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Luke-Msg-4-28 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In our survey of the Bible, we have come to
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Speaker 1: the book that many feel is the most scholarly work
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Speaker 1: in the whole New Testament. The man who wrote it
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Speaker 1: had the mind of a scientist and the heart of
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Speaker 1: an artist. He is the only known Gentile writer of scripture,
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Speaker 1: and his words have a distinct appeal to those of
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Speaker 1: us who are of gentile origin, and especially to those
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Speaker 1: who love details. I'm coming across more and more in
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Speaker 1: my life of people who are perfectionists, and it's always
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Speaker 1: interesting to meet up with them and to see how
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Speaker 1: they respond to life. And it's equally interesting to come
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Speaker 1: across a book written by such a person who really
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Speaker 1: did care about the nuts and bolts, the shadings, the
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Speaker 1: fine line issues of his subject. I'm referring, of course,
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Speaker 1: to the Gospel of Luke, and to the physician doctor Luke,
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Speaker 1: who wrote it, who was a longtime friend of the
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Speaker 1: apostle and missionary named Paul, and his traveling companion of
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Speaker 1: this work, The Gospel of Luke, William Barkley writes, first
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Speaker 1: and foremost, Luke's Gospel is an exceedingly careful bit of work.
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Speaker 1: His Greek is notably good. The first four verses are
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Speaker 1: well nigh the best Greek in the New Testament. Let
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Speaker 1: me read the first four verses for you. I'll read
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Speaker 1: them in English, lest I read well nigh the worst
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Speaker 1: Greek you have heard in a long time. Inasmuch as
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Speaker 1: many have undertaken to compile an account of the things
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Speaker 1: accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning
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Speaker 1: were eye witnesses and servants of the word have handed
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Speaker 1: them down to us, it seemed fitting for me, as well,
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Speaker 1: having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it
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Speaker 1: out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus, so
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Speaker 1: that you might know the exact truth about the things
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Speaker 1: you have been taught. Now. That even sounds like a perfectionist,
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Speaker 1: doesn't it? Did you get the turn of the phrase.
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Speaker 1: On several occasions, he states clearly that he has investigated
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Speaker 1: everything carefully from the beginning, and he plans to write
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Speaker 1: out in consecutive order what he wants to present, so
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Speaker 1: that the man will know the exact truth about the
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Speaker 1: things which have been taught now. Luke never claims that
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Speaker 1: he is the original person with this information. He clearly
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Speaker 1: states that others have written before him, and he's using
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Speaker 1: some of their material in the compilation of this book
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Speaker 1: that now bears the name of the Gospel. We understand
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Speaker 1: that scholarly work does not mean that it's all totally original.
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Speaker 1: In fact, some of the best works from scholarship have
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Speaker 1: been drawn from many different sources. One of my seminary
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Speaker 1: professors used to say, I doubt that you will ever
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Speaker 1: read again a totally original piece of work. Now we
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Speaker 1: may think that it's original, and we may not quote
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Speaker 1: from some other source, but many other writings and many
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Speaker 1: other teachers have so impacted us by this latter half
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Speaker 1: of the twentieth century, it's really impossible not to bring
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Speaker 1: what we have learned from others into what we are
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Speaker 1: presenting or studying ourselves. Charles Hadden Spurgeon used to have
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Speaker 1: a saying that he would use on occasion. All originality
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Speaker 1: and no plagiarism makes for dull preaching. I think all
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Speaker 1: originality and no quoting of other sources makes for dull reading.
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Speaker 1: And Luke is not dull. Whatever you may say of Luke,
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Speaker 1: his is probably the most interesting. If you're a human
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Speaker 1: interest person, if you're a people oriented individual, his is
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Speaker 1: the most interesting of the four Gospels. Let's sort of
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Speaker 1: meet this physician. This man whose name is revealed in
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Speaker 1: the name of the book. He was not only a Greek,
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Speaker 1: he was a well educated Greek, probably studied in the
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Speaker 1: schools of Tarsus, as did Saul, and quite likely a Polus,
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Speaker 1: according to A. T. Robertson. In fact, one man suggests
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Speaker 1: that these three students could have been fellow students at
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Speaker 1: the same school. Isn't that an interesting thought? At the
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Speaker 1: same school during that time, these men could have been contemporaries.
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Speaker 1: Colossians four fourteen calls the beloved physician, so it means
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Speaker 1: he was more than a passing acquaintance to Paul. Faliman
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Speaker 1: Verse twenty four calls him a fellow worker of Paul,
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Speaker 1: and two Timothy four to eleven states from Paul that
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Speaker 1: he was the only one who was with him when
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Speaker 1: he was in the dungeon, when he was in that
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Speaker 1: final prison, before before he actually endured martyrdom. So this
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Speaker 1: is a famous and faithful man, known intimately by Paul,
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Speaker 1: and believed to be Paul's personal physician. He comes on
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Speaker 1: the scene in the sixteenth chapter of Acts, and it
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Speaker 1: is there that we begin several chunks of the narrative
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Speaker 1: of Acts marked by the name or the word we
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Speaker 1: or our. This signals that during those sets actions of
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Speaker 1: the latter half of the Book of Acts, Luke is present.
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Speaker 1: Because he's writing the Book of Acts, we and our
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Speaker 1: would naturally mean he was involved in it. And it's
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Speaker 1: interesting to study chapter sixteen through chapter twenty eight of
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Speaker 1: Acts and find out when he was present and when
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Speaker 1: he was absent. Sometime he was left in an area
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Speaker 1: to help minister. Sometime he came back with the team
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Speaker 1: and traveled with him. At those times he mentions in
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Speaker 1: the narrative we and our. His style is extremely interesting.
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Speaker 1: From the brief reading of those four verses, you get
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Speaker 1: the clear understanding that this man is careful with his facts.
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Speaker 1: Bernard Baruch once wrote, every man has a right to
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Speaker 1: his own opinion, but no man has a right to
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Speaker 1: be wrong in his facts. Luke has opinions, but when
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Speaker 1: he presents facts, he isn't wrong. He doesn't take liberty
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Speaker 1: with the facts. And if you want a classic example
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Speaker 1: of a factual perfectionist building a case, look at the
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Speaker 1: first couple of verses of chapter three. All Luke is
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Speaker 1: doing is bringing on the scene of his story. John
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Speaker 1: the baptizer. But rather than saying like Mark would have done,
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Speaker 1: John came baptizing in the wilderness. Look at what Luke does.
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Speaker 1: He gives you five historical settings before he ever mentions John.
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Speaker 1: One in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
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Speaker 1: two when Pontia's pilot was governor of Judea. Three and
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Speaker 1: Herod was t Trarch of Galilee. Four, his brother Philip
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Speaker 1: was t Trarch of the region of Ittterrhea and Trachonitis five,
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Speaker 1: and Lisanius was t Trarch of Abilene oh I miscounted six,
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Speaker 1: And the high priests were Annas and Caiaphas. The word
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Speaker 1: of God came to John, the son of Zachariah, in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness. You shouldn't have too much trouble spotting when
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Speaker 1: John came on the scene. Having read those first two
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Speaker 1: verses of Luke chapter three, if you like stuff like that,
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Speaker 1: you'll love Luke. Now, if you like the broad brush
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Speaker 1: strokes that have to do with action and life and
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Speaker 1: movement and purpose and accomplishment, you love Mark. But if
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Speaker 1: you're a person that gets a hold of those details
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Speaker 1: and you like to check out those facts, you will
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Speaker 1: crave some of the things Luke says, because he really
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Speaker 1: gets down into the details of life. Now, it's interesting
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Speaker 1: that Luke, being a gentile, does not mess around with
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Speaker 1: a lot of Hebrew prophecies. I think I did not
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Speaker 1: miscount when I counted through the Gospel, and I did
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Speaker 1: not come up with even ten Old Testament prophecies. Matthew
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Speaker 1: is filled with them, over fifty of them. But when
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Speaker 1: you're a gentile, and when you're writing to a Greek audience,
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Speaker 1: most of whom have little interest and even less knowledge
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Speaker 1: of Old Testament prophecies, who needs a lot of Old
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Speaker 1: Testament fulfillment. It doesn't mean that John is inaccurate, or
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Speaker 1: that Matthew is, or that Luke is sloppy with his stuff.
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Speaker 1: It simply means that that's not his purpose. I get
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Speaker 1: very impatient with critics who pick at such things and say, Aha,
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Speaker 1: see there, you really don't have a consistency in these
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Speaker 1: four Gospel writers. You don't have it because it wasn't
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Speaker 1: planned that way. Luke has a habit, by the way,
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Speaker 1: and you'll notice it on occasion if you have a
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Speaker 1: detailed mind, not to give us a lot of Hebrew
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Speaker 1: words words. In fact, it was interesting when I got
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Speaker 1: to the crucifixion story. He doesn't use the word gallgatha,
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Speaker 1: which is a Hebrew term. He uses calvary. Really, the
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Speaker 1: term is cranyon, from which we get our word skull.
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Speaker 1: It's the place of the skull. It's translated as such
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Speaker 1: here in Luke's Gospel. But perhaps the most interesting part
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Speaker 1: of the gospel is that it is a people oriented account.
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Speaker 1: No other writer, including the other I mean by that
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Speaker 1: the other gospel writers is so oriented when it comes
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Speaker 1: to people. Now, I want you to turn to a
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Speaker 1: couple of verses which sort of scan the whole gospel
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Speaker 1: for us. One is in chapter nineteen, and one is
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Speaker 1: in chapter twenty four nineteen ten. When you find that,
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Speaker 1: then locate twenty four nineteen and with your third hand,
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Speaker 1: open up the outline to the chart on the other side,
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Speaker 1: and let's just kind of use it as a guide
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Speaker 1: to save us a lot of time and words. We
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Speaker 1: give you these charts not only to help you learn
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Speaker 1: how to do it on your own, but sort of
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Speaker 1: give you an overview. Now, the first verse I want
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Speaker 1: you to look at is in chapter nineteen, and it's
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Speaker 1: verse ten. It's what i'd call the key verse of
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Speaker 1: the book by the way. Sometime you'll find a verse
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Speaker 1: in a book that outlines the whole book. In Acts
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Speaker 1: one eight, there's an outline of the Book of Acts geographically.
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Speaker 1: In Revelation one nineteen, there's an outline of the Book
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Speaker 1: of Revelation given us by the Holy Spirit. In Luke
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Speaker 1: nineteen ten, there's an outline of the book for the
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Speaker 1: Son of Man, by the way, that is the subject
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Speaker 1: of Luke's gospel. He presents Jesus as a man. You
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Speaker 1: see the humanity of Christ here as nowhere else. For
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Speaker 1: the Son of Man has come to seek and to
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Speaker 1: save that which was lost. In chapters one through the
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Speaker 1: first part of chapter four, Jesus is coming on the scene.
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Speaker 1: So we have in verse ten he has come to
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Speaker 1: seek and to save. That's chapters one to four. In
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Speaker 1: chapters four through well, it's about chapter twenty one he
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Speaker 1: is seeking men, and in twenty one through twenty four
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Speaker 1: he is saving men and women. So we have his
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Speaker 1: coming in the first four chapters. In the next middle
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Speaker 1: section we have his seeking people in ministry, his words,
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Speaker 1: his deeds, And in the last three chapters twenty twenty two, three,
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Speaker 1: and four, we have his saving people. Now the scene
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Speaker 1: is a little different in twenty four nineteen. I'd like
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Speaker 1: you to look at that one that's a little more detailed.
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Speaker 1: The context is in the post resurrection ministry of Christ.
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Speaker 1: He has gone to the cross, he has been buried,
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Speaker 1: he has been raised. Beginning at verse thirteen, there are
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Speaker 1: a couple of men on their way to a village.
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Speaker 1: Two of them were going that very day to a
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Speaker 1: village named Emmaeus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: and they were conversing with each other about all these
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Speaker 1: things which had taken place. Luke tells us it came
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Speaker 1: about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself
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Speaker 1: approached and began traveling with them. The way it reads
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Speaker 1: suggests that he simply appeared on the scene, which he
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Speaker 1: often did in his post resurrection state, just appeared, as
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Speaker 1: we would say, out of nowhere. He appeared, He approached,
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Speaker 1: and he began traveling with him. Their eyes were prevented
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Speaker 1: from recognizing him. I don't know what that means. And
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Speaker 1: he said to them, what are these words that you
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Speaker 1: are exchanging with one another as you're walking? And they
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Speaker 1: stood still, looking sad, and one of them said, one
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Speaker 1: of them named Cleophus, said answered and said, are you
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Speaker 1: the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things
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Speaker 1: which have happened here in these days? And he said
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Speaker 1: to them, what things? At times, it's interesting to study
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Speaker 1: jesus approach in talking with people. He at times gave
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Speaker 1: them room to answer. He did not always fill the
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Speaker 1: space with answers for them. Let's learn to do that
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Speaker 1: with our fellow learners. Let's learn to do that with people.
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Speaker 1: Let's give them room to think and to answer themselves.
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Speaker 1: You mean you haven't heard about all the things that
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Speaker 1: happened in Jerusalem? What things? What things? They said to him? Well,
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Speaker 1: the things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet
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Speaker 1: mighty indeed and word in the sight of God, and
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Speaker 1: all the people, and how the chief priests and our
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Speaker 1: rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death and
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Speaker 1: crucified him. We were hoping that it was he who
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Speaker 1: was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it's
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Speaker 1: the third day since these things happened. It's an interesting account,
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Speaker 1: and it's not our subject. But I want you to
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Speaker 1: go back to verse nineteen. Look at the words the
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Speaker 1: things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet. That's
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Speaker 1: chapters one through four, mighty, indeed chapters four through nine,
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Speaker 1: and mighty in word, chapters nine through twenty four. It's
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Speaker 1: kind of an outline again of the Book of Luke
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Speaker 1: built in there to that tiny verse, single verse. What
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Speaker 1: I have found especially interesting in my studying of Luke
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Speaker 1: is the fact that there are over thirty sayings, parables,
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Speaker 1: stories and scenes found between chapters nine and nineteen, and
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Speaker 1: found nowhere else in the Bible, often never referred to again. Now,
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Speaker 1: when you have a storehouse like that, you have a
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Speaker 1: treasured document. You don't have to wonder what some of
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Speaker 1: those scenes must have been like left out of Matthew Mark,
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Speaker 1: and John Luke tells you about them. I was reading
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Speaker 1: in Sidlo Baxter's work entitled Explore the Book, and I
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Speaker 1: was pleased to find that he lists all thirty of
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Speaker 1: those particular incidents and scenes, and then he says this
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Speaker 1: as only Baxter can say it. One only needs to
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Speaker 1: glance down that list to realize at once what a
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Speaker 1: wealth we have in these chapters. Why to mention only
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Speaker 1: the parables of the good Samaritan, the Great Supper, the
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Speaker 1: Prodigal Son, the Pharisee, and the Publican. Without referring to
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Speaker 1: the other parables, miracles, incidents, and sayings, is enough to
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Speaker 1: indicate the preciousness of it all. We cannot do without Matthew.
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Speaker 1: We certainly must have Mark. But oh with this jeweled
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Speaker 1: chain of exclusive memorabilia before us could we ever part
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Speaker 1: with Luke. It is not only the intrinsic worth of
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Speaker 1: these parables, miracles, and incidents which make them mean so much.
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Speaker 1: It is the way they reveal him, one after another.
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Speaker 1: They come, like so many successive floodlights of different color
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Speaker 1: turned on an object of extreme attractiveness. Without going into
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Speaker 1: detail here, think of what human feeling, sympathy, largeness, compassion
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Speaker 1: breathes through the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son,
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Speaker 1: the Pharisee, and the Publican. The reply to James and
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Speaker 1: John when they would have called down fire on the Samaritans,
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Speaker 1: the rebuke which silenced the little minded synagogue ruler, when
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Speaker 1: the infirm woman was healed on the Sabbath. How startlingly,
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Speaker 1: brotherly and big hearted are his words, both too and
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Speaker 1: about Zachieas, how melting his human emotion when he beheld
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Speaker 1: the city and wept over it. A few special glimpses
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Speaker 1: before we complete our study of the humanity found in
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of Luke, of course, would take us back
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Speaker 1: to chapter two, where we have information found nowhere else
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Speaker 1: regarding the Nativity, of the birth, the birth scene of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: all the events related to his birth and childhood, or
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Speaker 1: I should say most of the events related to the
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Speaker 1: birth and childhood of the Savior are peculiar to Luke.
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Speaker 1: You won't find him elsewhere. What Christmas season would be
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Speaker 1: complete without the reading of verses one through fourteen. What
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Speaker 1: child in a Christian school has not been made to
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Speaker 1: memorize these first fourteen verses. What Sunday school class has
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Speaker 1: not taken the Nativity scene right out of Luke and
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Speaker 1: lived it out in bathrobes and thongs, again and again
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Speaker 1: and again, year after year in the churches. All the
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Speaker 1: way through this account you read of the humanity, you
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Speaker 1: get a glimpse of him as a human being. And
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Speaker 1: while we are here in the second chapter, take a
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Speaker 1: special look at verses fifty one and fifty two. He
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Speaker 1: went down with them, that is, his mother and dad,
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Speaker 1: foster father, and he came to Nazareth, and he continued
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Speaker 1: in subjection to his parents. His mother treasured all these
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Speaker 1: things in her heart. And you'll read in the next
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Speaker 1: verse something read nowhere else in scripture. Yet it gives
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Speaker 1: us a full glimpse of the Savior in a boyhood fashion.
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Speaker 1: He kept increasing in wisdom and stature, in favor with
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Speaker 1: God and man. It's beautiful. It's so brief it makes
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Speaker 1: your mouth water for more. How often in reading this
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Speaker 1: kind of account I have thought, Oh, God, I wish
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Speaker 1: you had given us more. I'd like to see some
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Speaker 1: scenes in his adolescence. I'd like to know more of
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Speaker 1: him than when he was twelve with the wise men
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Speaker 1: in the temple. I'd like to see him during the
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Speaker 1: years of sixteen and eighteen and twenty five, and as
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Speaker 1: many feel at the loss of his foster father Joseph,
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Speaker 1: when he took up trade and supported his mother Mary
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Speaker 1: as a carpenter. I'd like some scenes like that. But
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Speaker 1: we're not told him, only that he increased in a
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Speaker 1: balanced manner in favor with God and man. But you
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Speaker 1: do see Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, most often
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Speaker 1: in prayer. I was interested to discover that turn, for
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Speaker 1: example to chapter three, verse twenty one. It came about
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Speaker 1: that when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized,
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Speaker 1: and while he was praying, Heaven was opened. I had
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Speaker 1: never thought of that before. Some time you go back
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Speaker 1: in the reading of these things and you find something
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Speaker 1: you'd never really latched onto before. He was praying, when
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Speaker 1: heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended, and God vindicated,
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Speaker 1: or I should say, ratified him. Thou art, my beloved
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Speaker 1: son in thee I am well pleased. Chapter five. You'll
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Speaker 1: see him again in prayer verse sixteen. He himself would
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Speaker 1: often slip away to the wilderness and pray. I have
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Speaker 1: a reason for reading each one of these Chapter six,
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Speaker 1: verse twelve. And it was at this time that he
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Speaker 1: went off to the mountain to pray, and he spent
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Speaker 1: the whole night in prayer to God nine eighteen and
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Speaker 1: twenty eight please turn. And it came about while he
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Speaker 1: was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he
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Speaker 1: questioned them, saying, who do the multitudes say that I am?
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Speaker 1: And twenty eight verse twenty eight, and it says, and
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Speaker 1: some eight days after these sayings, it came about that
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Speaker 1: he took Peter and John and James, and he went
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Speaker 1: up to the mountain to pray first. I find significance
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Speaker 1: in the repetition of that mentioning his prayer. And I've
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Speaker 1: only mentioned a very few if you've given up prayer
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Speaker 1: these days too busy, I know, involved in good things,
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Speaker 1: busy things, important things, high priority, top notch things, valuable things.
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Speaker 1: How about prayer with someone else? He could have done
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Speaker 1: all of his praying alone, but he often did his
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Speaker 1: praying with men near him and did not necessarily engage
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Speaker 1: them in prayer. He just took them aside with him
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Speaker 1: and he prayed. Interesting way to train people, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: He just modeled it. He didn't give them something to
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Speaker 1: say back to him, and only on one occasion did
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Speaker 1: he spell out the details of how they could do it.
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Speaker 1: He just did it. When is the last, somewhat last
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Speaker 1: time someone rapped on your door that was closed and
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Speaker 1: interrupted you in prayer. When is the last time you
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Speaker 1: just pulled away from a busy activity and you just
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Speaker 1: got in your car and drove to a distant spot
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Speaker 1: and just prayed. Maybe that explains why the hassle and
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Speaker 1: the panic feelings of have been increasing lately. You don't
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Speaker 1: know it, but uh, every week most of you don't
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Speaker 1: know this, but every week there's a group of ladies
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Speaker 1: who meets right here and prays for this ministry early
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Speaker 1: in the week. I was told this this past week,
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Speaker 1: that this body of ladies meets right here and they
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Speaker 1: go down before God and they pray for this ministry.
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Speaker 1: We who look at the tip of the iceberger ooh,
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Speaker 1: and I at the amazement, in amazement at God's handiwork
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Speaker 1: and blessing. And how seldom we pause to check back
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Speaker 1: the source and realize it may very well be directly
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Speaker 1: related to that time in prayer. Let me ask you,
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Speaker 1: is it just a special project that sort of bubbles
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Speaker 1: out of the Gospel of Luke? Begin to have it
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Speaker 1: this week of spending a little bit of time several
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Speaker 1: times in the week in prayer, perhaps not more than
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Speaker 1: five minutes a day, just in prayer. Don't wait for
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Speaker 1: the time, it'll never come. You have a little conflict
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Speaker 1: with your mate, or with a friend, or with a decision,
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Speaker 1: or with an ache of your heart that just won't
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Speaker 1: go away. Take that. Jesus, who is the god Man,
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Speaker 1: is presented to us as the dependent individual relying on
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Speaker 1: his father time and time again in the account concerning
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Speaker 1: his humanity. If he needed it, obviously we do. I
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Speaker 1: won't ask you to turn, but I'll also show you
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Speaker 1: another side of this gospel. On numerous occasions you will
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Speaker 1: find Jesus struggling with the hurts of people in this account.
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Speaker 1: In chapter four he states directly that God sent him
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Speaker 1: to heal. In chapter four he uses the words physician,
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Speaker 1: yourself or someone uses it of him. In chapter five
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Speaker 1: he talks about someone being full of leprosy. The term
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Speaker 1: is a medical term. Peter's mother in law had a
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Speaker 1: great fever. According to what Luke says, a great fever,
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Speaker 1: someone was struck with paralysis. In chapter five, chapter seven,
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Speaker 1: someone was sick and ready to die. Only a physician
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Speaker 1: could put it like that. Chapter thirteen, someone is so
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Speaker 1: troubled that he is bent over, unable to straighten up
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Speaker 1: because of a demonic attack. In chapter twenty two, there's
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Speaker 1: the healing of the soldier's ear. Oh why do I
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Speaker 1: take the time for that kind of detailed Because Jesus,
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Speaker 1: in all of his important activity, saw the particular needs
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Speaker 1: of people. He saw the ear that was lopped off,
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Speaker 1: he saw a person bent over. He saw a person
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Speaker 1: full of leprosy. He saw a great fever, not just
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Speaker 1: a little illness. He saw an individual in terminal illness.
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Speaker 1: The application of it is obvious, and it's it's clear
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Speaker 1: in the In the movement through life, no matter how active,
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Speaker 1: no matter how busy, people represent specific needs. And there
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Speaker 1: is nothing like noting the specifics about people's needs. People
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Speaker 1: who are hurting need more than a ah, snap out
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Speaker 1: of it, slap on the back. You need a listening here.
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Speaker 1: You need to call back in a day or two asking,
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Speaker 1: by the way, how's your brother, say, has the fever
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Speaker 1: left your child? How's the surgery coming along? You're getting
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Speaker 1: over it? How's the situation in the home you mentioned
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Speaker 1: last Sunday? In our group, give them a call, be
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Speaker 1: human about it. Jesus was right down to the point
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Speaker 1: of being there helping in every possible way. We're grateful
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Speaker 1: for Luke for four reasons, and I would put them
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Speaker 1: in terms that they answer four great needs of our lives.
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Speaker 1: This book answers four great needs of our lives. First
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Speaker 1: of all, we need security, and so we're grateful for
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Speaker 1: Luke because it is a careful presentation of the facts
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Speaker 1: that makes me feel secure. I don't have a broad brush,
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Speaker 1: slap it on the page, get it over with kind
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Speaker 1: of a document. Here. What I've got is a man
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Speaker 1: who set out to present things in consecutive order and
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Speaker 1: to do it exactly as they occurred. So it answers
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Speaker 1: our need for accuracy or for security. I should say,
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Speaker 1: we have a careful presentation of the facts. We're grateful
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Speaker 1: for that. Another reason, we find ourselves often at a
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Speaker 1: loss to identify with the Savior in his greatness and
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Speaker 1: in his power. So this answer is our need for identity.
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Speaker 1: We're grateful for the Gospel of Luke because it's a
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Speaker 1: realistic portrayal of humanity. Time and again I found myself
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Speaker 1: in reading through the Gospel, identifying with where he was.
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Speaker 1: I found myself warmly embraced by his person. As I
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Speaker 1: grew up, I didn't have that bridge built to Christ
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Speaker 1: in my life. I had a very stern and very
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Speaker 1: disciplined father who expected from me obedience. I never knew
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Speaker 1: that it was an option not to obey it, just
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Speaker 1: you do it, and I felt fear my father. I
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Speaker 1: learned to relate to God a lot like that, and
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Speaker 1: it has only been in recent years that I have
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Speaker 1: begun to realize the reality of what we sang in
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Speaker 1: that hymn. Recently, the last Stanza worshiped the King, our Redeemer,
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Speaker 1: our friend. That's why I wrote about that in the
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Speaker 1: top of the bullet in this week. The hymn ends
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Speaker 1: not by holding him in great, distant, cold respect, but
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Speaker 1: embracing me as a friend, one who understands me even
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Speaker 1: when I am stumbling and falling. He's my friend. I
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Speaker 1: need that. I need a book that draws me to him.
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Speaker 1: And Luke does that like a magnet that says, you
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Speaker 1: stumble today, and I'm here to help people at stumble.
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Speaker 1: You've lost heart, You've you've failed in this chuck. You
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Speaker 1: didn't live up to your dream, or your goal or
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Speaker 1: your standard. And I'm to tell you that I affirm you.
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Speaker 1: The Gospel of Luke helps that happen. You need affirmation.
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Speaker 1: Get into Luke. You'll see it time and again. Even
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Speaker 1: difficulty with home and family, you'll find frequent stories about that.
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Speaker 1: Right here, there's a realistic portrayal of humanity, answers our
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Speaker 1: need for identity. There's a third and it ties in
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Speaker 1: with that. It's a compassionate record of concern. It answers
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Speaker 1: our need for acceptance. Time and again, you'll find Jesus
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Speaker 1: in compassion over people, and you'll find yourself feeling accepted.
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Speaker 1: Over and over. He offers forgiveness and healing, cleansing of
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Speaker 1: the leprosy, relief from the fever. He's touched with the
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Speaker 1: ache and the grief of a father who's lost a child.
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Speaker 1: I'd like you to turn to chapter twenty three because
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Speaker 1: you expect this one, and it is in true of
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Speaker 1: all four of the Gospels, but this one is especially so.
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Speaker 1: Twenty three thirty three. It answers our need for security.
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Speaker 1: It's a careful presentation of the facts, answers our need
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Speaker 1: for identity. It's a realistic portrayal of humanity, answers our
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Speaker 1: need for acceptance. It's a compassionate record of caring of concern.
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Speaker 1: A fourth, it answers our need for forgiveness. It's a
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Speaker 1: faithful reminder of a sacrifice verse thirty three. And when
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Speaker 1: they came to the place called the Skull. There they
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Speaker 1: crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and
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Speaker 1: the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, Father,
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Speaker 1: forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,
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Speaker 1: and they cast lots, dividing up his garments among themselves,
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Speaker 1: and the people stood by looking on. Just picture that.
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Speaker 1: Let's don't hurry through the scene. They just stood and stared,
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Speaker 1: and even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, he
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Speaker 1: saved others, let him save himself. If this is the
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Speaker 1: Messiah of God, he has chosen one. So they defiled,
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Speaker 1: snarling sound. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to
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Speaker 1: him and offering him sour wine. If you're the king
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Speaker 1: of the Jews, save yourself, they scream out, And there
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Speaker 1: was an inscription above him. This is the king of
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Speaker 1: the Jews, one of the criminals who were hanged there.
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Speaker 1: This is peculiar, to Luke, there's a conversation between these
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Speaker 1: dying thieves hurling abuse at the Savior, saying, are you
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Speaker 1: not the Christ? Save yourself and us. The other answered,
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Speaker 1: in rebuking him, said do you not even fear God?
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Speaker 1: Since you're under the same sentence of condemnation. We indeed justly,
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Speaker 1: for we're receiving what we deserve for our deeds. But
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Speaker 1: this man has done nothing wrong. He was saying, Jesus,
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Speaker 1: remember me when you come in your kingdom and he
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Speaker 1: said to him, truly, I say to you, to day
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Speaker 1: you shall be with me in paradise. Let's a bow together.
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Speaker 1: We need security, we need identity, we need acceptance, but
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Speaker 1: most of all, we need forgiveness. Father, God, thank you
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Speaker 1: for the gift of your word, your master work, and
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Speaker 1: thank you for Luke's inspired account of your dear son's life.
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Speaker 1: We are so grateful, Lord, so grateful for the detailed
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Speaker 1: manner in which this first century gentile physician chronicled the
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Speaker 1: ministry of Jesus Christ such precision. But even more than that, Father,
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Speaker 1: we are grateful for your magnificent forgiveness. Our hearts are
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Speaker 1: filled with a quiet sense of reverence, as we have
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Speaker 1: observed your son, who, while bleeding on Calvary's cross, still
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Speaker 1: found room to forgive that sinner, the thief, who, by
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Speaker 1: the world standards, was despised and disregarded in our human state. Lord,
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Speaker 1: we need security, we need identity, and we need acceptance. Yes,
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Speaker 1: but we really need nothing more than we need forgiveness.
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Speaker 1: And so today we say thank you. We ask you
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Speaker 1: to help us to live as forgiven people, men and
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Speaker 1: women who now honor you in all we say and
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Speaker 1: in all we do. It's in the precious name of
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Speaker 1: the crucified and now risen Savior that we pray this amen.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message, Luke the Physician's Opinion was copyrighted in
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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
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Speaker 1: twenty twelve by Charles R. Swindell, Inc. All rights are
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Speaker 1: reserved worldwide.