Bible Commentaries
Luke 8

Verses 1-56

VIII 1-3 Women Disciples of Jesus —A brief description, peculiar to Lk, of a preliminary journey of ministry with the Twelve and a group of women. Taken with v 4 (cf.Matthew 13:2; Mark 4:1) it furnishes the mise en scène for the parables which follow here as in Mk and Mt. Joanna appears in Lk alone, here and again at the sepulchre, 24:10. All the women have been healed by Jesus of diseases either of body or soul. It does not follow that Mary of Magdala, on the west coast of the Lake of Galilee, has been healed of moral disease; but as seven signifies completion in Semitic thought, it follows that she has been either a great sufferer or a great sinner. Lk gives no ground for her identification with the sinful woman of 7:36-

4-18 Teaching in Parables —(Matthew 13:1-23, Matthew 5:15, Matthew 10:26, Matthew 25:29.; Mark 4:1-25). Lk here takes up again the thread of Mk and runs parallel for a considerable space, while Mt’s parallels are scattered. We have already seen examples of our Lord’s fashion of using argumentative parables to silence the Pharisees; here begin his illustrative parables, i.e. throwing light on the nature and characteristics of the Kingdom of God which he has preached from the start; cf. 4:43. Light is needed because the subject is one of mystery, 10, and his parables are the means by which he brings the hidden things to light, 16-18. It is surely in accordance with the clear drift of these words that we must interpret the difficulty of 10, where Lk is much briefer than Matthew 13:10-15, Mark 4:10-12, probably in view of his Gentile reader. He could not omit the warning altogether, seeing that it left such a strong impression on the mind of the early Church. All the Evangelists record it, St Paul insists on it, Acts 28:25 ff., Romans 11:8. The most reasonable explanation of this enigmatical saying of our Lord is that given by Chrysostom ( PG 57,467) and Aquinas ( ST 111, 42, 3), i.e. the parable is of its very nature apt to enlighten the mind, and its enigmatic form is intended to excite the interest of the hearer. But for the same reason it serves as a sifting process, its enigmatic form ensuring that only those who are well disposed to the speaker and keen on finding out the truth will take the trouble to apply their minds seriously in order to see the meaning of the Comparison. Therefore Jesus uses such phrases as ’he that hath ears to hear let him hear’ and ’take heed therefore how you hear’, as though to say: ’Think well on this: it needs your close attention’. It is only in the above sense that obscurity may be said to be the object of the parables. (For further commentary see Mt and Mk in loc.)

19-21 The Mother and Brethren of Jesus —(Matthew 12:4650; Mark 3:31-35). Lk postpones further parables and inserts this incident which comes earlier in Mk; but it is very well placed here just at the moment when our Lord has made his disciples the confidants, as it were, of his family secrets (cf.John 15:15). He omits reference to brother and sister’, perhaps to avoid arousing unprofitable questions in the mind of his reader; the word ’brethren’ could have a wider meaning in Greek than children of the same mother and father. The dogmatic tradition of the Church maintains the virginity of both Mary and Joseph. For The Brethren of the Lord see Lagr., S. Marc ( 1911) 72 ff. and GJC 1, 203-5, and §§ 672-3.

22-56 Various Miracles —(Matthew 8:23-34; Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 4:35-; Mark 5:43). These four miracles demonstrate in an ascending scale the supernatural power of Jesus and the growing recognition of him by his disciples as one who is a depositary of divine authority to be exercised at will. There is a further clarification of the meaning of faith, 25, i.e. such an attitude to Jesus as to one through whom God is intervening in the world for man’s good that his mere presence even when asleep gives sufficient ground for confidence; cf. also 48 and 50. The following peculiarities of Lk may be noted: the Greek has ’Master! Master!’ in 24, giving a realistic air to the disciples’ cry. 43. Luke the physician characteristically omits Mk’s remark about the woman being rather the worse for the attention of the doctors. 48. ’Thy faith hath saved thee’ as in 7:50, and again in 18:42.