Luke

The Gospel of Luke is one of the earliest account of Jesus’ life and it’s actually part one of a unified two-volume work, Luke-Acts.  If you compare the opening lines of both of the books, it’s clear that it comes from the same author, Luke - a doctor, the travelling companion and co-worker of Paul.

Luke opens his words with a preface explaining the reason he wrote this book.  He wanted to go back to the eyewitness traditions of Jesus’ earliest disciples, in order to produce what he called “an orderly account about the things that has been fulfilled among us.”  For Luke, Jesus is not just an ancient historic figure but He is the fulfillment of the long covenant story of God and Israel, and the whole world.  

Luke puts a fairly clear design in the book.  There is a long introduction (Ch 1 - 2) that sets up the story of John the Baptist and Jesus.  Then in Ch. 3-9, Luke presents a robust portrait of Jesus and His mission in the Galilee region.  A large middle section is Jesus’ long journey to Jerusalem (Ch. 9-19), which leads to the story’s climax - Jesus’ final week (Ch. 19-24) in Jerusalem, which leads to His death and resurrection, then to the book of Acts.  

Luke - Part 1 - Chapter 1-9

The extended introduction writes in parallel the birth story of John the Baptist and Jesus, both the fulfillment of God’s divine promise to the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the unmarried woman Mary.  Both couples sing poems of celebration (Ch. 1:67-79; 1:46-55), which are filled with echoes from Psalms and the Prophets.  The poems show how these children will fulfill God’s ancient promise, and preview each child’s role in the story followed.  

After this, at Jesus’ dedication in the Jerusalem temple, two elderly prophets Anna and Simeon meet Jesus and recognize immediately who He is.  Simeon sings a poem inspired by the prophet Isaiah.  He says this child is God’s salvation for Israel and He will become the light of the nations.  

In anticipation, Luke brings reader into Jesus’ mission.  At Jordan river, where John the Baptist is baptizing, Jesus receives John’s baptism.  At this point, Jesus appears as the leader of the new Israel and He is marked down by the Spirit and the voice of God from Heaven, “He is the beloved Son of God.” 

Luke, then, traces back the origin of Jesus’ genealogy to David, and back to Abraham, then all the way back to Adam in Genesis.  Luke is claiming that Jesus is the Messianic King of Israel who brings God’s blessings not only to Israel but to the whole humanity.  

After this, Luke shows Jesus returning to His hometown - Nazareth, where He launches His public mission.  Jesus, at the synagogue, stands up, and He reads from the scroll of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (4:18)  Luke here uniquely highlights the social implications of Jesus’ mission.  “Liberty” or freedom, is ‘aphesis’ in Greek, means “Release”.  Jesus here says the good news of release is specifically for the poor.  At Jesus’ time, the poor includes all people of low social status in their culture, like people with disabilities, women, children and the elderly, also social outcast who is beyond acceptable in religious circles.  Jesus says, God’s Kingdom is a good news for these people.  

As Jesus’ mission attracts a large number of followers, He does something provocative.  In 6:12-49, Jesus forms these people into a New Israel by appointing the twelve disciples as leaders, mirroring the twelve tribes of Israel.  And then Jesus teaches an upside-down Kingdom in His famous Sermon on the Mount or called the Beatitudes.  In the Kingdom of God, God’s love for outsiders and the poor means it brings a reversal of our value systems.  The People of God are now those responding to the good news by practicing radical generosity, leading by serving, living by peacemaking and forgiveness.   

Jesus’ teaching starts to generate resistance and controversy especially from the Israel’s religious leaders.  To them, Jesus’ outreaching to the questionable people is a threat to their religious traditions and their sense of social stability (Ch. 5:33, 6:2).  They starts to label Jesus as blasphemous, drunken, mixing with sinners.  

This part of Luke Gospel culminates in the new revelation of Jesus’ mission to His disciples (9:18-27)  He reveals Himself as the Messianic King and the He is going to assert His reign by dying in Jerusalem, by becoming the suffering servant King in Isaiah 53.  Then Jesus goes up on a mountain with three disciples (9:28-36).  He transforms in front of their own eyes and then Moses and Elijah are there.  Luke tells us that they were talking about Jesus’ “Exodus” that He is about to fulfill.  With the association from Exodus, Luke is portraying Jesus as the new Moses who will lead the New Israel into freedom from the tyranny of personal, spiritual and social sins and evil. 

Luke - Part 2 - Chapter 9-24 

We come to the large centre section of the book (Ch. 9-19) where Jesus leads His newly formed Israel on a journey to Jerusalem.  In this part of the book, the readers receives Jesus’ teaching and parables given on the road to the various people He encounters. 

Theme 1: Following as a Life Journey
Luke portrays following Jesus as a journey where we learn as we go along life’s path.  First, Jesus invites His disciples into His mission as He sends them to go before Him announcing God’s Kingdom.  So being Jesus’ disciple means participating in Jesus' Kingdom mission and seeing it as one's own.  When Jesus’ disciples come back, He gives various teachings about prayer (11:1-13), and trusting in God’s provision (12:1-12).  In these chapters of Luke, Jesus talks more about money, possessions and generosity (12:13-31; 16; 18:18-30) than anywhere else in His teachings.  Following Jesus is, in Jesus’ teachings, truly like being on the road.  The journey should produce a minimalist mentality creating freedom from possession that allows for radical generosity. 

Theme 2: Jesus’ Mission to the Poor
In Jesus’ journey, He encounters all people who are sick, blind, people like Samaritans who are hated by the Jews, and tax collectors who are labelled as betrayers.  All these social outcasts meet Jesus and they are transformed by the encounter.  They join His Kingdom community which Jesus describes as a great banquet party.  Jesus says He is here to seek and save the lost (19:10) so He is celebrating when people discover the mercy of God.  However, not everyone is happy, Luke includes different stories of Jesus at banquets with the Israel’s leaders (11:37-52; 14:1-24), which often turn into heated debates with Jesus confronting them for their pride and hypocrisy.  These contrasting banquet parties are captured most memorably in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.  The story is about a ran-away younger son being received and forgiven by his father.  In the same picture, there is the elder son, who never leaves the father, however misreads the father’s heart and meets his younger brother with anger.  In this famous parable, Jesus is explaining His whole Kingdom mission.  His party represents God’s joyous welcome of every kind of person into His family.  The only requirement for entry is humility and repentance.  Unfortunately, it also highlights the tragedy of Israel’s leaders who reject Jesus and His upside-down Kingdom.  

Theme 3: The Destiny of Jerusalem
As the journey goes along, the rejection against Jesus and His Kingdom intensifies amount the Jewish leaders, while His disciples are hailing Him as the Messianic King when He arrives at Jerusalem for the Passover.  Jesus knows that their rejection of His Kingdom will lead to the city’s downfall.  Some believe Jesus’ act of cleansing the temple is an enactment of the destruction of Jerusalem when He chases away the animal sellers and brings the sacrificial system to a halt. He says that this place of worship has become a den of rebels and will be destroyed (19:41-46).  While Jesus’ warning may be a chance for repentance, it ends with the Jewish leaders’ plot to kill Him. 

Theme 4: The New Covenant
After that, Jesus retreats with His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal.  It is a symbolic meal about Israel’s liberation from the slavery through the death of the lamb.  Jesus, then, turns the bread and wine in the meal into new symbols about this new Exodus: His broken body and His shed blood will bring liberation for His People.  

Theme 5: Jesus’ Love and Mercy in His Final Moment
After the meal, Jesus was arrested.  Luke emphasizes that Jesus is innocent.  Pilate the Roman governor, and even Herod, can find nothing to accuse Jesus.  But the leaders finally compel Pilate to have Jesus crucified.  

However, even on the Cross, Jesus still embodies the love and the mercy of God He taught.  He offers God’s forgiveness to the soldiers as they crucify Him (23:39). And then when one of the criminals executed alongside Jesus recognizes who Jesus actually is and asks for mercy, Jesus’s final words are an offer of hope to the humiliated criminal: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Theme 6: The Resurrected Jesus
Jesus dies with this last act of generosity and kindness.  He is buried but when Jesus disciples come to the tomb, they only find an empty tomb.  It leaves their mind blown, when two angelic figures tell them that Jesus is alive.

Luke then tells the story of Emmaus (24:13-32) where two Jesus’ disciples are leaving Jerusalem for a town called Emmaus.  The disciples are heartbroken over Jesus’ death.  Suddenly Jesus walks alongside with them but they fail to recognize Him.  They keep on telling the story of Jesus’ death and their frustration.  But then Jesus has meal with these two.  When he breaks the bread for them just as He did at the Passover meal, they recognize them before He disappears.  Luke is telling the story to make a powerful point about following Jesus.  It’s only when we submit ourselves to the upside down Kingdom of Jesus and His self-giving love, setting aside our own agenda, we can see and know the real Jesus.

The book concludes with another meal (24:33-53) of Jesus with the disciples.  Jesus explains to them from the Old Testament Scripture how this is all part of God’s plan, how Messiah would become Israel’s King by suffering and dying for their sin and conquering their evil with His resurrected life.  It reminds us Simeon the Prophet promises in Chapter 2: Jesus’ Kingdom will move outward from Israel so God’s forgiveness can be announced to the nations.  

At the end, Jesus commands His disciples to wait for the Spirit in Jerusalem, to empower them for this new mission.  It leads us into the second volume, the Book of Acts.