The Gospels - Lesson 4: The Gospel According to Luke

you [Music] you several years ago the news reported that a group of people was trapped in a burning office building then a young man burst into the room and they followed his voice to safety stories for many survivors throughout the building revealed that he was a volunteer fireman who happened to work in the building although he lost his own life in the fire he saved many others from certain death more than any other gospel writer Luke described Jesus as one who saves whether we realize it or not Humanity is lost and desperate without help or hope we have no way to escape the judgment of God that threatens us but the Gospel of Luke reminds us that at the cost of his own life Jesus came to save us this is the fourth lesson in our series the Gospels and we've entitled it the Gospel according to Luke in this lesson we'll explore how to read the New Testaments third gospel with greater understanding and how to apply its teachings to our lives will approach Luke's Gospel in three steps first we'll consider the background of luke's gospel second we'll explore its structure and content and third we'll look at some of its major themes let's begin with the background of Luke's Gospel we'll explore the background of Luke's Gospel by considering its author its original audience and the occasion or circumstances of its writing let's turn first to its author from the outset we should mention that the Gospel of Luke is widely recognized as the first volume of a two-volume work the second volume is the book of Acts and because of this questions about the authorship of Luke are wrapped up with questions about the authorship of Acts listen to the preface of Luke's Gospel in Luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 4 many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word therefore since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught and compare this to the similar preface in Acts chapter 1 verses 1 & 2 which says in my former book Theophilus I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven both these premises indicate that the author wrote to someone named Theophilus and the preface of Acts refers to a former book this has led most scholars to conclude that the former book was the Gospel of Luke there is also other evidence that the same person wrote both of these books the style of the Greek of Luke is similar to the Greek in acts but very different from the style of the other Gospels the books also emphasized similar themes such as the universal offer of a gospel the work of the Holy Spirit the irresistible power of the will and word of God and a frequent description of Christ's work as salvation so assuming that one writer produced both books who was he will investigate the authorship of the third gospel in two stages first we'll consider the traditional view that the gospel was written by a man named Luke and second will explore Luke's personal history let's look first at the traditional view that Luke wrote this gospel the Gospel of Luke is technically anonymous because it doesn't name its author but this shouldn't be surprising Theophilus certainly knew who wrote it so there was no need for the author to identify himself there are however several sources of information about the author's identity at least three types of evidence confirm the traditional view that Luke wrote the third gospel first comments from other parts of the New Testament point to his authorship the New Testament indicates that the author of the third gospel was with Paul in the later years of his ministry for instance in the book of Acts the author sometimes narrated the story with a third person they and other times with a first person we the last of these first-person narratives is Acts chapter 27 verse 1 through chapter 28 verse 16 which describes Paul's trip to Rome beyond this Paul's epistles indicate that Luke was one of the few co-workers with him during this time for instance in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 11 when Paul's death was approaching Paul told Timothy only Luke is with me information like this doesn't prove that Luke wrote the third gospel and the book of Acts but it does make it a strong possibility second early manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke also point to Luke as the author dating early manuscripts is a highly technical science really and there's there's three bits of evidence really that scholars use to date an ancient manuscript and one and actually the most important this surprises students sometimes but the most important is paleography paleography refers to ancient handwriting paleo is old and rafi is is writing so ancient writing and scholars experts at paleography can tell within sometimes a few decades but certainly within 50 years or so when a document was written simply because handwriting tended to change over time in a particular language sometimes the alphabet itself would change of course in terms of its writing but certainly the way things were written so that's paleography the second would be chemical analysis of some kind there's carbon-14 dating for example or other kinds of testing where they would test either the ink or the animal skin or whatever the document was written on to try to determine its age and the third means to date a manuscript is any actual external comments or statements that were made a scribe the scribes who copy them seldom dated them but but sometimes they might actually make some kind of a notation or comment they would help us to identify specifically when that document was copied so those are the three different ways that manuscripts are dated one of the most reliable early manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke is papyrus number 75 often referred to as P 75 this manuscript is dated around AD 180 it contains much more of the third gospel than most other early manuscripts and it bears the title according to Luke many other ancient manuscripts also identify Luke as the author of the Gospel and no early manuscripts ascribe it to anyone else [Music] third the writings of the early church also identify Luke as the author important documents from the early church consistently assign authorship of the third gospel to Luke the moratorium fragment dated around AD 170 to 180 is the earliest known document listing the New Testament books that the early church considered to be canonical and it clearly affirms Luke's authorship of the third gospel another ancient witness is the so called anti-marxist prologue to the Gospel of Luke written around 80 160 to 180 to refute the heretic Marcion it introduces the third gospel this way Luke and Antioch Ian of Syria a physician by profession was a disciple of the Apostles at a later date he accompanied Paul Luke under the impulse of the Spirit composed his entire gospel in the region of aquella moreover many church leaders from the 2nd and 3rd centuries recognized Luke as the author of the third gospel for example Luke's authorship was asserted by Irenaeus who lived around 80 132 202 clement of alexandria who lived from around ad 150 to 215 and Tertullian who lived from 8155 to 230 i think they have every confidence loop is the writer of the third gospel we know from the book of Acts that Luke was a doctor actually whom Paul met at is coming across the top of Asia Minor to political Crow as he meets Luke and they travel together to Philippi and quite likely Luke then stays in Philip I as a doctor there and then he rejoins pour on his travels from Philip I as I got to Jerusalem in AD 57 so the picture we have so many tests on to serve Luke as being someone who knows Paul well travels with him and as every evidence that this Luke is one of the same person that writes Luke's Gospel if you were simply guessing the name of a companion of Paul you probably wouldn't come up with Luke he's not very prominent figure in Paul's letters you might more likely come up with Titus or or someone else so the mere fact that he's not a very prominent figure in Paul's letters suggests that the attribution to Luke of both the Gospel and Li and the acts is likely to be right but I also think there's good reason for thinking that the names of the persons to whom the Gospels are attributed go back to a very early stage when the Gospels were first circulating so I think the combination of the ascription to Luke and the fact that the same author enacts appears to be a companion of Paul they get very likely that the author of both works is the link who accompanied Paul on some of his travels who was one of Paul's co-workers now that we've affirmed the traditional view that Luke wrote this gospel let's look at Luke's personal history the New Testament tells us at least four things about Luke's personal history first he was not an apostle in fact Luke doesn't seem to have been an eyewitness to any of the events that he reported in his gospel listen to these details from the Gospel of Luke chapter 1 verses 1 & 2 many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word Luke's Gospel is the only one of the four that has the sort of preface that a historian would often write to introduce a work of history and so it rather implies that Luke was particularly kind of self-conscious about following historical method of the time and he talks about his sources in the preface he doesn't claim to be an eyewitness himself but he does claim to be taking up eyewitness testimony and recording it so we have his claim to I witness testimony but then there's a period after who gets after Paul gets to Jerusalem on his last journey to Jerusalem and Lucas with him what is any prison forbid period about two years and it looks very much as though Luke is hanging around in Jerusalem and other places in Palestine for that period so he has Adonal opportunity actually two two years when he could interview as a good ancient historian was expected to do he could interview the eyewitnesses who were members of the Jerusalem church people like James the Lord's brother who was certainly around some of the Twelve Apostles were probably around either in Jerusalem or or in other parts of Palestine so Luke was actually in a very good position to have interviewed eyewitnesses and then of course he accompanies Paul to Rome where there might well have been other people who had their own stories to tell of what they remembered of the story of Jesus so I think can what we can say is that Luke was in a very good position to have had first-hand contact with the eyewitnesses second Luke also appears to have been a Gentile convert to Christianity when Paul wrote to the Colossians from prison he sent them greetings from Luke who was with Paul at the time listen to what Paul wrote in chapter 4 verse 14 of Colossians our dear friend Luke the doctor and demas send greetings this is significant because in verses 10 and 11 Paul had said that Aristarchus mark and justice were the only Jews who were working with him at the time so it's reasonable to conclude that Luke was a Gentile this is confirmed by the fact that in Acts chapter 1 verse 19 Luke described Aramaic as their language Aramaic was the Jews language but it wasn't his [Music] third Luke also appears to have been well educated many of the books in the New Testament are written in a fairly common style of Greek but the Gospel of Luke shows more sophistication in its use of the language the fact that Luke was well educated is also reflected in Paul's identification of him as the doctor in Colossians chapter 4 verse 14 while medicine wasn't as formal of discipline in the days of the New Testament as it is today it still required a person with skill aptitude and a degree of learning [Music] the fourth thing we know about Luke's personal history is that he was Paul's partner in ministry for many of the episodes reported in the book of Acts as Paul described him in Philemon verse 24 Luke was his fellow laborer according to Acts chapter 16 verses 6 through 10 Luke first joined Paul in Troas and went with him as he responded to the missionary call to go to Macedonia from that point on Luke was often with Paul except for a lengthy stay in Philippi recorded in Acts chapter 16 verse 40 through chapter 20 verse 5 Luke's faithfulness was particularly displayed in Acts chapter 27 verse 1 where he joined Paul's perilous journey to Rome I think of all the people in the in the New Testament I'd like to meet Luke at one time I thought that I'd be a physician so he's always intrigued me and when it comes to him qualifying to write one of the Gospels there's several things I think that fit in to my view of that the first is just the personal that Acts chapter 16 Luke begins to talk about we suddenly he's in the picture he's not just getting a second-hand report but but Luke joins the company of the people who were actually part of what was going on and they were getting a chance to to you know experience early Christianity firsthand and I think that's an exciting thing the second thing is just the fact that he was a physician thinking about training to become one myself I know that that's the kind of person he wants to get the diagnosis correct they're going to be very careful to get their facts straight they you know they want their details to be accurate because whatever they conclude is going to be for the good of the patient so to speak probably the third thing that strikes me about Luke is the perspective that he had in traveling in the greco-roman world his perspective on the gospel narrative is not even limited to Israel or Palestine it's a global perspective in a day when we're concerned about the Christian gospel being globalized we can read Luke with real understanding because he had an opportunity in in Greece and in Rome and in other parts of the greco-roman world he had the opportunity to see how the message of Jesus was going to be applied to the culture in which the message was being given now did we explore the authorship of the third gospel let's look at the identity of Luke's original audience will explore the original audience of Luke in two ways first we'll look at the books explicit dedication to Theophilus and second we'll consider the possibility that the book was also intended for a broader audience let's begin with Theophilus as Luke's first reader there's been a great deal of debate over the centuries as to as to who Theophilus was and what that and what it refers to in Luke 1 1 through 4 and it's found also and said that he's mentioned also of course in acts 1 1 & 2 Theophilus the word Theophilus does mean lover of God and for that reason many have thought that perhaps Theophilus was not an actual individual but represents the readership of Luke's Gospel which would be the lovers of God in the church the other major possibility of course is that Theophilus was a an individual most scholars and fourths worth I would agree with this second view hold to the second view because a Luke describes him as most excellent krottas de there and Luke later uses that very word craw testa to refer to Roman officials to Felix and to Agrippa and so it's it it was apparently in Luke's mind a rather technical expression referring to a person of high standing and perhaps especially a person of high standing in the Roman government beyond that Luke 1 1 through 4 does seem to be a dedication it just fits in terms of the genre of introductory dedications and historical works were often dedicated using this kind of language to a patron someone who actually paid for the production of the work and so it really fits in to what we know of dedicatory statements and for that reason as I say almost certainly Theophilus was an actual person Luke's preface implies that Theophilus was his patron the one who commissioned and financially supported his writing in Luke chapter 1 verse 3 Luke addressed his work to most excellent Theophilus or Crotty stay faithful a the term Crotty state was an expression of high honor in fact it's used to describe only to other people in the whole New Testament the Roman governors Felix and Festus if Theophilus was not a high-ranking Roman official he was certainly a person of prestige and significance but the relationship between Luke and Theophilus was more complex than mere patronage in some sense Theophilus was also luke's students in Luke chapter 1 verses 3 & 4 we read these words therefore since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught Theophilus already knew about Jesus but Luke wrote this fuller and more orderly account of Jesus life in order to give the Ovilus confidence in what he had been taught having seen that Luke explicitly cited Theophilus as his first reader it's also helpful to think of Luke writing to a broader audience there are many reasons to think that Luke wrote for a broader audience than just the office for one thing early Christians tended to share letters and other writings with each other as just one example listen to what Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 4 verse 16 after this letter has been read to you see that it is also read in the Church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea since early Christians tended to share their writings it seems reasonable to assume that Theophilus would have been eager to share luke's books beyond this the gospels highly literary character makes it almost certain that luke also had a broader audience in mind the style simply is not that of a private note intended only for one person the extensive historical research Luke referred to in Luke chapter 1 verse 3 also implies a more extended audience and beyond this the great length of the gospel and Acts suggests that Luke was producing a major work that he intended for a larger audience but who was this larger audience it seems most likely that Luke wrote primarily for Gentile Christians for example his style of Greek was that of the Gentiles and his emphasis on the universal offer of the gospel of the kingdom of God stressed that salvation was for all nations of course Luke's Gospel would have been valuable to Jewish Christians too but it wasn't directed to them the way Matthew's Gospel was in a general sense God always intends the whole Bible to be read and understood by all his people throughout history but it's important to recognize that when the Holy Spirit inspired particular authors to write particular books he worked through their individual personality and interests in this primary sense Luke designed his Gospel to speak rather directly to the needs of Theophilus and other first century Gentile Christians by contrast modern audiences are overhearing what Luke wrote to them but if we keep Luke in his original audience in mind as we read his gospel we'll be better prepared to understand what he wrote and to apply it to our own lives knowing who the author and audience of the gospel are we're ready to examine its occasion we'll explore the occasion of Luke's Gospel in two ways first we'll consider its date of composition and second we'll look at Luke's purpose for writing let's begin with a date of Luke's Gospel at least two factors point to a date between AD 65 and 67 first comparisons between Luke's Gospel and Mark's Gospel have led most New Testament scholars to agree that Luke used Mark's Gospel as one of his sources of research in our earlier lesson on mark we concluded that the earliest likely date for mark was ad 64 if Luke used mark as a source then the earliest likely date for his gospel must be some time after this probably around AD 65 second the book of Acts points to a date certainly no later than AD 69 and probably no later than AD 67 acts doesn't record important events like Paul's martyrdom which took place around AD 65 the neurotic persecutions that ended in 80's 68 or the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 these significant omissions suggest Luke wrote Acts or these events took place or at least before he became aware of them and according to acts chapter 1 verse 1 Luke's Gospel was completed even before he wrote the book of Acts so it seems most likely that Luke completed his gospel by ad 67 and he almost certainly finished it by ad 69 before the fall of Jerusalem now that we've considered the date when Luke wrote let's turn to his purpose in Luke chapter 1 verses 3 & 4 Luke gave the following reason for researching and writing this gospel it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught Luke wrote for Theophilus and for the Gentile Christians like him in order to strengthen their young faith in the Jewish Messiah Jesus when Luke was writing Gentile Christians like Theophilus faced significant challenges to their faith these challenges came from at least two sources first Nero's persecution of Christians in Rome created widespread fear that persecution might spread throughout the empire and this fear caused some people to doubt the Christian claim that Jesus had brought the kingdom of God second Christians were arguing over the status of Gentile converts to the largely Jewish Church and this prejudice and division raised doubts about the claim that Jesus offered salvation to every family of the human race in response to these challenges and doubts Luke wrote to assured Gentile believers that they had made the right choice in following Jesus Jesus really had inaugurated God's kingdom and Gentile Christians really were full members of God's household if they remained faithful to Jesus they could be confident that they would receive all the blessings of salvation now that we've surveyed the background of Luke's Gospel let's turn to our second major topic its structure and content you'll recall from earlier lessons in this series that on a large scale all four Gospels deal with Jesus life chronologically but on a smaller scale they sometimes organize their stories about Jesus according to different principles for instance we saw that Matthew and Mark sometimes arranged their materials according to certain themes by comparison Luke arranged much of his Gospel according to geography for our purposes in this lesson we'll divide Luke's Gospel into six sections a short preface in Chapter 1 verses one through four followed by five major groups of stories the first major division of the gospel describes Jesus beginnings and focuses on the region of Judea and the Jordan River this section runs from chapter 1 verse 5 through chapter 4 verse 13 the second major division is the narrative of Jesus ministry in Galilee which extends from chapter 4 verse 14 through chapter nine verse 50 the third major division reports Jesus journey to Jerusalem in Chapter 9 verse 51 through chapter 19 verse 27 the fourth major division is the narrative of Jesus ministry in and near Jerusalem in chapter 19 verse 28 through chapter 21 verse 38 finally the fifth and last major division of Luke's Gospel is the narrative of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection outside Jerusalem found in chapter 22 verse 1 through chapter 24 verse three since we've already looked at Luke's preface we'll focus our attention on the five major divisions of his narrative starting with Jesus beginnings in Luke chapter 1 verse 5 through chapter 4 verse 13 Luke's account of Jesus beginnings starts shortly before Jesus birth and spans his entire life prior to his public ministry Luke's main concern in these chapters was to show that Jesus was both the Son of God and the son of David making him both fully divine and fully human moreover as the son of David Jesus was also the Messiah or Christ the one who would provide salvation to the world by bringing God's kingdom to earth throughout this narrative Luke regularly referred to God's promises in the Old Testament in order to show that God was fulfilling these promises through Jesus and therefore the only way to be faithful to God and to inherit his kingdom blessings was to receive Jesus as king and Savior these chapters can be divided into four main sections birth announcements for John the Baptist and Jesus their corresponding births and childhoods John's identification of Jesus and free confirmations of Jesus as the Son of God let's begin with the birth announcements in Luke chapter 1 verses 5 through 56 it's significant that Luke opened his gospel with an appearance of the angel Gabriel hundreds of years earlier Daniel chapter 9 stated that Gabriel had announced that Israel's exile would last for hundreds of years so long as they remained under God's judgment Israel would be in bondage but in Luke's Gospel Gabriel announced that the period of judgment was about to end in Luke chapter 1 verses 5 through 25 Gabriel foretold the birth of John the Baptist a drill visited the priest Zechariah in Judea and told him that his barren wife Elizabeth would miraculously have a son they were to name the boy John he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth and would serve in the spirit of the great prophet Elijah to prepare the way for God's salvation at first Zechariah doubted Gabriel's message so he was struck mute until his son was born Luke paired the announcement of John's birth with Gabriel's greater announcement of Jesus birth in Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38 Gabriel told Mary that God would miraculously generate a son in her womb making God himself the child's father God's son was to be named Jesus meaning Savior moreover he would inherit the throne of his ancestor David meaning that he would be the Messiah the great son of David who would bring the salvation of God's everlasting kingdom to earth since Mary and Elizabeth were cousins Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth in Judea to tell her she was pregnant with God's son we read about this visit in Luke chapter 1 verses 39 through 56 when Mary greeted Elizabeth John left for joy in his mother's womb and Elizabeth was immediately filled with a spirit so that she understood the significance of her baby's reaction Elizabeth blessed Mary calling Mary's son her own Lord and in response Mary sang her famous song of praise often called the Magnificat in Luke chapter 1 verses 46 through 55 expressing her great joy at the salvation that was coming through her child following the birth announcements Luke compared the births and childhoods of John and Jesus in Luke chapter 1 verse 57 through chapter 2 verse 52 Luke's account of John's birth and childhood can be found in Luke chapter 1 verses 57 through 80 John was born to aging parents and when they presented him at the temple on the eighth day for circumcision his father's voice returned to him at that time Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied that his son that prepare the way for the Messiah the great son of David listen to how Zechariah described the Messiah's role in Luke chapter 1 verses 69 through 76 God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he said through his holy prophets of long ago to remember his holy Covenant the oath he swore to our father Abraham and you my child will be called a prophet of the most high for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him in the Old Testament God had made covenant promises of salvation to Abraham and David and Zechariah prophesied that God was about to fulfill these promises and that his son John would be the Prophet who prepared the way next in Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 52 Luke reported the birth and early childhood of Jesus there are several parallels between this account and his previous narrative of John's birth but Luke's record of Jesus birth and childhood is much longer and more elaborate it begins with Jesus birth in the City of David the Judean town of Bethlehem which is recorded in Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 20 Jesus birth was very humble he was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough but the angelic announcement that proclaimed his birth to nearby shepherds was nothing short of majestic listen to what the angel said to the Shepherd's in Luke chapter 2 verses 10 and 11 do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people today in the town of David a savior has been born to you he is Christ the Lord the angel proclaimed the good news or gospel that the Messianic King would save God's people from God's judgments this angelic messenger was then joined by the heavenly army of angels who sang praises to God for the birth of Jesus Luke made it clear that despite Jesus humble birth Mary son really was God's chosen Messiah and king next Luke described Jesus circumcision and presentation at the temple in Jerusalem in Luke chapter 2 verses 21 through 40 at the temple the Holy Spirit filled and moved Simeon as well as the holy prophetess Anna to announce that Jesus was the Messiah who would bring salvation to the world [Music] listen to Simeon's prays to God in Luke chapter 2 verses 30 through 32 my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel this was in fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 where God had spoken these words it is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth through Simeon God revealed that Jesus was the Messiah who would bring salvation and glory to Israel and more than this he would even extend the gospel of God's kingdom to the Gentile nations so that they might also be saved finally Luke returned to the theme of Jesus sonship with a brief story of Jesus at the temple in Luke chapter 2 verses 41 through 52 when Jesus was 12 years old he accompanied his parents to the Passover in Jerusalem but he was separated from them when they returned home his parents found him several days later in the temple courts talking with the teachers everyone at the temple was amazed with Jesus knowledge and understanding when Mary confronted Jesus his reply revealed how special he was listen to what Jesus told Mary in Luke chapter 2 verse 49 didn't you know I had to be in my father's house the temple was the house of his father because Jesus was the son of God following the births and childhoods of John and Jesus Luke reported John's identification of Jesus in Luke chapter 3 verses 1 through 20 in this narrative John prepared the way for God's salvation by formally identifying Jesus as the Messiah in his preaching ministry in the region of the Jordan River John proclaimed the coming kingdom of God exhorted people to repent of their sins and baptize those who repented but when Jesus came to him to be baptized John identified him as the Messiah that plainly declared that he wasn't even worthy to untie the Messiah's sandals John said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit as prophesied in the Old Testament passages like Isaiah chapter 44 verse 3 and as he killed chapter 39 verse 29 and this meant that the final age of history had arrived the time when God's salvation would be fully realized it's interesting to note that under individual Testament that in Exodus 19 when the Israelites were going to hear from God where God was going to descend on Mount Sinai that they are told before that to wash their clothes and purify themselves and so so it turns out that cleansing was really something that people would do in preparation for God's coming or God's appearance and if we look at John the Baptist Proclamation he's basically saying that God is going to come in judgment and the people need to prepare them by Baptist by repentance and then of course by baptism and the Gospels we have John baptizing people and then we have Jesus coming to be baptized of John why would he do this I mean John is saying repent and be prepared for the kingdom does Jesus have to repent obviously he doesn't he is the sinless son of God why then does he get baptized by John well it's important to realize that John's baptism is in preparation for the coming of the kingdom as he is calling people to repent believes it's not the same as Christian baptism in that he is announcing that the kingdom is coming the king is arriving they are to be prepared for it Jesus in coming to be baptized by John now comes to begin his ministry all of the baptism begins at the start of Jesus's ministry in the Gospels he is identifying with us think of in terms of Matthew to fulfill all righteousness it's not because he has to repent it's not because he is a sinner it's because he's identifying with his people he's beginning his public ministry he is acting as our representative in his life which will then culminate in his death resurrection ascension so that that is the reason why he comes and is baptized by John to some sense inaugurate his ministry to begin what he is doing to announce that what John has looked forward to is now coming in him he is the one that now is bringing the kingdom to pass now that we've considered John's identification of Jesus let's turn to the fourth and final section of this narrative the confirmation of Jesus as the Son of God in Luke chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 4 verse 13 Luke provided three separate confirmations of Jesus as the Son of God beginning with a divine confirmation in Luke chapter 3 verses 21 and 22 listen to this description of Jesus baptism from Luke chapter 3 verse 22 the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my son whom I loved with you I am well pleased at Jesus baptism God Himself publicly confirmed that Jesus was his son through the visible appearance of the Spirit and his voice from heaven next Luke provided a genealogical confirmation that Jesus was the son of God in Luke chapter 3 verses 23 through 38 like Matthew Luke traits Jesus genealogy through the righteous line of David and Abraham but unlike Matthew Luke extended his record to include the righteous line of humanity all the way to Adam to understand the significance of this genealogy listen to the way it ends in Luke chapter 3 verse 38 the son of Seth the son of Adam the Son of God Luke called Adam the son of God the same title given to Jesus throughout these chapters in this way Luke pointed out something that other portions of the New Testament teach plainly as the son of God Jesus was destined to fulfill the purpose of the first son of God Adam or as the Apostle Paul put it in first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 45 Jesus was the last Adam Adam was God's servant King on earth who was supposed to do God's will but he failed miserably but Jesus is the great Son of God who succeeded where Adam had failed thereby extending salvation to every nation on earth the last confirmation of Jesus as the Son of God was a personal confirmation from Jesus himself in Luke chapter 4 verses 1 through 13 this is the account of Jesus temptation in the wilderness as Luke noted in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 the Holy Spirit filled Jesus and led him into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan the devil tempted Jesus to turn stone into bread to receive authority over the nation's from the devil and to throw himself off the top of the temple and the devil began to of these temptations with the mocking words if you are the son of God in response Jesus strongly rejected all three of Satan's temptations and even quoted Old Testament passages that described what a faithful son of God should do Jesus quotes the Bible when he's encountered by the devil in the wilderness for several reasons first of all part of what the gospel writers are doing are depicting portraying Jesus as the true Son of God and so one reason that we see him quoting the scriptures is because of his covenant relationship with God he is going to the scriptures and quoting from that expression of his covenant relationship to keep things in order to keep the proper view of his own authority in relation to God the Father and also to the devil's limited authority as well and so he says that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God just to remind himself of the priority of that covenant relationship and that assists him in resisting these temptations from the devil but we see I'm quoting from a particular portion of Scripture from Deuteronomy 6 to 8 in particular because there we have Moses talking about the wilderness experience of God's people and how that wilderness experience of the Exodus community tested what was in their hearts to see what was in their hearts and we have something very similar happening this test of sonship in Jesus's temptation encounter where Israel failed the test Jesus passes the test and so we see that sort of comparison in the use of the Old Testament by the Gospel writers and by Jesus in the temptation narrative as well because it follows Jesus genealogy that ends with Adam as the Son of God Luke's account of Jesus temptation should be viewed in contrast with the account of Adams temptation in Genesis chapter 3 in that story the devil tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden and when Adam sinned God cursed creation and cast all of humanity into the wilderness by contrast Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness and this confirmed that he really was the faithful son of God who would bring God's faithful people back into paradise after Jesus beginnings in Judea and the region of the Jordan the next major section of the Gospel of Luke reports Jesus ministry in Galilee this section extends from chapter 4 verse 14 to chapter 9 verse 50 [Music] in this section of his gospel Luke reported many examples of Jesus miraculous power and gospel preaching in order to prove that Jesus was the spirit anointed Savior promised by the Old Testaments Luke's narrative describing Jesus ministry in Galilee and be divided into five parts first Jesus sermon at Nazareth second is teaching and miracles third the distinction between the roles of Jesus and John the Baptist fourth additional teaching and miracles from Jesus and fifth Jesus preparation of the Twelve Apostles for ministry we'll look at each of these sections beginning with Jesus first sermon at Nazareth in Luke chapter 4 verses 14 through 30 all three synoptic Gospels emphasize Jesus miraculous power and gospel Proclamation during his Galilean ministry but Luke's presentation is distinct from the others because he introduced this stage of Jesus ministry with the Lord's first sermon in his hometown Nazareth Luke reported that Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath and that he was given the scroll of Isaiah so he read Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 & 2 and then made an astonishing Proclamation listen to what Jesus read and said in Luke chapter 4 verses 18 through 21 the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing when he said this scripture is now fulfilled in your hearing what Jesus was saying was that something the Old Testament had provided for and anticipated was now being realized that was the whole idea of Jubilee that in the 49th or 50th year depending on how you calculated Old Testament Israel was to release people from debts and restore them to their ancestral homeland their tribal allotments the the land that their families had been given back during the days of Moses and Joshua and if we think of the exodus as the big important Old Testament event for Redemption we also need to understand the Jubilee was an important provision of God for restoration because as long as you live in a in a fallen world redemption is going to save us but restoration is part of God's Redemption and so Jesus sets about to show the signs of this Jubilee he's freeing people from the oppression of demons freeing them from social stigmatization or social classification and he's restoring them to God they're their maker and their father Isaiah had prophesied that the coming of the kingdom of God would result in salvation for all God's faithful people and Jesus proclaimed that that day had arrived this quotation expresses Luke's basic model for interpreting Jesus entire ministry Jesus was the Messiah or Christ the Savior prophesied by the Old Testament who would manifest God's kingdom on earth by bringing salvation to his people after relating Jesus sermon at Nazareth Luke reported several examples of Jesus powerful teaching and miracles in Luke chapter 4 verse 31 through chapter 7 verse 17 in this section Luke demonstrated that Jesus really was the Messiah because he was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 and 2 Jesus provided freedom from an evil spirit in Luke chapter 4 verses 31 through 36 he healed many other people in chapter 4 verses 38 through 42 and he called the disciples Peter James and John in Luke chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 and we find a similar pattern in the verses that follow where the healings of the leper in chapter 5 verses 12 through 15 and the paralytic in chapter 5 verses 17 through 26 are followed by the calling of the disciple Levi or Matthew in chapter 5 verses 27 through 32 the same sort of pattern is repeated in the next verses - but instead of healings Luke recorded Jesus teachings in chapter 5 verses 33 through 39 Jesus taught that his physical presence ought to end fasting and bring rejoicing in chapter 6 verses 1 through 11 Jesus taught that the Sabbath is for healing and saving lives and in chapter 6 verses 12 through 16 he selected twelve of his many disciples to become his special apostles who were assigned a task of establishing a new order for Israel through these miracles and teachings Jesus demonstrated that he really was the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah because he brought the Lord's favor in the form of freedom healing and release from oppression next Luke reported a fairly lengthy sermon that Jesus delivered in Luke chapter 6 verses 17 through 49 this sermon is often referred to as Jesus Sermon on the plane and it has many sim clarity's to his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 one of the interesting contrasts between Matthew and Luke is that we have a Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 to 7 and what service M on a plane in Luke chapter 6 I this course no end of discussion and debate are these one of the same thing or that are they separate and I think two things need to be said firstly we know that we're dealing with just a very small extract or whatever it was that Jesus said on that occasion I've been read Matthew 5 to 7 and only takes what 40 minutes perhaps to read it out loud Jesus is talking for hours and hours and his teaching is it cannot be so compressed so we're dealing with extracts so far we talk about the same extracts well I think I think probably are the other things is to say is that if you know that the jaw graffia that area is is fascinating there are those hills just behind Capernaum and so you can look at those hills and say well Jesus sat down and people were on a hill but on nother sentence you look at it is actually a slow descent of volcanic rock coming down from 3,000 feet above down to the sea level and when you look at it from a distance it's actually got this this got tons of what you and I might refer to as planes they're sloping and they're on a hill and I would have my cake and eat I would say the Sermon on the Mount Jesus sitting on the Mount and the similar plane is the same things of flat plates and I think there's a final point here it's just fascinating Luke wants to give us the impression of Jesus being accessible so he describes as being Jesus on the plane he's with us Matthew's want to have us so you see that Jesus is authoritative Jesus on the mountain like Moses on that Sonya and I think we can have both answers in the sermon on the plane Jesus emphasized the same great reversal that Isaiah had prophesied the poor will be blessed the hungry will be satisfied those who weep will laugh and God will bless those who are helpless but the good news also went a step further Jesus called those who are blessed to follow him and to live by the standards and values of God's kingdom which are often very different from earthly standards for example he called them to love strangers and even their enemies in contrast to worldly values which tell us to be wary of strangers and to hate our enemies so the message of the kingdom is not just one of blessing but also one of ethical responsibility after the sermon on the plane Luke concluded this section was still more evidences that Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy jesus healed a Centurions servant in Luke chapter 7 verses 1 through 10 and in chapter 7 verses 11 through 16 he even raised the dead son of a widow at name Luke's next account from Jesus ministry in Galilee is a group of stories revolving around John the Baptist in Luke chapter 7 verses 18 through 50 after John the Baptist was imprisoned he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah and Jesus replied by reminding them of what he had done Jesus miracles and preaching clearly fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 and 2 and therefore they proved that Jesus really was the Messiah listen to what Jesus told John's messengers in Luke chapter 7 verse 22 go back and report to John what you have seen and heard the blind receive sight the lame walk those who have leprosy are cured the Deaf hear the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor Jesus continued by affirming that John was the greatest of the prophets but even John didn't measure up to the least person in the kingdom of God and Luke punctuated this point in chapter 7 verses 47 through 50 by explaining that Jesus actually forgave the sin of the immoral woman who washed his feet John had baptized people in repentance as an appeal to God for forgiveness but Jesus brought the kingdom into people's present experience by forgiving sinners healing the sick and preaching the gospel to the poor after the stories revolving around John the Baptist Luke reported more of Jesus teaching in miracles in Luke chapter 8 verses 1 through 56 in these additional teachings and miracles Jesus focused on the good news of the kingdom the parable of the sower in Luke chapter 8 verses 1 through 15 and the parable of the lampstand in Luke chapter 8 verses 16 through 18 describe the importance of responding to the message of the kingdom and faith and obedience and he repeated these same themes in Luke chapter 8 verses 19 through 21 when he said that his true family members are those who hear and obey God's Word then in Luke chapter 8 verses 22 through 56 Luke reported several miracles that confirmed and demonstrated the salvation Jesus was bringing Jesus calmed a storm cast out a demon healed a sick woman and raised a girl from the dead finally Luke closed his account of Jesus ministry in Galilee by reporting Jesus preparation of the Twelve Apostles for ministry in Luke chapter 9 verses one through fifty first in Luke chapter 9 verses one through nine Jesus sent his Twelve Apostles to heal and to preach the gospel these were the same men he had set apart in Luke chapter 6 then he demonstrated his power by feeding 5000 people in chapter 9 verses 10 through 17 teaching his apostles to trust in his power and provision and these preparations culminated in Luke chapter 9 verses 18 through 27 where the Apostles confessed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah or Christ Luke concluded this section with several stories about Jesus continuing to prepare his apostles for ministry especially the ministry they would have after he ascended into heaven Jesus was transfigured before Peter James and John in Luke chapter 9 is 28 through 36 where the father spoke from heaven to confirm their commitment to Jesus then Jesus performed an extremely difficult exorcism in chapter 9 verses 37 through 45 and taught on greatness in the kingdom in chapter 9 verses 46 through 50 in all these accounts Jesus prepared his disciples to recognize his authority to rely on his power and to minister as humble servants in his name so that they would be effective leaders of his kingdom on earth after Jesus ministry in Galilee the next major section of the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus journey to Jerusalem this portion extends from Luke chapter 9 verse 51 through chapter 19 verse 27 Luke mentioned Jesus determination to go to Jerusalem five times in this section in chapter nine verse 51 chapter 13 verse 22 chapter 17 verse 11 chapter 18 verse 31 and chapter 19 verse 28 as one example listen to Luke chapter 18 verses 31 and 32 Jesus took the twelve aside and told them we are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled he will be handed over to the Gentiles they will mock him insult him spit on him flog him and kill him through passages like this Luke made it clear that Jesus was committed to God's plan to save his people even though it required him to die in Jerusalem we'll divide Luke's discussion of Jesus journey to Jerusalem into four main parts first Jesus teaching on the nature of discipleship second Luke's report of the increasing conflict between Jesus and his opponents third Jesus teaching on the cost of discipleship and fourth jesus commitment to God's plan to save his people let's begin with the nature of discipleship in Luke chapter 9 verse 51 here chapter 11 verse 13 jesus commitment to build God's kingdom and save his people led him to select and trained his special apostles for servant leadership in Luke chapter 9 verse 51 through chapter 10 verse 24 he taught them how to evangelize and warn them that life would be difficult for them but he also empowered them with the Holy Spirit after this preparation he sent them to preach the gospel to the cities he plan to visit following this in Luke chapter 10 verse 25 through chapter 11 verse 13 Jesus provided a broad worldview for them by teaching on three topics related to discipleship love for neighbor love for God and prayer Jesus began in Luke chapter 10 verse 27 by summarizing his teaching about love in this way love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself here Jesus quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 and Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18 in order to explain that the whole Old Testament law teaches us how to love God and our neighbor the next two paragraphs illustrate the two parts of this law of love the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 verses 29 through 37 illustrates how the loved ones may this is the well-known story about a Samaritan who showed his neighborly love for an injured Israelite even though there was tension between their two people groups next in Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42 Jesus encounter with Mary provides an example of how to love God by sitting at Jesus feet listening to his teaching Mary showed that we should love God if I'm making him the first priority in our lives and by listening to him obediently lastly Jesus teaching on prayer in Luke chapter 11 verses 1 through 13 concluded his instruction to the Apostles by teaching them to pray genuinely and persistently for the gifts and blessings of God's kingdom prayer is very important for the Christian it was an important part of Jesus's life and we can see its significance through the example of his life we find that the greater his workload the more he prayed and he sought God's strength while he rested he realized that he needed to commune with the father consistently in order to renew himself spiritually he prayed all night before he chose his 12 disciples knowing that one of them would betray him in fact when he chose his disciples he was looking ahead to the cross and that is part of the reason Jesus spent the whole night praying before conducting this very important ministry Jesus's prayer life is an example for us later when his disciples came back joyfully because of their marvelous works Jesus praised the father saying I praise you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and learn it and revealed them to little children Jesus praised the father so we should praise Him too if even Jesus needed to pray and give praise we need to even more winters in the job before he was arrested he prayed earnestly in the garden of gethsemane and said finally my father if it's possible made this cut be taken from me yet not as I will but as you will so we see that Jesus was in complete submission to the Father Jesus prayed because of his relationship with the father and wanted to complete the plan of salvation for Humanity his example teaches us that as children of God our prayer and submission to the will of the Father are critical to our lives well I would say the main reason it's important for Christians to pray is because every time we pray it's an expression of our belief in Christ are resting in the gospel the only reason we can pray is because Jesus died for our sins Jesus gave us access before the throne of God we can boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence in prayer because Jesus has meant made a way for us to get there and so the first reason we pray is because it's an exercise of the gospel the second reason we pray is because it's ongoing expression of dependence on God for everything we come to him as our Father who loves to bless his children asking for our daily bread but it's also a way we worship God we express his worth we adore him we communion with him there's this reality being in constant prayer the Bible talks about where we walk around with a daily sense of God's presence a consciousness that he is God and he carries weight in our lives John Wesley called prayer the grand means of drawing near to God the chief means of grace in fact when you look at the history of Christianity reading scripture and praying are the two primary spiritual disciplines I think the reason why why prayer is so important is that it creates the the very kind of relationship with God that Christianity is and is intended to foster when we pray we are talking with God listening to what God has to say to us and then responding to to what we hear and that's the basis for the relationship and that's really what God wants for us is to have a relationship you go all the way back into Genesis where God actually walks in the garden and seeks out Adam and Eve to have fellowship with him prayer becomes our way of walking and talking with God that old hymn he walks with me and talks with me and tells me I'm his own that's I mean you're getting to the heart of what Christianity is intended to be when you pray because it's relational after Jesus teaching on the nature of discipleship Luke stressed the increasing conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leaders in Luke chapter 11 verse 14 through chapter 15 verse 32 during this part of his journey Jesus purposefully antagonized the Jewish leadership for at least three reasons first he wanted to rebuke their poor leadership of God's people second he wanted to call people into his own Kingdom and third he wanted them to crucify him in Jerusalem so that he could render saving atonement for the sins of his people and be rewarded with kingship over them for instance in Luke chapter 11 verses 14 through 28 the Jews claimed that Jesus was the Prince of demons and Jesus responded in verses 29 through 53 by condemning their wickedness and pronouncing woes on them in Luke chapter 12 verses 1 through 3 jesus warned the crowds not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees in verses 4 through 21 he attacked the practices of the Jewish synagogues rulers and authorities in verses 22 through 32 he stressed that God would meet the needs of everyone that sought the kingdom of God so that they didn't need to pursue worldly wealth like the Jewish leadership and in verses 33 through 59 jesus warned that his followers would certainly come into conflict with those who did not embrace God's kingdom in Luke chapter 13 verses 1 through 9 Jesus continued to antagonize the Jewish leadership by calling all Israel to repent of their sins then in verses 10 through 17 he increased the conflict by healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath which greatly angered the ruler of a synagogue and in verses 18 through 30 Jesus taught that the kingdom of God would not be entered by many who thought they would be admitted clearly condemning the mainstream Jewish leadership and their followers finally in verses 31 through 35 Luke reported that tensions were mounting between Jesus and the Jewish King Herod was now planning to kill him in Luke chapter 14 Jesus provoked the Jewish leadership even further in verses 1 through 24 he healed a man on the Sabbath and then criticized the worldly values of the Jewish leaders even suggesting that not one of them would inherit the kingdom of God then in verses 25 through 34 jesus warned his followers that they might lose everything in his life as a result of conflict they would encounter from those who opposed him after an introduction in chapter 15 verses 1 & 2 Jesus again pursued conflict with the Jewish leaders through his parables about things that were lost the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son in each story Jesus called on his people to reject the hypocritical exclusiveness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law and to rejoice when God finds his children among the Lost sinners of the world after reporting Jesus teachings on the nature of discipleship and his increasing conflict with the Jewish leaders Luke focused his account of Jesus journey to Jerusalem on the cost of discipleship in Luke chapter 16 verse 1 through chapter 18 verse 30 Jesus wanted his followers to understand that their own lives and his kingdom would be patterned after his own they would be persecuted by worldly leaders and would struggle to remain faithful to God from chapter 16 verse 1 through chapter 17 verse 10 Jesus taught that discipleship involves viewing everything we own as God's possession which he has entrusted to us as his stewards to be used entirely for his purposes he also warned that earthly blessings can be a stumbling block even preventing the rich from recognizing and receiving the true gospel lastly he encouraged faith and repentance assuring is that no matter how much good we do our very best is still no more than God requires in chapter 17 verse 11 through chapter 18 verse 8 Jesus focused on the eventual judgment on this world the good things we receive in this life including health possessions and justice should cause us to see God's goodness and we should pray that he will bless us with them in this life but they're still destined to perish at the final judgment true wealth health and justice come only as Ward's in God's everlasting kingdom so that's where our hope should be in line with these ideas Jesus ended this section in Luke chapter 18 verses 9 through 30 by emphasizing the need for humility because only the humble will receive God's forgiveness and blessing and inherit eternal life Luke concluded his record of Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem by emphasizing his commitment to God's plan to save his people in Luke chapter 18 verse 31 through chapter 19 verse 27 the first way Jesus showed his commitment to God's plan was by predicting his own death in Luke chapter 18 verses 31 through 34 jesus knew he needed to die to save his people and he was determined to follow through with his father's plan following this Jesus demonstrated his commitment to God's plan of salvation by blessing the people he came to save such as the blind man he healed in Luke chapter 18 verses 35 through 43 and the tax collector Zacchaeus that he called in Luke chapter 19 verses 1 through 10 these people were typically rejected by society but in line with the promises of Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 & 2 they were going to receive a great inheritance in God's kingdom as Jesus said of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19 verses 9 and 10 today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham for the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost lastly in Luke chapter 19 verses 11 through 27 Jesus told the parable of the servants of the king that were entrusted with his money while he was away this parable demonstrated that if we want an inheritance in God's kingdom we have to be committed to God's plan just like Jesus's after describing Jesus journey to Jerusalem Luke reported Jesus ministry in Jerusalem this is the fifth major section of the Gospel of Luke and it extends from chapter 19 verse 28 through chapter 21 verse 38 Luke's report of Jesus ministry in Jerusalem begins in Luke chapter 19 verses 28 through 44 with Jesus entering Jerusalem while the crowds welcomed him with shouts and praises following his entry into the city Jesus first act was to cleanse the temple by driving out the merchants this event appears in Luke chapter 19 verses 45 and 46 this cleansing condemned the sinful practices that had corrupted Jewish worship and life thereby greatly insulted the Jewish leadership we need the Old Testament historical background to understand the events of Jesus as temple cleansing just as we need it to understand many teachings in the New Testament we need to refer back to the Old Testament the book of first Kings chapter 8 records the dedication of the temple the temple had been under construction for several years when it was finished King Solomon and the Israelites came to dedicate the temple King Solomon prayed to God hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place here from heaven your dwelling place and when you hear forgive in addition King Solomon also prayed that when foreigners who heard God's great name came from a distant land to pray toward the temple God would hear their prayers so that all the people of the earth might know God's name and fear him and know that the temple was built for God's name's sake so in jesus's time when the religious authorities made the temple a den of robbers it disgraced the name of God because temple is associated with God's name furthermore when Jesus cleansed the temple there was symbolic meaning the temple pointed to Jesus himself because he is the true and final temple Jesus is the reality of the temple for all nations coming to pray since we pray in the name of Jesus to our Father so if we understand the temple from the Old Testament we can see the significance of Jesus cleansing the temple and its relationship to the coming of the kingdom of God what seems to be the thing that Jesus is most upset about is that the area of the temple the court of the Gentiles where they are having access to come and be in the presence of the creator of the universe the nations can come it can't go into the inner part of the temple which is only for the Jews but the outer court is for the nation's is for the Gentiles they can come and they can pray there and what we see is that there's no place to pray there is no place for the Gentiles in terms of the real purpose of that space and so what we see is Jesus is restoring the temple and restoring the function of that space by clearing out that space for the nations to be able to come and pray as we read in Luke chapter 19 verse 47 through chapter 21 verse 38 Jesus spent the next several days teaching in the temple courts speaking about the kingdom of God during this time his conflict with the Jewish leaders intensified as he continued to condemn their practices and as they continue to challenge his authority listen to what the teachers of the law and the chief priests did in Luke chapter 20 verse 20 they sent spies who pretended to be honest they hope to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor but Jesus didn't stop preaching the truth just because evil men were trying to trap him instead he openly rebuked them as he told the crowds in Luke chapter 20 verses 46 and 47 beware of the teachers of the law they like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets they devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers such men will be punished most severely as Jesus near Jerusalem Israel's refusal to accept him as their saving Messiah led him to prophesy the city's destruction but even this catastrophe would be only a foretaste of greater judgment on the last day when Jesus returns in glory everyone will give an account before him for this reason Jesus calls his disciples in every age to obey Him diligently and to watch carefully for his return after reporting Jesus ministry in Jerusalem we find the last major section of Luke's Gospel the narrative of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection outside Jerusalem in Luke chapter 22 verse 1 through chapter 24 verse 53 in this section of his Gospel Luke explained how Jesus actually accomplished salvation for his people he fulfilled his Heavenly Father's plan by offering himself as an atoning sacrifice and he was rewarded with the throne of his father David so that he now rules over his people as their king Luke's report of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection can be divided into two parts Jesus arrest trial and death and his resurrection and ascension let's look first at Jesus arrest trial and death in Luke chapter 22 verse 1 through chapter 23 verse 56 the record of Jesus arrest trial and death begins in Luke chapter 22 verses 1 through 6 with the plot to betray Jesus then during the last supper recorded in verses 7 through 38 Jesus prophesied the betrayal by Judas as well as the fact that Peter would deny that he followed Jesus but in the middle of these dark predictions he assured the disciples of their place in his kingdom and of his control over all these events following the Last Supper we find Jesus prayer on the Mount of Olives in Luke chapter 22 verses 39 through 46 Jesus was in great anguish during this prayer as we can see by the fact that he sweat blood and by his desire that the father would somehow allow him to avoid crucifixion if it were possible but through it all Jesus never wavered in his strong trust in the Heavenly Father or in his commitment to the Father's plan Jesus arrest in Luke chapter 22 verses 47 through 53 set in motion the events of peter's denial in verses 54 through 62 as well as jesus trials before the jewish leaders Pilate and Herod in chapter 22 verse 63 through chapter 23 verse 25 Herod and Pilate both found Jesus innocent of any crimes against Rome that might have deserved death Pilate however gave in to the pressure of the Jewish leaders and the crowd and condemn the innocent Jesus to be crucified people are sometimes puzzled when they read the Gospels about the response that the crowds have to Jesus at his trial and his death as he is you know getting before the crowds and with Pilate the the crowds call for his death and the release of Barabbas one one answer is that we have to keep in mind the depths of human sin that people are very sinful and we are prone to injustice and we're prone to be carried away with the sentiments of the crowd and doing what's wrong just because it seems like at the time it's the thing that will make us most comfortable or most popular or we just get carried away and do the wrong thing and I think there was perhaps an element of that at Jesus's trial it I think something else to keep in mind is that the crowds who were there were probably crowds of people that really agreed with the Pharisees who were very set against Jesus the chief priests who were afraid of Jesus they were afraid that the Romans would take away their power they would get in trouble with the Romans politically if they didn't do something to Jesus so you you had their very cowardly actions on one hand you had the misguided actions of the Pharisees who were not encouraged as people but who just were theologically misguided in opposing Jesus and wanted to get rid of him for that reason and so the crowds assembled were were not all of the people but they were a select group of the people that probably agreed with those who were opposed to Jesus it's very important for us to remember that all of the early Christians in the earliest days of the church really were Jews and that the Apostles were Jews that Jesus himself was a Jew and that there were many Jews that were positively disposed toward Jesus and those who shouted for his death at the cross were probably a small subset of those who with him Jesus came into contact during his ministry interestingly Luke's narrative of Jesus arrests and trials doesn't focus on Jesus coming death but on his identity as the Christ listen to this exchange between Jesus and the Jewish leaders in Luke chapter 22 verses 67 through 72 Christ they said tell us Jesus entered if I tell you you will not believe me but from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God they all asked are you then the Son of God he replied you are right in saying I am in this passage Jesus identified himself as the Christ the Son of Man and the Son of God all of these terms referred to the fact that he was the Messiah that had been prophesied in the Old Testaments following his trials Jesus crucifixion is described in Luke chapter 23 verses 26 through 49 in verses 43 and 46 Luke twice quoted words that Jesus spoke from the cross that none of the other Gospel writers preserved for us these words emphasize two of the points Luke had made repeatedly in his gospel first that Jesus was filled with compassion for the helpless and second that Jesus trusted his father who was in control of all these events in Luke chapter 23 verse 43 Jesus responded in compassion to the thief on the cross beside him comforting him with these words I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise and in verse 46 Jesus cried out in trust to his father saying father into your hands I commit my spirit Luke made it clear that our Lord's final moments before his death were filled with compassion for others and trust in his father then in Luke chapter 23 verses 50 through 56 Luke provided the account of Jesus burial and a tomb of cut rock his body unprepared for burial because the Sabbath was about to begin [Music] it's not hard to see how Luke's persecuted readers might have identified with Jesus sufferings whatever persecution they were enduring Jesus had endured worse and what's more he had done it for them if their Lord had been willing to suffer and even die for their sake certainly they should be willing to suffer and die for him but this wasn't a mere death just as Jesus was rewarded for his obedience and suffering his obedient followers would also be rewarded for their suffering lastly after describing the events of Jesus arrest trial and death Luke concluded his gospel with the account of Jesus resurrection and ascension in Luke chapter 24 verses 1 through 53 in chapter 24 verses 1 through 12 Luke reported the discovery of Jesus empty tomb the angelic messenger and the bewildered disbelief of his disciples Jesus had risen from the dead just as he had foretold he had conquered death for himself and for all those who have faith in him Luke chapter 24 verses 13 through 35 picks up the story later that same day when Jesus joined two disciples on the road to Emmaus he taught them to read the Old Testament in light of his own ministry and resurrection everything the Bible had ever recorded pointed to Jesus and his saving mission then in Luke chapter 24 verses 36 to 49 Jesus appeared to his disciples and encouraged them to testify to these events he told them to continue his mission by preaching the good news of repentance and forgiveness to all nations then Luke set the stage for his second volume the book of Acts by reporting Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to empower them for this task Luke concluded his gospel in chapter 24 verses 50 through 53 with Jesus bodily ascension into heaven in response to this miracle the disciples worshiped rejoiced and praised God the good news of great joy that the angel had announced in Luke chapter 2 verse 10 had finally come to God's people Jesus the risen victorious Lord was their Savior Luke wrote to assure Gentile believers that they had made the right choice in following Jesus through the structure and content of his gospel Luke demonstrated that every aspect of Jesus life was part of God's plan to establish his kingdom he was the son of God and the son of David who came to fulfill Isaiah's prophesies of salvation Jesus was an unstoppable force of grace and mercy who would bring all nations under his rule he really had inaugurated the kingdom of God he really was offering salvation to all families of the human race and he really would save everyone that was faithful to him having considered a background and the structure and content of Luke's Gospel we're now ready to address our last main topic in this section of our lesson we'll explore some of the major themes that Luke emphasized in general we can say that all three of the synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke share the same central theme Jesus is the Christ who brings the kingdom of God but each of these Gospels deals with this central concept in different ways so as we explore this idea in Luke's Gospel will focus on Luke's description of the kingdom of God as salvation Luke used the words save saving salvation and Savior at least 25 times more often than any of the other Gospel writers he stressed our desperate condition without Christ and our need to be rescued and he taught that the kingdom of God is our greatest salvation the term salvation is deeply rooted in the messianic hopes of the Old Testament we can define it as deliverance from the tyranny of evil and from God's judgment against sin throughout the Old Testament and especially in the prophets God taught his people that a messiah would eventually bring salvation from the effects of sin and even from its presence in line with Luke's emphasis on salvation we'll divide our discussion of the major themes of Luke's Gospel into three parts that correspond to different aspects of Christ's saving work first we'll consider Luke's description of personal salvation second we'll consider his portrayal of God as our Savior and third we'll survey the types of people that are saved let's begin with Luke's description of salvation throughout his Gospel Luke showed that personal salvation is primarily a matter of reversing people's conditions it changes their persons and standing before God and alters their faith so that they're blessed instead of cursed we are all born sinners and as a result we're condemned by God and heading toward everlasting destruction but the gospel offers us forgiveness of sins so that God no longer has a reason to condemn us as Luke often put it salvation results in peace between us and God and with our newly favored status we receive everlasting blessings and God's kingdom which will inherit when Jesus returns and perfects the earth in that new earth there will be no more sickness or death or disability or pain and no matter what our lives are like right now we'll be wealthy and privileged in the world to come leaders of the gospel will often note that Jesus pays particular attention to groups that lack influence of women on Gentiles children for that matter in the social context of Jesus life and ministry there is I think a profound theological reason for this and it stems from the fact that Luke understands God's endtime rule in terms of advantaging the powerless and corollary that disadvantaging of the powerful the reversal of roles actually now it's in fact of course this reversal of roles is not unique to the Gospels or to the New Testament or to the notion of end time or eschatological you know kingdom of heaven is at hand a sort of reality you find it all the way through biblical revelation the book of Genesis of course repeatedly we note that second born sums for example tend to be chosen over against firstborn sons this is a reversal of expectations like that you've been left just one example of the reversal of expectations that you have in the Old Testament which as far as Luke is concerned I think comes to culmination to a climax to fulfillment in the in the the great celebrated reversal of expectations that we have in the New Testament especially as I say a reversal of the powerful and the powerless you'll recall that in Luke chapter 7 John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah and Jesus replied by paraphrasing Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 & 2 the same passage he had read in a synagogue at the start of his public ministry listen once more to Jesus reply in Luke chapter 7 verse 22 the blind receive sight the lame walk those who have leprosy are cured the Deaf hear the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor everything jesus mentioned here was a form of salvation or reversal from bad conditions to good conditions in the new earth these bad conditions will be completely eliminated and even now salvation gives us a foretaste of those everlasting blessings but the great reversals of salvation aren't limited to our outward circumstances they also change us on the inside as Jesus said in Luke chapter 6 verses 27 through 36 love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those who mistreat you love your enemies do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked be merciful just as your father is merciful the blessings of the kingdom don't just reverse external circumstances they also reverse the character and perspectives of those who are saved as with external reversals these internal reversals are manifested partially in the present world and fully in the next world right now we begin to think and act differently because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and we see the world through new eyes these changes will continue in heaven where we'll be totally free from the presence corruption and consequences of sin and they will be completed when Jesus returns and gives us our new bodies in the new earth these blessings of salvation explained why time after time in Luke's Gospel the proper response to salvation is joy one way that we see this is through the many songs Luke included such as Zechariah Song in Luke chapter 1 verses 68 through 79 Mary's song in Luke chapter 1 verses 46 through 55 and simians song in Luke chapter 2 verses 29 through 32 joy and salvation is also mentioned in angelic announcements such as the message given to Zechariah in Luke chapter 1 verse 14 and the good news of great joy delivered to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2 verses 10 and 11 and joy is the consistent theme of Jesus parables of the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost son in Luke chapter 15 Jesus summarized the response of joy in this way in Luke chapter 6 verses 21 through 23 blessed are you who weep now you will laugh rejoice in that day and leap for joy God intends salvation to give us joy he wants us to rejoice because our sins have been wiped away and because we have a peaceful relationship with him and because we are inheriting the blessings of his kingdom this theme was so important to Luke that he even closed his gospel with it listen to Luke chapter 24 verses 52 and 53 where he reported what the disciples did after Jesus ascended into heaven they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they stayed continually at the temple praising God when we see God for who he is when we taste and see that the Lord is good it should lead to joy it should lead to delight if I brought my wife flowers and I said to her Harrison flowers honey because I'm supposed to give these to you well that won't be quite what she's after it needs to be done with delight and joy be as I adore her and so our delight in God becomes a fundamental expression of knowing God as he really is and so delighting in God joy in God a sense of of being satisfied in him is at the very core of the Christian life with this description of salvation in mind let's turn to our second major theme Luke's emphasis on God as our Savior we'll consider God as our Savior in three steps we'll see that salvation comes by God's power according to God's plan and through God's Son let's look first at the fact that salvation comes by God's power the Gospel of Luke regularly echoes the Old Testament idea that God is the savior of his people for example this is a dominant theme in Luke's opening chapters which set the tone for the entire book mary rejoiced because God was her Savior in Luke chapter 1 verse 47 Zechariah sang of the salvation God is bringing in Luke chapter 1 verses 68 through 79 and listen to what simian said when he held the baby Jesus in Luke chapter 2 verses 29 and 30 sovereign Lord as you have promised you now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation [Music] Simeon referred to God as the sovereign Lord or despot ah in Greek ascribing to God power and authority over all creation and with the term your salvation Simeon indicated that God is using his power to bring salvation and this same theme continues throughout the rest of Luke's Gospel for example John the Baptist proclaimed God's salvation in the context of his powerful renewal of the entire earth in Luke chapter 3 verse 6 and in Luke chapter 18 verses 26 and 27 Jesus taught that salvation is impossible with men but that everything is possible with God [Music] Luke wanted his readers to understand that God is in control of everything and therefore salvation can't be accomplished by a human being strength intelligence determination or wealth salvation belongs to God it's his work accomplished by his power only God has the authority to release people from his judgment only God has the power to change people on the inside only God has the light required to bring his kingdom to earth and only God has the ability to reward his people with the blessings of that kingdom besides emphasizing that salvation results from God's power Luke taught that salvation is part of God's plan for example when Jesus began his public ministry in Luke chapter 4 he read from Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 and 2 and he astonished the crowd by claiming that he was fulfilling that prophecy at that very time in place and throughout the rest of his gospel Luke continued to demonstrate that salvation is God's plan by showing that the dramatic events of Jesus life fulfilled God's promises in the Old Testament listen to Jesus words near the end of his public ministry in Luke chapter 24 verse 44 everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses the prophets and the Psalms the entire Old Testament talks about the salvation that God is accomplishing through Jesus it has always been God's plan to save his people in this way another way Luke showed that salvation fulfills God's plan was by regularly pointing out that the things Jesus did were necessary because God had required or even appointed them to happen as just one example listen to the way Jesus described his suffering and death in Luke chapter 9 verse 22 the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders chief priests and teachers of the law and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life notice that when Jesus explained what was going to happen he used the word must which translates the greek word dei meaning it is necessary why was it necessary because god required it everything that happened to jesus was part of god's ancient plan to save his people the third point we'll mention to demonstrate that God is our Savior is that salvation comes through God's Son Jesus Christ Luke's Gospel repeatedly affirms that Jesus is the Son of God sometimes Jesus sonship identifies him as God incarnate as in the angelic announcement of his birth in Luke chapter 1 verses 32 through 35 at other times it emphasizes his authority we see this at his baptism in Luke chapter 3 verse 22 where God spoke his approval from heaven and during his Transfiguration in Luke chapter 9 verse 35 when God instructed people to listen to his son still at other times it refers to his role as God's messianic vassal King as during the Last Supper in Luke chapter 22 verse 29 but all these references to Jesus as God's son share at least one thing in common they all indicate that Jesus is the one through whom God is accomplishing salvation Jesus is God's Son that was sent into the world in order to rescue his people of condemnation by dying in their place and by bringing God's kingdom to earth sometimes Christians wrongly think that the father is an angry God that hates us and that Jesus is his rebel son that came to stand up for us but nothing could be further from the truth Jesus only came to save us because his father sent him yes Jesus really is our Savior and he really does save us from the father's judgment but it's critical to understand that the salvation he brings originates with the father as God's Son Jesus only does what the father commands he uses God's power in order to fulfill God's plan and in this way Jesus saving work is proof that God the Father is our ultimate Savior now that we've looked at Luke's description of salvation and at God as our Savior let's turn to a third major theme in Luke's Gospel the variety of people that are saved in Jesus day no one would have been surprised if he had offered salvation to those that held places of honor or power within society no one would have wondered why he saved the ones who strictly conformed to the letter of God's law and no one would have marveled if he had condemned the people that Jewish society already despised people that God apparently passed over for blessing because of some failing on their part but that's not what Jesus did and one of the major themes of Luke's Gospel is to call attention to the surprising people that Jesus did save and to the surprising honor and status he gave them one of the things that is notable about Luke's narrative is that he's interested in the least the last and the lost and in fact one of his major themes is the theme of reversal police the last and the lost are going to become the first the most and the found in the kingdom of God Luke is really interested in is if he will be ethical side of the gospel he's interested in what was distinctive about the Ministry of Jesus that would be seek seen as commendable or virtuous and so one of the things we certainly do see in both Luke and acts which is a two-volume work Luke acts is a concern for the poor and for women and for the diseased and for the elderly there's no question that there's more emphasis in Luke acts than in the other Gospels about these kinds of things I mean so much so that when we deal with the Beatitudes of Jesus instead of Matthew's blessed are the poor in spirit in Luke it's simply blessed are the poor and and this is a real concern of Luke he is concerned about this because he believes that not only does Redemption come through Jesus also justice a rectifying of the wrongs of society of the fallenness of humanity is brought about by Jesus and he really wants to emphasize that Jesus was the savior of the world he's if you will to save you for everybody it's one-stop shopping in Jesus whether you're one of the most or the most elite persons or most well-educated persons or the most well known persons in society or the very least of the least Jesus is for everyone in which certainly wants to emphasize that for our purposes in this lesson we'll limit ourselves to looking at just four surprising types of people to whom Luke frequently called attention beginning with the Gentiles the Old Testament speaks of Gentiles eventually being brought into God's kingdom and receiving its salvation and blessings but the Jews in Israel's day typically look down on Gentiles as being excluded from the primary blessings of God's kingdom by the time Luke wrote his gospel the Christian Church throughout the world consisted largely of Gentile converts through history God had clearly demonstrated his intention to bless the Gentiles in astounding ways and as we saw earlier in this lesson one of Luke's reasons for writing was to assure the Gentiles that they hadn't made a mistake by becoming Christians so throughout his gospel he called attention to those places where salvation had been extended to the Gentiles in fulfillment of the hopes and ideals of the Old Testaments for example in Luke chapter 2 verses 10 through 14 the angels announced that the joy of the gospel would be for all the people and for men on earth rather than saying that Israel's new king had been born to save the Jews the angel spoke in much more global terms and in Luke chapter 2 verse 32 Simeon proclaimed that the baby Jesus would be a light for revelation to the Gentiles and while all four Gospels quote Isaiah chapter 40 and a story of John the Baptist only Luke chapter 3 verse 6 extended the quotation to include the words all mankind will see God's salvation Luke also noted that the Samaritans whom the Jews counted as their enemies could also be saved for instance in Luke chapter 17 verses 11 through 19 jesus healed 10 lepers but the only leper to return and thanked him was a Samaritan and only Luke recorded the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke chapter 10 verses 30 through 37 in which the Samaritan was an example of neighborly love beyond this Luke recorded times when Gentiles demonstrated real faith in Jesus as the Savior for example in Luke chapter 7 verse 9 Jesus said of a Roman centurion I have not found such great faith even in Israel and as we saw earlier in this lesson Luke traced Jesus genealogy all the way back to Adam implying that Jesus came to save Adams entire race including both Jews and Gentiles the second surprising type of people that receive salvation and Luke's Gospel with sinners now in an important sense all human beings are sinners but there were some people in Jesus day whose sins were so great and so public that these people were essentially ostracized by Jewish society like the immoral woman in Luke chapter 7 verses 36 through 50 and Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke chapter 19 verses 1 through 9 tax collectors were sinners because they made their living by charging their countrymen exorbitant tax rates that were not required by the government but Jesus came to save even them he was eager to grant salvation to anyone who repented in faith as just one example listen to this story from Luke chapter 5 verses 29 through 32 then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belong to their sect complain to his disciples why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners jesus answered them it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance the third surprising group of people that are saved in Luke's Gospel is women in the ancient eastern Mediterranean world where Jesus lived women didn't have many rights in society and they weren't highly valued but Luke gave attention to the way that Jesus brought salvation to them in Luke chapter 8 verses 41 through 53 jesus healed gyruss daughter and the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years he also showed great compassion toward widows who in the ancient patriarchal society had no help and virtually no hope Luke chapter 7 verses 11 through 17 and chapter 18 verses 1 through 8 illustrate Jesus concern and care for these most needy people one of Luke's most dramatic teaching techniques that highlighted the salvation of women was contrasting humble women with proud male religious leaders for instance in Luke chapter 13 verses 14 and 15 Jesus called the ruler of the synagogue a hypocrite while in the very next verse he called a crippled woman a daughter of Abraham we find a similar contrast in Luke chapter 7 verses 37 through 50 where Jesus accepted the adoration of an immoral woman while condemning the proud Pharisee Simon and for his ultimate example of what it means to love God Luke related the story of Jesus friend Mary in Luke chapter 10 verse 27 Jesus taught that the two great Commandments were to love God and to love our neighbor then in verses 38 through 42 Mary exemplified how to love God specifically by listening obediently to his teachings not Peter not John and certainly not the Jewish leadership but a woman was the model of godly piety finally the fourth surprising type of people that are saved in Luke's Gospel is the poor Luke began his gospel by pointing out that the family of Mary and Joseph was poor we know this because in Luke chapter 2 verse 24 the offering they brought to the temple was the offering of the poor prescribed in Leviticus chapter 12 verse 8 luke also showed that jesus favored the poor in places like the parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12 verses 13 through 21 and in his story about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke chapter 16 verses 19 through 31 and listen once again to Luke chapter 4 verse 18 where Jesus read from Isaiah chapter 61 verse 1 the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor Luke was the only gospel writer to report this event and he included it as a model for Jesus entire ministry his point was that part of bringing the kingdom of God is proclaiming the good news of salvation to the poor Luke took special care to point out that the God of the universe had become incarnate to save even those that society despised Gentiles sinners women and the poor had very few rights in Jewish society and weren't expected to inherit the greatest blessings of God's kingdom but Jesus rejected that value system he offered full acceptance and endless blessings to everyone that received him as savior and Lord of all the Gospel writers Luke has a particular emphasis on marginal groups in Palestinian society of his day we see him constantly carrying up accounts of men with accounts with women we see him also paying particular attention to the Samaritans paying attention to the poor we see this parable for example that's indicative of Luke's Gospel only found in Luke's Gospel about Lazarus and the rich man and we see again a parable only in Luke the Good Samaritan parable and so these accounts of Jesus's teaching fit very well with his programmatic sermon in Nazareth so it says that I have come today this scripture is fulfilled the Spirit is upon me to declare good news to the poor and to the captives to the oppressed and Jesus tells his disciples that when they're going to have a banquet they should invite the lame and the poor as well and so Jesus is illustrating something very important that in our relationship with other people who bear God's image we aren't to sort of think of ourselves better than we ought is the way Paul put it but we should see that Jesus reached out in grace to every aspect of society he called his disciples to do that and we are to do that as well Jesus is ridiculed for spending time with the prostitutes in the sinners and the way that he responds is that I have come not for the righteous but for the sinners and so it's not only a reflection of Jesus's mission to reach every aspect of the people of God of his Society of that day but it's also a sense of who we really are of our real need as well that we all need the grace of God that we cannot merit God's favor on our own good works or our own station in society and therefore we're all on equal ground before God and should be gracious to one another and reach out to each other because we have the same sort of need in this lesson we've explored the Gospel of Luke by considering its background in terms of its author and original audience and the occasion of its writing its structure and content and its major themes that revolve around the topic of salvation if we keep these ideas in mind as we read Luke's Gospel we'll have a better understanding of his meaning and be more prepared to apply it to our lives in the church and in the world the Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the glorious son of God who came to earth as the loving Saviour of the world extends the good news of God's salvation to everyone regardless of ethnicity wealth or status in his own day Luke's Gospel assured Gentile Christians that they hadn't made a mistake by following a Jewish Messiah and the same is true in every age since the first century the vast majority of the church has been Gentile and we haven't made a mistake either and as followers of Christ it's our responsibility to keep preaching that same good news of repentance and faith to everyone in the world knowing that we have the only message that can bring real salvation [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Thirdmill

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Keywords: seminary, Theology Matters, Bible, For the World, Study, Biblical Education, Richard Pratt, Education, Free, gospel, Theology, Ministry, Third Mill, Truth, Reformed, God, Mission, gospels, Scripture, Jesus, Lord, Salvation, Word, Teacher, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Third Millennium, Luke

Id: 6feuLIrxu2A

Length: 128min 11sec (7691 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2017