We often take the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for granted and sometimes even skip over them as we try to grow as or mature as Christians. However, as I grow older, the more I see the need to slow down and pull out a magnifying glass to take a closer look at things I thought I knew so well. This is the case with the book of Luke.
As with Acts, we see Luke as a commissioned investigator tasked with getting all the details about Jesus and the early church for one Theophilus as we can read in Luke 1:1-4…
“Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”
While many of us have spent years reading and re-reading these passages, they still hold more than we may recall. From the selection of the 12 apostles to the beatitudes. But do we remember the woes? Have we read all Jesus said about loving our enemies and just how far we are EXPECTED to go for them and why? If we were a tree, what fruit would we produce and how? What are we building on?
In the second lesson, we take a look at one of the most faithful men Jesus ever met, and the fact he was NOT a Jew! I pose the question, could this man have been Cornelius or another early convert to Christianity? We see the pomp that arose from two large crowds, first morning the death of a widow’s son to the celebration and shock of him being raised to life before their eyes! We finish with John the Baptizer sending his own disciples to Jesus to ask just Who he is.
The lessons today begin in Luke 6:12 and continue to the end of Luke 7. Please listen to both and see if you have forgotten some of the words of Christ or the Person he was…
Lesson 1: Luke chapter 6
Lesson 2: Luke chapter 7
