believe” is not a formula promising that every bereaved family will receive immediate resurrection. Within this event it directs Jairus to keep trusting Jesus even after the situation has passed beyond all ordinary hope.
Jesus calls the girl’s death “sleep” because death is temporary before his authority, not because she was merely unconscious. Luke states that her spirit returned, confirming that she had truly died. Jesus takes her hand, commands her to arise, and orders that she be fed. Majestic power and practical tenderness meet in the restoration of a child to her parents.
Important Verses
Verses 8 and 15 define fruitful hearing. The good hearer does more than experience an initial response; the word is received, retained, and obeyed until fruit appears through patience. Spiritual maturity is measured over time, especially when testing and competing desires threaten growth.
Verses 18 and 21 connect hearing with responsibility and belonging. Truth received faithfully leads to further understanding, while Jesus’ true family is identified by hearing and doing God’s word. The passage challenges both passive listening and confidence based merely on religious proximity.
Verses 24–25 reveal Jesus’ authority over creation and the disciples’ incomplete faith. He does not merely survive the storm; he rebukes it into calm. Their fearful question invites readers to recognize that the one in the boat exercises the rule Scripture attributes to God over the sea.
Verses 35 and 39 show the shape of restoration. The formerly tormented man sits at Jesus’ feet in wholeness, then returns home as a witness. Deliverance restores identity, community, and purpose. Not every disciple receives the same assignment, but every disciple can tell truthfully what Christ has done.
Verses 48–50 and 54–55 place compassionate words beside life-giving authority. Jesus calls the woman “Daughter,” tells Jairus not to fear, and calls the dead child to rise. Faith approaches Jesus personally, but the saving and restoring power belongs to him rather than to the intensity of human confidence.
Practical Applications
Examine not only whether you hear Scripture but how you continue to receive it. Ask what hardens attention, what leaves faith shallow, and what crowds obedience. Build roots through sustained reading, prayer, Christian community, and practiced obedience so that temporary enthusiasm becomes patient fruitfulness.
Value the material service that makes ministry possible. Luke honors people who used their resources to support Jesus’ work. Giving, hospitality, administration, transportation, and other practical forms of service are not secondary to “spiritual” ministry; they can be faithful participation in the spread of the gospel.
Do not interpret every storm as proof that Jesus has abandoned you or that you have left his will. The disciples entered the boat at his direction and still faced danger. Pray honestly, act wisely, and remember that faith rests in Christ’s identity and purpose, not in a guarantee that every circumstance will become immediately calm.
Let restoration lead to witness. The delivered man wanted one form of discipleship, but Jesus assigned him to his home and city. Your most fitting testimony may begin among people who know what bondage, fear, or brokenness once looked like. Speak about Christ’s work without exaggerating your story or making yourself its hero.
Bring long-hidden suffering into the presence of Jesus without treating faith as a technique for controlling outcomes. The woman’s touch mattered because she reached for Christ, not because fabric contained impersonal power. Christian faith seeks the Lord himself and receives his compassion, dignity, and peace even while acknowledging that not every healing occurs in the same way or time.
Face death with grief and hope together. Jesus did not deny that Jairus’s daughter had died, and the mourners’ sorrow was not imaginary. Yet death did not have the final word in his presence. This restoration anticipates the larger Christian hope grounded in Jesus’ resurrection: those who belong to him await bodily life beyond death.