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.
The Pharisees and Jesus start confronting each other early in his ministry. The Pharisees were religious leaders intent on obeying their strict interpretation of the laws of Moses. In fact, they created hundreds of rules to make sure that nobody would ever come close to breaking the laws. Unfortunately, in their efforts to obey the rules, they often forgot the reason for the rules, frequently neglecting the fact that God loves people and wants them to be healed, both physically and spiritually.
In the opening scene of this episode, a man with a deformity stands in need of healing. This man had a withered right hand, which was a disastrous event at the time, meaning he couldn’t work at hard physical labor, couldn’t be a full member of the synagogue, and would have a hard time finding a good wife. He would surely have died a little inside every time someone looked at him with pity or disdain. When Jesus heals him, it changes far more than just his hand.
However, the event occurs on the Sabbath when the Pharisees had concluded that any act of healing would be “working”. Since it was prohibited to work on the Sabbath, Jesus was in violation of the Pharisees interpretation of the Law. No matter how much it helped the man, it was not appropriate to do on the Sabbath.
The healing of the man with a withered hand was just the start of how Jesus would show people that their world-views were often contrary to God’s desires, that they could follow the Law to the letter while completely missing its spirit. It would not be long before the people around Jesus began to understand the words of an ancient prophet, “God desires mercy, not sacrifice.”
Sometimes it appears as if Jesus chose his apostles almost at random. It might be better seen that Jesus wanted everyone to follow him, but concentrated on certain people. His apostles, however were chosen from among many followers. How did Jesus choose them? After spending a night praying to God!
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
