Apr. 13, 2025

Last week the main topic of our discussion was the parable of the soils (or the sower). This week we will start with who are Jesus’ mother and brothers, and we will see Jesus raise a young girl from the dead.

Luke Lesson 15 Study Questions

1.    My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it: Jesus indicated that His closest family is made up of those who hear and obey God’s word. We draw close to Jesus by hearing His word and doing it.

2.    As they sailed, He fell asleep: We are impressed by the fact that He needed to sleep, showing His true humanity. He became tired and would sometimes need to catch sleep wherever He was able to, even in unlikely places.

3.    . He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: Jesus didn’t merely quiet the wind and the sea; He rebuked the winds and the sea. This, along with the disciple’s great fear, and what Jesus would confront at their destination, gives the sense that Satan had a significant hand in this storm.

4.    Where is your faith? Difficult circumstances – storms, so to speak – are not evidence of unbelief. Unbelief is the rejection of a promise or a command of God relevant to a particular situation.

5.    He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man: The man could not, or would not deliver himself, but Jesus had all authority over the unclean spirit.

6.    Demons have the same goal in Christians (to wreck the image of God) but their tactics are restricted; in regard to Christians, demonic spirits were disarmed by Jesus’ work on the cross (Colossians 2:15), though they can both deceive and intimidate Christians, binding them with fear and unbelief.

7.    In the background of all this was the ancient superstition that you had spiritual power over another if you knew or said their exact name. This is why the unclean spirits addressed Jesus with this full title: Jesus, Son of the Most High God. According to the superstitions of the day, this was like a shot fired back at Jesus.

8.    What is your name? According to the customs of Jewish exorcists of that time, one had to know the name of the demon in order to gain authority over it and deliver the demon-possessed person. Yet Jesus did not use the name learned in this exchange; He had authority over demons that went far beyond current superstitions.

9.    The demons went out of the man and entered the swine: The idea that demons may inhabit the bodies of animals seems strange, but the idea is also shown in Genesis 3 (the Serpent). It was also appropriate that these demons be cast into swine, being non-kosher animals.

10.    The herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned: This helps explain why Jesus allowed the demons to enter the pigs – because He wanted everyone to know what the real intention of these demons was. They wanted to destroy the man just as they destroyed the pigs. 

11.    . Then the whole multitude… asked Him to depart: They didn’t seem to mind having this demon-possessed, tormented man in their midst, but they did mind having Jesus around – so they asked Him to leave – and He did!

12.    He went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him: This was a great message to tell, and a message that every follower of Jesus should be able to preach.