1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
Sorry if you swear by another major dealer. Although Jesus probably wasn't promoting any one future farm equipment brand over another, Jesus did use farming quite a bit to teach about the kingdom of God. Although the herd of pigs was more an unfortunate side effect of the miracle, between that and sewing seeds this chapter sure feels a lot like the Midwest. One of the neat things about the parable of the sower is that Jesus explains it. We don't see that with too many of the parables. Jesus explains how when the word of God is shared, there are different reactions depending largely on the heart conditions of the recipients. If we don't allow the word of God to sink in and transform us, there's a danger that any so-called change might just be temporary and shallow. This is another great heart-check passage. Is my heart "fertile soil" to receive God's word.
2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?
There are a lot of connections, but since I started talking about farming, I thought of how Jesus compared the kingdom of God to farming in other places. In Matthew 13, another account of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus also tells the parable of the Weeds, which he also explained later in the chapter. In it he describes the end of the world as a harvest, and the angels as harvesters. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."
3. What does this mean for my life?
I already mentioned the heart-check question about being fertile soil to receive God's word, but there was another interesting dichotomy in this chapter that really grabbed my attention. After the storm was calmed by Jesus, his words to them were, "Where is your faith?" Those were the 12 who were with him day in and day out. They doubted and were afraid. But to the woman who was healed by Jesus, he said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." Sadly, I would say that most of the time I feel more like the disciples, with faith to follow Jesus through anything, but still doubting certain things along the way. How I long for God to grow my faith to be like the bleeding woman to just come to him for everything in faith.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
This chapter reveals some crazy insights into demons and their interaction with Jesus. Mostly it just brings up questions in my mind. How does one get possessed by demons? Why don't we see it that much anymore, at least in our country? When the pigs died, where did the demons go? What is the Abyss and why didn't the demons want to go there?
Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!
In Christ,
Dan
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