Luke

Context, Context, Context

(We’ve been in the Old Testament going through the book of Exodus. Tonight we will take a little break and jump forward about 1500 years to the New Testament - Remember there is no New Testament without the Old Testament - so let’s start there)

Luke3:4

 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

5  Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

6  and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

Let me paint a picture in your mind of a different time – a different world. The year is about 15 AD and you find yourself in Israel. Luke calls the area Judea, which for him, includes Galilee, Samaria, Judea and the surrounding area common to Israel. It has been centuries since the people have heard from the Lord through the prophets of the Old Testament, but life goes on day-by-day. This place where you live isn’t a rich country. There are no really good sea ports, the land is dry and doesn’t have many rich deposits of gold, iron or precious stones. Your main option is to farm and that isn’t easy in this desert environment. Each day you wake up before daylight and head to your small plot of land to work. You might have some hand tools and if you are fortunate, maybe an ox. Your wife stays at home and takes care of all the household duties like making clothes, cooking, cleaning and raising your children. She’s fortunate to have made it this far because many expecting mothers and their children die young. Friday is the beginning of the Sabbath and you get together with your neighbors each week at that time for a feast of celebration. On the Sabbath you attend the synagogue with your family for the reading of the scriptures – Old Testament books of course, because you are living in the time that God is forming the New Testament. Did I mention that you are a Gentile? The people of Israel are mostly Jewish, but there are more and more Gentiles (non-Jewish people) in your community. Rome rules your country and the Greek way of life called “Hellenism” is creeping its way in. The Greek Gentiles live differently than the Jewish people and don’t observe their traditions, but they do generally share the same faith in the God of the Old Testament.

Now, hopefully, I have taken you back in time to the point in history in which Luke was writing. I started with this illustration today, not just because it’s interesting, but because context is very important to understanding the Bible. God is clearly speaking to us through His Word, but we must remember that He allowed His Word to be written to a specific people in history at a specific time and that affects how we interpret what we read in God’s Word today. Now that we know who is being written to, we must define who is doing the writing - who is the author? In order to interpret God’s Word accurately, we must consider the author that God used to record His Word. Here are a few points that lead us to day Luke is the author :

· Luke was a doctor (Col. 4:14), traveled with Paul on parts of his missionary journeys. (Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, 27:1-28:16)

Colossians 4:14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16

· Luke was highly educated and well read.

· Luke was a research historian in his day. - That’s interesting to me. A Historian is reports actual events and Luke is seen as the greatest person of his time to report actual events - not just stories - History! BC versus BCE and AD vs CE - can we take Christ out of history? Anno Domini - Latin for in the year of the Lord. William Mitchell Ramsey - British atheist historian in the early 20th century - set out to debunk the Gospels. He decided to follow the footsteps of Paul to examine all the archeology that had been done in those places. Dr Ramsey was eventually converted or saved because he said you couldn’t stick a spade (or a shovel) in the ground without discovering proof of the history of the Bible. Dr Ramsey called Luke the most accurate historian of ancient times!

· Luke was a Gentile and as such tended to avoid controversial Jewish subjects.

· Luke wrote the book of Luke and Acts which is over one-fourth of the New Testament.  In Luke’s day, his works were written on two scrolls that went together - in a series.

Now, just for clarification and in the interest of full biblical accuracy, the author of the book of Luke and Acts is anonymous. In other words, the Bible doesn’t outright tell us who wrote it. That’s not uncommon, because a total of 11 books of the New Testament are anonymous (Stein 19). There are several strong reasons for attributing the book to Luke the “beloved physician” as he is described in in Colossians 4:14.

Among these reasons are many internal evidences given in scripture that point to the Luke.

Philemon 23-25 -23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

2 Timothy 4:11 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me.

A second reason that should not be discounted is that the very early church unanimously attributed authorship to Luke. If you are familiar with church committees, you understand how significant getting all the churches to agree on a particular point must have been.

And finally, the “We” sections of the book of Acts squarely suggests, through the language of the biblical text, that Luke is the author (Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, 27:1-28:16). The bottom line is that we are confident in saying that Luke wrote both Luke and Acts as a two-part book.

Acts 16:10: 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately WE sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Acts 20:5-6 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but WE sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Acts 27:1 - And when it was decided that WE should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.

We have established who we is, with some certainty, will call the author of the books of Luke and Acts. This helps us with perspective. Does knowing the name of the author change the overall meaning of the Gospel? No, but it does help with context as we attempt to understand God’s Word as it related to the people of that time and also to us today. Remember, we have also established the audience of the time to a degree. Let’s take that just a step further and point out that Luke who was writing to a predominantly Gentile audience was also a Gentile, so it makes sense that he would write from a Gentile perspective. There is much evidence that Luke’s audience, besides the actual person of Theophilus to whom the book mentions, are specifically Gentile Christians. Why does that matter? Looking at the book from that perspective means that Luke wasn’t writing an evangelistic gospel to unbelievers or, to defend Paul or Christians in the eyes of the Romans,  he was ministering to the needs of a specifically Christian audience of Gentile believers (Stein, 27).

So, context including authorship and audience sets the stage for this wonderful Gospel. If those were the appetizers for the book of Luke, then what comes next is the main course. “Why” did Luke write this book? I like how my seminary professor described a good place to start with any book of the bible – “A sermon in a sentence.” I’ll list a couple of possibilities:

· Jesus has come to save everyone, not just the Jews.

· God’s salvation has been sent first to the Jewish people and then to the Gentiles.

· “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46-47

Whichever sentence best suits the overall message of Luke (I like Luke 24:46-47), the author’s stress is on the blessings and salvation which Jesus brings. (GB, 249) Remember that we have established Luke’s audience as Christians. With that in mind then, Luke seeks to help convince his readers of the truthfulness of what they have been taught. (Stein, 36)

We have looked at “Who” - the audience and also the author,” “What,” - the history of Jesus Christ, “Where,” - Israel or Judea/Samaria, “Why,” - God’s salvation for the Jews and Gentiles. We will now explore “How.” Many of the commentaries and books on Luke begins with an introduction followed by an outline of the Gospel. That outline can be quite comprehensive. For our purposes and also to keep from diminishing Luke’s general message with extensive details, we will narrow our outline to eight points with the purpose of walking through the Gospel of Luke to gain a clear understanding of this wonderful third Gospel. (Now I know what your thinking - why do they have to have points - and why are there eight of them!!)

I. Prologue (1:1-4) – 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Luke’s prologue or “period” has been described as being among the best Greek literature of the first century. (Stein, 62) First, Luke establishes his literary skill as a writer. You will remember that although the book’s author is anonymous, this helps establish Luke, an educated physician, as the one who penned the book. Luke’s masterful opening lays out his emphasis which is the fulfillment of God’s plan.  Additionally, he identifies himself as a historian that has “carefully investigated” his subject. Much more can be said, but Luke’s identification of the recipient, the “most excellent Theophilus” indicates he had a specific person, as well as a specific larger audience in mind for his inspired writings.

II. The Infancy Narrative (1:5 – 2:52) – Right from the start, Luke follows through with his promise to provide an orderly and accurate (historical) account of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Instead of beginning with Jesus’ baptism as Mark did, Luke began with God speaking to His people through the birth and ministry of John the Baptist, who to a lesser degree than Jesus also had a miraculous birth story. (GB, 252) Luke presents John as a special messenger that will prepare a place for the coming Lord. Children familiar with Christmas stories of Jesus’ birth in the manager will identify with what comes next. Mary is given news of her miraculous virgin conception and birth of the “Son of the Most High.” Jesus, identified with second Adam in the line of David (a detail of great importance to the Jewish people) will come complete with royal titles given by the angels and feared by the Roman ruler. “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Luke 2:13-14

III. The Preparation of Jesus’ Ministry / The Beginnings: John and Jesus (3:1 – 4:15)  - As we mentioned earlier, Luke, in his orderly fashion, began Jesus’ introduction with John the Baptist. John is but one example of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that Luke includes throughout his Gospel. John has been described as the prophet that closed the old era and began the new. (Stein, 125) The short version is that John’s ministry worked hand-in-hand with the coming ministry of Jesus as John paved the way for the Messiah. Of utmost importance in this section is the coming of the Spirit on Jesus and the temptation, both of which prepare Him for his public ministry. (GB, 256) As a sidenote here, let me point out that even Jesus had to prepare for ministry. For those of you specifically called to full or part-time ministry, there is preparation involved. I would remind you not to short-cut God as He equips you for the ministry to which He will call you.

IV. Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee / The Galilean Ministry (4:16-9:50) – The great writer, Luke introduces Jesus’ Galilean ministry with a summary statement: “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.” Luke 4:14-15  We could stop right there with this section of Luke’s book – it says it all. Jesus carries out His Ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit, He engages in a vigorous teaching ministry and everyone praised His ministry – period! Luke, however, goes on to give some very important details of Jesus’ ministry such as His teaching that the Gospel is for everyone, even those outside Israel. The Jewish people’s hostile reaction to this is the first sign of Jesus’ rejection by His own people. (GB, 256) Another important revelation is that Jesus will not defeat the Roman oppressors the way the people of Israel think He will. In fact, without the inspired Word of God, I admit that I also would not expect our Lord and King to suffer and triumph the way that He did.

V. Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem (9:51 – 19:27) – The time has come for Jesus to begin the physical journey towards prophecy. On a map the journey can be traced from Galilee in the North to Jerusalem in the South. Jerusalem is not, however, just an address that Jesus keyed into His G.P.S. His ministry was to continue along the way with two probable goals: 1. Dealing with Jewish leadership and the conflict they were causing, 2. Defining the nature of discipleship. (GB, 258) In this beautiful section of Luke, we learn so much and the stories come to life and make the Bible become a good book you just can’t put down. The Good Samaritan, The Beelzebub Controversy, The Sign of Jonah, The Parable of the Rich Fool, The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Jesus’ lessons as he made his way towards prophecy are riveting and necessary. Although I didn’t grow up in church, in the last 30 years I have become familiar with these stories and lessons, but as is always true in studying Scripture, the Lord opens my eyes a little wider each time I read His Word. I was surprised to learn that Jesus didn’t just send the 12 Apostles ahead to prepare his path. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” Luke 10:1 Again, Jesus prepared the way for His ministry. Another very important parallel that is made is to the evangelical mission of the church. We are to prepare the way for the Gospel. In other words, we are to prepare for our savior Jesus Christ who will follow.

VI. Jesus’ Ministry in Jerusalem (19:28-21:28) – As with any good fiction book, the author builds suspense as the main character moves closer to the climax of the story. Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is made even more suspenseful considering that this is no book of fiction. This is Luke’s unfolding of historical, true events. In a far to brief description to do this section justice, Luke breaks down Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem into three different accounts: 1. Jesus’ lament over the city, 2. An abbreviated account of his cleansing of the temple, 3. A summary of Jesus’ teaching ministry in the temple and the plot by religious leaders to kill him.(Stein, 482)

VII. Jesus’ Passion / The Crucifixion and Burial (22:1 – 23:56) – To summarize the beginning of this final and most important section of Luke is, in my mind, an injustice to what ultimately sets our Savior apart from the so-called Gods of other religions. The symbolic Last Supper sets the stage for Jesus’ arrest and trial. A central point, that makes Jesus’ death on the cross all the more wretched is the absolute innocence of the Lord. (GB, 260) As a new believer, I didn’t at first understand this injustice. Prior to my salvation, in my attempt to reason my way to salvation, I argued that thousands had died much worse and more horrific physical deaths throughout history. It was only after I began to understand the person of Christ and His sacrificial death that I began to understand His pain and suffering.

VIII. The Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus (24:1-53) – And now the part of Luke’s book and the Gospel to which all other parts lead. This is, as I mentioned above, what sets our Lord apart from the other so-called Gods. Luke ends his Gospel with five accounts (Stein, 602):

1. The empty tomb in which Mary Magdalene and the other woman play a predominant role.

2. Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

3. Jesus’ appearance to the Eleven and the other disciples.

4. Jesus’ commissioning the disciples to a worldwide ministry and his equipping them with the Spirit.

5. Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

Luke’s final account of the ascension of Jesus serves as a bridge for the continuance of the story. Acts, the second part of Luke’s two-part letter to Theophilus and his other readers continues to tell of what Jesus will do and teach through his chosen witnesses.