Jesus went "through every city and village, preaching and bringing glad tidings of the kingdom of God," and His twelve disciples went with Him. Women also ministered to Him.
He told the parable of the sower: a sower sowed seed, and some fell by the wayside and was trampled over and birds ate it; some fell on rock, sprang up, but withered away; some fell among thorns, sprang up, but were choked; but others fell on good soil, sprang up, and yielded a hundredfold. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
His disciples questioned what the parable meant and Jesus told them that it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but the rest it was given in parables. Jesus explained that the seed is the Word of God, and those by the wayside are those who hear, but the devil takes away the word immediately, lest they believe and are saved. The ones on the rock are those who receive the word with joy, but believe for a time until temptation strikes. The ones among the thorns are choked by the cares of the world. But the ones on good soil have heard the word with a good heart, keep it, and bear fruit.
Another parable was the lamp, which is the truth (light) and cannot be hidden. All truth will be revealed. Be mindful how you hear the Word of God because your response is all that matters. In judgment, you will not have a second chance to embrace the truth.
Next, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm arose. Jesus was asleep and the disciples were afraid that they were going to perish. They woke Jesus to tell Him they were going to die; He rebuked the wind and water first, and then asked His disciples, "Where is your faith?" They marveled and asked,
Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!
When they reached the land, a man with demons approached Jesus and fell down before Him. The man was naked and lived among the graves. Jesus asked him his name, and he said Legion because he had many demons. They begged Jesus not to send them to the abyss, but to send them into the swine feeding on the mountain. Therefore, Jesus sent them to the swine, and the swine ran straight into the sea and perished.
The people of the region were afraid of what they witnessed, while also finding the demon-possessed man in his right mind and fully clothed. They actually asked Jesus to leave because they were afraid. But the cleansed man sought to follow Jesus, though He did not permit it.
Back on the other side of the sea, a great multitude awaited Jesus' return, and throngs of people gathered around Him. A man named Jairus fell before Jesus and begged Him to come heal his 12-year old daughter at home. On the way, a woman who hemorrhaged for 12 years came near enough to touch the border of His garment, and immediately she was healed.
Jesus asked who touched Him, but His disciples wondered why He asked that when so many people surrounded Him. Jesus explained that power went out from Him. Therefore, the woman admitted that it was her and that she was immediately healed. Jesus said,
Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.
While He was speaking, someone came to Jairus and told him that His daughter had died. Jesus said, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." When they arrived at the home, He told the mourners that the girl was only sleeping; but they ridiculed Him. So He put them outside, and He called to the girl and said, "Little girl, arise." Then her spirit returned to her, and her parents were astonished.
COMMENTARY
Regarding the man with the demons called Legion:
The demons are fallen angels who followed Satan from the beginning, and they roam the physical world. They very well know Jesus, and one day He will judge them and they will spend eternity in hell. Until then, they are restless. They find bodies to inhabit and they control that person and cause them to do inhuman acts against others and themselves. The possessed man in this chapter had a mob of demons, and they were named Legion. In my opinion, I think a lot of the mental illness we see today is the work of demon possession. Though I cannot prove it, it definitely looks like the work of satanic possession.
Notice that the people of that region where Jesus cast out the Legion of demons asked Him to leave. Some people would rather stick their head in the sand and not see or hear or embrace the truth. Do you know people like that? I do.
