Last Sunday I preached a sermon from Luke 8:26-56, “Miracles, Belief, and Emotions.” The study of the four miracle stories and the dozen-plus references to varying emotions in this passage was our focus. So time did not permit to address what seems like a contradiction in the chapter:

Why is it that, after one healing, Jesus tells the man to “go and describe what great things God has done for you” (v 39), and, after another healing (actually, a resurrection), Jesus instructs them to “tell no one what has happened” (v 56)?

Well, here is the best and most thorough answer I’ve found in my many Luke commentaries:

The command for silence [in v 56] seems a little odd. This contrasts with the instruction to the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8:39 and the efforts Jesus went to in having the woman with the hemorrhage relate her healing (8:45-47), not to mention an earlier public resurrection in 7:11-17. It seems clear that Jesus is concerned about what aspects of his ministry receive attention (4:41; 5:14).

Jesus knows that he is headed for a different kind of ministry than people will want from him. Excessive focus on his works of power will undermine the type of commitment he will ask from people. He does not need to be raising people on a daily basis. The type of commitment that will be required of them, should they follow him, is one of suffering, not comfort (9:22, 36, 57-62; 10:17-20). People will talk about his works, but they should not be encouraged to focus on elements that only point to deeper issues. There will come a time when the miracles will go public, but their publicity need not be encouraged since they are not at the heart of what Jesus is doing. Rather they point to more significant spiritual realities (11:14-23).  In Luke, miracles are a testimony to the nature of the times; they are not intended to be the focus of Jesus work (7:22).  Rather, they picture deeper realities that Jesus offered, as Acts 2:22-36 suggests.  The call to silence makes clear that Jesus does not regard such acts as the center of his ministry, but as only the evidentiary periphery.

(Darrell Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Luke 1:1-9:50, pp. 804-805.)

In other words, for that time in redemptive history, there is a bit of a razor’s edge to understanding the place of miracles. They verify who this Jesus is and the truth of what he says; they evidence that the Christ and his kingdom have finally come. But, too much attention drawn to the miracles themselves and they could possibly overshadow the very things to which they point. Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, knows exactly when to say “go and tell” and “speak of this to no one.” So v 39 and v 56 are not in contradiction; they represent the complexity of the purpose of miracles in Jesus’ ministry. The difference between the two verses also hints at the sinful temptation to be more focused on and impressed by miracles than the presence of the Christ, the reality of his gospel, and the presence of his glorious kingdom.

Following their previous web resource, The Truth about DiVinci, Westminster Theological Seminary has just launched a similar website for Dan Brown’s newer book/movie: The Truth About Angels and Demons.

The featured articles are written by the uniquely-qualified Vern Poythress (PhD in Mathematics from Harvard; DTh in N.T. from Stellenbosch):

• The Path of Illumination
• Scientist Motivated by God
• Is There Evidence that God Created the Earth?
• What is the Future of Religion?
• Does Religion Fear Science?

Other, more general, articles on the site are:

• What’s the Difference Between Protestants and Catholics?, by William Edgar
• Is the Bible True?, by Peter Lillback

Other matters relevant to the movie — such as the Vatican, the Illumanati, anti-matter, CERN, bio-ethics — are also explained on the (very nicely designed!) site.

This isn’t exactly new-news, but it’s possible that some of you are just now hearing about or reading Barna and Viola, Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of our Church Practices, which argues against the institution of the church (e.g., its worship service, the sermon, the pastor, clergy salaries, etc.).

Ben Witherington has an excellent and thorough four-part review of this unfortunate-but-influential book:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

There’s also this review by Trevin Wax, which offers basically the same conclusions as Witherington’s but without the length and depth.

A friend just pointed me to this excellent series of quick blog posts on spiritual gifts. Hopefully more posts on this theme will follow; so far, Driscoll has covered:

• Spiritual Gifts: Introduction
• Spiritual Gifts Misunderstood
• What’s the Point of Spiritual Gifts?
• The Spiritual Gift of Wisdom
• The Spiritual Gift of Knowledge
• The Spiritual Gift of Faith
• The Spiritual Gift of Healing

This Sunday, Lord willing, we’ll return to our study of Luke’s gospel account, particularly 8:22-56.

It’s a section of Luke that is packed with miracles and emotions. Read through the passage and see what I mean. The short of it is this: in the passage’s three different miracle stories — stories of Jesus’ power over nature, power over demons, and power over sickness — there are 11 explicit references to varying emotions. That seems like a lot, so it must be pretty central to what Luke was trying portray in this section.

Looking forward to soaking in these verses with you this coming Sunday. Invite a friend to come with you.