Introduction to Luke

Luke was a doctor who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys and wrote the book of Acts.  He was not an eyewitness of the events recorded in his Gospel account, rather, He investigated the reports of the various eyewitnesses to which he had access and set out to record these events in an orderly manner.  Matthew presents Jesus as King of the Jews.  Mark presents Jesus as the Servant of the world.  Luke presents Jesus as the Son of man.  Luke addresses his Gospel to a man named Theophilus, the same person to whom the book of Acts is written.  This man was more than likely a wealthy Gentile who came to know Christ through the early ministry of the Apostles who then sponsored Luke in his investigation of the life of Jesus as well as his journeys with Paul.  The mission God has given us requires many different people who fulfill a wide variety of tasks.  This continues to be true in today’s fulfillment of the mission.  Luke writes to a Gentile audience that requires more explanation of the Jewish Law as well as customs.  Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam as opposed to Abraham as Matthew did.  He also traces the genealogy through Joseph as opposed to Mary with demonstrates how Jesus was uniquely qualified to be King through both of His earthly parents.  Luke gives us clear demonstration that Jesus is Man as he emphasizes His humanity.  As such He was qualified to pay the price of sin.  

THE SON OF MAN IS IDENTIFIED: Jesus is identifies as the descendant of Adam, Noah, Abraham and David.  God had established a covenant with each of these four men as a part of His plan of redemption.  By taking the generation back through all of these men as well as all the men between we can clearly see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of God.  We are given great detail about the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in Mary.  Even though Jesus was raised as the son of Joseph and rightful King of Israel; in actuality He was the Son of God.  The Father fulfilled every prophecy of the Old Testament concerning Messiah and He even sent John the Baptist to prepare the way before Him.  The Angel Gabriel was active in letting the parents of John as well as the earthly parents of Jesus know that they had been chosen of God to be used to accomplish this chapter in God’s plan of redemption.  Anna and Simeon are also prepared by the Lord to identify Jesus as the Messiah.  The nation of Israel has been waiting for the fulfillment of the promises of God for many generations.  God carefully planned the timing and the circumstances of His coming in order to make it very clear that Jesus was the Messiah.  He was the Son of Man who had been promised and would take away the sins of the world.  Heavenly hosts of angels announced this truth to the shepherds.  God Himself announced this truth and His Baptism.  The Spirit of God ministered to Him during His temptation.  All of these events were carefully orchestrated by the Father to identify Jesus as the Son of Man who was sent to set us free from sin.

THE SON OF MAN IS GLORIFIED: The ministry of Jesus on earth was short lived but had a very clear purpose.  All that He did and all that He taught had the purpose of demonstrating the glory of God.  He proved that His power was greater than the power of Satan.  He proved that His rule was over all of the creation.  He proved that His authority was higher than the Law of Moses.  His actions and words showed that He was perfect man in every way.  All power and glory belonged to Him.  The miracles He performed demonstrated a love and care for people but beyond that they demonstrated His power and authority over all of the effects of sin.  Whether those effects were the power of the forces of evil in heavenly places or the consequences of sin on the lives of people in the form of illness or disease, Jesus had power and authority over all of them.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day pretended to have authority over the people but they were powerless to keep the Law that they enforced so rigorously on the people.  Jesus showed them that He was able to keep the Law perfectly but He also pointed out the hypocrisy that infected all of the religious leaders.  Jesus showed His perfection and proved to all of mankind our imperfection and desperate need of a Savior.  Jesus in glorious and we are not.  The Son of Man came to our earth and sowed us all of His glory and taught us the truth about God so that we might know Him, worship Him, give glory to Him and be set free from sin by Him. 

THE SON OF MAN IS CRUCIFIED: Despite being clearly identified as the Messiah and glorified through His words and works; Jesus was rejected, falsely accused and crucified.  This was the main purpose for which Jesus came to earth.  The only means by which man could be reconciled to God was through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  He clearly demonstrated over and over again that He could have come down from the cross or simply walked away from the mock trials they used to condemn Him.  Instead, He freely gave His life, suffered, died and rose again in order to pay the price for my sin and the sins of the world.  The disciples in whom He had faithfully invested His life during His ministry on earth had been warned that this would happen.  They had been told that one would betray Him, that Peter would deny Him and that all would abandon Him.  Jesus instructed them to pray so they would not give into temptation but they fell asleep instead.  When they arrested Jesus one of the disciples sought to defend Him with a sword but Jesus rebuked them for this, healed the ear that had been cut off and told them that this was the purpose for which He had come.  He had clearly demonstrated that He was God and now He was being condemned to death for claiming to be who He was.  Despite Pilate seeking to release Him the religious leaders stirred the people up into a frenzy calling for Him to be crucified.  They mocked Him, humiliated Him, beat Him, spit upon Him and nailed Him to the cross between two criminals.  Through all of this Jesus suffered in silence until the Father turned from the Son as He took all of our sin upon Himself.  From the cross He prayed for the Father to forgive those who crucified Him, He granted forgiveness and gave eternal hope to the criminal who believed on Him and He purchased the forgiveness of all who believe on Him.  The Son of Man was Holy God and Perfect Man so was the complete sacrifice for the sins of man.