Recap

So far in Luke, we've read through the introduction, Jesus' ministry in Galilee, the journey to Jerusalem, and started Jesus’ ministry in 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.

On the journey to Jerusalem, the focus was on what it means to be a disciple. The disciples lacked faith, failing to cast out a demon and arguing over greatness. Through them, we learn what not to do when following Jesus.

Jesus reclaimed his kingdom by sending out seventy-two disciples and teaching love for God and neighbour, as seen in the Good Samaritan and Mary at his feet. He warned of final judgement, urging consistency and trust in God.

At a banquet, Jesus challenged religious leaders' pursuit of status, encouraging them to bless others and build meaningful relationships. God's kingdom seeks the lost, not wealth.

Jesus urged his disciples to avoid causing others to stumble, to forgive, and to grow their faith through faithfulness. He healed ten lepers, with only a Samaritan returning in gratitude, contrasting with a wealthy man who couldn't part with his riches. The outcasts embraced the kingdom, while the proud rejected it.

As Jesus neared Jerusalem, he reminded his disciples that he was going there to die. A blind beggar recognised him as the promised king. In Jericho, Jesus redeemed Zacchaeus, a tax collector, through a simple meal and taught a parable on faithfulness.

Entering Jerusalem as king, Jesus wept over the leaders' destructive path and cleared the temple of merchants. Conflict with the religious leaders escalated as Jesus warned of Jerusalem’s destruction, wars, and the need for his disciples to bear witness through non-violent resistance. He promised his return in power to redeem his people.

The leaders plotted Jesus’ death, recruiting Judas. After the last supper, Jesus was arrested and found guilty of blasphemy.

Luke 23-24

We have read through the story of Jesus’ death multiple times now. He appears before various leaders and found innocent, but the religious leaders insist that he dies. He’s led to the cross and place in between two thieves, where he is mocked and derided. There on the cross Jesus dies, and he is taken down and placed in the tomb of a man named Joseph Arimathea. A giant stone is placed over the entrance to prevent anyone from stealing his body.

But there are a number of details unique to Luke’s gospel, and other details which pick up particularly Lukan themes. Luke is the only gospel that notes that Jesus was also sent to Herod. Herod had been keen to see Jesus for some time (see Luke 9:7-9) and was hoping to he would perform some miracles for him.

When Jesus refused to respond, Herod and his soldiers mocked him for a while and then sent him back to Pilate.While Herod was a king set up by the Romans, he was a Jew. Here we have the most important Jew, completely unable to see who Jesus is. He mockingly dresses him like a king in splendid clothing, but he has no idea who Jesus is.

When Jesus is handed back to Pilate, Pilate offers to set free Jesus or Barabbas. Like Mark, Luke mentions that Barabbas was in prison for insurrection and murder. These two men represent the two different ways that God’s kingdom was going to be established. Jesus through selfish sacrifice, and Barabbas through a violent overthrowal of the oppressive Roman empire.

The Old Testament and Jesus’ teachings have showed us that the people taking their freedom into their own hands never works out well, but the people choose Barabbas. On the way to his crucifixion, Jesus mentions to some women the consequence of this choice. There will come a time in Jerusalem where it would have been better to not have been born. This is Jesus’ last reference to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The people of Jerusalem have chosen their path.

While on the cross, one of the criminals to his side begins to mock him. But here in Luke, the other criminal defends Jesus, recognising him as the promised king. The greatest Jew in the land, Herod, couldn’t recognise who Jesus was, but here is the lowest of the low, a criminal on a cross, asking Jesus to remember him in his kingdom.

Jesus dies and is buried, but Luke makes a point to mention it was the women who stood by him at the cross the longest, and then followed his body to make sure they knew where it was. When Jesus rose from the dead, it was these women who were the first to find out and the ones given the responsibility to tell others.

Remember, women had very low social status in these times. But Luke wants his readers to know that means nothing in the kingdom of God. Just as some lowly shepherds were the first to hear of Jesus’ birth and tell others, now it is some lowly women who are the first to hear of Jesus' resurrection and tell others.

Completely unique to Luke is the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Two of Jesus’ followers are leaving Jerusalem, heading to Emmaus. On the way, Jesus appears to them, but they are prevented from recognising him. He asks the men why they look down, and they point out that Jesus, this great prophet, was killed by the religious leaders. They had been hoping he would be the promised king who would redeem Israel.

Jesus explains to them that is exactly who Jesus is, and he was always meant to die. He then takes them through the Old Testament scriptures that pointed to all this happening. They invited him in to eat with them, and he starts the meal by blessing them and then breaking the bread.

At this point, they recognise who Jesus is, and he disappears. They rush back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples all they had seen. For Luke, this is how people come to recognise and know Jesus; through studying the scriptures, through breaking bread together, and through the witness of his believers.

Jesus then appears to his disciples and opens their minds to the scriptures too. It was always written that Jesus was to suffer, die, and then be raised to life on the third day. Now his disciples are the ones to takes his message of repentance to all nations. They are to spread his kingdom, but they are to wait until power comes. Jesus blesses them and then is taken up into heaven.

That’s the gospel of Luke. Through the four gospels, we’ve seen all that the Old Testament has been waiting for. We’ve read about a king who is also a Suffering Servant. The king is the son of God, God’s tangible presence on earth.

Through his death and resurrection, this king has demonstrated their authority over the powers of sin, death, and darkness. With this authority, he has come to reestablish his kingdom, which is completely upside down compared to the values of this earth.

It lifts up the poor and humble and tears down the proud. It tears down religious systems and focuses on individuals and relationship. It seeks to free people from oppression, whether that’s the power of sin in their lives, sickness, demonic oppression, or physical oppression.

And this kingdom is now in the hands of disciples who are to make more disciples. That’s where the book of Acts picks up. The birth of Church and the exploration of what it means to live in light of Jesus. But for now, those are the gospels.

Psalm 119:65-96

We are continuing on with Psalm 119. This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and falls into the category of wisdom psalm. Each stanza has eight verses each, and each verse within a stanza starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. With twenty-two stanzas, we have a different stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In many ways, this psalm can be seen as the A-B-Cs of Biblical wisdom.

Psalm 119:65-72 - Teth (ט): You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord

Psalm 119:73-80 - Yodh (י): Your hands have made and fashioned me

Psalm 119:81-88 - Kaph (כ): My soul longs for your salvation

Psalm 119:89-96 - Lamedh (ל): Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens

In the ninth stanza (Psalm 119:65-72), the psalmist acknowledges that the Lord did right by them by humbling them. The Lord allowed them to experience the consequences of their actions so that they could then turn and choose his ways. Because of this, the psalmist now clings to the Lord’s words. Even when arrogant people attack them for it. And the psalmist is grateful for this process. Through it they have come to realise that the teachings of the Lord are greater than any riches or wealth.

In the tenth stanza (Psalm 119:73-80), the psalmist links the Lord who provides teachings and commands with the Lord who creates. It is because the Lord has formed them that he knows how to guide the psalmist in his ways. It is from a place of love and understanding that the Lord has brought the psalmist through these trials to teach them. So the psalmist asks that the Lord continues to show them mercy and continue to guide them in righteousness.

The eleventh stanza (Psalm 119:81-88) slips into lament. The psalmist is struggling. Their soul languishes and their eyes fail. There are those who judge and persecute them, and others who set traps for them. But despite all this, the psalmist continues to hold on to the Lord’s teachings as they are unfailing. They cry out to the Lord to help them and save them so that they can continue to keep the Lord’s ways.

Stanza twelve (Psalm 119:89-96) focuses on the eternal nature of the Lord’s teachings. It is through his ways that the Lord first established the earth and continues to hold all things in place today. It was the Lord’s law that kept the psalmist going this far, and it’s his law that will keep them going forward. So the psalmist will hold into them in the face of their enemies. Everything else is flawed and weak, but the Lord’s commands are perfect.