Walking with Jesus . . . along the way into the Kingdom of God.

Luke 1:1–4 ESV

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.

The New American Commentary: Luke Introduction Outline

The Purpose of Luke

(1) To Help Convince His Readers of the Truthfulness of What They Had Been Taught

(2) To Clarify the Christian Self-understanding of His Readers

(3) To Clarify Jesus’ Teachings concerning the End Times

(4) To Assure Readers That Rome Was Not a Threat to Them

Walking with Jesus and gazing upon Him, gives us certainty in the things we have been taught.

“Certainty- To know, understand, recognize. Making its influence felt, know exactly, completely, through and through.

Colossians 1:6 ESV

6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

We are going to be walking with Jesus throughout this study. We will be observing Him, gazing upon Him and reflecting on His life and being, seeking to be certain, convinced, through and through about the Message of the Gospel of Peace.

This letter, is an orderly account, of the life of Christ, intended to give assurance to its readers of the Truth.

It offers us a mixture of stories about Christ and those surrounding Him during His earthly ministry, but it also gives us His very words. The “Red Letters” of Scripture.

His word is living and active. Every page, every punctuation mark, was written that we might learn from and know Him and the power of His resurrection. Which serves to humble us, endear us, and glorify the God and Father, Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth.

In my time as a pastor, in this local body, over the flock of God’s people gathered in this place, we have studied a number of books in Scripture. Each one points us to God. Each one guides us into truth. To know the One who is Truth and whose word is Truth.

We have studied Ephesians- a marvelous epistle of Paul the apostle. Who faithfully and powerfully was used by God to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout the world. We journeyed with the Israelites, into the Promised Land, in our study of the book of Joshua. A book that revealed to us the process that God took His people through as they entered into the Land, which He has sworn to their forefathers.

We then inspected the letter by John, an eyewitness to the very things that we will be reading about, as we walk through the Gospel of Luke. John helped us to remember the work that God is actively doing in our lives, by the work of His Spirit, as we are prompted to Love Him, and Love one another.

And most recently we saw the Promise Keeping power of God, in the story of Esther.

Now we are going to take time to “Walk With Jesus, taking a tour of ministry of Christ as He progressed into the Kingdom of God.

Luke 1:31–33 ESV

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The phrase, “Kingdom of God” is mentioned almost 40 times in the Gospel of Luke.

It was written by Luke (who Paul identifies as a physician, who is not of the circumcision).

Colossians 4:11 ESV

11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

As the commentary stated, Luke was written “to clarify the Christian’s self-understanding.”

Luke 1:1–3 ESV

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,

Isn’t it exciting to begin this new study. I am so pumped to walk through this book, closely inspecting the life of Christ, so we can be assured of what we have been taught, be given clarity of our identity in Christ, as “little Christs” My prayer is that we will also be enlightened to what He have yet been able to see, and also to be renewed in our first love.

Luke has a unique perspective, a unique vantage point, as the only Gentile author, used of the Holy Spirit to write a portion of the Word of God, he was led to give us an orderly account of the things that he had very closely investigated and spoken to eyewitnesses about.

Luke’s letter reveals so many details of the Life of Christ, some of which are included in the other Gospels, but many of the facts that Luke shares with us, are not touched upon in the other Gospels accounts., particularly the accounts of things which happened in Luke 9-19.

Luke’s Unique Perspective

The Good Samaritan

The Lost Sheep

The Prodigal Son

Several other parables and accounts of events of Christ’s life are recorded exclusively in the Gospel of Luke.

We will be looking at many of these lessons, as we travel the road that Christ travelled throughout this sermon series. We will pause to seek to gain certainty in the things we have been taught, as Luke guides us on a tour of the path to the Kingdom of God.

Example: I’ve been to Gettysburg Battlefield many times as a child and have returned there as an adult. The first time, I remember being there, my mind was not focused on gaining an understanding of what actually took place there. It was when I was given a tour, and given facts about actually eyewitness accounts, that I began to fully understand, what had taken place there in the hills of Pennsylvania. I was able to understand the importance of the battle of Gettysburg, in relation to the outcome of the Civil War.

My hope and my prayer, and I hope it will be your hope and your prayer, is that as we take this walk with Jesus, through the Gospel of Luke, that we will be changed, that we will be renewed in our understanding and appreciation of what Christ accomplished in His time on earth, but also what our call is, what our identity is, in Him.

Warning: This exercise is not for the faint at heart!

I need to warn you, I’ve gandered at the road map of path that we will take through this letter, and Walking with Jesus, will take us to wonderful places but it will also take us to places that may seem terrible, unwelcoming and disturbing.

The Son is going to shine bright

The Call is to take up your cross, daily, and follow Him.

The walk, is a walk that goes to the final destination, by way of the cross. Christ does not simply march into Jerusalem and take up His throne. He has to go through the horrible mockery, excruciating punishment and suffering of the beatings that preceded his death on the cross.

Good News: The final destination is Phenomenal!

The beauty of gazing directly upon our Savior’s face, is going to be incredible.

Let me illustrate it this way. I can tell you what a waterfall looks like. I have seen some in pictures, I have actually been to see some in person, but until I stood next to Niagara Falls, I couldn’t fully comprehend its vastness, its power, its majesty and its many facets (winter, summer, fall, spring etc. . .) Even more so, when I rode the Maid of the Mist, I got and even better understanding of how incredibly big it is. I’ve yet to walk down under the falls, maybe someday I will.

I hope that our study through the Gospel of Luke, will be like that for us. Well, actually far better than that, but I hope you get the idea. We are going to immerse ourselves into the life of Christ. Not word by word, or verse by verse, but story by story, we will look, with eyes focused upon Jesus, as He walked the road toward the Kingdom of GOD.