THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE PT2

GOD’S STORY

When the Events of This Book Happened:

During Jesus’s earthly life, 7 B.C. – A.D. 30

Luke’s Gospel begins earlier than either Matthew or Mark, with the announcement of John’s birth, around 7 B.C. it ends with his ascent to heaven in the spring of A.D. 30. Jesus was born before Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., possibly two or three years earlier. The probable year of Jesus’s birth is 6 B.C.

The years 30 and 33 area the only years when Pontius Pilate governed Judea that Passover fell on a Friday. So discussion of the year of Jesus’s crucifixion centers on these two years. John’s ministry began in “the fifteenth year after beginning his authority over the provinces (A.D. 11). giving a date of A.D. 25-26 for the beginning of John’s ministry. Jesus’s ministry from baptism to crucifixion probably lasted about three-and-a half years. If so, he was baptized late in A.D. 26 (when he was age 32; see Luke 3:23), and he was crucified on Passover of A.D. 30 (Friday, April 7, in modern calendar notation).

HOW LUKE FITS INTO GOD’S “STORY”

Luke tells “chapter 4”- the most important chapter – of God’s story: God purchases redemption and begins the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. (See How Matthew Fits into God’s Story.)

TEACHINGS ABOUT GOD

In this Gospel, God initiates everything concerning salvation. The glory of God is especially emphasized, from the song of the angels (2:14) to the triumphal entry (19:38). Equally important is the glory of Jesus himself, from the transfiguration (9:32) to his resurrection splendor (24:26). Jesus is, of course, the virgin-born Son of God in this book. The Spirit is active from Jesus’s conception to the great power of his ministry (1:35; 4:14). The Spirit is also the gift Jesus promised to his followers (11:13).

TEACHINGS ABOUT HUMANITY

This Gospel focuses on humanity in two ways. First, Jesus is the ideal or perfect Human. Luke shows what a Spirit-filled person, wholly obedient to Gpd, is like (Note the centurion’s confession at Jesus’s death: “This man really was righteous!”; 23:47.) Second, Luke painted a vivid portrait of a number of individuals Jesus impacted, showing the value of each human life.

TEACHINGS ABOUT SALVATION

The turning point in this Gospel is 9:51, when “he determined to journey to Jerusalem”-the proper place for Jesus to offer himself as a sacrifice. In his own words. “Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (24:26). On the night he was betrayed, he taught his disciples that he death was a substitute and that it brought about the new covenant (see Jer 31:31-34). END OF PART 2