Luke by Jim Leffel (2015)

Luke lays out his purpose, approach, and method for recording the life of Jesus. The book of Luke was written to persuade Theophilus about who Christ is. He presents evidence for Christ from the Old Testament and gives first-hand accounts with historical accuracy. This book means to present evidence for Jesus Christ as the Savior and show lost people their need for him.

God uses a barren woman to bring forth John the Baptist and a young virgin to give birth to Jesus Christ. Both of these births fulfill Old Testament prophecy and God's promise to send the Messiah. Mary responds in faith to God's plan and His goodness. She is a picture of courage, faith, and humility.

The genealogy of Jesus reveals that God sent Jesus to identify with all nations as the son of God. Jesus withstanding temptation from Satan shows us how to depend on God to meet our needs and how to resist the Word System (kosmos). We need to learn to rely on God's Word as a source of life and use it to defend ourselves against Satan's schemes. Rather than putting God to the test, we should follow His lead.

Jesus's miracles demonstrates who He is and that the Gospel is true. He heals unlikely people, just like the miracles Elijah did for the Widow in Zarephath. God seeks us in our hour of need, when we have come to a desperate place. This is when we are able to understand the power of the gospel.

Through cleansing a leper and healing a paralyzed man Jesus demonstrates that He has the authority to heal and forgive people, which is what He came to do. The method He chose for accomplishing His mission is discipleship, which is rooted in God's grace. We learn that discipleship involves becoming aware of our need to depend on God as we love other people.

When people elevate traditions higher than God intended, they overshadow the message of Christ. A dutiful mindset toward following God and our view of change can be indicators of this thinking. The Pharisees are an example of a religious mindset opposed to Jesus's message of grace and doing good. We should be people characterized by goal-oriented spirituality rather than passive receivers of spiritual truth.

God wants to give us real satisfaction and security, which material wealth cannot provide. Wealth brings the danger of emptiness, false security, and numbing our need for God. The poor and those in suffering are blessed because they are often able to see their need for Christ and what He provides. Rather than relying on acceptance from other people, our lives can shape their opinions about God.

Jesus' call to love others is based on God's love for us. God reconciled us when we were His enemies to make us His sons and daughters. Sacrifice is always involved in reconciling relationships and God wants to free us to restore the alienated relationships in our lives. This involves taking the log out of our own eye, dealing with the hypocrisy in our lives, and appealing to one another in love.

In three events Jesus reveals his identity and mission as the Messiah. He displays his authority in three areas: 1) his authority to heal when he revives a centurion's slave who is near death; 2) his authority over death by bringing widow's dead son back to life; and 3) his authority to forgive when a sinful woman anoints his feet with oil. These miracles serve as a prelude to Christ's ultimate rule and illustrate the compassionate heart of God.

Jesus is invited to dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee. While Jesus is reclining at the table a sinful woman enters the house. She anoints Jesus' feet with oil and wipes them with her hair. Jesus forgives the woman of her sins and instructs Simon on the relationship between forgiveness and love. The woman's response reveals that love is rooted in humility and gratitude which results in peace.\r\n

Jesus sails to the country of the Gerasenes and is confronted by a man possessed by demons. The demons had tormented the man for many years and forced him to live alone in the tombs. The demons recognize Jesus as ?Son of the Most High God,? and beg him to be sent out of the man and into a herd of pigs. The man is healed from demon possession but the townspeople are frightened and beg Jesus to leave. Three questions are explored in this narrative: 1) why does this encounter make us feel uncomfortable?; 2) why don't we see this today?; and 3) what relevance does this narrative have for us?

Herod the Tetrarch seeks to know the identity of Jesus. Jesus asks his disciples, ?Who do you say that I am?? Peter acknowledges Jesus' mission and identity as the Messiah sent by God. Jesus reveals to the disciples that he will suffer terrible things, be put to death, and then be raised from the dead on the third day. Jesus describes how his followers must suffer: take up their cross daily, entrust their lives to him, and be unashamed of his message.

The transfiguration emphasized Jesus as the fulfillment of salvation motifs throughout the Bible. Motifs about the Messiah include Jesus as the: 1) redeemer - purchasing humanity from slavery; 2) creator - bringing life out of chaos; and 3) king - reigning over all. Every book of the Old Testament develops at least one of these three motifs until they are fulfilled in the the New Testament by the person and work of Jesus.

What is humility? Humility begins with the person of Christ. Cultivating a deeper sense of humility involves: 1) an inner-awareness of God's incredible generosity towards you; 2) giving without love demands; and 3) complete surrender to God.

Jesus felt compassion for people before stating that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Jesus saw people and felt for them. In the same way, God calls the church to see people as God sees them. This includes all people, especially the poor and marginalized. We are called to move toward needful people with hands of generosity.

God's way is being blessed by God to be a blessing to others. In response to the lawyer, Jesus raises the standard of who we should consider ?my neighbor? and defines love as allowing ourselves to be inconvenienced by people in need.

The habit of prayer is a window into our deepest beliefs; prayer reveals what we really think about the nature of God. Under that framework, we explore the who, what, and how of prayer.

We are all part of a cosmic drama between God and His opposition. In this, God pursues those who are far from Him by sending His people to them. God's intent for mankind is explored as revealed through: 1) power; 2) grace; 3) contrasting priorities of love and justice; and 4) who we fear.

Beginning with the parable from Jesus in Luke 12:13-24, we unpack the dangers of materialism and the ever increasing drive for material wealth based on Jesus' assertion in Luke 12:15. The "rich fool" in the parable is shown to have a false sense of security, empty ambition, and a false worldview. The diminishing returns of seeking wealth and material possessions can be replaced by pursuing the commands of Matthew 6:22-32: 1.) don't worry; 2.) seek the kingdom of God; and 3.) invest in worthwhile ends. Includes an on-stage interview with Karl Fox to discuss financial success and trusting God with wealth.

Looking at three short parables in Luke 12, three main practices stand out as being critical to living in faith and hope in the time until Christ's return: 1.) Living in readiness to meet the King, taking part in the work of the Kingdom today; 2.) waiting patiently, but not idly; and 3.) being alert to the opportunities God brings for us, fighting distractions.

Where is God in suffering? How do we explain the character of God in a broken, pain-ridden world? In unpacking Luke 13:1-9, we explore many explanations for suffering: karma, "there is no God," and the biblical view of suffering. We also look into the character of God, and how we can rectify what we know of His goodness with the suffering we see in the world; we explore how God uses suffering in our lives and what He's done to deal with the brokenness of the world. Suffering is inevitable, but will we suffer with or without hope?

In unpacking four key parables from Jesus in Luke 14, we uncover the "backwards wisdom of God" and see the importance of humility in the Kingdom of God. Jesus calls his followers to voluntarily take the lower seat and reminds us of His heart and His concern for the poor, the crippled, the sinner, and the outsider. Jesus tells of the dinner party of all believers in Heaven, to which He has invited all people without discrimination, and calls His followers to "go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame," that they would be able to be with Him.

In some of the most famous parables Jesus told, we unpack the unexpected reality of grace when Jesus approaches known sinners to eat with them. He tells the onlookers about the shepherd searching for a lost sheep, a woman who searches tirelessly for a single lost coin, and the father of the prodigal son who waits expectantly to greet him with a celebration. We uncover the truth of God's mercy and love for us, that He would go to any length to save a lost son or daughter, and that no one can retreat so far from God in pride or fear that He would turn His back from them. We see the fallacy of the "religious" people who take pride in what they feel they have earned before God and the importance of humility in coming to the God of mercy for forgiveness.

After unpacking a parable on a shrewd manager from Jesus in Luke 16, we discuss what it means to invest material wealth in eternal rewards - using our resources for relationships that will never end. We have been entrusted with true riches, and Christ instructs us to be stewards of God's resources with faithfulness. What would it look like to set and follow through with deliberate goals for how to manage and steward the things God's given you, both material and immaterial, in such a way that they bring eternal rewards?

The apostles' request for increased faith leads Jesus to address faith and explain that it is not the strength of your belief, but where you place your trust. Jesus also teaches our attitude of faith needs to be one of humility; a child with a father, or a bond-servant with a master.

In this parable, Jesus teaches his followers about perseverance in prayer. As we persevere in prayer, we not only see miracles happen as those prayers are answers, we also see ourselves transformed.

We like to rely on ourselves and our own righteousness, but in this parable Jesus makes it clear that we fall short of God's standard of perfection. Comparing the self-righteous religious man with the humble "sinner", Jesus shocks his audience by declaring it is the latter who God accepts. Will we have this same humility, and place our faith in God's grace alone?

Continuing to shock his audience, Jesus continues to declare that our own works are not enough to earn our way into a relationship with God. We cannot follow God's law perfectly, but God has already taken that into account.

The disciples are confused by Jesus' predictions, since they were blinded by their own pre-conceptions of what Jesus was there to do. We can be spiritually blind as well, in denial or distracted from God's purpose. Unlike the blinded disciples, Zacchaeus' eyes are wide open as he goes to great lengths to meet Christ.

Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem contained two main ironies: 1) he came on a donkey; and 2) his victory speech was a lament. Leffel breaks down how his unconventional arrival fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, especially the Daniel 9 prophecy.

Four reasons to reject religion include: 1) hypocrisy; 2) dogma and deafness; 3) group-think; and 4) a body of teachings with no solutions. Instead, we are called to be ambassadors of Christ, delivering the good news to all people in faith, hope, and love.

Jesus teaches the Olivet Discourse, a prophecy concerning the end times. Signs of these times include war, famine, natural disaster, relational discord, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the regathering of the Jewish people. We don't know when the end of the age will be, but some of these signs have been fulfilled in recent years and eventually, Christ will return.

The narrative of the Last Supper begins with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. The original Passover narrative is recorded in Exodus 12. The Passover lamb foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus introduces Communion at this Passover feast. The purpose of the communion tradition is to remember Christ's sacrifice and to bring the Christian community together.

Both Judas and Peter fail in following Christ. Judas betrays Jesus for financial gain. He regrets his decision and takes his own life. Peter denies he knows Jesus but then acknowledges his failure and repents. After receiving forgiveness, Peter is commanded by Christ to lead His church. Peter understood that Christ's forgiveness extended to his failure and knew God could heal him. God's forgiveness and healing are also available to us when we experience failure.

Jesus went to the cross as a willing sacrifice for the sins of humanity. He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah. The certificate of debt nailed above his head to the cross did not record his sin, but ours. His sacrifice was the embodiment of God's judgment of sin and His love for humanity.

Is it reasonable to believe in the resurrection of Christ? The account of the empty tomb is presented and the historicity of the event is examined. Prophecy and historical evidence from the Old Testament book of Psalms and the letters of Paul are explained in connection to the resurrection.