A Journey Through Luke

The Jews had known for several thousand years that God promised to use Abraham and his descendants as influential people. Prophets for many generations foretold of a day Israel would have its own land and be a blessing to the entire world. And one day a new king was going to lead them and represent them. Not only was this king going to make them a great nation, but he would help restore what was a broken relationship with God.

But after years and years of hearing that prophecy, God went silent. For 400 years—around 15 generations—there were no significant words from any of God’s prophets.

In Luke 3, that silence was broken by John the Baptist. He told anyone who would listen, “The wait is over. The King we’ve been waiting for is here! In fact, he’s right over there. It’s Joseph’s son Jesus.”

And then Luke does something brilliant. To anyone who may have pushed back… to anyone who may have said, “Wait a minute… the prophets spoke of this coming king, and he’s supposed to be a descendant of Abraham. And not only Abraham, but there are several key people who are supposed to be in the family tree of the Messiah.” To anyone wondering about that, Luke lists a genealogy, traced backwards starting with Jesus and going all the way back to Adam. And those names anyone would be looking for in order to fulfill the words of the prophets are indeed on the list… Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and Judah.

When you read that list of names in Chapter 3, don’t breeze by it too quickly. Maybe even say each name aloud, just as a reminder that these were real people and not just names on a page. Some of the names may sound familiar, but most of them were just everyday, imperfect people that God used to bring his plans to fruition.

In some ways, we’re like that. God uses us for his purposes. Through our lives, our choices, our words, God uses us. We are his plan for showing those around us who he is.

That’s it for now. Before next time, read Chapters 4 and 5.

In the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we get to eavesdrop on the angel Gabriel, who gives two birth announcements, in a sense, to two different sets of parents. And for what it’s worth, the two Moms are related… cousins in some form or fashion. At any rate, these two babies will be born about six months apart.

The first baby born will end up being one of the great prophets of the day: John the Baptist (or John the Baptizer), whose main purpose will be to let people know that the long-awaited rescuer, the coming King of the Jews, has arrived. And John’s parents were Zechariah and Elizabeth.

The other announcement was for the upcoming birth of Jesus, the Savior who was coming to restore a connection between God and his people. We read in Luke 2 about the humble circumstances surrounding Jesus’s birth.

One fascinating observation has to do with how OPPOSITE the circumstances were surrounding the birth of these two Hebrew boys. For instance…

Jesus’s parents, Mary and Joseph, have no social significance to speak of. Joseph made a presumably modest living as a young carpenter, probably working for his dad, and they lived in a town that was just a small dot on the map.

Zechariah and Elizabeth, on the other hand (John the Baptist’s parents), lived very near Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem. Zechariah was a priest with important responsibilities at the temple.

Neither couple had any reason whatsoever to believe they would have a baby, but they had sort of opposite reasons for why they thought that. For Mary and Joseph (who weren’t married), they had yet to, you know, try to conceive. For Zechariah and Elizabeth, they hadn’t been able to have children in all their years of marriage… and now they were old.

So to both couples, this whole “You’ve got a baby on the way” came as quite a shock.

But isn’t that how it works sometimes? In one of the most incredible examples (well, two examples), we see God working in a way no one could have imagined.

Something remarkable, though, is what these couples had in common. While neither couple expected a pregnancy, both trusted God even when it didn’t make sense.

For us, it can be tough to try and make sense of our circumstances. But regardless of where we find ourselves, we can trust God through those circumstances.

That’s it for now. Before next time, read Chapter 3.

If you asked the average church attendee or someone who is a little familiar with the Bible, “Who wrote most of the New Testament?” you’re usually going to get the answer, “the apostle Paul.” And that’s partly true. Paul did write most of the books in the New Testament. But in terms of the number of words written, most of the pages in our New Testament were written by Luke.

Luke wrote two large documents that account for about 28 percent of the New Testament. He wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and Acts is really just a continuation of the book of Luke. The Gospel of Luke gives an account of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Then Acts gives an account of how the early church got started.

Luke became a Jesus follower several years after Jesus walked the earth, most likely under Paul’s influence. Luke was probably a Gentile (someone without a Jewish background), so he would have come to know and understand Jesus without being  raised learning the Hebrew Scriptures.

Professionally, it appears Luke was a medical doctor, and that he left his full-time profession to travel with Paul and do the work of spreading the good news that people could access God through his Son, Jesus.

Luke wasn’t a firsthand witness to the stories and teachings—and miracles—of Jesus, but he took the time to collect all the information he could, summarize it, and put it in an orderly fashion. There were tons of stories circulating about Jesus, and Luke was passionate about organizing those stories in a way to help people understand who Jesus was and what he came for.

One of his main sources was Mark, the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark by documenting a lot of what Peter told him about Jesus. So if you ever notice that a lot of Luke’s Gospel looks like Mark’s Gospel, that’s why. And there’s also some overlap with Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew, Mark, and Luke share some of the same stories about Jesus with different details here and there. That’s why those three Gospels are known as the Synoptic Gospels. “Synoptic” means “seen in a similar way.”

But Luke found some other nuggets about Jesus that are only in his account and not in the other Gospels… things like Jesus’s parables of the prodigal son and the good Samaritan.

Ultimately, Luke wanted to present a clear, historical narrative of the person and work of Jesus as the Savior of all people.

 Over the next five weeks, we’ll provide a guide to help you read through the 24 chapters in Luke. You’ll get a two-minute devotional every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we’ll give you instructions to read a chapter or two of Luke on the off days.

So, here we go: Before next time, read Chapters 1 and 2. We hope as you journey through Luke, you’ll see God in a fresh, new way.