Luke is the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It tells of his origin, life, teachings, ministry and miracles. It tells of his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Consequently, Luke may be the most informative book in the Bible.
The Luke Series is a set of narrations based on the Bible’s book of Luke. Luke said that in writing his book that he investigated everything before writing Luke. His investigation included examining written materials and talking to eyewitnesses. This series is meant to imitate some of the stories Luke might have heard, as well as explore their meaning and importance. This series is true to the Bible, but fills in story lines based on history, geography, and imagination. Think of this series as being similar to a movie based on the book of Luke.
This series presumes that the author of Luke is Luke, a doctor who was a good friend and companion of Paul. That presumption sets the stage for Luke being able to correctly assess the veracity of the birth accounts of both John the Baptist and Jesus, and to understand their importance, both physically and spiritually. Don’t you imagine Luke, a doctor, was hesitant to write about miracles? But he believed in them to the point that he started his book with two miracle stories that could only be considered unlikely, if not outlandish.
John the Apostle was part of the inner circle of Jesus. He was also the author of five books in the New Testament. Yet with all of that, the authors of Matthew, Mark, and Luke hardly quote him.
John called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” That probably wasn’t an overstatement, because Jesus entrusted his mother, Mary, to John upon his death.
As Luke describes the middle part of Jesus’ ministry, he starts relating more stories about the seriousness of committing to follow Jesus. Jesus was running out of time to train his apostles and certainly had less time to spend with disciples who would not fully commit to him. When Jesus sent out the seventy disciples, it was an opportunity for them to learn the rewards of full commitment. One reward was that Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
As you read Luke 10, notice how Jesus stresses the importance of full commitment in both his actions and his stories. Even in his confrontation with the Pharisees, he makes it clear that you simply being close to being committed is not enough. He says we have to love God with all our hearts, soul, strength and mind, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Those are surely high bars of commitment!
Luke is the only Gospel source for the parable of the Good Samaritan. Notice that Jesus tells the parable in response to the question, “Who qualifies for me to love them as much as I love myself?” It is ironic that the expert in the law asked that question to Jesus, since surely Jesus would ask himself that very question on many occasions since the beginning of time. Think of the parable in that context and you may think of Jesus in a new way.
Luke – Troy Powell Theophilus – Michael Page Mary – Chana Keefer John the Baptist – Sam Austin Satan – Christian Heep James – Andy Axewell Matthew – James Hansen Prince Right Hand Man – Ben Hall Centurion – Werner Richmond Mary Magdalene – Trisha Zarate James the Apostle – Lynn Andrews John the Apostle – John Ferguson Pharisee – M. Serrano Martha – Monica Peña Crippled Woman – Patty Pell Gardener – Adam Cope Judas Iscariot – Grey Acuña Lazarus (The Beggar) – Jeff Swearingen Tenth Leper – Eduardo Vildasol Young Ruler – Matthew Allen Holmes Zacchaeus – Chad Cline Andrew – Oscar Seung Peter – Francis Fuselier Pilate – Matthew Roy
