The Gospel of Luke

Preached at Pensioners Praise 5 August 2019

1. Introduction

Today’s book is the Gospel of Luke. I’ve often been asked what my favourite book of the Bible is, and my answer is mostly Luke. So before we look at this book in a little more detail, here are my reasons:

It has an introduction which clearly spells out why it was written, and how it was prepared. Luke says he has personally investigated everything and has written an orderly account, so that his reader(s) may know the certainty of the things they have been taught. It’s worth noting here that he say the account is orderly, and that does not imply chronological.

It doesn’t have any of those difficult passages that lead me to wonder whether the author is telling the truth. These are passages we rarely read in church such as Matthew 27:51-2: “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

and the final reason is that the gospel of Luke is a very good piece of story telling.

2. Structure

That leads me straight into the structure of the gospel. After the introduction, we start with the prophecies about John the Baptiser and his birth. The we cut to the scene with Mary and the prediction of Jesus’ birth. Then to the birth of John the Baptiser, the birth of Jesus, the presentation in the temple, the boy Jesus at the Temple, then back to John and the baptism of Jesus.

It moves on like a modern film as scene after scene Luke builds the story and we see the character and the nature of Jesus develop. Luke hasn’t missed the chance to set his themes along the way either. In Mary’s song and Zechariah’s song, the praise and glory that the gospel will continue to give God is present, and will be seen and developed later. In the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the Shepherds we see the concern for the poor and for ‘all the people’ – especially the excluded and dis-advantaged. Jesus’ ministry is to everyone, not just the select Jews, not just the Jews.

In the visit of the boy Jesus to the temple we have Jesus asking his mother “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (2:49) we see the special understanding that Jesus already has of His destiny - “I had to” - that little phrase says so much.

There’s one more chapter of scene setting as John prepares the way for Jesus’ public ministry, and Luke takes the time to record the Genealogy – just in case Jesus is ever on “Who do you think you are?”

There is one last test and He will be ready – he HAS to face the Devil in the desert. That in itself is a remarkable story.

Now, Luke’s readers know everything they need to know about Jesus. He is the son of God, He is the promised Messiah. It is witnessed by prophets in the temple (Simeon and Anna), it is documented in the Genealogy, He has been baptised, and he has faced and resisted the enemy.

1. Who is this man? (1st Section)

The next part of the gospel looks at Jesus’ ministry. A series of stories that show the reactions of the crowds, the people, the Jewish leaders and especially the disciples as we see how the son of God goes about establishing himself in the community.

While He is doing this he is selecting His team – calling His disciples Luke calls it. He is also preaching in synagogues of Judea as he travels around. This is another of His “have to do’s”. Luke 4:43 “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God ... because that is why I was sent.”

Many of the healings Jesus did are not recorded in any detail, one example of a healing that is can be found in Chapter 5v12-16 where a man with leprosy is cured. This short story ends with “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Jesus was a man of prayer.

By now he has huge crowds coming to see Him, and being a natural preacher and teacher, he speaks to the crowds to teach them about the Kingdom of God.

His followers have been with him for a while, and it is time to select the apostles, so Jesus spends a night in prayer before selecting the 12. - Luke 6:12-16.

After that Luke records a lot of Jesus teaching in the Blessings and Woes

All this is to provide an answer to the question “Who is this man?”

The crowds that follow him have recognised him as a prophet sent from God, but it’s what the disciples think that really matters.

Jesus demonstrates that He is Lord of all. In 8:22 he calms the storm and His disciples are in awe “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

When they get to the other side of the lake, he heals the demon possessed man, then he raises Jairus’s daughter and he has previously healed the Centurion’s servant.

He has demonstrated that he is in control of

• Health (life and death)
• The demonic world
• The elements (wind and rain)

2. What happens next?

3. In Chapter 9:18-20 we reach a conclusion and a turning point.
4. Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
5. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
6. Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
7. They’ve done it, they’ve seen it. Well, at least Peter has, and that’s important, because he’s their leader.

1. 2nd Section

8. Now the 2^nd section of the story begins. Jesus’s approach changes. He starts to teach His disciples that the Messiah must die. Sandwiched between two pieces of this teaching is the transfiguration – showing again the glory off God, in the death of the Messiah.
9. The teaching in general gets more practical and the disciples and the seventy two experience the power of God without Jesus by their side – and its not all good news, there are some things that they cannot do, but that is what teaching is all about - they still have a lot to learn.
10. Jesus’ teaching continues, as do his discussions with the Pharisees. Now though there are also warnings and passages where Jesus emphasises the difficulties that people will experience if they follow him. Then in Luke 18 we get the third prediction of His death and resurrection. They still don’t understand – even with three years in Jesus presence, even with all they have seen and done, perhaps especially with all they have seen and done – how could they possibly understand.
11. Half way through Chapter 19, there is the first sign that things are coming to a head, with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is the only time in Luke that Jesus is proclaimed as king, and it is a proclamation of the people, not the disciples and especially not Jesus himself. The next time He will be called a king is at His trial.

2. Parable of the Tenants

12. In the parable of the tenants Jesus teaches the people about his death, and the listening teachers of the law and chief priests have had enough. They know that the parable is spoken against them and that something must be done. The people, though, still love Him, so they will have to be careful how they act.
13. For me this is where the last section of Luke really starts. Jesus has clearly understood that the time is right and has spoken in a way that ensures His crucifixion will happen.

3. Crucifixion & Resurrection

The crucifixion narrative is clear and straight forward as we hear about the Roman rulers trying to dodge the hot potato that is Jesus, but the Jewish leaders now have the crowd under their control and Jesus is rejected in favour of a violent revolutionary.

We have the discussion of the two criminals hung beside him, and the witness of His death by the Roman centurion praising God and saying “Surely this was a righteous man.” Again showing Luke’s concern for the ‘ordinary people’ and those outside the Jewish world.

The resurrection is announced to the women – keeping up with the themes of Luke, and the men, who are supposed to be in charge do not understand it.

Jesus appears to them and eats with them, and this act seems to be what finally convinces them.

Luke ends with the ascension, and if you didn’t know that Luke’s second volume was Acts it would be a very disappointing ending – because it would leave me wanting to know what happened next.

4. Luke’s little extra details

One of the other reasons I love this gospel is because of all the little extra details that Luke puts in. I’ll just mention two:

5. Joanna

Did you ever wonder how the disciples managed to live, or did you think that all their food was miraculous. If you did, where did Judas get all his money from? There is no record anywhere of there being any sort of collection at a healing service. Luke tells us in 8:3 that “Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others ... were helping to support them out of their own means.” Joanna is also included in the resurrection story.

6. Herod

In 23:8 we hear that Herod had heard about Jesus and as please to see him, and was hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle, and a little further on “That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.”

7. Luke

Luke was a doctor in a time when medical science was all but non-existent, he was also one of Paul's companions in Acts, which makes him a committed Christian. His careful investigation and his good knowledge of Greek has led to a story that brings Jesus’s life alive for his reader(s).

8. Conclusion

In preparing for this I listened to the gospel of Luke in the car as it was read to me by the app on my phone. I heard the story in a different way. As I finish today I encourage you to read this Gospel, like a book, trying to ignore the headings that have been added, or listen to an audio recording. I hope you’ll get a much better feel for the whole story that way.