Luke 3

Luke 3

Luke begins this chapter by again dating the material with mention of the Caesar, the governor and the king.  He also identifies who the high priests were.  These foreshadow what will be happening throughout the gospel.  What is interesting is that the word of God does not come to these supposedly important people but comes to an unknown prophet in the wilderness.  John the Baptist calls on people to change their lives through baptism and wanting God to forgive their sins.  The redemptive work of which Mary sang in the Magnificat is under way: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones/ and lifted up the lowly.” Luke 1:52.  In all ages God’s work proceeds among the poor and the disposed.  This is not just a metaphorical or spiritual sense but Luke is insistent that this is what is true.

Luke quotes Isaiah a number of times in the gospel.  In all the gospels Isaiah is often quoted to describe the ministries of John and Jesus.  This forms the basis of Jesus’ message to us.  It is often turning things upside down.  From Gonzales, “The words in the context of Isaiah convey a message of hope.  The people who are in exile are to be led back home through the wilderness, where the voice of one who cries announce that the Lord will prepare a highway over the desert.”[1]  Luke does not portray John as an unheeded prophet but rather as one who, like the prophets of old, announces the opening of the way to freedom and salvation.  What John announces is a baptism of repentance, but it is more than that.  The baptism is more than the water but is also a time of transformation.

John’s preaching contains three emphases: a prophetic warning against the coming judgment, a call to justice and compassion in our dealing with others, and a confession of the coming Messiah.  Today we continue to need to hear his words in our churches and in our lives.  From the Wesley Study Bible, “Wesley suggested that modern Christians may gain false confidence from their participation in the ‘visible church’ just as the ancient Jews gained false confidence from being children of Abraham.  Any such false confidence is worthless; the ‘ax is already at the root’ of those trees.  John’s message emphasizes judgment, but even news of judgment can be good news if it brings people to genuine repentance and moral transformation.”[2]

“Repentance has consequences. If a genuine change of mind and direction in life occurs as a result of repentance, then one should see the fruit of repentance.  Wesley call it ‘fruits meet for repentance’ (Sermon 43, iii.2).  He anticipates that truly repentant believers will, for example, cease ‘from doing evil…and learn to do well.’  Such good works do not merit salvation, of course.  Wesley does not advocate works righteousness.  The only condition for salvation is the provision of God’s gracious gift through Jesus Christ, which people receive through faith.  Spiritual changes, however, result in other changes in how people think, speak, and act.”[3]

So how do those changes appear.  John points out in concrete ways how one’s repentance will produce fruit.  “Those have to do with justice and the well ordering of society.  Those who have food or clothing must share them with the needy.  Greed must not rule even in tax collectors and soldiers, among whom extortion is customary.  They are satisfied with what is rightfully theirs on the basis of their work.  Repentance requires obedience, correction, and—in those cases where others have been wronged and compensation is possible—restitution.”[4]

Because John is standing up to injustice, he attacks King Herod and his marriage to his brother’s wife whom he had killed.  Luke does not go into a great deal of the history so as to not take away from the contrast between John and Jesus.  John’s “good news” is not good news to everyone especially those who are in power and are unwilling to repent.  In some ways, it will foreshadow what will happen with Jesus later.  Luke does want to contrast that John was important as a prophet but was not the Messiah.  So when Luke talks about Jesus’ baptism he says very little detail that one would find in Mark or Matthew.  Who baptized Jesus is not revealed.  What is revealed is what happens when Jesus is baptized and begins to pray.  Then we have the message from God as heaven is opened and the Holy Spirit descends as a dove upon Jesus. We hear “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness. (CEB).”

The chapter ends with a genealogy.  Only two of the Gospels have a genealogy, Matthew and Luke.  There are significant differences in names and order between the two.  Rather than spend so much time thinking about these differences, the importance is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham and also to all of humanity. “Genealogies were common within the OT and ancient Judaism.  Luke’s genealogy begins with Jesus and traces his ancestry to Adam; Matthew begins with Abraham and traces his descendants to Jesus.  Luke emphasizes Jesus’ role as savior to all people; Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ fulfillment of the promises to Abraham.”[5]

There is a final note on Luke’s genealogy.  “At the very end of the genealogy, when he has gone back to the very beginning with Adam, Luke adds a final touch: ‘Adam, son of God.’  Significantly just before the genealogy, Luke reported on the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as ‘my Son, the Beloved.”  Thus, there is a particular connection between Adam, who in a sense is also a son of God, and Jesus, who is the Son of God.  This immediately brings to mind the connection Paul makes between Adam and Jesus as the ‘second Adam.’”[6]

---

[1] Gonzales, pg. 49

[2] Wesley Study Bible, pg. 1287

[3] Ibid.

[4] Gonzales, pg. 50.

[5] Wesley, pg. 1288

[6] Gonzales, pg. 55

Luke 2

The first part of this chapter is so familiar that we often can overlook some of what it says.  First, the author makes sure to orient us to history by mentioning Caesar Augustus and Quirinius governor of Syria.  Augustus was emperor for a significant time and was the one instrumental in establishing Pax Romana or the peace of Rome.  This peace came about due to the military might of Rome and the economic control over the population.  The concern is that outside the bible there is no mention of a census during Augustus reign.  Also Quirinius was governor in 6/7 CE long after the birthdate of Jesus.  I believe that the author wanted to let the readers know how Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem.  He also wanted to lay down the atmosphere of what was happening at the birth.  It was a time of oppression and violence not at all peaceful especially for the ordinary people.

This brings up reflection about arriving at Bethlehem.  In Matthew, there was a star that guided the Magi.  For the shepherds, it was a divine chorus of angels.  For Mary and Joseph, it was an imperial demand.  The question arises, how do we get to Bethlehem in our lives?  Do we depend on some sort of divine intervention or do we come out curiosity of what we have heard from others or maybe through some other intervention?  Maybe we will come out of family or hearing a small voice in our everyday lives.

Another interesting reflection is that Matthew focused on King Herod’s reaction.  In Luke, the emperor knows nothing of the birth of this new king.  There is no slaughter of the innocents.  Rome appears to be oblivious to what was happening.

Luke also uses the circumstances of the birth to present the scandal of Jesus’ birth.  God comes to u vulnerable, helpless, homeless, and laying in a feeding trough.  The earthly parents were either unmarried or just married and had made no preparations for the birth.  Luke in chapter 1 and now emphasizes one of the major themes of the gospel.  God identifies with the powerless, the oppressed, the poor, and the homeless.  It is among such that God will do the divine work of Jesus.

Also as the angels proclaim, the true peace of the world lies not with the government but with Jesus.  So even though the shepherds were afraid they were the first to worship.  No magnificent gifts just worship and praise.  It is not what we give monetarily but what we give of ourselves.  The birth of Jesus turns the world upside down and fulfills what Mary had proclaimed in the first chapter. Much like what God did in Exodus hearing the cries of the people, so now he does for all of us.

The chapter continues with the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.  On the eighth day following birth, the male child was to be presented to the priests to be circumcised.  Mary and Joseph following their religious obligations did so.  Also one was to make a sacrifice for the first born.  It was the ritual to do so because the first of everything belonged to God.  By making the sacrifice, not only recalling the last plague of Egypt, the child is spared.  If the family was poor, they could use two turtledoves instead of a bull or ram.  While there they encountered two prophets Simeon and Anna.  Go back and read what Simeon says.  What is inspiring is that in doing the rituals of the church we can encounter a prophetic word.  Rituals and worship are important concepts that Luke is setting before us.  It is part of righteousness. Today we have so much that interferes with all lives that some of the rituals such as family meals, prayers, reading scripture together, and even going to church on a regular basis is challenged.

                Mary and Joseph lived in a covenant community.  They sought through obedience to the rituals to come closer to God.  What they heard from Simeon and Anna and the blessings they gave, made the rituals deeper and more personal.

The last section of this chapter, has a story of Jesus as a young adolescent maybe 12-13 years old.  Nowhere else do we have this story.  It points out that Jesus knew even before his baptism that God was his Father.  Jesus found his identity by affirming his relationship with God.  This also speaks to another theme found in the parables later of searching and finding.  Jesus’ parents are searching for him while he is about doing his Father’s work.  A question arises as to what are we searching for in our lives?  What we choose to search for says a lot about who we are.

Luke

Luke-Acts notes

I am encouraging everyone to read Luke-Acts a chapter a week.  I encourage you to just read one chapter as I know I have the tendency to want to read quickly.  I suggest breaking the chapter into short readings to be read over the course of the week.  For instance chapter one starts with a prolog and then to the birth of John and finally to Mary’s pregnancy.  Read the verses carefully as sometimes familiar verses can be overlooked.  Also reading different versions of the bible is helpful to see how others might have translated the Greek.  When I do an in-depth study I focus on first the NIV, NRSV, and CEB.  When I want to look at how paraphrases might be I go to the Message, NLT, and rarely to the Good News Bible.  There are times the KJV or the NKJV can provide additional insights.  If you have access to a commentary especially one that has been written within the last 10 years that is helpful.  Also a good Bible dictionary can be insightful to look at meaning of names and places that are mentioned in the scriptures.

So what can we tell about these books of the bible.  There are significant differences as well as similarities with the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke are the synoptic gospels due to the number of similarities). The writer appears to be a Gentile and is often associated with Luke who accompanied Paul on a number of trips to spread the gospel to other Gentiles.  His emphasis on women is often seen as one who may be a physician.  Luke takes most of Mark and some of Matthew and adds material that is not found in either of the others.  Matthew was likely written mostly to Jewish Christians.  Mark likewise appears to be written to Jewish Christians.

The writer of these two documents appears to be the same.  The reason is that they are addressed to the same “person”, the emphasis on Gentile ministry, and the use of educated Greek rather than translations from Aramaic or Hebrew.

Luke 1:1-4 Luke’s purpose 

So why is Luke writing?  The key is found in the prolog of the gospel.  Luke is writing to Theophilius.  This name is Greek as is the name of Luke. It is easy to suggest that Luke is writing to recent converts who are gentiles and not Jews.  My CEB bible subtitles the first section of Luke as Luke’s purpose for writing.  The name Theophilus can have a double meaning.  Theo can be translated as God and philus as lover.  So he could be writing to anyone who loves God including you and me.  The purpose of writing is to insure the new believers of the truth which they have been taught.  The author has taken what others have said and letters that were written and decided to write himself in order that believers faith may be strengthened.

The author admits that he does not have firsthand knowledge of what Jesus said or did.  He is gathering what others have written, stories that have been told from the beginning, and other sources.  He is not trying to write something to correct what has been told.  Instead he is trying to write a comprehensive account carefully ordered that will enhance one’s faith.  I was reading Justo Gonzalez commentary on Luke[1] that the author would be like a sports commentator who writes about a sporting event.  Their perspective of the game may contain the basic elements with their particular view.  As mentioned before each of the gospels contain the basic elements but are written is such a way presenting the authors point of view.

The why of the writing is to insure that the reader have confidence in what they had been taught.  Whether Theophilus was a person or applies to all who love God is not that significant except for each of us to remember that Jesus was born, Jesus lived, Jesus died, and Jesus rose.  It that sense all the gospels agree.  The emphasis here with Gentile believers helps with us today that the ministry of Christ is inclusive to all people not just to a select few.

Luke 1:5-25 John the Baptist’s birth foretold

We begin a parallel story with Zechariah and Elizabeth pregnancy and birth and the story of Mary and her pregnancy.  Zechariah was a priest.  As part of his responsibilities, he was chosen by lottery to enter the holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant was located to burn incense and to pray.  Only those chosen priests were allowed to enter into this part of the temple.  The belief was that the presence of God would be found in this part of the temple and only the high priest or those acting on his behalf could be in that presence.

 A side note sometimes names are important to understand when one reads scriptures. So here are some suggestions of names that we will encounter in this first chapter.

Theophilus: friend or lover of God, Greek

Elizabeth: God is my vow, Hebrew. Should remind of the stories of barren women Sara, Hannah, etc.

Zechariah: God has remembered, Hebrew. Note the similarities with the Old Testament Prophet

Mary: several suggestions could mean beloved, Aramaic, Hebrew. A derivative of Miryam or Mariam sister to Moses

Jesus: God Saves, Hebrew.  Yeshua

Gabriel: God is my mighty one, Hebrew.

Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were from the Levites or the priestly tribe.  To best understand what it might have been like for the two of them, a priest in good standing was to have children as a childless couple were seen as being cursed by God.  Can you imagine the gossip that went around about how this supposedly righteous couple would be unable to conceive.  They would be held in contempt with people wondering what sin they had committed to receive the wrath of God.  This despite the many stories of couples who miraculously had children at an advanced age.  So when Gabriel appeared to Zechariah no wonder he doubted, much like Abram and Sara.

Gabriel speaks about John and what he will do. He is to be raised as a nazirite.  He will not drink alcohol. He will act like Elijah proclaiming God’s will and announcing the coming of the Messiah.  He will call the people to repent and to come into a righteous relation with God.  The author than speaks of Zechariah being silenced until the birth of his son. At that point he speaks as a prophet.  One of the themes of Luke-Acts is the silencing of the priests and giving voice to the prophetic.  When Elizabeth becomes pregnant she does not say anything until she is five months along.  She then believes as the child is probably moving and kicking at that time that this is the Lord’s doing and has shown favor to me by removing her disgrace from among the people.

Luke 1:26-38 The Annunciation to Mary

The main difference between Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus and Luke’s is that Joseph has almost no part in the story. His name is only mentioned in passing.  According to Luke the only reason to mention him is that he was descended from the house of David.  In the genealogy of Jesus, we see two lines of both king and priest coming together.  The prophets have always said that the Messiah would come from the house of David.  Luke does emphasize that Mary was a virgin in the physical as well as being a young maiden.

Mary also doubted but is not condemned or silenced for her doubt.  We have the verse 1:17, “Nothing is impossible for God.”  The importance is once again the miraculous birth.  As her relative is pregnant at such an advanced age, now we have a virgin who will conceive.  The writer points to the pregnancies as being special and beyond rational explanation.

Luke 1:39-45 Mary visits Elizabeth

Luke again speaks of women as Mary only greets Elizabeth.  Elizabeth despite her own miraculous pregnancy immediately recognizes Mary’s unborn son.  Both of the cousins respond to the presence of the Messiah.  Elizabeth’s disgrace has been removed and yet she praises Mary the mother of my Lord.  1:45 ends with Elizabeth speaking, “Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”  It is true not just for Elizabeth but for all of us to believe that God will fulfill the promises God has made to all of us.  And that promise will come through Mary’s son.

Luke 1:46-66 The Magnificat and birth of John

After hearing what Elizabeth has to say, Mary praises God.  One of the themes of Luke is that Jesus came to turn things upside down.  The arrogant, prideful, the powerful, and the rich will be brought down and scattered.  It will be the humble and meek people who will be exalted.  He will feed the hungry not just in a spiritual sense but also in the physical sense. (see Luke 4: 14-21; 6:20-26)

Mary stays for 3 months.  At that time, Elizabeth gave birth to John.  When Zechariah was asked to name the child, he did so and at that point was able to speak.  But his first words are not as a priest but as a prophet.

Luke 1:67-80 Zechariah’s prophesy

He begins by calling people to bless God because he has come to help and deliver his people.  He has brought about the Messiah and salvation.  He has shown mercy and remembered his holy covenant.  Zechariah’s son will be called the prophet of the Most High as he goes to prepare the way for the Lord.  John will tell people how to be saved through the forgiveness of their sins.

---

[1] Justo Gonzalez: Luke: Belief A Theological Commentary on the Bible, p14.