Introduction To The GospelsSample

Distinctive Themes in Luke

Luke’s gospel answers the question “Who is Jesus?” by proclaiming that He is the compassionate Savior of the world. Jesus brought God’s salvation to the rich and the poor alike, to the religious leaders and to the social outcasts. Jesus’ good news was for everyone — even for the unnoticed and the despised. Luke emphasized this in many ways. Jesus honored the sisters Mary and Martha in a time when many men considered women inferior. Luke recorded parables and narratives that presented women, the sick and the crippled, and even non-Jews, as worthy of praise and imitation. Jesus praised the widow who gave her small life’s savings at the temple. Luke told the story of the despised tax collector Zacchaeus, whose response to Jesus was a model for all Luke’s readers. Time after time, Luke recorded Jesus’ concerns for those that society rejected or overlooked. 

As just one example, consider this account from Luke 7:12-16:

As [Jesus] approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out — the only son of his mother, and she was a widow... When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave Him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help His people.” 

In the first-century Roman world, a widow who had lost her son would have had little means of provision, and little opportunity to find work. By emphasizing Jesus’ compassion for her, Luke pointed out that the Lord’s work as a savior was intended even for the poor and helpless. As the people at the end of this account commented, Jesus’ ministry to the needy and powerless was proof that God had come to help His people.

So, how does Luke’s gospel answer the second question: How do we follow Jesus? Well, in keeping with Luke’s concern for the poor, one thing we can do is have compassion on others. We should care for the poor, and strive to meet their needs. We should be willing to give our possessions, food, money and time to sustain them. In fact, God often sends charitable Christians in answer to the prayers of the needy. As Jesus said in Luke 12:33:

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 

When we follow Jesus faithfully by caring for His people, He rewards us with an eternal inheritance.

Another way we can follow Jesus is by resting confidently in the fact that God will meet our needs too.  Consider Jesus’ words in Luke 12:22-31:

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear… And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it... But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 

As members of God’s kingdom, we can be confident that our great king Jesus Christ will care for us and meet our needs.

And this emphasis on trusting the Savior is closely related to two other themes in Luke’s gospel: peace and joy. For instance, near the beginning of Luke’s gospel, in Luke 2:10-14, we read this angelic announcement:

I bring you good news of great joy … Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. 

And twenty-two chapters later, Luke ended his gospel the same way he began it. At the end of his story, the disciples were following Jesus and experiencing the joy that the angels had prophesied back in chapter 2. Consider Luke’s final words in 24:52-53:

Then they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. 

In Luke’s gospel, following Jesus means rejoicing in our salvation and all of God’s blessings, peacefully resting in Him, trusting in Him to meet all our needs, and being willing to be used by Him to bring these same blessings to others.