This weekend another baby in our church was dedicated to God and Pastor Jonny brought a short message from the gospel of Luke.
Luke is a synoptic gospel. If you read the New Testament, you’ll notice that Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story of Jesus in very similar ways, but each with their own unique style.
So who is Luke? He was a companion of Paul, the man who wrote much of the New Testament. Luke wrote one gospel (the gospel of Luke) and the book of Acts. Luke’s gospel speaks of Jesus coming onto the scene and the book of Acts follows on as the Gospel of Christ spread across Europe and Asia Minor. In a sense, we are still living out the book of Acts today as the church continues to grow.
Luke was a doctor-, a physician-turned-evangelist. He was an intelligent man and wouldn’t have been easily conned. He wouldn’t have written about Jesus unless he was absolutely sure that Jesus was who He claimed to be.
His gospel has 24 chapters. As a church, we read a chapter a day through Advent back in 2019!
1Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.a 3Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, 4so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
(Luke 1:1-4)
In verse 2, Luke clearly states that he was using eyewitnesses, the people who saw the miracles, as his source. These were people who had nothing to gain but everything to lose for sharing their stories in the persecuted early church.
Verse 3 states that this is an orderly account. Luke wasn’t writing because he thought it was a nice interesting topic to write about, but because he wanted to write an orderly account.
We also see here that he is writing to someone called Theophilus. While partially a mystery, we suspect that Theophilus was a patron of Luke, helping him financially as an itinerant evangelist. Interestingly, Acts is also dedicated to Theophilus.
It’s always interesting to look at the meaning behind names. Names today are picked based on family names or what is currently popular. In Bible times, however, names almost always had meaning. Theophilus means “beloved of God”. He was a real person, but at the same time, we (the church) are also the beloved of God, and the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture for us, so it’s interesting how it ties together for us.
14Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.f”
20He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
(Luke 4:14-22)
Jesus quotes Isaiah more than any other prophet! In this passage, in verse 21, Jesus confirmed that He was there as the Messiah, the One sent to set people free.
Jesus came for a purpose, to save and set prisoners free. We are prisoners, “slaves to sin” as Jesus calls us, yet trusting in Him for eternal life sets us free from the power and penalty of sin, and we are gifted instead with eternal life. This was all prophecied hundreds of years before Jesus walked this earth. He has gifted us all with a calling, a purpose, in this life.
If you don’t know Jesus and you’d like to discover your God-given purpose, please read the gospel of Luke and consider the claims of Christ. We pray that you will discover your purpose in Him.