Today, we are continuing our journey along Route 66, and we are stopping off to visit the Gospel of Luke…
AUTHOR
The author’s name does not appear in the book, but much unmistakable evidence points to Luke, the companion of Paul. This Gospel is the first of a two-part work which includes the book of Acts. The language and structure of both books indicate the same author. Both are addressed to the same person, Theophilus, and the second volume refers to the first. (See Acts 1:1.)
Certain sections in the book of Acts use the pronoun “we”, indicating that the author was with Paul when the events described took place. By process of elimination Luke becomes the most likely candidate. Luke’s authorship is supported by the testimony of the Muratorian Canon written in AD 170 and the works of Irenaeus, written around AD 180.
So, what was this author like? We may, in fact, know more about Luke than any of the other Gospel authors. When you read this Gospel, you see that the author has the artist’s eye. There are many vivid descriptions of Jesus’ life. Luke may be the only New Testament author who was not a Jew, and he writes for other Gentiles like himself.
We learn from Colossians 4:14 that Luke was a doctor. It has been said that a minister sees people at their best. A lawyer sees people at their worst. And a doctor sees people as they are. Luke saw people and loved them all.
Luke writes to “Theophilus” which may be a person’s name or a catch-all term like “Everyman”. “Theophilus” means “lover of God”. Luke calls Theophilus, “most excellent”. That was a term for a high official in the Roman government. This leads one to wonder whether Luke wrote his Gospel and the Acts as a defense of Paul when Paul went on trial before Caesar.
Luke was not an eyewitness to the events of Jesus’ life. But as a trusted companion of Paul, he may have had access to any number of people who knew Jesus, including Jesus’ mother Mary and Jesus’ first disciples. Luke clearly uses Mark as a source, as well as Q, and his own unique source which scholars designate by the letter “L”. Luke was a fact-checker who carried out a very careful investigation to provide a most reliable account of the life of Jesus.
DATE
Some scholars hold that the Gospel of Luke may have been written as early as AD 59-63. This date is to be preferred if indeed Luke prepared the book of Acts as a defense of Paul’s ministry directed to the authorities in Rome. If that is the case, then it would make sense that Luke and Acts may both have been written before Paul’s death which is generally presumed to have taken place during the persecution under Nero in AD 64. However, other scholars have noted that Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem is much more specific in Luke’s Gospel. Therefore, the Gospel appears to be written by someone who knew exactly how the destruction came about in AD 70. If this is true, then the final version of Luke and Acts may have been written after AD 70. Still other scholars point out differences between Luke’s account of Paul’s life and things that Paul says about his own life in his letters. These scholars suggest that the author of the Gospel and Acts did not even know the Apostle Paul and that these works were written long after Paul’s death, perhaps in the late first century. I tend to agree with those scholars who date this Gospel early, though parts of it may have been finalized after AD 70.
THEMES
The first four verses of Luke’s Gospel indicate that this is a very carefully written account. Luke’s Greek is notably good. The first four verses offer, perhaps, the best Greek in the whole of the New Testament.
Luke is very interested in history. For example, Luke dates the emergence of John the Baptist in line with no fewer than six markers: (1) the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, (2) Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee, (3) Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, (4) Philip being tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, (5) Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene, and (6) at the same time as the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. (Luke 3:1-2)
Luke’s Gospel is especially the Gospel of prayer. He shows us Jesus at prayer more than any of the other Gospels. And Luke’s Gospel is the only one to give us the parables of the friend at midnight and the unjust judge which are all about prayer.
Luke shows a special interest in women. The place of women in Palestine was relatively low. In the ancient Jewish morning prayer, every man would give thanks that God had not made him a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. But Luke gives a special place to women in his Gospel. The birth narrative is told from Mary’s perspective. It is in Luke’s Gospel that we hear of Elizabeth, Anna, the widow of Nain, as well as the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet. Luke gives us a vivid portrayal of the sisters Mary and Martha, as well as a portrait of Mary Magdalene. Luke may have been a native of Macedonia where women held a more emancipated position than many other places in the Roman Empire.
This is also the Gospel of praise. The phrase “praising God” occurs more in Luke than in the rest of the New Testament combined. In the first two chapters Luke gives us what would become three famous prayers of praise: the Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc Dimittis.
Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of this Gospel is that it is universal. All barriers are down. Jesus is for all people without distinction and without limit. In Luke’s Gospel the kingdom of God is not shut to the Samaritans. Luke alone tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this Gospel Jesus speaks with approval about many Gentiles.
Luke also shows a special interest in the poor. This is the only Gospel with the parable of the rich man and the poor man. Matthew’s Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” But Luke’s Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.” Luke shows Jesus as the friend of outcasts.
STRUCTURE
The structure of Luke’s Gospel works out like this…
- The Preface (1:1-4)
- The Infancy Narratives (1:5-2:52)
- The Preparation of Jesus for his Public Ministry (3:1-4:13)
- Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee (4:14-9:9)
- Jesus Withdraws to Regions around Galilee (9:10-50)
- Jesus’ Ministry in Judea (9:51-13:21)
- Jesus’ Ministry in and around Perea (13:22-19:27)
- Jesus Goes Up to Jerusalem: The Place of his Sacrifice and Triumph (19:28-24:53)
KEY CONCEPT: SEEKING & SAVING THE LOST
Luke talks about lost things and losing more than any other book of the Bible. Luke is the only one who shows us Jesus telling three stories in a row about three lost things: a lost coin, a lost sheep, and two lost sons. (See Luke 15.)
Then, just in case we missed his message, in Luke 19:10, Luke records Jesus as saying, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 may be the key verse of the entire Gospel. And it comes at the end of one of Luke’s most distinctive stories. Allow me to read that story to you now. Listen for God’s word to you as I read beginning in Luke 19:1…
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Why was Jesus passing through Jericho and where was he going? Jesus had just told his disciples…
See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again. (Luke 18:31-33)
Luke tells us that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was talking about. But I think it is important for us, as readers of Luke’s Gospel, to keep in mind where Jesus was going as he passed through Jericho.
The next thing Luke tells us is that there was a man in Jericho whose name was Zacchaeus. The name comes from a Hebrew root word that means to be bright, clean, or pure. But most Jews in first century Palestine would not have thought of a tax collector as bright, clean, or pure. The reason for this is because tax collectors not only represented the hated oppressor, Rome, but to make a living, they would add their own fee on top of the taxes they collected. And some of these fees might be exorbitant. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. So, this means that he had reached the pinnacle of his profession, but he had done so at the expense of others.
Now, Luke tells us that Zacchaeus “was trying to see who Jesus was.” Here was this famous healer and teacher passing through town. It was understandable that Zacchaeus might want to get a good look at him, just as any of us might like to see any famous person passing through our town. But Zacchaeus wasn’t the only one trying to see Jesus. There was a great crowd lining the street as Jesus came along. Zacchaeus could not see over the heads of the people in the crowd because he was short. So, he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus.
However, Zacchaeus was not just trying to see Jesus; he was trying to see who Jesus was. I believe we too need to seek to see who Jesus is. Finding out who Jesus is may be the most important thing we can do in this life. That is, if Jesus really was who he claimed to be, the Son of God. If Jesus was not the Son of God, then I don’t think finding out about him is any more important than finding out about any other ancient teacher.
There is also another side to seeking… Not only was Zacchaeus seeking Jesus on that day in Jericho, but even more importantly—it appears that Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus.
Passing through Jericho, Jesus sees old Zacchaeus up in that sycamore tree and he calls him by name: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”
That line leads me to believe Jesus had an appointment, of sorts, with Zacchaeus that day. Jesus knew Zacchaeus by name. If you want to look at it from a cosmic perspective, the reason Jesus knew his name was because he was Zacchaeus’s creator. The opening of John’s Gospel identifies Jesus with the “logos”, the reasoning power behind the universe that was with God in the beginning. (See John 1:11-3.)
So, I would suggest to you that Jesus knows everything about us because he is our creator… and I believe he has an appointment with us today… I believe that Jesus is calling out to each one of us today. He wants to stay at our house. Even more, he wants to live inside of us from this day forward and forever.
What is our response to this?
When Jesus told Zacchaeus that he was to stay at his house that day, Zacchaeus came down immediately and received Jesus gladly into his home.
Many years ago, I had the blessing of sitting on the back porch of Billy Graham’s mountaintop home. Later that day I was supposed to deliver a talk to a group of children. I mentioned that to Billy and so he asked me, “What are you going to talk about?”
I said, “I’m going to talk about Zacchaeus.”
And then Billy asked me, “Do you know what D. L. Moody said about Zacchaeus?”
I said, “No.”
And then Billy explained, “Moody said that Zacchaeus was converted between the limb and the ground.” I love that!
I hope that you too, if you have not yet been converted, would be converted between the limb and the ground. If you do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I hope that you find exactly that before you leave here today. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!”
When Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus tumbled down from that tree limb, the people began to mutter, Jesus “has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus was an outcast. And it makes me wonder… who are the outcasts of today? Who are the people we would rather not have anything to do with? Who are the people we would find it difficult to welcome into our church with open arms and a warm embrace?
Zacchaeus knew what people were thinking and saying about him. He knew he was an outcast. But his encounter with Jesus so transformed his mind and heart that he wanted to set everything right both with God and other people. So, in response to the grumbling crowd, and even more, in response to the grace of Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus said, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
The restitution that Zacchaeus made was more than what was demanded by Jewish law. His life was so overcome by the power and love of Jesus that he wanted to give back more than what he had stolen from others.
I believe that if Jesus has entered our house, we too will want to set things right with God and others… Jesus entered my family’s house in 1949 when my father quit organized crime and committed his life to follow Jesus at a Billy Graham meeting. When Jesus entered my father’s life, my dad wanted to set things right with other people. He set about repaying everyone he had ever cheated, swindled, or stolen from. He and my mother liquidated all their assets; they sold their car and their home. When they were finished, they had next to nothing left. But from that time forward God took care of all their financial and physical needs.
When Zacchaeus gave half his possessions to the poor and paid back those whom he had cheated, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
I have shared the story before, but I think it bears repeating… There was a boy who fashioned a model boat out of wood. And when he was finished, he took it down to the stream behind his house to test it out. The current was swift that day and carried the boat away before the boy could retrieve it. His prize possession was lost.
A few days later, the boy saw another little boy down by the stream playing with his boat. The first boy approached the second and said, “That’s my boat. I made it and I want it back.”
The second boy said, “Well, if you want it, you’re going to have to pay me for it.”
Assembling all the money he had saved from his allowance, the first boy paid to get his boat back from the second boy. And as he walked away from that transaction, boat in hand, he was heard to say, “Little boat, you are twice mine, because I made you and I bought you.”
I believe Jesus says something like that to you and me today. He made us and he bought us by his blood shed on the cross.
But the difference between us and that little boat is that we have a choice about whether we will truly belong to him. The choice is ours. And when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ amazing things can happen between the limb and the ground…
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