Recap

So far in Luke, we've read through the introduction, Jesus' ministry in Galilee, and started the journey to Jerusalem. We noted how this book was written with the book of Acts to be one continuous story. We also looked at how, for Luke, the kingdom of God is centred on uplifting the marginalised and outcasts and bringing salvation and repentance, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We read the two miraculous conception stories of John and Jesus who would both fulfil Old Testament prophecies. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, announced to shepherds by angels, showing God's desire to reach the poor and outcasts. At twelve, Jesus is in the temple, focused on God's work. He is later baptised and resists the devil’s temptations in the wilderness. Throughout, people are filled with the Holy Spirit to fulfil their roles. John the Baptist taught the importance of repentance and caring for the poor.

Jesus began his ministry by declaring his mission to those on society’s margins using Isaiah 61:1-2. After being rejected from the synagogue, he liberated people from demons and illness, demonstrating his power by filling fishermen's nets and calling his disciples. He healed a leper and a paralysed man. In all these he showed his care for the marginalised.

Jesus then taught his disciples the values of his upside-down kingdom, where the needy are blessed, and the self-reliant are warned. His many miracles, from healings to feeding 5,000, led to Peter recognising him as "The Christ of God." Jesus revealed his coming suffering and was confirmed as God's chosen when three disciples witnessed his transfiguration.

We began the journey to Jerusalem focusing on the call of the disciples. Lacking faith, they failed to cast out a demon and argued over who was the greatest. When rejected by Samaritans, they threatened violence instead of showing mercy. Through them, we learn what not to do when following Jesus.

Jesus reclaimed his kingdom by sending out seventy-two disciples. He was symbolically reclaiming the earth, even seeing Satan fall. An expert summarised the law as loving God and neighbour, illustrated by the parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus taught the disciples to pray, while others accused him of casting out demons by Satan’s power.

Jesus then linked his teachings to final judgement. He urged consistency between the public and private life and trusting in God’s provision. He then warned Jerusalem that their pride would lead to destruction. Despite this, the people rejected him.

At a banquet with religious leaders, Jesus began talking about inheriting the kingdom and helping others do the same. He challenged their pursuit of social status and urged them to use their resources to bless others, expecting nothing in return. God's kingdom is about seeking the lost and celebrating their return. As for wealth, it should be used to build meaningful relationships, as these are what matter in God's kingdom.

Luke 17-18

Turning back to his disciples, still at this banquet with the pharisees, Jesus begins to warn them against causing others to stumble. Temptation to sin is all around us. It doesn’t need our help. But at the same time, if a fellow believer sins against us, we must be willing to forgive them, no matter how many times they continue to sin against us.

Realising that what Jesus is asking of them is difficult, the disciples ask him to give them more faith. Jesus points out that the issue isn’t that they don’t have enough faith. You only need a little faith to do great things. The issue is about being faithful with the faith you have. The best way to do this is to not think too highly of yourself, and to serve faithfully. Make sure you are doing all the God is telling you to do.

Next, we get the third and final mention of Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem. On the way, he encounters ten lepers. We’ve mentioned before how lepers were the ultimate outcasts in society. But Jesus approaches them and tells them to present themselves to the priest. This is to fulfil the law in Leviticus 13-14. The priests were the ones that signed off all cases of leprosy and whether they had been healed or not.

On their way, the lepers are all healed. Typical to Luke, of all ten, the only one whose heart was right and who came back to thank Jesus was a foreigner, a non-Jew. This is then immediately contrasted with the religious leaders, who still don’t understand what the kingdom of God is about.

They ask Jesus when the kingdom is coming, and Jesus points out that the kingdom of God is already here. Jesus is the kingdom of God. He is God’s presence united with humanity once again. Jesus uses this opportunity to talk about his second coming, most of which we are familiar with from Mark 13 and Matthew 24. 

In this passage, Jesus mentions that there will be a time where “there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” (Luke 17:34–35)

This is commonly used as evidence for the rapture, the idea that God will come and take his followers away and leave the wicked behind. But that doesn’t line up with the imagery we’ve read through in the Bible so far. In the Old Testament, it was those who were faithful to God that were allowed to stay and those who were wicked that were taken away (see Isaiah 4:2-4, Zephaniah 3:11-13, Zechariah 13:8).

We even see this in Jesus’ teaching. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 13:41–43)

Not wanting to leave his disciples discouraged, Jesus encourages them to remain faithful and persistent and prayer. He uses the example of a persistent widow that badgered a judge until he dealt with those who were oppressing her. If a wicked judge will give in to persistence, how much more will God, who wants to bless and protect his people, respond to persistence?

But Jesus warns them not to get proud in their prayers. Don’t believe that God owes you anything, or that he has blessed you because you deserve it. Come to God humbly, recognising your failures and asking God for his help.

We see this modelled in the next two examples. Jesus invites the children forward, noting that believers need to be more like children, approaching God with no pride, just a desire to be close to him. Then a ruler comes to ask Jesus how to inherit eternal life. After pointing him to the Ten Commandments, Jesus challenges him to sell all he has to give to the poor. Can this man put the kingdom of God before his own desires? Unfortunately not, and he walks away dejected.

Finally, we move to focusing more on Jesus as king bringing in his new kingdom. Jesus again tells his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem to die. While the disciples can’t understand what Jesus is saying, we know that this is part of his role of suffering servant and king.

Then we see Jesus approaching Jericho, getting ever closer to Jerusalem. There we see a blind man begging for Jesus to heal him, which he does. When we looked at this passage in Mark 10, we noted how this blind man calls Jesus, “Son of David” and how this was the title for the promised king. As Jesus is getting closer to Jerusalem, the royal city, it’s an outcast, a blind man, who sees Jesus as king.

Psalm 118

This psalm is not attributed to anyone in particular and falls into the category of thanksgiving psalm. It was likely sung during the Passover as the people enter into God’s presence.

Psalm 118:1-4 - A call to thanksgiving

Psalm 118:5-9 - Personal testimony of deliverance.

Psalm 118:10-14 - Declaration of trust in God

Psalm 118:15-18 - Thanksgiving for victory

Psalm 118:19-29 - Entering through the gates into the house of the Lord

The psalmist opens with a call to ‘give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!’. Israelites should thank him, priests (those of the house of Aaron) should thank him. Really, anyone who fears the Lord should thank him and declare his faithfulness and love.

The psalmist then gives their personal testimony of deliverance. In their struggle, they called out to the Lord, and he answered. With the Lord on their side, they do not need to fear. Putting their trust in the Lord is greater than any trust they could put in fellow humans or kings.

Even if all the nations came against them, buzzing around them like bees, the psalmist’s confidence is in the Lord that he will deliver them. Because of this, the psalmist sings songs of victory. The right hand of the Lord is strong and will protect them. Even when the Lord punishes the psalmist for their mistakes, the Lord still cares for them.

And so the procession begins to enter into God’s presence, starting with the gates. Open up the gates so that the psalmist and all those who are righteous can enter and give thanks to the Lord. They can give thanks because the Lord is their salvation. He is a God that takes the things that humans see as useless and builds them up.

Because of all this, the psalmist and others come and praise the name of the Lord. They recognise that they are blessed because they get to enter into God’s house, his presence. He is their God and his loving faithfulness lasts forever.

Psalm 118 is one that is picked up by many of the New Testament writers to talk about Jesus. Jesus is the one who won a victory. He is the one that was rejected by humans, but God lifted up. It’s through him that we may now enter and celebrate, giving thanksgiving and praise to God.