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.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video playback.
Over the centuries, many people have observed that Jesus was one of the first world leaders concerned with women’s rights. When it came to women, Jesus wasn’t as concerned with the day-to-day societal norms as he was with their worth. In many ancient societies, including the time when Jesus was born, women were considered property, with worth far below that of men—the Roman Empire even codified this in their laws. It was only during the following decades that women started receiving more legal rights.
Jesus cared for women as much as men. He healed them, he talked to them, he taught them, he loved them, and in doing so, he made it clear that God loves women as much as he loves men. That is one reason why so many women followed Jesus and cared for his needs and the needs of the apostles, as well as rose to positions of leadership in the early Church.
One of the things that is challenging about the Gospel stories is that there are so many women named Mary, and it is not always clear which one is which. The mother of Jesus is named Mary. The sister of Martha and Lazarus is named Mary. A woman who was healed of seven demons is named Mary and sometimes referred to as Mary Magdalene. The mother of John Mark is named Mary. There is a woman married to Clopas named Mary, who was the mother of James and Joseph. And even that information is not perfectly clear and undisputed.
This episode is narrated by Mary Magdalene. Many people associate things with Mary Magdalene that are not necessarily verified in the Bible. Perhaps this episode will clear up some misunderstandings.
With the Parable of the Sower, Luke shows Jesus starting to teach in parables, which is essentially a short story with spiritual meaning. One of the interesting things about the Parable of the Sower is that Jesus explained the meaning of the parable to his close disciples. The Gospel writers did not record that happening very often.
According to Luke, the story of the demoniac living in the country of the Gerasenes is a true story, not a parable. The end of that story is very intriguing, in that the healed man wanted to follow Jesus, but was instead commanded to return home and tell people what God had done for him. What did the former demoniac do? He went through the whole city telling people—and therefore showing them—what Jesus had done!
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
