- What if there's a
particular book of the Bible
00:00:01.30\00:00:02.46
that was
specifically written for you?
00:00:02.46\00:00:05.67
Chances are there is, and
that's what we're gonna look at
00:00:05.67\00:00:08.87
on today's
installment of "Authentic."
00:00:08.87\00:00:12.27
[gentle upbeat music]
00:00:12.27\00:00:15.44
We're right in
the middle of a series
00:00:33.56\00:00:34.93
on the four Gospel accounts,
00:00:34.93\00:00:36.43
the four eyewitness
accounts of the life
00:00:36.43\00:00:38.83
and teachings of Jesus, who
wrote them, why they wrote them,
00:00:38.83\00:00:43.14
and why they're
still so important.
00:00:43.14\00:00:45.91
So if you're joining
us for the first time,
00:00:45.91\00:00:47.48
you might wanna
go to the website,
00:00:47.48\00:00:48.91
VoiceOfProphecy.com
and click on the show tab
00:00:48.91\00:00:51.91
for "Authentic" and look
for the first three episodes.
00:00:51.91\00:00:55.22
Of course, and I
think we're also available
00:00:55.22\00:00:57.62
on a variety of
podcast platforms
00:00:57.62\00:00:59.79
so there's a pretty
good chance you can find
00:00:59.79\00:01:01.69
the previous episodes
on one of those as well.
00:01:01.69\00:01:04.46
Now, today we're moving
on to the Gospel of Luke,
00:01:04.46\00:01:07.50
which is
everybody's favorite Gospel
00:01:07.50\00:01:09.36
during the Christmas
season because it provides
00:01:09.36\00:01:12.33
the most detail when it
comes to the birth of Christ.
00:01:12.33\00:01:15.80
Millions of people know
parts of Luke's Gospel by heart,
00:01:15.80\00:01:19.47
whether they know it or not,
00:01:19.47\00:01:21.04
because of its
seasonal prominence.
00:01:21.04\00:01:23.98
I'm thinking of passages
00:01:23.98\00:01:25.25
like these famous
lines from Luke 2.
00:01:25.25\00:01:28.12
I'll read them to you
from the old King James Version
00:01:28.12\00:01:30.59
because that's the
version most of you
00:01:30.59\00:01:32.65
are going to recognize.
00:01:32.65\00:01:33.92
It says, "And it
came to pass in those days
00:01:33.92\00:01:37.73
that there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus
00:01:37.73\00:01:40.43
that all the
world should be taxed."
00:01:40.43\00:01:43.26
So of course, that's the
reason that Joseph and Mary
00:01:43.26\00:01:46.87
were in Bethlehem the
night that Christ was born,
00:01:46.87\00:01:49.37
because in order to
comply with the census,
00:01:49.37\00:01:52.51
everybody had to report
to their ancestral hometown.
00:01:52.51\00:01:56.04
Historically,
the need to go home
00:01:56.04\00:01:58.51
probably wasn't a
Roman idea because the Romans
00:01:58.51\00:02:01.58
tended to create
census data based on the place
00:02:01.58\00:02:04.65
you currently live,
the way we do it now,
00:02:04.65\00:02:07.69
and in some parts of the empire,
00:02:07.69\00:02:09.19
like up to the North
among the barbarians,
00:02:09.19\00:02:11.66
they simply listed
people by their tribes,
00:02:11.66\00:02:14.10
which made pretty good sense
because the Germanic tribes
00:02:14.10\00:02:17.50
were often on the move.
00:02:17.50\00:02:19.77
But among the Jews,
the idea of ancestral land
00:02:19.77\00:02:23.57
was so important that
Herod probably thought
00:02:23.57\00:02:26.68
that doing the census
in your family's hometown,
00:02:26.68\00:02:29.68
rather than the
place you currently lived,
00:02:29.68\00:02:32.08
made really good sense.
00:02:32.08\00:02:34.42
But now of course,
00:02:34.42\00:02:35.58
I'm wandering off
course just a little bit,
00:02:35.58\00:02:37.22
so let's get back to the
Gospel according to Luke.
00:02:37.22\00:02:40.12
The first few
chapters are easily
00:02:40.12\00:02:42.22
some of the best-recognized
passages from the Bible
00:02:42.22\00:02:45.06
because of their
popularity at Christmas,
00:02:45.06\00:02:48.10
but they might
just be well known
00:02:48.10\00:02:49.80
for another important reason.
00:02:49.80\00:02:52.50
When we looked
at Matthew's Gospel,
00:02:52.50\00:02:54.60
we saw that he was
creating an account of Jesus
00:02:54.60\00:02:57.17
for people of a
Jewish background
00:02:57.17\00:02:59.57
and he was
emphasizing that Jesus
00:02:59.57\00:03:01.48
was the legal son of
David, the King of the Jews.
00:03:01.48\00:03:04.91
And so the first Gospel
has come to be associated
00:03:04.91\00:03:08.25
with a lion, specifically
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
00:03:08.25\00:03:12.85
Then we saw that Mark
was writing for unbelievers
00:03:12.85\00:03:15.96
and focused largely
on the acts of Christ,
00:03:15.96\00:03:18.83
the things that Jesus did,
00:03:18.83\00:03:20.90
in an attempt to persuade people
to consider Jesus' claims.
00:03:20.90\00:03:24.67
Historically, the church has
often identified Mark's Gospel
00:03:24.67\00:03:28.14
with the figure of an
ox because it shows Jesus,
00:03:28.14\00:03:31.74
the patient Servant,
00:03:31.74\00:03:33.21
who came to work for
the broken human race.
00:03:33.21\00:03:36.11
So today we come to Luke,
00:03:36.11\00:03:38.01
a book that was written by a
Gentile for a Gentile audience,
00:03:38.01\00:03:42.72
and it emphasizes
Jesus as the Son of Man,
00:03:42.72\00:03:46.49
the member of the
Godhead who condescended
00:03:46.49\00:03:49.02
to become a real
flesh-and-blood human being.
00:03:49.02\00:03:52.63
This is why the
genealogy in Luke 3
00:03:52.63\00:03:55.53
is different from
the one in Matthew 1.
00:03:55.53\00:03:59.20
Matthew was tracing Jesus back
to the illustrious King David
00:03:59.20\00:04:02.57
through Joseph,
through his adopted father,
00:04:02.57\00:04:05.97
to establish that
Jesus was indeed a legal heir
00:04:05.97\00:04:08.94
to the royal family,
00:04:08.94\00:04:10.78
but Luke traces the
family line through Mary,
00:04:10.78\00:04:13.92
and you'll notice he
goes all the way back to Adam,
00:04:13.92\00:04:17.22
who is said to
be the Son of God,
00:04:17.22\00:04:20.29
and the reason for
that is to prove that Jesus
00:04:20.29\00:04:23.32
is fully human, the Son of Man,
00:04:23.32\00:04:25.93
a genuine member
of the human race,
00:04:25.93\00:04:28.36
and so the historical
symbol for this Gospel
00:04:28.36\00:04:31.00
naturally was a man.
00:04:31.00\00:04:33.87
So what we have
so far in the Gospels
00:04:33.87\00:04:36.54
is a lion, an ox, and a man,
00:04:36.54\00:04:38.37
which are three of the
four faces on the cherubim
00:04:38.37\00:04:41.61
that you find in
Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4.
00:04:41.61\00:04:46.01
When we finally
get to John's Gospel,
00:04:46.01\00:04:48.12
you can easily guess
what the symbol is going to be
00:04:48.12\00:04:50.59
because the fourth face
of the cherubim was an eagle.
00:04:50.59\00:04:54.29
So, in antiquity,
each of the four Gospels
00:04:54.29\00:04:57.96
was thought to be one of
the four faces of the cherubim,
00:04:57.96\00:05:01.26
which I think we
discussed at some length
00:05:01.26\00:05:03.06
in the first
part of this series.
00:05:03.06\00:05:05.17
Now let's zero in
on the Gospel of Luke,
00:05:05.17\00:05:08.70
and maybe the
first thing we should do
00:05:08.70\00:05:10.31
is simply identify the author.
00:05:10.31\00:05:12.54
Luke is not a Hebrew name
00:05:12.54\00:05:14.61
and that's because
Luke was not a Jew.
00:05:14.61\00:05:16.61
He was a doctor who came
from the city of Antioch,
00:05:16.61\00:05:19.41
a key center of influence
00:05:19.41\00:05:20.95
for the burgeoning Christian
movement of the first century.
00:05:20.95\00:05:23.92
In fact, Antioch was the first
place that believers in Jesus
00:05:23.92\00:05:28.02
were called Christians,
00:05:28.02\00:05:29.69
even though the word was
originally meant to be an
00:05:29.69\00:05:32.39
insult, it was disparaging,
and Luke was one of those
00:05:32.39\00:05:36.03
Christians, a Gentile who
accepted that Jesus was God in
00:05:36.03\00:05:40.67
human flesh. And of course
that was a rather difficult
00:05:40.67\00:05:43.30
proposition for most Gentiles
to accept because it was really
00:05:43.30\00:05:47.21
hard for the
Hellenistic or the Greek mind
00:05:47.21\00:05:49.81
to believe that a
God would lower himself
00:05:49.81\00:05:52.51
to assume a
purely physical existence
00:05:52.51\00:05:55.92
because physical
existence, the Greeks believed,
00:05:55.92\00:05:58.22
was far less than perfect.
00:05:58.22\00:06:00.79
In fact, many
Gentile philosophers
00:06:00.79\00:06:02.89
believed that the one
who made this physical world
00:06:02.89\00:06:05.43
we live in couldn't
possibly be the supreme being.
00:06:05.43\00:06:09.66
As far as they were concerned,
00:06:09.66\00:06:11.17
it must have been the work
of a lesser god of some kind
00:06:11.17\00:06:13.84
because the Almighty God
would simply never lower himself
00:06:13.84\00:06:17.74
to the level of
this material world.
00:06:17.74\00:06:20.04
So in other words, Dr. Luke
had his work cut out for him
00:06:20.04\00:06:23.08
because if he was
going to persuade Gentiles
00:06:23.08\00:06:25.85
that God had
come in human flesh,
00:06:25.85\00:06:28.48
well, that was gonna
take a lot of convincing,
00:06:28.48\00:06:30.82
and so we find him
anchoring the genealogy of Jesus
00:06:30.82\00:06:33.99
in the very roots
of the human race,
00:06:33.99\00:06:36.36
all the way back to Adam,
and throughout this Gospel,
00:06:36.36\00:06:40.56
Jesus is referred to not
so much as the Son of God,
00:06:40.56\00:06:44.13
but as the Son of Man.
00:06:44.13\00:06:46.17
In fact, in Luke's Gospel,
00:06:46.17\00:06:47.44
if I'm remembering this right,
00:06:47.44\00:06:48.97
we see Jesus referring
to himself as the Son of Man
00:06:48.97\00:06:52.04
more often than he does
in Matthew, Mark or John.
00:06:52.04\00:06:56.58
Now, we probably
have a break coming up
00:06:56.58\00:06:58.91
in just a few minutes,
00:06:58.91\00:07:00.22
so let me quickly
just deal with one other
00:07:00.22\00:07:01.48
interesting
aspect of Luke's Gospel.
00:07:01.48\00:07:04.39
You'll notice at the very
beginning that it's addressed
00:07:04.39\00:07:07.39
to a man by the
name of Theophilus.
00:07:07.39\00:07:10.19
Here's the way that it reads
00:07:10.19\00:07:11.43
right at the
very top of the book.
00:07:11.43\00:07:13.13
It says, "In as much
as many have taken in hand
00:07:13.13\00:07:16.43
to set in order a
narrative of those things
00:07:16.43\00:07:18.67
which have been
fulfilled among us,
00:07:18.67\00:07:20.77
just as those who from the
beginning were eyewitnesses
00:07:20.77\00:07:23.71
and ministers of the
word delivered them to us,
00:07:23.71\00:07:26.71
it seemed good to me also,
00:07:26.71\00:07:28.64
having had perfect understanding
00:07:28.64\00:07:30.15
of all things
from the very first,
00:07:30.15\00:07:32.31
to write to you
an orderly account,
00:07:32.31\00:07:35.12
most excellent Theophilus,
00:07:35.12\00:07:37.32
that you may know the
certainty of those things
00:07:37.32\00:07:40.16
in which you were instructed."
00:07:40.16\00:07:42.59
Notice that Luke was
writing an orderly account,
00:07:42.59\00:07:45.83
and this Gospel isn't
the only place he does that.
00:07:45.83\00:07:48.20
He also wrote the Book of Acts,
00:07:48.20\00:07:49.96
which was also addressed
to this guy, Theophilus.
00:07:49.96\00:07:52.90
And that book begins
like this over in Acts 1.
00:07:52.90\00:07:57.34
It says, "The former
account I made, O Theophilus,
00:07:57.34\00:08:00.98
of all that Jesus
began to both do and teach."
00:08:00.98\00:08:05.21
So what you have is one account
00:08:05.21\00:08:07.48
really spread
across two different books.
00:08:07.48\00:08:09.95
In the first book,
00:08:09.95\00:08:11.22
Luke records the life
and teachings of Christ.
00:08:11.22\00:08:14.12
And in the second book,
00:08:14.12\00:08:15.59
he describes the birth
of the Christian Church
00:08:15.59\00:08:17.69
in its rapid spread
all over the Roman Empire.
00:08:17.69\00:08:20.96
Both of these
books were addressed
00:08:20.96\00:08:22.83
to a guy named Theophilus,
00:08:22.83\00:08:24.30
which makes you wonder
who in the world he was.
00:08:24.30\00:08:27.24
His name literally
means "Friend of God,"
00:08:27.24\00:08:30.54
which makes some people think
00:08:30.54\00:08:32.04
that it was just a
generic term that Luke was using
00:08:32.04\00:08:34.98
for all Gentiles who were
friendly to the Hebrew faith.
00:08:34.98\00:08:38.75
That would make
Theophilus, well, a symbol,
00:08:38.75\00:08:41.38
a general name for
all of us, but honestly,
00:08:41.38\00:08:44.12
I kind of doubt that
interpretation because the way
00:08:44.12\00:08:47.66
Luke talks about Theophilus
suggests that he was a real
00:08:47.66\00:08:51.09
person, a single
individual, and if that's true,
00:08:51.09\00:08:54.10
you've got to wonder
who in the world he was.
00:08:54.10\00:08:56.73
I'll be right
back after the break
00:08:56.73\00:08:58.60
to see if we
can figure that out.
00:08:58.60\00:09:00.64
[logo swooshing]
00:09:00.64\00:09:03.04
[lively piano music]
00:09:03.04\00:09:04.27
- [Narrator] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:04.27\00:09:05.74
we're committed to
creating top-quality programming
00:09:05.74\00:09:07.64
for the whole family,
00:09:07.64\00:09:09.08
like our audio adventure
series, "Discovery Mountain."
00:09:09.08\00:09:12.18
"Discovery Mountain" is
a bible Bible-based program
00:09:12.18\00:09:14.72
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:09:14.72\00:09:17.09
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:09:17.09\00:09:19.82
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
00:09:19.82\00:09:22.72
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:09:22.72\00:09:25.19
and fresh content every week,
00:09:25.19\00:09:27.30
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:09:27.30\00:09:30.50
- The Gospel of
Luke and the Book of Acts
00:09:33.70\00:09:35.50
are both addressed to
a man named Theophilus,
00:09:35.50\00:09:37.84
which is Greek
for "Friend of God."
00:09:37.84\00:09:40.84
Some people think
it's a generic term,
00:09:40.84\00:09:43.04
a personification of all
Gentiles, people like you and
00:09:43.04\00:09:47.12
me, but it's also possible that
Theophilus was a real person
00:09:47.12\00:09:51.02
and there's
actually a compelling reason
00:09:51.02\00:09:53.05
that Luke might send what
he calls "an orderly account"
00:09:53.05\00:09:56.29
to this single individual.
00:09:56.29\00:09:58.43
When you get to
the Book of Acts,
00:09:58.43\00:10:00.00
you'll notice that
even though the first part
00:10:00.00\00:10:02.00
focuses on Peter, the bulk
of acts really focuses on Paul,
00:10:02.00\00:10:06.77
who was the
missionary to the Gentile world,
00:10:06.77\00:10:09.87
and you'll notice it
really doesn't say much
00:10:09.87\00:10:12.07
about the other disciples.
00:10:12.07\00:10:13.88
We know historically
that Thomas went to India
00:10:13.88\00:10:16.85
and Andrew went to the
British Isles and so on,
00:10:16.85\00:10:19.75
but none of that is
recorded in the Book of Acts.
00:10:19.75\00:10:22.78
We get a little bit
from the life of Philip
00:10:22.78\00:10:25.19
and some more about the
lives of Peter and John,
00:10:25.19\00:10:27.32
but then it's
really all about Paul,
00:10:27.32\00:10:30.39
which makes good sense
because the Book of Luke
00:10:30.39\00:10:33.09
is aimed at
Gentiles and Paul was the guy
00:10:33.09\00:10:35.86
who took the story of
Jesus out to the Gentile world,
00:10:35.86\00:10:39.17
and Luke was actually with
him for quite a bit of that.
00:10:39.17\00:10:42.94
But then we also know that
Paul was eventually arrested
00:10:42.94\00:10:45.81
and sent to the city of
Rome to be put on trial.
00:10:45.81\00:10:48.48
In fact, Paul was
arrested more than once,
00:10:48.48\00:10:51.31
first in Caesarea,
and then later in Rome.
00:10:51.31\00:10:54.65
So, what some people
think is that Theophilus
00:10:54.65\00:10:57.02
was some kind of
high-ranking officer.
00:10:57.02\00:10:59.25
After all Luke,
calls him "Most Excellent"
00:10:59.25\00:11:02.96
and that he was somehow
involved with the trial of Paul.
00:11:02.96\00:11:06.23
In fact, some
people have speculated
00:11:06.23\00:11:08.96
that he may have
even been Paul's lawyer
00:11:08.96\00:11:11.17
and he needed some
facts about Paul's life
00:11:11.17\00:11:13.27
in order to build his
case, details about Paul's work,
00:11:13.27\00:11:16.17
his beliefs, his involvement
in various scandals, you know,
00:11:16.17\00:11:20.24
the kind of stuff a lawyer
would need to make the case
00:11:20.24\00:11:22.78
that Paul was not a
threat to the Roman Empire.
00:11:22.78\00:11:25.85
That would explain why
Paul's personal testimony
00:11:25.85\00:11:29.28
appears three times
in the Book of Acts,
00:11:29.28\00:11:31.95
and it would also
explain why Roman character
00:11:31.95\00:11:34.42
seemed to be portrayed
in a mostly positive light
00:11:34.42\00:11:37.69
all throughout Luke's writings.
00:11:37.69\00:11:39.83
I mean, there'd be no
point in poking the Roman bear
00:11:39.83\00:11:43.26
if you're trying
to convince the Romans
00:11:43.26\00:11:45.43
that Paul is innocent.
00:11:45.43\00:11:47.84
Let me show you what I mean.
00:11:47.84\00:11:49.14
In the 23rd Chapter of Luke,
00:11:49.14\00:11:51.24
you suddenly have the
testimony of a Roman centurion
00:11:51.24\00:11:54.38
who was there the
moment Jesus died, and he says,
00:11:54.38\00:11:57.55
"Certainly, this
was a righteous man."
00:11:57.55\00:12:00.38
That's a good
report about a Roman.
00:12:00.38\00:12:02.78
We also see Pontius
Pilot, the Roman Governor,
00:12:02.78\00:12:05.19
declaring Jesus to
be innocent three times.
00:12:05.19\00:12:08.49
Now, can I prove
that the Book of Acts
00:12:08.49\00:12:10.79
is some kind of legal brief?
00:12:10.79\00:12:12.36
No, I can't, all we have
is circumstantial evidence,
00:12:12.36\00:12:16.20
but the theory
does make a lot of sense
00:12:16.20\00:12:18.53
when you read the
books carefully and the fact
00:12:18.53\00:12:21.04
that the Book of Acts suddenly
ends with Paul in prison
00:12:21.04\00:12:23.97
and it doesn't tell us
what happened to him after that,
00:12:23.97\00:12:27.28
well, certainly
makes it seem more likely.
00:12:27.28\00:12:29.84
This was written
before Paul was executed,
00:12:29.84\00:12:32.18
so it's entirely
possible that it was prepared
00:12:32.18\00:12:34.78
for his trial,
and in the process,
00:12:34.78\00:12:37.35
it created an inspired
record of Christian history
00:12:37.35\00:12:40.52
that survives to this day.
00:12:40.52\00:12:42.86
Now, if you think about it,
00:12:42.86\00:12:44.09
that would mean it's
not just Paul on trial
00:12:44.09\00:12:46.06
in these documents, it's
also the entire Christian faith.
00:12:46.06\00:12:50.10
Luke is daring to tell
the Gentiles that God had come
00:12:50.10\00:12:53.40
in human flesh and he works
very hard to make the case.
00:12:53.40\00:12:57.31
You'll notice that
back in Matthew's Gospel,
00:12:57.31\00:12:59.64
the birth of Christ doesn't
receive nearly the amount
00:12:59.64\00:13:02.44
of attention that Luke gives it.
00:13:02.44\00:13:04.48
Luke really zeroes in
on the humanity of Christ.
00:13:04.48\00:13:07.92
He was born to a real
mother, just like you and me.
00:13:07.92\00:13:11.09
He was born in very
humble circumstances
00:13:11.09\00:13:13.49
in the presence of mere animals.
00:13:13.49\00:13:15.56
He was laid in a manger and
wrapped in swaddling clothes.
00:13:15.56\00:13:18.96
The Jesus Luke
describes is very relatable
00:13:18.96\00:13:22.10
and it's easily the most
human account of his ministry.
00:13:22.10\00:13:25.50
And what Luke is trying to do
is portray Jesus as the Savior
00:13:25.50\00:13:29.80
of the whole world
and not just the Jews
00:13:29.80\00:13:32.91
and that becomes really obvious
00:13:32.91\00:13:34.58
in some of the little details
you find throughout the book.
00:13:34.58\00:13:37.51
Take, for example, the
parable of the fig tree
00:13:37.51\00:13:39.68
that Jesus tells in Matthew 24.
00:13:39.68\00:13:42.05
Let me read just a
little bit of that to you
00:13:42.05\00:13:44.25
because there's a
tiny little difference
00:13:44.25\00:13:46.15
between Matthew's version
and the one that Luke tells.
00:13:46.15\00:13:49.76
Jesus is talking about
the signs of his coming
00:13:49.76\00:13:52.33
and this is what he says:
00:13:52.33\00:13:53.90
"Now learn this
parable from the fig tree.
00:13:53.90\00:13:56.77
When its branch has
already become tender
00:13:56.77\00:13:58.67
and puts forth leaves,
you know that summer is near.
00:13:58.67\00:14:02.34
So also, when you
see all these things,
00:14:02.34\00:14:04.47
know that it is
near, at the doors."
00:14:04.47\00:14:08.24
What he's telling us is
that we can know when his return
00:14:08.24\00:14:10.55
is close by reading the signs,
00:14:10.55\00:14:12.51
the same way that new
leaves in spring remind us
00:14:12.51\00:14:15.42
that summer is
certainly going to arrive.
00:14:15.42\00:14:18.32
We might not be able to
predict the day or hour,
00:14:18.32\00:14:20.66
but we can know when
it's close, and you'll notice,
00:14:20.66\00:14:23.89
Jesus uses a fig
tree to make that point,
00:14:23.89\00:14:27.13
which Jesus sometimes used
as a special symbol for Israel.
00:14:27.13\00:14:31.27
In another parable, he
talked about a fig tree
00:14:31.27\00:14:33.44
that failed to bear fruit
and he was clearly talking
00:14:33.44\00:14:37.17
about the covenant people.
00:14:37.17\00:14:38.94
But then take a
look at Luke's version,
00:14:38.94\00:14:41.41
and I want you to
notice the difference.
00:14:41.41\00:14:43.28
Luke records it like this:
00:14:43.28\00:14:45.51
"Then he spoke to
them in a parable.
00:14:45.51\00:14:47.68
Look at the fig
tree and all the trees.
00:14:47.68\00:14:49.78
When they are already budding,
00:14:49.78\00:14:51.35
you see and know for
yourselves that summer is near."
00:14:51.35\00:14:54.89
Now, did you catch it?
00:14:54.89\00:14:56.26
Matthew only
mentioned a fig tree,
00:14:56.26\00:14:58.29
but Luke adds all
the trees in his version
00:14:58.29\00:15:01.63
of the same story.
00:15:01.63\00:15:02.73
Why?
00:15:03.63\00:15:05.10
Well, because he wasn't
writing to a Jewish audience
00:15:05.10\00:15:07.27
and he was careful
to emphasize the gospel
00:15:07.27\00:15:09.80
is meant for everybody,
whether Jew or Gentile.
00:15:09.80\00:15:13.94
Luke is showing us
a very relatable God,
00:15:13.94\00:15:16.68
the Creator who
became one of us.
00:15:16.68\00:15:18.95
He lived among us,
laughed with us, cried with us,
00:15:18.95\00:15:22.18
suffered with us, and
was moved by compassion
00:15:22.18\00:15:25.82
when he saw our suffering.
00:15:25.82\00:15:27.26
He was so humble
that the lowest of people
00:15:27.26\00:15:30.33
could relate to him.
00:15:30.33\00:15:31.79
His very lowly birth was
first announced to shepherds
00:15:31.79\00:15:35.66
who were considered the
bottom of the social order.
00:15:35.66\00:15:38.47
Shepherds were
lowlifes in those days,
00:15:38.47\00:15:40.57
people who watched sheep
00:15:40.57\00:15:41.80
because they
couldn't do anything better,
00:15:41.80\00:15:44.11
and yet the angels
approached them first.
00:15:44.11\00:15:46.61
Why?
00:15:46.61\00:15:48.11
Because the Son of God had
become just like all of us,
00:15:48.11\00:15:51.48
not like the king
who sat in a palace
00:15:51.48\00:15:53.58
just a few miles from Bethlehem,
00:15:53.58\00:15:55.72
not like a
member of the Sanhedrin,
00:15:55.72\00:15:58.19
a high-ranking member
of society, but like us,
00:15:58.19\00:16:01.92
every day, normal people
with battered and broken lives.
00:16:01.92\00:16:06.46
The Book of Hebrews reminds us.
00:16:06.46\00:16:08.66
"For we do not
have a High Priest
00:16:08.66\00:16:10.67
who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses,
00:16:10.67\00:16:13.37
but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin."
00:16:13.37\00:16:18.37
What Luke describes is an
authentic human experience.
00:16:19.81\00:16:23.35
The life of Christ
shows us what humanity
00:16:23.35\00:16:26.38
was supposed to be like
00:16:26.38\00:16:28.25
before we broke
away from our Creator.
00:16:28.25\00:16:31.05
You and I were made in the
image of God, the Bible teaches,
00:16:31.05\00:16:33.96
made to reflect
his perfect character
00:16:33.96\00:16:36.86
and we threw it all away in
pursuit of self-sufficiency.
00:16:36.86\00:16:41.66
But instead of getting rid
of us, God did the unthinkable.
00:16:41.66\00:16:45.73
He became one of
us, and with Jesus,
00:16:45.73\00:16:48.40
we see what human
beings are supposed to be like.
00:16:48.40\00:16:51.81
We see the real deal,
another Adam, except this time,
00:16:51.81\00:16:56.81
the perfect man is
living in an imperfect world,
00:16:58.21\00:17:00.42
the world that
you and I live in.
00:17:00.42\00:17:02.72
Christian writer
A.W. Pink points out
00:17:02.72\00:17:05.42
that there's an
interesting detail in the way
00:17:05.42\00:17:07.16
Luke talks about the
temptations of Christ.
00:17:07.16\00:17:10.76
Matthew arranges the temptations
00:17:10.76\00:17:12.86
so they build to
a natural climax,
00:17:12.86\00:17:15.23
ending with the
devil offering Jesus
00:17:15.23\00:17:17.27
all the kingdoms of this world,
00:17:17.27\00:17:19.57
but you'll notice that
Luke's order is different.
00:17:19.57\00:17:22.50
He lists the temptations
in chronological order,
00:17:22.50\00:17:26.07
the temptation to
turn stones into bread,
00:17:26.07\00:17:28.68
the offer of the
kingdoms of the world,
00:17:28.68\00:17:31.15
and then the devil dares Jesus
00:17:31.15\00:17:33.05
to leap from the
pinnacle of the temple,
00:17:33.05\00:17:35.82
and when he does that,
00:17:35.82\00:17:37.32
Luke is approximating
the order of the temptations
00:17:37.32\00:17:40.66
that you find in
the Garden of Eden
00:17:40.66\00:17:43.09
from an appeal to our appetite,
00:17:43.09\00:17:45.29
to the appeal
to become something
00:17:45.29\00:17:47.10
more than God intended us to be.
00:17:47.10\00:17:49.66
It's almost as if Luke is
underlining the fact that Jesus,
00:17:49.66\00:17:54.24
the last Adam, is succeeding
where the first Adam failed.
00:17:54.24\00:17:59.24
All right, it's time to
take another quick break,
00:18:00.74\00:18:01.54
but when I come back,
00:18:01.54\00:18:03.01
we'll dig just a little more
deeply into the Gospel of Luke.
00:18:03.01\00:18:06.25
[logo swooshing]
00:18:06.25\00:18:08.98
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:18:10.12\00:18:12.39
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:18:12.39\00:18:15.76
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:18:15.76\00:18:18.23
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:18:18.23\00:18:21.26
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:21.26\00:18:22.80
we've created the
"Discover Bible Guides"
00:18:22.80\00:18:24.93
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:18:24.93\00:18:26.57
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:18:26.57\00:18:29.04
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:18:29.04\00:18:32.07
and they're absolutely free,
00:18:32.07\00:18:34.11
so jump online
now or give us a call
00:18:34.11\00:18:36.41
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:18:36.41\00:18:38.68
- You find a number of
parables in Luke's Gospel
00:18:40.08\00:18:42.28
that the other
gospel writers leave out
00:18:42.28\00:18:44.92
and they're pretty telling.
00:18:44.92\00:18:46.35
It shows us what
Luke is driving at.
00:18:46.35\00:18:49.19
For example, the
story of the Good Samaritan
00:18:49.19\00:18:51.49
is only found in Luke, and
it's the story of a Gentile
00:18:51.49\00:18:55.73
who behaves better
than a priest and a Levite,
00:18:55.73\00:18:58.30
members of the
covenant community.
00:18:58.30\00:19:00.64
The Samaritans were considered
as unclean by the Jews,
00:19:00.64\00:19:04.67
just like the rest
of the Gentile world,
00:19:04.67\00:19:07.48
outsiders who had
settled in the region of Samaria
00:19:07.48\00:19:10.58
and had adopted a form
of Judaism that the Jews
00:19:10.58\00:19:13.48
found completely unacceptable.
00:19:13.48\00:19:16.28
The last thing
any Jew wanted to do
00:19:16.28\00:19:18.72
was walk through
Samaritan territory.
00:19:18.72\00:19:21.06
"They'd be richly
defiled," they said,
00:19:21.06\00:19:23.63
and so they usually
took the long way around
00:19:23.63\00:19:26.19
in order to prevent that.
00:19:26.19\00:19:28.13
Yet in the parable, it
was an unclean Samaritan
00:19:28.13\00:19:31.87
who best
demonstrated the love of God,
00:19:31.87\00:19:34.74
and it's an appeal to
Luke's Gentile audience,
00:19:34.74\00:19:38.41
but it really runs a
little deeper than that.
00:19:38.41\00:19:41.84
The Samaritan helped a
man who couldn't help himself,
00:19:41.84\00:19:45.28
a victim who had
been ruthlessly beaten
00:19:45.28\00:19:47.95
and robbed of his
possessions, and in a way,
00:19:47.95\00:19:51.42
the victim represents
us, the entire human race.
00:19:51.42\00:19:55.62
A liar and a
thief, according to Jesus,
00:19:55.62\00:19:58.29
had assaulted the
human race and left us
00:19:58.29\00:20:00.90
completely destitute and
unable to help ourselves.
00:20:00.90\00:20:05.00
So along comes Christ,
a member of the Godhead
00:20:05.00\00:20:07.50
who condescended to
our level of existence
00:20:07.50\00:20:10.14
in order to save us.
00:20:10.14\00:20:11.97
He found us on the road
and he bandaged our wounds.
00:20:11.97\00:20:15.81
In Luke 4, Jesus tells us
exactly what he came to do.
00:20:15.81\00:20:19.45
Listen to this story, Luke 4:
00:20:19.45\00:20:22.32
"And he was handed the
Book of the Prophet Isaiah,
00:20:22.32\00:20:25.22
and when he had opened the book,
00:20:25.22\00:20:26.49
he found the place
where it was written,
00:20:26.49\00:20:28.69
'The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me
00:20:28.69\00:20:30.79
because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor.
00:20:30.79\00:20:34.83
He has sent me to
heal the brokenhearted,
00:20:34.83\00:20:37.20
to proclaim
liberty to the captives
00:20:37.20\00:20:39.13
and recovery of
the sight to the blind,
00:20:39.13\00:20:41.77
to set at liberty
those who are oppressed,
00:20:41.77\00:20:44.27
to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord.'"
00:20:44.27\00:20:48.14
You'll notice, by the way,
00:20:48.14\00:20:49.68
that Luke mentions that Jesus
had to look that passage up
00:20:49.68\00:20:52.11
in the Bible just the same way
that you and I would have to.
00:20:52.11\00:20:55.82
The good Samaritan in
this parable is Jesus,
00:20:55.82\00:20:58.35
the one who came to bandage
us and pay all our expenses.
00:20:58.35\00:21:02.66
You'll notice in the
parable that the Samaritan
00:21:02.66\00:21:04.59
opens an account with
the inn keeper and says,
00:21:04.59\00:21:07.00
"Look, this is all on me
00:21:07.00\00:21:10.90
and my expenses are being
handled by the Son of God."
00:21:10.90\00:21:15.07
Paul writes in his
letter to the Colossians
00:21:15.07\00:21:17.07
that Jesus has
wiped out my debt,
00:21:17.07\00:21:19.54
"The handwriting of requirements
that was against us."
00:21:19.54\00:21:23.35
And Jesus nailed
that to his cross.
00:21:23.35\00:21:26.35
He paid my debt because, well,
there's no way I can pay it.
00:21:26.35\00:21:30.25
And of course, this is
exactly the right story
00:21:31.42\00:21:34.16
to share with the Gentile world.
00:21:34.16\00:21:36.46
Luke was an educated man
who wrote in high-class Greek
00:21:36.46\00:21:40.50
and he was speaking to
people with a Greek perspective
00:21:40.50\00:21:43.30
on the universe.
00:21:43.30\00:21:44.63
The physical world
was kind of dirty to them,
00:21:44.63\00:21:47.27
something to be shunned,
00:21:47.27\00:21:48.67
something you
long to get away from,
00:21:48.67\00:21:51.21
and for a Greek philosopher,
00:21:51.21\00:21:52.71
it would seem, well,
illogical that a pure God
00:21:52.71\00:21:56.04
would enter this material world.
00:21:56.04\00:21:58.35
But in the story
of the Good Samaritan,
00:21:58.35\00:22:00.22
Luke shows his
audience why Jesus did it.
00:22:00.22\00:22:03.39
Not only does he
emphasize the God-given love
00:22:03.39\00:22:06.12
to be found in Gentile hearts,
00:22:06.12\00:22:08.52
but he shows us how a man
with an ignoble reputation
00:22:08.52\00:22:12.56
came to lead us
out of our moral mess.
00:22:12.56\00:22:16.03
This is the reason
that God became a man
00:22:16.03\00:22:19.43
to pay our way back to health.
00:22:19.43\00:22:22.77
All right, I have to
take one more quick break,
00:22:22.77\00:22:24.94
but I'll be
right back after this.
00:22:24.94\00:22:27.11
[logo swooshing]
00:22:27.11\00:22:30.31
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:22:30.31\00:22:34.65
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:22:34.65\00:22:39.25
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:22:39.25\00:22:41.42
and come away scratching
your head, you're not alone.
00:22:41.42\00:22:44.46
Our free "Focus
on Prophecy Guides"
00:22:44.46\00:22:46.86
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:22:46.86\00:22:49.63
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:22:49.63\00:22:52.10
for you and our world.
00:22:52.10\00:22:53.70
Study online or
request them by mail
00:22:53.70\00:22:56.14
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:22:56.14\00:22:59.04
- Well, the clock in
the studio assures me
00:23:00.28\00:23:02.08
that I'm starting
to run out of time,
00:23:02.08\00:23:03.78
so let's see if we
can summarize this,
00:23:03.78\00:23:06.01
or at least give you enough
to encourage you to read Luke
00:23:06.01\00:23:09.18
in a way that maybe you've never
looked at this book before.
00:23:09.18\00:23:12.55
Here's what I probably
like best about Luke's Gospel.
00:23:12.55\00:23:16.49
It was written for Gentiles.
00:23:16.49\00:23:18.46
I happen to be one of those.
00:23:18.46\00:23:20.10
I'm the descendant
of Germanic barbarians.
00:23:20.10\00:23:22.86
This Gospel was
written for my people.
00:23:22.86\00:23:25.70
I mean, yes, it was
written in sophisticated Greek
00:23:25.70\00:23:28.20
for the Romans and the Greeks,
00:23:28.20\00:23:29.97
people who were considered
to be much more educated
00:23:29.97\00:23:32.51
and sophisticated
than my ancestors.
00:23:32.51\00:23:35.18
My people were considered
somewhat less than human,
00:23:35.18\00:23:38.45
living on the
fringes of the empire,
00:23:38.45\00:23:40.48
lurking about in dark forests
00:23:40.48\00:23:42.32
and speaking in
unsophisticated language.
00:23:42.32\00:23:45.69
In fact, that's where the
word barbarian comes from.
00:23:45.69\00:23:48.92
The Greeks were making fun
of the way my ancestors spoke,
00:23:48.92\00:23:51.96
suggesting that it was
nothing but meaningless babble,
00:23:51.96\00:23:55.00
bar, bar, bar, bar, bar,
00:23:55.00\00:23:57.73
which is why we
have the word barbarian.
00:23:57.73\00:24:00.54
But today, my people,
00:24:00.54\00:24:01.77
those reprehensible
forest dwellers of old,
00:24:01.77\00:24:04.71
are also part of the Kingdom
of Christ, and every December,
00:24:04.71\00:24:08.88
our children also put on
bathrobes and cotton-swab beards
00:24:08.88\00:24:12.95
to retell the
story of the Incarnation,
00:24:12.95\00:24:16.02
the night that God
himself became a real man.
00:24:16.02\00:24:19.29
And when we tell that
story, we use the words of Luke,
00:24:19.29\00:24:22.66
the man who
wrote the story for us.
00:24:22.66\00:24:25.43
And wouldn't you know it?
00:24:25.43\00:24:26.96
It was those horrible barbarians
who ended up inventing
00:24:26.96\00:24:29.73
the printing press
and translating this book
00:24:29.73\00:24:32.60
into thousands of
very common languages.
00:24:32.60\00:24:36.37
It was Gentiles who eventually
pulled the story of Jesus
00:24:36.37\00:24:39.34
out of the ivory
towers of medieval Europe
00:24:39.34\00:24:42.51
and put it back where
Luke intended it to be,
00:24:42.51\00:24:45.71
in the homes of
average, everyday people
00:24:45.71\00:24:48.88
speaking simple languages.
00:24:48.88\00:24:51.15
Jesus came for everybody.
00:24:51.15\00:24:53.69
Luke's Gospel is the
story of Jesus, the Son of Man.
00:24:55.16\00:24:59.33
He was born, just like we are,
00:24:59.33\00:25:01.66
and he lived, just like we do,
00:25:01.66\00:25:04.13
and he died, just
like we will have to.
00:25:04.13\00:25:07.60
He was an ordinary human
whose parents had to register
00:25:07.60\00:25:10.94
for a census, who had to
pay taxes, just like you.
00:25:10.94\00:25:15.31
Jesus knew what it
was like to be hungry
00:25:16.44\00:25:18.45
or lonely or
rejected, just like you do.
00:25:18.45\00:25:22.05
He knew what it was to be
misunderstood, to be laughed at,
00:25:22.05\00:25:25.49
to be persecuted without
just cause, like some of you.
00:25:25.49\00:25:30.29
Luke is showing us a
Jesus we can really understand
00:25:30.29\00:25:34.20
and a Jesus that
really understands us.
00:25:34.20\00:25:38.67
The Jesus you find in
Luke's Gospel was so human
00:25:38.67\00:25:42.30
that we see him eating food.
00:25:42.30\00:25:44.91
Three times Luke points
out that Jesus had dinner
00:25:44.91\00:25:48.31
with the Pharisees.
00:25:48.31\00:25:49.74
In Luke 19, we see him
hanging out in the home of a man
00:25:49.74\00:25:52.81
that everybody hated,
a lowly tax collector.
00:25:52.81\00:25:57.25
And after the Resurrection,
00:25:57.25\00:25:59.59
when the disciples had some
trouble believing that Jesus
00:25:59.59\00:26:02.56
had actually
risen from the dead,
00:26:02.56\00:26:05.16
he appeared in front of
them, and what did he do?
00:26:05.16\00:26:08.03
He ate fish and a
honeycomb in their midst,
00:26:08.03\00:26:12.17
proving that even
after the Resurrection,
00:26:12.17\00:26:14.10
he is every bit
as human as you are,
00:26:14.10\00:26:17.07
and that he intends
to stay in human form.
00:26:17.07\00:26:20.31
Jesus is God in a
real, physical body.
00:26:20.31\00:26:24.75
Luke is demonstrating
that Jesus was just like us,
00:26:24.75\00:26:28.85
but thank God he
was also different.
00:26:28.85\00:26:32.32
His birth was
different from ours
00:26:32.32\00:26:34.12
because he had
no earthly father.
00:26:34.12\00:26:36.42
His conduct was better than ours
00:26:36.42\00:26:39.16
and he showed us
what God is really like.
00:26:39.16\00:26:41.66
And then he died in a
way that I don't have to
00:26:41.66\00:26:44.60
because he took the
sins of humanity on himself.
00:26:44.60\00:26:48.57
This is God in
human flesh, all right,
00:26:48.57\00:26:50.87
who came to experience
what we have to live with,
00:26:50.87\00:26:53.81
but he did it
perfectly without ever sinning.
00:26:53.81\00:26:56.85
You know, right now there
are roughly eight billion people
00:26:58.28\00:27:02.15
living on the
face of this planet
00:27:02.15\00:27:04.22
and the vast
majority of them are Gentiles,
00:27:04.22\00:27:06.52
the very people that
Luke was trying to reach.
00:27:06.52\00:27:09.02
And unfortunately, right now,
most of us get our impressions
00:27:09.02\00:27:11.79
of what Christianity
is from TV or social media
00:27:11.79\00:27:14.46
and that is not an
accurate picture of God.
00:27:14.46\00:27:17.23
It's actually driving
people away from Christ.
00:27:17.23\00:27:20.17
So, here's the
challenge I wanna give you.
00:27:20.17\00:27:23.37
The Gospel of Luke is
the human face of Christ
00:27:23.37\00:27:27.08
and the Book of
Acts, it's the real account
00:27:27.08\00:27:29.48
of how the
Christian Church was born,
00:27:29.48\00:27:31.71
and I'm daring you to
read these books for yourself
00:27:31.71\00:27:35.08
because you're
exactly the person
00:27:35.08\00:27:36.65
that Luke wanted to talk to.
00:27:36.65\00:27:38.72
"For the Son of
Man," Jesus said,
00:27:38.72\00:27:40.56
"Has come to seek and to
save that which was lost."
00:27:40.56\00:27:44.73
Okay, that's it for
this week, and of course,
00:27:44.73\00:27:46.29
we still need to look at John
00:27:46.29\00:27:47.50
before we move
on to other topics.
00:27:47.50\00:27:49.66
Thanks for watching.
00:27:49.66\00:27:51.17
I'm Shawn Boonstra, and
this has been "Authentic."
00:27:51.17\00:27:55.04
[gentle upbeat music]
00:27:55.04\00:27:58.21
[gentle upbeat music continues]
00:28:15.72\00:28:19.73