Lucas 8

ARC · Chapter 8/24

1E aconteceu, depois d'isto, que andava de cidade em cidade, e de aldeia em aldeia, prégando e annunciando o evangelho do reino de Deus: e os doze andavam com elle,

2E tambem algumas mulheres que haviam sido curadas de espiritos malignos e de enfermidades: Maria, chamada Magdalena, da qual sairam sete demonios.

3E Joanna, mulher de Chuza, procurador d'Herodes, e Suzana, e muitas outras que o serviam com suas fazendas.

4E, ajuntando-se uma grande multidão, e vindo ter com elle de todas as cidades, disse por parabola:

5Um semeador saiu a semear a sua semente, e, quando semeava, caiu uma parte junto do caminho, e foi pisada, e as aves do céu a comeram;

6E outra parte caiu sobre pedra, e, nascida, seccou-se, porquanto não tinha humidade;

7E outra parte caiu entre espinhos, e, nascidos com ella os espinhos, a suffocaram;

8E outra parte caiu em boa terra, e, nascida, produziu fructo, cento por um. Dizendo elle estas coisas, clamava: Quem tem ouvidos para ouvir, ouça.

9E os seus discipulos o interrogaram, dizendo: Que parabola é esta?

10E elle disse: A vós é dado conhecer os mysterios do reino de Deus, mas aos outros por parabolas, para que, vendo, não vejam, e, ouvindo, não entendam.

11Esta é pois a parabola: A semente é a palavra de Deus;

12E os que estão junto do caminho, estes são os que ouvem; depois vem o diabo, e tira-lhes do coração a palavra, para que se não salvem, crendo;

13E os que estão sobre pedra, estes são os que, ouvindo a palavra, a recebem com alegria, mas estes não teem raiz, pois crêem por algum tempo, e no tempo da tentação se desviam;

14E a que caiu entre espinhos, estes são os que ouviram, e, indo por diante, se suffocam com os cuidados, e riquezas e deleites da vida, e não dão fructo com perfeição;

15E a que caiu em boa terra, estes são os que, ouvindo a palavra, a conservam n'um coração honesto e bom, e dão fructo em perseverança.

16E ninguem, accendendo uma candeia, a cobre com algum vaso, ou a põe debaixo da cama; porém põe-n'a no velador, para que os que entram vejam a luz.

17Porque não ha coisa occulta que não haja de manifestar-se, nem coisa escondida que não haja de saber-se e vir á luz

18Vêde pois como ouvis; porque a qualquer que tiver lhe será dado, e a qualquer que não tiver até o que parece que tem lhe será tirado.

19E foram ter com elle sua mãe e seus irmãos, e não podiam chegar a elle, por causa da multidão.

20E foi-lhe annunciado por alguns, dizendo: Estão lá fóra tua mãe e teus irmãos, que querem ver-te.

21Porém, respondendo elle, disse-lhes: Minha mãe e meus irmãos são aquelles que ouvem a palavra de Deus e a executam.

22E aconteceu que, n'um d'aquelles dias, entrou n'um barco, e com elle os seus discipulos, e disse-lhes: Passemos para a outra banda do lago. E partiram.

23E, navegando elles, adormeceu; e sobreveiu uma tempestade de vento no lago, e enchiam-se d'agua, e perigavam.

24E, chegando-se a elle, o despertaram, dizendo: Mestre, Mestre, perecemos. E elle, levantando-se, reprehendeu o vento e as ondas d'agua; e cessaram, e fez-se bonança.

25E disse-lhes: Onde está a vossa fé? E elles, temendo, maravilharam-se, dizendo uns aos outros: Quem é este, que até aos ventos e á agua manda, e lhe obedecem?

26E navegaram para a terra dos gadarenos, que está defronte da Galilea.

27E, quando desceu para terra, saiu-lhe ao encontro, vindo da cidade, um homem que desde muito tempo era possesso de demonios, e não andava vestido, e não habitava em casa, mas nos sepulchros.

28E, vendo a Jesus, prostrou-se diante d'elle, exclamando, e dizendo com grande voz: Que tenho eu comtigo, Jesus, Filho do Deus Altissimo? Peço-te que não me atormentes.

29Porque mandava ao espirito immundo que saisse d'aquelle homem; porque já havia muito tempo que o arrebatava. E guardavam-n'o preso com grilhões e cadeias; mas, quebrando as prisões, era impellido pelo demonio para os desertos.

30E perguntou-lhe Jesus, dizendo: Qual é o teu nome? E elle disse: Legião; porque tinham entrado n'elle muitos demonios.

31E rogavam-lhe que os não mandasse ir para o abysmo.

32E andava ali pastando no monte uma manada de muitos porcos; e rogaram-lhe que lhes concedesse entrar n'elles; e concedeu-lh'o.

33E, tendo saido os demonios do homem, entraram nos porcos, e a manada arrojou-se de um despenhadeiro no lago, e afogaram-se.

34E aquelles que os guardavam, vendo o que acontecera, fugiram, e foram annuncial-o na cidade e nos campos.

35E sairam a vêr o que tinha acontecido, e vieram ter com Jesus; e acharam o homem, de quem haviam saido os demonios, vestido, e em seu juizo, assentado aos pés de Jesus: e temeram.

36E os que tinham visto contaram-lhes tambem como fôra salvo aquelle endemoninhado.

37E toda a multidão da terra dos gadarenos ao redor lhe rogou que se retirasse d'elles; porque estavam possuidos de grande temor. E, entrando elle no barco, voltou.

38E aquelle homem, de quem haviam saido os demonios, rogou-lhe que o deixasse estar com elle; porém Jesus o despediu, dizendo:

39Torna para tua casa, e conta quão grandes coisas te fez Deus. E elle foi apregoando por toda a cidade quão grandes coisas Jesus lhe tinha feito.

40E aconteceu que, voltando Jesus, a multidão o recebeu, porque todos o estavam esperando.

41E eis que chegou um varão, cujo nome era Jairo, e era principe da synagoga; e, prostrando-se aos pés de Jesus, rogava-lhe que entrasse em sua casa;

42Porque tinha uma filha unica, quasi de doze annos, e estava á morte. E, indo elle, apertava-o a multidão.

43E uma mulher, que tinha um fluxo de sangue, havia doze annos, e gastara com os medicos todos os seus haveres, e por nenhum podéra ser curada,

44Chegando por detraz d'elle, tocou a orla do seu vestido, e o fluxo do seu sangue logo estancou.

45E disse Jesus; Quem é que me tocou? E, negando todos, disse Pedro e os que estavam com elle: Mestre, a multidão te aperta e opprime, e dizes: Quem é que me tocou?

46E disse Jesus: Alguem me tocou, porque bem conheci que de mim saiu virtude.

47Então a mulher, vendo que não se occultava, approximou-se tremendo, e, prostrando-se ante elle, declarou-lhe diante de todo o povo a causa por que o havia tocado, e como logo sarára.

48E elle lhe disse: Tem bom animo, filha, a tua fé te salvou: vae em paz.

49Estando elle ainda fallando, chegou um dos do principe da synagoga, dizendo: A tua filha já está morta, não incommodes o Mestre.

50Jesus, porém, ouvindo-o, respondeu-lhe, dizendo: Não temas; crê sómente, e será salva.

51E, entrando em casa, a ninguem deixou entrar, senão a Pedro, e a Thiago, e a João, e ao pae e á mãe da menina.

52E todos choravam, e a pranteavam; e elle disse: Não choreis; não está morta, mas dorme.

53E riam-se d'elle, sabendo que estava morta.

54Porém elle, pondo-os todos fóra, e pegando-lhe na mão, clamou, dizendo: Levanta-te, menina.

55E o seu espirito voltou, e ella logo se levantou; e Jesus mandou que lhe déssem de comer.

56E seus paes ficaram maravilhados; e elle lhes mandou que a ninguem dissessem o que havia succedido.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus teaches the parable of the sower and explains its meaning. He calms a storm, frees a demon-possessed man (Legion) in the region of the Gerasenes, heals a woman with a hemorrhage, and raises Jairus' daughter.

Explanation

The parable of the sower describes four types of response to God's word, depending on the condition of the heart — an invitation to sincere self-examination. The four miracles that follow (the storm, the demon-possessed man, the hemorrhage, death) progressively show Jesus' authority over nature, evil spirits, chronic illness, and death itself. The detail that women like Joanna and Susanna supported Jesus' ministry with their own resources (v.2-3) is remarkable for the time. The practical application is to examine what kind of 'soil' our heart is offering to the Word.

Fun facts

  • The name 'Legion' that the spirit gives itself (v.30) referred to a unit of the Roman army made up of about 6,000 soldiers, a dramatic way of indicating the multitude of spirits afflicting the man.
  • Touching the edge of Jesus' cloak (v.44) carried religious meaning: the tassels (tzitzit) prescribed in Numbers 15:38-39 were meant to recall God's commandments, and the woman was likely reaching for that symbol of faith.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Lucas 8:1This summary shows the shape of Jesus’s ministry at this stage: traveling from town to town and village to village, always accompanied by the twelve.
  2. Lucas 8:2Mary Magdalene is mentioned here as someone healed of seven demons — the text does not identify her with the sinful woman of the previous chapter; that link only arose much later in tradition, with no basis in the Gospel itself.
  3. Lucas 8:3Women covering the expenses of an itinerant group of preachers out of their own pocket was unusual for the time — most did not have the resources for it, let alone the freedom to travel with a teacher. Luke is the only Gospel that records this detail, naming and highlighting these women.
  4. Lucas 8:4Facing a crowd gathered from several towns, Jesus begins teaching in parables — a method He Himself explains to the disciples shortly afterward.
  5. Lucas 8:5The seed that falls along the path, ground that is trampled and exposed, is eaten by the birds before it can even sprout.
  6. Lucas 8:6The seed on the rock sprouts but quickly withers for lack of depth and moisture in the soil — it grows without ever putting down a real root.
  7. Lucas 8:7The seed among thorns comes up together with them, but ends up choked by the stronger growth of the competing plants.
  8. Lucas 8:8Only the seed in good soil produces a hundred times what was sown, a yield well above normal — and Jesus closes by calling for the attention of anyone truly willing to listen.
  9. Lucas 8:9The disciples, not understanding the meaning of the story, ask directly what it means.
  10. Lucas 8:10Jesus explains that the disciples are given the direct explanation of the mysteries of the kingdom, while for others He uses parables — a reference to Isaiah 6, about people who see and hear without truly understanding.
  11. Lucas 8:11Here comes the key to interpreting the parable: the seed represents the word of God.
  12. Lucas 8:12Those along the path represent people who receive the message, but the devil takes it from their heart before it can produce faith and salvation — an immediate interference, right after they hear it.
  13. Lucas 8:13Those on the rock receive the word with joy but without root — their faith lasts only until a real difficulty arrives, and then they fall away.
  14. Lucas 8:14Those among the thorns hear, but over time let themselves be choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of life, never maturing enough to bear fruit.
  15. Lucas 8:15The good soil represents those who hear the word and keep it with an honest heart, producing fruit gradually, with perseverance — unlike the other three reactions, whose failure comes more quickly.
  16. Lucas 8:16The image of the lamp set out in view, and not hidden under a jar or a bed, connects directly to the disciples’ role: they received the explanation of the parable so they could later make it visible to others.
  17. Lucas 8:17This statement warns that nothing will stay hidden forever — the teaching given privately to the disciples will, in time, become public.
  18. Lucas 8:18The warning “take heed therefore how ye hear” calls for genuine attention: whoever already has something will be given more, and whoever does not truly have it will lose even the little they seemed to have.
  19. Lucas 8:19Jesus’s mother and brothers try to reach Him, but the crowd is too large for them to get close.
  20. Lucas 8:20Someone tells Jesus that His family is waiting outside, wanting to see Him.
  21. Lucas 8:21Jesus redefines family in spiritual terms: whoever hears the word of God and puts it into practice is, to Him, as close as mother and brothers — without rejecting His own biological family, He broadens the standard for true kinship.
  22. Lucas 8:22Jesus gets into a boat with the disciples, suggesting they cross to the other side of the lake — the start of the episode of the calmed storm.
  23. Lucas 8:23While they sail, Jesus falls asleep, and a storm arises strong enough to fill the boat with water — His sleep shows real physical exhaustion, not indifference.
  24. Lucas 8:24Woken by the panicked disciples, Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, and everything calms down at once — the same kind of direct authority He had already shown over diseases and spirits.
  25. Lucas 8:25The disciples’ question — “What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him” — is rhetorical: according to the psalms, only God had that kind of dominion over nature.
  26. Lucas 8:26The country of the Gadarenes lay on the other side of the lake, in mostly Gentile territory — which explains the presence of a herd of pigs further on, something that would not exist in a Jewish region.
  27. Lucas 8:27Living among the tombs made this man ritually unclean through contact with the dead, on top of already being feared for the violence the spirits caused in him — he was excluded from the town in practically every possible sense. No one there saw him as someone who could be recovered.
  28. Lucas 8:28The demon-possessed man recognizes Jesus as “Son of God most high” — one more case in which unclean spirits show they know exactly who Jesus is.
  29. Lucas 8:29The text explains the severity of the man’s history: he had already been bound many times with chains and shackles, but he always broke them, being driven by the demon into the wilderness.
  30. Lucas 8:30“Legion” was a Roman military term for a huge unit of thousands of soldiers — using that word here is a way of saying there were very many spirits, not just one. For listeners in that Rome-occupied region, the word also carried an ironic echo of the very military power that oppressed them.
  31. Lucas 8:31The demons beg not to be sent into the abyss, a place of confinement reserved for evil spirits in the Jewish thinking of the time, different from simple destruction.
  32. Lucas 8:32The herd of pigs feeding there only makes sense in Gentile territory, since Jews did not raise these animals, considered unclean by the law.
  33. Lucas 8:33When they come out of the man and enter the pigs, the demons drive the whole herd to drown in the lake — a visible, dramatic proof that the expulsion really happened.
  34. Lucas 8:34Those who tended the pigs flee and spread the news through the town and the countryside.
  35. Lucas 8:35The contrast is striking: the man who used to live naked and out of control is now clothed, in his right mind, sitting at Jesus’s feet like a disciple — and this fills those who see it with fear.
  36. Lucas 8:36The witnesses tell the others exactly how that man was healed.
  37. Lucas 8:37Instead of celebrating the miracle, the whole population of the region asks Jesus to leave, gripped by fear — perhaps also by the loss of the herd.
  38. Lucas 8:38The healed man asks to go with Jesus, but Jesus sends him back home.
  39. Lucas 8:39Unlike other cases where Jesus asks for silence, here He tells the man to declare everything God has done for him — a Gentile becomes the first to publicly announce this miracle in his own region.
  40. Lucas 8:40Back on the Jewish side of the lake, Jesus is warmly received by a crowd that was already waiting for Him — a direct contrast with the Gadarenes’ rejection.
  41. Lucas 8:41Jairus was a synagogue ruler, a position of religious respect, and even so he falls publicly at Jesus’s feet, pleading for his daughter.
  42. Lucas 8:42Jairus’s only daughter, nearly twelve years old, is at the point of death — the crowd presses in on Jesus as He makes His way to her house.
  43. Lucas 8:43The woman who had suffered bleeding for twelve years had already spent everything she had on physicians without finding a cure — the same number twelve links this story to the age of Jairus’s daughter, whose case is happening at the same time.
  44. Lucas 8:44This continuous bleeding had made the woman ritually unclean for twelve years, meaning that anyone she touched would also become unclean — so she approaches from behind, unseen, and touches only the edge of His garment. This edge, called the hem, was the fringe the law required Jewish men to wear on their clothing; touching it, even lightly, was a calculated act of faith meant to go unnoticed.
  45. Lucas 8:45Faced with Jesus’s question about who touched Him, everyone denies it, and Peter points out that the whole crowd is pressing in on Jesus from every side — it seems like an impossible question to answer.
  46. Lucas 8:46Jesus insists that someone touched Him on purpose, because He felt power going out from Him — distinguishing an intentional touch of faith from the crowd’s ordinary jostling.
  47. Lucas 8:47Seeing that she can no longer hide, the woman approaches trembling and publicly declares, in front of everyone, why she touched Him and how she was healed — a courageous public confession, given the shame tied to her condition.
  48. Lucas 8:48Jesus calls her “Daughter” and confirms that it was her faith that healed her, sending her away in peace.
  49. Lucas 8:49While Jesus is still speaking with the woman, news arrives that Jairus’s daughter has already died, and they suggest not troubling the Teacher any further — it seems help has come too late.
  50. Lucas 8:50Jesus ignores that conclusion and answers Jairus directly: do not fear, only believe, and she will be healed — asking for faith even in the face of what seemed final.
  51. Lucas 8:51On entering the house, Jesus allows only Peter, James, John, and the girl’s parents inside — a small, intimate group, a pattern He repeats at other important moments.
  52. Lucas 8:52The people there laugh because they knew how to recognize death — there were probably even professional mourners hired for the ritual weeping, as was customary. Jesus is not denying that she died; He is announcing that, to Him, this death will be reversed like someone waking from sleep.
  53. Lucas 8:53The people present laugh at Jesus, certain that the girl was dead — this reaction of disbelief shows the gap between their certainty and Jesus’s confidence.
  54. Lucas 8:54Jesus sends everyone out, takes the girl’s hand, and says, “Maid, arise” — a direct command paired with physical touch, just as He did with the young man at Nain.
  55. Lucas 8:55Her spirit returns and she gets up at once; Jesus then asks that she be given something to eat — a practical detail confirming that she is truly back to life, not an apparition.
  56. Lucas 8:56Her parents are astonished, and Jesus asks them not to tell anyone what happened — a request for secrecy similar to other moments when He controls the pace of His own fame.

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