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Preface

Who was Jesus? What did He do? And does it matter?

The gospel of Luke is one of the four books in the Bible that attempts to answer these questions. The gospels were written by people who claimed to have been eyewitnesses or otherwise close to the events that they wrote about. It is for the reader to answer for him/herself whether the answers have truth in them or not.

What is a Gospel?

The book is called a ‘gospel’. That title is not a word in common use today. The word ‘gospel’ is derived from two old English words

“god” = good, and “spel” = news.

Thus “gospel” is simply good news.

Are there other gospels?

In the ‘New Testament’ portion of the Christian bible there are four books called gospels – these are

Matthew Mark Luke John

Are the gospels all the same?

No – although the basic story (of Jesus’ life on earth and His giving of His life on the cross – to save people from death and the other consequences of evil (sin)) is the same in each gospel, the viewpoint and the style of each gospel writer is different.

It might be helpful to think of Matthew as a drama, Mark like a newspaper, and John as a theological analysis. The Gospel of Luke describes itself as a history which we might expect to be broadly chronological.

This does not mean however that Luke has simply given us a list of ‘things that happened’, or that he tells us everything that happened in the life of Jesus. On a first encounter with this gospel it might seem that it is simply a collection of roughly sequential short episodes in the life of Jesus, mixed in with various extracts from His teaching. However these studies will seek to show that Luke has only given us the details which he wants to use in presenting the meaning and importance of the events. The book shows evidence that Luke has selected and organised the material that he uses in order to convey a coherent understanding of the nature and the importance of the gospel message.

Who was Luke?

He was not one of the disciples, but in the book of Acts (which he also wrote) four passages are written in the first person “we”, suggesting that for several of the journeys Luke was with Paul.

These are Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-16; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16

In Colossians 4:14 Paul describes Luke as ‘Our dear friend Luke, the doctor …’ and in his last letter (2 Timothy) written shortly before he was executed Paul poignantly writes that ‘Only Luke is with me’ He was therefore someone who had first-hand knowledge of the early Christians, and proved himself to be a true friend and loyal companion to the Apostle Paul.

Why did he write the gospel?

Luke addressed both his gospel and the book of Acts to someone called Theophilus (Luke 1:2, Acts 1:1). It is not known who or where Theophilus was. However Luke explains in the introduction to the gospel – 1:1-4 that he had researched the details of the founding of the Christian religion carefully and wished to set out a clear and orderly history of the events. We can note Luke’s claim therefore that although he was not a personal eyewitness to the events of Jesus’ life, his account can be relied upon because he has very carefully investigated the details.

What is the relevance of it today?

In Acts 1:1-2 there is a backward reference to the purpose of the gospel. There he describes it as telling ‘all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven’. Thus the gospel is not a ‘biography’ of Jesus in the sense that it is a complete account of the life and achievements of a person. Even though in this gospel Luke will include the story of the death of Jesus, that is not the end of the story.

Luke tells us that Jesus was resurrected again after two days (‘on the third day’) and ascended to heaven a few weeks later. However Luke presents this to us not merely as another event that happened a long time ago, but as something that explains a present day reality. If the work of Jesus was to bring the kingdom of God to man, and if the gospel is only the beginning of that activity – then what is the end of it to be?

Outline and structure

Themes in the book

The kingdom of God

If we consider the two books that Luke wrote, this gospel and the book called Acts it becomes clearer that the main theme in both is the coming and the conquest of the world by the Kingdom of God.

This theme is introduced in the message of Gabriel to Mary in 1:26-33. The child that Mary will conceive without human assistance will be called ‘the Son of the Most High’ and He will reign without end over the house of Jacob.’ Already in this announcement that the Messiah will reign over the house of Jacob is a promise of something bigger than just being ‘King of the Jews’, for the Jews were predominantly the descendants of the kingdom of Judah alone, the majority of the house of Jacob (the kingdom of Israel) having disappeared (by exile and assimilation) after the fall of Samaria in 721BC.

This message of the Kingdom of God takes central prominence from chapter 8 onwards. It is introduced and explained between 8:1 and 10:42, and from 17:20 – 24:53 Luke presents the establishment of the Kingdom.

The relevance of this theme of the Kingdom of God is teased out also through other pictures. Significantly the book begins and ends in the temple. The first temple was erected in Jerusalem by Solomon as a permanent replacement for the tabernacle of Exodus 25-26. It matters not that by the time of the events that Luke records the building called the temple was the third structure. The purpose of the tabernacle (and the temple(s) that replaced it) was to be the sanctuary on earth for God so that God would dwell among His people (Exodus 25:8; see also 1 Kings 8:12-53 and 2 Chronicles 6). Yet Luke begins his gospel with a story set in the temple involving barrenness. The barrenness is however removed. Is Luke hinting that there was now no life to be found in the temple and its traditions? Has the temple run its course as the dwelling place of God and is it about to be replaced?

This hint is reinforced when it is observed that Luke concludes his opening introductory section (1:1 – 2:52) with two other units set in the temple. The first of these (2:22-38) is the identification of the infant Jesus with a world-wide message of salvation. The final story (2:41-52) is of the boy Jesus, at approximately twelve years of age, astounding the sages of the temple precincts with His understanding and answers (2:47). In Luke’s presentation the picture is dramatic. The true King, the Messiah, God incarnate has come to the house that was erected as the dwelling place of God and the temple officers and teachers did not recognise the God whom they pretended to serve.

Yet Luke ends his gospel also in the temple. However in 24:52-53 it is not the building that is important. In chapter 24 the dwelling place of God is not now a place, but a people. Jesus now reigns in the Kingdom of God, represented by the Church. In Luke 24 this was made up of just a small group of disciples. Nevertheless Luke reports that this small group, which now had the presence of God in them, brought life and God’s presence into the barrenness of the temple.

For Luke the Kingdom has arrived and this conclusion to the gospel is a succinct prompt that the final instruction of Jesus in the gospel is about to be fulfilled. This was to take the message of the Kingdom (the gospel of salvation) to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (24:47). The beginning is the temple in Jerusalem and the second book (Acts) will describe the bringing of the Kingdom to the world, which in symbolism is treated as being achieved when Paul brings the gospel message to the capital of the world, Rome.

Salvation

Before Luke begins to develop this major theme of the coming of the Kingdom of God, he first sets out (see 1:5-80) the foundational principle of section 1 which is that God is omnipotent. God, and only God, is able to achieve what to us is impossible. Luke follows this with a second section (3:1 – 7:50) in which he explains what the salvation that the Kingdom will deliver actually consists of.

The message of the gospel however is no ‘happy ever after’ kind of fairy story. Luke is clear that in this present age the Kingdom of God is a people within a world that is hostile to the God of righteousness. Thus the fourth section of the book (inserted between the sections giving the introduction of the Kingdom and its coming), is concerned with the issues of life, as relevant now as when Luke wrote it.

This section (11:1 – 17:19) contains much materiel that is unique to Luke and may be best summarised as setting out the manifesto of the Kingdom. For Luke the Kingdom is real; it is not just a label to describe a religious movement. Yet Luke is also well aware that the coming of the Kingdom is not what much of the Old Testament refers to as the ‘Day of the Lord’. The Kingdom must now co-habit in a world in which visible power rests with governments that do not acknowledge the authority of the Son of David. The manifesto therefore deals with the issues of living today, and how the realities of the Kingdom’s ethics transcend the values and standards of the world around it. The Kingdom may be without visible power and glory today, but it will be to this Kingdom that all other powers and authorities will one day yield, and it will be by the values of this kingdom that all will be held to account.

The distinctive nature of the Kingdom, especially juxtaposed as it is today with world systems based on man’s dominance, is brought out in a skilfully woven thread about the economics of the Kingdom. This is introduced in 8:2, developed in chapters 9, 10, 12 and 14 before reaching a very challenging exposition in chapter 16. The frame of the Kingdom’s economics is however necessary to understand a difficult passage in chapter 22 and the dramatic events in chapter 24.

Luke’s argument is that the Kingdom has come; it is in the world, but it is not of the world. By the time that the reader reaches the end of Luke’s second book (Acts) the overall message should be clear. There is nothing now to inhibit or delay the complete revelation of the Kingdom with power and glory. This third part of the story is awaited.

Structure

It is possible to divide the gospel into several schemes of organisation. The structure offered here attempts to show the movement in the major themes in the gospel.

Introduction, and essence of salvation

Section 1 – Chapter 1:1 – 2:52

• Study 1 - Luke introduces himself and presents us with the God of the impossible, illustrated by the story of two miraculous conceptions.
• Study 2 – God achieves the impossibility of the incarnation, and the essence of the salvation that is to be achieved.

The explanation of salvation

Section 2 – Chapter 3:1 – 7:50

• Study 3 – The role of repentance in salvation.
• Study 4 – The importance of the will of God in the winning of salvation by Jesus.
• Study 5 – The explanation of salvation.
• Study 6 – What being a Christian means
• Study 7 – Why today is the Day of Salvation

The introduction to the Kingdom of God

Section 3 – Chapter 8:1 – 10:42

• Study 8 – The introduction to the Kingdom of God and why even though today is the Day of Salvation, not everyone will enter the Kingdom.
• Study 9 – More about the nature of the Kingdom of God, as a kingdom that supports rather than taxes its subjects. The revelation of Jesus as God’s King.
• Study 10 – What Jesus being king means
• Study 11 – The importance of Jesus
• Study 12 – The citizens of the Kingdom of God, living on earth.

The Kingdom's manifesto

Section 4 – Chapter 11:1 – 17:19

• Study 13 – Talking to heaven
• Study 14 – Attitudes to God and listening to the voice of heaven
• Study 15 – Shutting out the voice of heaven
• Study 16 – Values and truth
• Study 17 – The truth in the Day of Salvation
• Study 18 – It is in this life that the decisions affecting eternity are made
• Study 19 – God is committed to showing us mercy, but if our attitude to God is full of suspicion we can lose our ability to respond to God
• Study 20 – God’s attitude to us is unreasonable love. He sees us as important and valuable.
• Study 21 – Our attitude to God affects our attitude to others.
• Study 22 - Our attitude to God may eventually produce characters that are of no use to God or man
• Study 23 - To live as pleasing to God is a function of both faith and obedience

The Kingdom comes

Section 5 – Chapter 17:20 – 24:53

• Study 24 – The Kingdom is here already, for those who recognise Jesus as King, one day it will be seen by all
• Study 25 – Salvation/membership of the Kingdom brings the life of the Eternal God (righteousness) to those who come to the King – to ensure this the destiny for the King is first the cross, then the throne
• Study 26 – The King comes to His house – the temple in Jerusalem – and finds it hijacked by ‘robbers’. It is the King, however and not the building or the institution that is the foundation of the Kingdom
• Study 27 – The rejection of the kingdom is sure portent of judgement
• Study 28 – The King undertakes a fast to show His passion for us and gives us a reminder to urge the completion of all things.
• Study 29 – The King in control, even in the darkest hour
• Study 30 – Jesus, performs the true duties of King, in dying on the cross.
• Study 31 – Jesus who died as King, is the Living King

Text

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)