20251005 Luke 8:22-56 - The Gospel of God's Reign

"What is the Gospel?" Believe it or not, among Bible believing Christians there is some debate. Some have asked if the gospel presented in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts differs from Paul's gospel? Is it the gospel of the kingdom of God or is it the gospel of the forgiveness of sins? They are one and the same gospel. Christians must know how God's reign and salvation fit together to understand the gospel.

I used to say, “The gospel is that though we are sinners and fall short of God’s perfect standard, Jesus died for our sins. If we trust in him and repent from our sins, we are forgiven.” I still believe this. In 1 Cor 15:3-5, Paul says that the gospel is that : Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." Rom 6:23 states that "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." There are other verses that speak of the good news in terms of the forgiveness of sins. And, this is not all the Bible has to say about the Gospel.

Matthew's Gospel presentation takes 28 chapters, Mark’s, 16, Luke’s 24, and John’s 21. The first three Gospels and Acts present the good news of the forgiveness of sins but they emphasize the Good News of the Kingdom of God. According to Matt 3:2, John the Baptist preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In Luke 4:43, Jesus said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God." According to Acts 8:12, Philip "preached good news about the kingdom of God." According to Acts 28:31, Paul was "proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ."

The forgiveness of sins fits with the Kingdom of God. This is my attempt to show how God’s reign and salvation fit together. This is the Christian Good News. God reigns! God created a good world to manifest his reign through his image bearers, human beings. Following sin, the Good News is that God reigns. He has orchestrated all of history to demonstrate his saving reign. In the person of Jesus through his words and deeds, Christ demonstrated God's reign. He showed God's reign over all spheres, over nature, spirits, sickness, and even over the power of sin and death. The most spectacular demonstration of God's reign was Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. God forgives our sins because God reigns over sin and death. The wage of sin is death. In conquering death, or in reigning over death, Christ offers the forgiveness of sins. We enjoy the forgiveness of sins by repenting and submitting to God's reign on the basis of what Christ has done. As forgiven people, we enjoy a kind of return to Eden. We enjoy peace with God, peace with our fellow man, and inner peace. These are enjoyed under God's reign because of the forgiveness of sins he provides.

Our text deals with God’s reign over nature, over demons, over sickness and even over death. Our text is a gospel presentation. Jesus announces God's reign with words. In our text, Jesus announces the Gospel of the Kingdom of God by his works. With this in mind, we should not limit the good news to "God forgave my sins so I go to heaven when I die." The good news is God’s all-encompassing reign over all things. God’s reign gives us confidence God is in control. His reign guarantees our forgiveness. His reign gives us hope in life after the grave, because he is in charge of history. He reigns, so his promised blessings will come to pass. He reigns so he is our Lord. He reigns inside of us by his Holy Spirit to grow us in Christ, Holiness, love, knowledge, wisdom, and humility.

It is very important to stress the good news of the forgiveness of sins. The problem in the Bible is our sin and so the solution is the forgiveness of sins. Because of our sin, we are separate from God. Our sin affects our emotions, our thinking, our desires. Our sin creates hostility with God and others. We suffer because of sin so God’s solution is the forgiveness of sins. But, if we forget the context of God's reign to forgive sins, we miss out on a lot. We may focus on what we receive rather than who God is.

The good news of God's reign demands a comprehensive response to God. This fuller understanding also helps to avoid common questions like the following. Can I be a Christian and not get baptized? Can I be a Christian and not go to church? Can I be a Christian and not read my Bible?

If the gospel is only about the forgiveness of sins, separate from God's reign, if we are forgiven, why should we do anything? If the gospel is first about God's reign, we stop asking those questions. Rather, we look for more ways to joyfully obey because the God who forgives us reigns over all things.

We will look at the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. We will see God's reign over nature, spirits, sickness, and death. The text shows God's reign to lead us to respond to Christ. In each account, faith is contrasted with fear. Luke wants us to choose faith.

First, we see The Gospel of God's Reign Over Nature in Luke 8:22-25.

Luke 8:22-25

Luke 8:22 marks a huge shift in Jesus’ ministry. He says, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” Until now, Gentiles had come to Jesus. This is the first time that Jesus heads into Gentile territory. From a "God's Reign" perspective, we see that our God is not a local deity. He is not the God of the Jews or the God of the Promised Land. His reign extends to the ends of the earth. He is the true God of the Gentiles.

In Luke 8:23, on their way to the Gentile territory, Jesus falls asleep, and the storm came. The elements of heading to the Gentiles, falling asleep on a boat, and a storm remind us of the prophet, Jonah. The parallel with Jonah reminds us that God cares for Gentiles, which is what the book of Jonah is about.

In response to the danger of the storm, in Luke 8:24, the disciples cry out to Jesus for help. Jesus wakes up, rebukes the wind and the raging waves, and there was a calm. Jesus demonstrates here, his reign over nature.

The two responses to Christ’s reign throughout our text are faith and fear. In Luke 8:25, Jesus asks, “Where is your faith.” The disciples fear and ask, "Who is this then, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Psalm 107 answers their question about Jesus’ identity. Psalm 107:23-31 speaks of God’s rescuing those caught in a storm at sea and bringing them safely home. Ps 107:27 reads, “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea hushed.” If they knew Psalm 107, they must have known who Jesus was, even if that did not make sense with his humanity.

Application

The application for us is how do we respond to such a Jesus. He shows God's reign over all places and over nature. He must be the same one who stills the storm to a whisper. Jesus is God the Creator! Jesus’s question "Where is your faith?" is for us as well. We must trust in Him, and live knowing that he is sovereign. This means recognizing the abundance of his provision. We do this by looking back on our lives and recognizing his blessings. We live knowing what he promises us and recognizing his provision in Christ. Our sin makes us unworthy of the glory of God, but in Christ, God provided a way to have a relationship with God. We live knowing that our eternity is secure. We live in light of his sovereignty. We learn to let go of what we control too closely. When the storm comes, we can trust him, even when he does not seem to be calming our particular storm. Do we live in fear, anxiety, or doubt that lead us to sin and break God’s commandment, or do we trust the God who reigns?

Second, we see The Gospel of God's Reign Over Demons in Luke 8:26-39.

Luke 8:26-39

Once they have crossed the lake, they arrive at Gerasenes. This is Gentile territory. These verses show Jesus’ reign over demons. When Jesus meets a man with demons, the demon says in Luke 8:28, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

In the last account, the disciples asked who Jesus was. Here, the demon gives the answer. He understands Jesus’ authority. Jesus' reign and authority is stressed by the number of demons who are Legion and by the demons asking Jesus’ permission to enter the pigs.

The demons enter the pigs who then die. The modern western reader may be concerned about the destruction of innocent animals or the loss of livelihood for the owners. The point of the narrative is to show Jesus' kingship and authority.

The text ends with responses to Jesus. First, there is fear in Luke 8:35. The people were afraid. They ask Jesus to leave. This response is tragic. The people were happier to be in the presence of the demonic than the presence of a power that can drive it away. In contrast, in Luke 8:38-39, the man who was healed wants to follow Jesus. His response is one of faith. Jesus sends him to declare what he had done for him in the city.

Application

We are again faced with the same two responses of fear and faith. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is a way in which the Christian life is one of fearing the Lord and wanting to please him.

The fear is this text is one that rejects God's reign. So this is a question, what about God's reign are we afraid of? Is there something that Jesus as King is asking that we do not believe is for our good? This is a question for Christian and non-Christians? Do we have a fear of Jesus that prevents us from enjoying a relationship with him?

Are we afraid that greater generosity will harm us? Are we afraid the Biblical sexual ethic will prevent us from knowing joy? Are we afraid that repenting from a sin will cause us harm?

The appropriate response to Jesus' reign is living for him. As his subjects, like the healed man in the text, we respond with worship, obedience, and wanting to spread God's reign by announcing his reign.

Third, we see The Gospel of God's Reign Over Sickness and Death in Luke 8:40-56.

In Luke 8:40, Jesus returned to Galilee, back in Jewish territory. Luke 8:40-56 is about two miracle stories brought together. Jesus heals the woman with the discharge of blood and raises of Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

Luke 8:40-56

The account begins in Luke 8:41 with Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue who falls at Jesus’ feet. Again, with see Christ's Kingship as he is revered. At this point, his 12-year-old daughter is dying.

Luke 8:43-48 shift to the story of a woman who has had a discharge of blood for 12 years. In desperation, she touches Jesus’ garment, and she is immediately healed. The woman was afraid, but Jesus said to her in Luke 8:48, "Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace.”

In Luke 8:49, we learn that Jairus’ daughter has died. Jesus turns to the theme of faith, he says, in Luke 8:50, “Do not fear, only believe, and she will be well.” Jesus takes her by the hand and says, “Child arise” and her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Very interestingly, Jesus tells her parents, not to tell anyone. It is interesting because he told the man who had been possessed by legion in the previous text to tell everyone. What is going on here?

Consistently, in Gentile territory, Jesus says, go tell everyone. Consistently in Jewish territory, he says, don’t tell anyone. Jews had wrong expectations about the Messiah. Before people spread that the messiah had come, Jesus wanted to correct their thinking. He was not going to be the expected military Messiah, but rather the one who dies for his enemies.

Application

The three accounts have shown Christ’s reign. In all three, fear is contrasted with faith. Luke has placed the accounts together to have a cumulative effect on us that we would believe Jesus - not fear him, but trust in him and submit to his reign.

In this third account, the two miracles have a lot in common. There is a twelve-year-old daughter and a twelve-year-old disease. They are both called "daughter." Jesus is touched by or touches one who would make him ceremonially unclean. The contrast, between the two, highlights the greatness of God's reign.

One was a public healing and the other a private healing. We have the daughter of a respected synagogue leader and an older outcast. These stories echo the beginning of Luke 7 with the healing of the Gentile's male servant, and the raising of the widow's son. Now the daughter of a Jewish religious leader is raised. The diversity highlights Christ's power, his authority and inclusion of all people. Luke wants his readers to see their own place among Jesus’ disciples.

Conclusion

I began with the theme of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is how the theme of God’s reign in Luke 8 fits with the forgiveness of sins. I want to show that in light of the problem of sin, Luke 8:22-56 is the gospel. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

In Genesis 1-2, God creates a world marked by goodness and peace. Humanity had peace and harmony with God. They were naked and not ashamed so there was harmony in the first couple. There was no fear or shame and so the created order is also marked by inner peace. The first two chapters also portray peace between mankind and creation. The man named the animals and the land provided abundantly.

Genesis 3 is about sin. Life, harmony, peace, delight and abundance give way to death, hostility, and alienation. Humans are at war within themselves with fear and shame. There is war between humans with blame shifting, manipulation and domination. There is war with God. Because of their sin, they cannot be in the presence of God. The humans are sent away from Eden. With creation, it was the devil through a snake who tempted the humans and after sin, work becomes toil. There is war with creation.

The accounts of Luke 8 illustrate the Gospel of the Kingdom of King Jesus. Christ reigns and brings restoration where sin brings hostility. Jesus shows his reign is total and he comes to reverse the works of the devil. Jesus reigns over creation. He calms the storm. He will restore Creation and the harmony between Man and creation.

Christ's reign is over the whole world, and all people are his. Then, Jesus ministers in Gentile territory. He sends the gentile he healed to announce what Jesus did so that more gentiles would here about him. Jesus' reign, over all, shows that he can reconcile all people to God and all people together.

He casts out a legion of demons because he is more powerful than the devil. The devil tempted the first humans. God promised that Eve would have a descendent who would crush the devil. Jesus' reign over demons shows that he is this descendent.

Jesus heals a sick outcast woman and raises a dead girl. The woman's bleeding made her an outcast and ashamed. Christ's reign is such that he restores this woman in right relationship with God, society, and heals her inner shame.

Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the death. The wage of sin is death so this means Jesus is reversing the consequences of sin. Christ's reign over death shows he can forgive sins.

Two of the obvious effects of the first sin are shame and fear. After the first sin, that man and the woman hid because they were afraid. In this account, the disciples, the Gentiles, the woman, and girl’s parents were all afraid. Jesus says, "Do not fear."

Christ reigns so do not fear. He interacts with male, female, outcast, respected, young, old, jew, Gentile. He manifests God's reign so people would not fear but believe in him. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Luke 8 shows that God’s reign to reverse sin and the consequences of Genesis 3. This is the good news of God’s reign. As Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!”

As the Church we are part of God's kingdom. We gather to worship our king. We celebrate our King's saving reign and the forgiveness of sins. We feed on our King, to be transformed by our King, and to then live a different kind of life together, in submission to our King.