“The Scope of Jesus’ Ministry Was Limited Sovereignly” (Luke 8:1a)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/4/2026 10:51 AM

My Worship Time                   Focus:  “The Scope of Jesus’ Ministry Was Limited Sovereignly”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 8:1a

            Message of the verse:  “Soon afterwards, He began going around”

            First thing we need to look at the phrase soon afterwards, which refers back to the incident involving the sinful woman and the self-righteous Pharisee that was recorded in Luke 7:36-50.  It was shortly after that incident, in keeping with the Father’s design that Jesus began going around Galilee for what would be the final phase of His ministry there which is seen in Luke 8:4-9:50.  Though the statement is general, the divine design was specific.

            It is true that the Lord always acted in accord with the Father’s will.  We can see in John 5:30 that He says, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”  Now it was earlier that He had told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).  His will was to do the Father’s will that He came into the world, as Jesus explained in John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

            Jesus did the tasks that the Father gave Him to do in the Father’s timing He made certain that the most important of those tasks, His sacrificial death, did not take place until it was the precise time determined by the Father.  Before that time, “no man laid his hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30; cf. v. 1; 8:20; Luke 13:33).

(John 7:30; cf. v. 1; 8:20; Luke 13:33)

“1 ¶  After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

“20  These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

“33  Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’”

            Finally, Jesus ministered to the people to whom the Father sent Him.  He told a Syro-Phoenician woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).  “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles,” Jesus commanded the Twelve when He sent them out to preach, “and do not enter any city of the Samaritans: but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:5-6).  Narrowing His focus even more, Jesus said that He did “not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32; cf. 4:18-19).

(Luke 4:18-19)

“18  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."’

Jesus judicially abandoned the proud, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, as He told His disciples, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.  And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matt. 15:14).  Now when “some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You’”(Matt 12:38) Jesus “answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet’”(v. 39; cf. Luke 11:29).

(Luke 11:29)

“29 ¶  When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”

The Lord’s example illustrates the principle that concentration is the key to multiplication.  That is the way to multiply a ministry is by intensely teaching people the life-changing truths of Scripture, not by manipulation and clever marketing gimmicks.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am praying that what the Lord has called me to do by writing these Spiritual Diaries will be used by the Holy Spirit to multiply souls into the Kingdom of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Since my dear wife passed away late in July of this year, it has been at many times a struggle for me as the house is very empty, but I believe that the Lord will give me the strength to get through this difficult time in my life as He certainly has a plan for me after this difficult time, and I pray that He will show me what that is so I can get on with it, and that it will bring glory to my Lord Jesus Christ.

9/4/2026 11:23 AM