Luke 8 1-15

Spiritual Thoughts

Exploring the deity of Jesus

One view of Jesus is that he was the first being created by God. Revelation 3:14 refers to Jesus as “the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God...” Yet, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things (John 1:1-3, Col 1:16). He had no beginning (Hebrews 7:3) and his “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal God who took on human flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He is creator of all things. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:16-17).

He is the beginning and the firstborn of the new creation (cf. Romans 8:29, Col. 1:15,18). The word “beginning” can mean the commencement of a thing with respect to time or first in regard to rank and authority (cf. Col. 1:18). Thus, it can be translated “principality”, “power” or “rule” (Luke 20:20; 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21). Rather than Jesus being the first created being, he was the first, the high ranking author of creation. He was the acting agent through whom all things exist.

The interpretation of Christ being “firstborn” from Colossians 1:15 is not that he was the first to be created or born but the “firstborn” as a position of high rank and preeminence. The very next verse explains, “all things were created by Him and for Him and by Him all things consist. He holds the elevated rank of “firstborn” because He created all things in heaven and earth. Other passages make similar use of the word, (1) Psalm 89:27 refers to David (89:20) when it reads, “I also will make him my first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.” Clearly, he was not using “firstborn” to refer to natural birth. As a matter of fact, he was the youngest of his father’s sons and God was not promising to reverse that order of birth. Instead, he was going to exalt him to a position of preeminence – to make him His first-born. (2) Exodus 4:22 reads, “…Israel is my son, my first-born..” Israel was chosen by God above all other people. He elevated them to “firstborn” status. .

The New World Trans-lation (NWT) adds the word “other” to the text so that it reads, “…through Him all other things were created.” Please note that the word “other” is not in any manuscript nor found in any other translation. It was necessary to insert the word because the text correctly translated would destroy the view that He was created.

Luke 8:1-15) Hearing God's Word (part 1) « Grace Community Church

Last week we looked at a scene of unprecedented extravagance.  The former prostitute who had been forgiven by Jesus of her great many sins and she loved much.  She loved Jesus so much for showing her grace that when she heard He was eating with Simon ran to his house to show Jesus her gratefulness for what He had done for her.  In just a short number of hours, she was beginning to bear fruit.  She was showing everyone present that this man in front of her has all authority and has the authority to forgive sin.

Luke writes this account and then following it gives us the explanation in the beginning of our passage today that there were a great number of women who had been healed of demons and disease, and a great number who have had their sins forgiven.  A great number were following Jesus and showing Him and His disciples love as they cared for their needs while Jesus and His apostles preached and taught the multitudes.

All of these women were bearing fruit.  They heard the Word, understood the Word, believed the Word, and the result was that they began living different lives as the Word changed their hearts.  Fruit for the Kingdom was the result.

Jesus had been healing and preaching for about two years now.  This really marks a shift in Luke’s emphasis from healing miracles to the preaching and teaching ministry of Jesus.  Luke introduces the next section by recording that: Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.  4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.