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.
Leprosy has historically been one of the most feared diseases. Although people did not understand about germs or bacteria until relatively recently, they did know leprosy was communicable, so lepers have always been shunned and separated from their communities and families.
Leprosy was not just a skin disease that appeared like severe acne or sebaceous cysts—it caused horrible deformities. Since their flesh literally rotted away, lepers often lost fingers, toes, noses, or other appendages. In past times, when people did not often live long enough to deal with heart issues and cancer, leprosy was a greatly feared disease. God instructed the Jews to separate lepers so their disease would not spread. This was a devastating development for people used to living with intimate relationships in close communities.
The complete opposite of being a leper was to be a rich, young ruler. There were few rich people in the Jewish society, and wealth was often correlated with being righteous. How could it be any better than to be young, rich, “righteous,” and the boss? The young ruler and Jesus knew that there was something better…being truly righteous in God’s eyes, not man’s.
In Luke 17:20, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. The Pharisees could have been referring to a time when the Romans would leave Israel and a Davidic kingdom would be established. They could have been referring to a future time when God and the Jews would enjoy a blissful existence together as they ruled over all other kingdoms. Whatever kingdom they were referring to most likely had to do with the Jews receiving special blessings.
Jesus told the Pharisees that the kingdom would not be physical, but that the kingdom was already in their midst. No doubt the Pharisees were clueless about his meaning. Then Jesus gave his disciples much more information about God’s coming kingdom, but even then the disciples were probably as confused as the Pharisees. They could not fathom a situation where the Messiah would go away, be rejected, and then revealed.
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
