A Study In Luke - Day 22

DAY 22 - Luke 8:1-3
 
8 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

He was a big man, six foot four or more, at one time over 300 pounds, wearing size 16–D shoes laced halfway up his calves. He had a big voice. Metropolitan opera people invited him to New York to sing. He had big talents. The world’s largest seminary invited him to teach. Conference centers waited for him to come and direct games and music as well as teach. The largest religious publishing house in Protestantism hired him as a worldwide consultant. But Sibley Burnet ignored all that. He lived by his favorite phrase, “A man is biggest of all when he stoops to help a child.” So he relinquished his dream to sing opera in New York. He gave up his goal of seminary teaching. He limited his conferences. He devoted himself to one thing—teaching children and teaching people how to teach children. To do this, he made another commitment, a commitment to God’s Word. It is still wonderful to pick up his worn-out Bible and read the notes he made in the margin of nearly every page. At his retirement, churches and church groups around the nation honored him with dinners and plaques and praise. But the happiest days of his life came when he stood before a Vacation Bible School full of children, told them how much Jesus loved them, and greeted them as they came to say they wanted to live for Jesus.

Jesus called for big commitments from all people, big and small. Luke 8 illustrates some of those big commitments and asks us where our commitments lie. Luke begins with an orderly account of Jesus’ ministry, though he does not always place Jesus in a precise location. In chapter 7, he was in Capernaum, Nain, and in a Pharisee’s house, where he doesn’t name the location. Now, Jesus begins a nomadic ministry throughout the towns and villages, presumably of Galilee. He is preaching, teaching, and healing all along the way.

Mary Magdalene had good reason to follow Jesus. He had exorcised demons from her, transforming her life into something different. She would eventually be one of the witnesses of the empty tomb. Many believe that Joanna, who appears only in Luke (at the empty tomb) was married to a major official in Herod’s government and may have funded much of Jesus’ ministry. Susanna only appears here in the Bible.

While this is setting up the context for the rest of the chapter, it is good to know what is coming. It is a lesson in commitment, a lesson to listen, obey, testify, and believe.

1. What do you need to commit to today? Is it a habit, an opportunity, a person, or church? 
2. How can you commit like you never have before? 
3. Why do you think committing to something is so important?