Welcome to the Gospel of Luke. In this video I want to introduce you to the third of the four Gospels. By word count, not by chapter count, Luke is actually the longest of the four Gospels. And from chapter 1 to 24 he spans the largest amount of time, taking you before the birth of Jesus and even before the birth of John the Baptist, all the way to the post-resurrection scenes, not only with his disciples, but his ascension at the very end of Luke 24. Luke makes an important contribution then. He's also the writer of the book of Acts. So Luke's gospel is really volume one of a two volume contribution that this important writer makes to the New Testament. And of course we'll get to Acts soon enough. But for now the third of the fourth gospels, it's written by a man who is deemed a doctor not one of the 12 disciples. He is a doctor according to the book of Colossians. He traveled with Paul. He engaged in missions journeys for the spread of the good news. But he was not one of the 12 disciples. In fact, according to how some read Colossians chapter 4, Luke was likely a Gentile and a follower of the Lord Jesus, a co-missionary with Paul as well as a physician. Luke aims to set out an orderly account, writing his gospel for a man named Theophilus and all those who would be reading it beyond Theophilus. Theophilus was likely the financial benefactor to help fund and support the production of his gospel. The materials and the time that it would take to produce the gospel of Luke would not have been cheap, it would not have been quick, it would not have been easy. And so likely someone named Theophilus serves that important role for the gospel of Luke. Luke tells us in the first two chapters what are behind the scenes and in the backgrounds and preceding the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. And he presents in these chapters the events in a split-screen fashion, where you're seeing the backgrounds to John the Baptist's arrival, and the backgrounds to Jesus' arrival. And He lets you alternate back and forth. Then when John the Baptist is born, and then Jesus is born, John the Baptist's birth will lead to his public ministry, as will Jesus' birth. Those are the most important things that these men were born to accomplish. So in Luke 3, John the Baptist's ministry is in full swing. And you see him baptizing. The religious leaders come to him with suspicion. He even baptizes Jesus. And in Luke chapter 4, Jesus, after His baptism, goes into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the evil one. After Jesus' temptation, at the end of Luke 4, He goes to His hometown. The hometown, not His birth town, which was Bethlehem, but the hometown, which is Nazareth. And in His hometown synagogue, He proclaims from the book of Isaiah that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61 verses 1 and following. He is that Spirit-anointed Deliverer for the people who has good news and the power to bring liberation from captivity. This unnerves people, but it gives a very strong sense for the reader of Luke's Gospel what the mission of Jesus will entail. He's not come to fit His agenda in the agenda of everyone around Him. He's bringing new wine, and it won't fit into the old wineskins. The ministry of Jesus includes wonders and signs. It includes miracles of various categories. It includes authoritative teachings. Luke's gospel includes those same kinds of things that Matthew and Mark included as well. One of the places you will notice subjects sounding very similar to Matthew's gospel is in Luke chapter 6. You'll see Jesus giving a series of beatitudes, you'll see Him talking about prayer, you'll see Him talking about loving your enemies and not loving money. In Luke chapter 6, some people have said, this sounds a lot like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Now even though Matthew 5-7 is much longer than Luke 6, Luke 6 does have overlapping subjects But it's not because it was the same occasion. We notice from Luke chapter 6 that this sermon was not given on a mountain, but on a level place, a plane. The sermon on the plane, as it's sometimes called in Luke 6. It's important to note that like traveling teachers of the ancient world, Jesus would have spoken about multiple subjects as He traveled. The Kingdom of God, as well as disciplines of the disciples. When Jesus travels, you would expect Him to talk about prayer, and to say similar things about beatitudes, addressing subjects like money, subjects like loving your enemies. When Jesus speaks about this in Luke 6, it doesn't mean it's the same occasion as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Instead, it shows that as Jesus traveled, He talked about the same kinds of things that a traveling teacher of His renown and repute would have. And for His disciples, as the crowds gathered and followed Him, they would have heard Him teach like an itinerant speaker about the same subjects throughout the Promised Land. And I think that's the way to understand Luke 6 and the teaching that's given there. You will see miracles though and parables that are included in Luke, not found in Matthew and Mark. One of the great contributions to Luke's gospel then are some unique stories, unique elements. You'll see, for example, a resurrection from the dead that's not found in the earlier Gospels. You will see parables like the parable of the lost sheep, coin, and prodigal son that are not put together like this in the earlier Gospels. Luke's account makes contribution in these kinds of ways. Fresh teachings and parables that we've not read to this point. I also want you to notice as you read the theme of Jesus' meals, because He eats with just about everybody. He doesn't exclude people from hospitality like the world would have deemed people worthy to be across the table with. Jesus engages meals with religious leaders. Jesus engages meals with sinners and tax collectors who would have been deemed as those unworthy to share a meal with such a popular rabbi. Jesus is showing by this hospitality that He's come to fill His table with people who don't necessarily meet the categories of the world's standards, of who is important and who's not. To Jesus, everybody is made in the image of God. And He wants to show love, compassion, mercy, hospitality, and offer salvation and forgiveness to people no matter their background and no matter their age or gender. Jesus has come for the nations. And one of the ways you can see His heart for sinners is actually in the meal scenes. So pay attention to those as you're reading in Luke's Gospel. When you get to about chapter 9 and verse 51, a very strong structural shift is noted by New Testament scholars. They see how Jesus aims His face like flint or steel toward Jerusalem. He is focused, and from Luke 9, 51 and following, there is this journey toward Jerusalem. Now, it bends here and it bends there, it's not a linear straight line, but as Jesus travels and as He goes around in the regions, Jerusalem is in view. Now, of course, that's the purpose for His birth, but Luke, in Luke 9.51 and in several places that will follow, he makes it abundantly clear that Jerusalem is on the mind of Jesus more than it has ever been in a practical sense. Jerusalem and Passion Week are coming to be the fulfillment of His earthly mission. And, as you notice that particular chapter, you'll also notice in that very chapter of Luke 9, a transfiguration where Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus. Matthew and Mark have recorded the transfiguration as well. But something important happens in Luke chapter 9, where Elijah and Moses are said to be speaking with Jesus about the departure that He will have at Jerusalem. And the word departure is from the Greek word, Exodus, which means Exodus. His departure or His exodus that He will accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9 is an important transition period in the Gospels structure. Not only is Jesus going to be focused on Jerusalem, we're learning from Luke 9 that His accomplishment in Jerusalem will be a new exodus. He's come to bring deliverance, like a new Moses. in new Israel to lead His people into new and greater promises and inheritance and life. That's what He will accomplish, and that will be better than even the great Old Testament exodus where God's mighty hand and outstretched arms accomplished wonders. Jesus' mighty hands and His outstretched arms on the cross will accomplish greater wonders and deliverance than even Moses did in the book of Exodus. Also I want you to notice the strong emphasis on discipleship after Luke 9. Jesus will teach and instruct His disciples about the cost of following Him. They're going to be taking up their cross, they're going to be counting the cost, they're going to be weighing the realities of coming suffering and persecution. They can't take following Jesus lightly. He is like the Son of Man having nowhere to lay His head. They have to be willing to cast themselves upon Him with allegiance and devotion, even if it confounds the wisdom of the world. And I wonder if you as a reader can resonate with that. If you would read the Gospel of Luke, eager to be a disciple of Jesus, even in ways that confound the world, the way that we love our neighbor, the way that we love and bless our enemies, the way that we would seek to follow Jesus that breaks and confounds the categories the world wants to conform us in. Luke's gospel is taking you to the same place that Matthew and Mark do, taking you to Passion Week, taking you to that place outside Jerusalem where He will die on the cross after being rejected and suffering and on His way to His death on Passover. Jesus' death will be followed on the third day by resurrection in Luke 24, but uniquely Luke 24 will give you some passion, some post-resurrection experiences and conversations, and most interestingly in Luke 24 at the end, the ascension of the Lord Jesus to the Father. This ascension is the closing and climax of Luke's Gospel, beginning with what preceded the birth of Jesus and now ending with what comes after His resurrection, His ascension. Luke's Gospel makes a wonderful contribution to the four by giving us that wide panorama for us to read and appreciate. So friends, I hope you'll get reading in the Gospel of Luke. Keep a lookout for the things that I have mentioned so far. Notice some of the structural emphases like Luke 1 and 2, and Luke 9, 51 and following, and especially Luke 24 after the resurrection of Jesus. See the unique ways in which Luke is giving you and telling you the story of Jesus in the orderly way he has designed it. It's not just for Theophilus. The Gospel of Luke is for you, and it's for me.