Theme of Luke
In the book of Matthew we saw how the theme of Jesus being the promised King was clearly shown in the beginning of the book. God was very upfront, clear, and plain about it. Jesus is shown to be in line to the throne, and the wise men come to recognize, worship, and give to the King.
We saw the same thing in Mark. From the beginning of the book Jesus is shown to be the promised servant. Mark skips the first 30 years of Jesus’ life and jumps right in with Jesus serving.
Last week we saw the same thing in Luke. From the start you notice the difference. To really take that in we read thru the first chapter of Luke.
The theme of Luke is the humanity of Jesus. This was also promised in the Old Testament.
Zech. 6:12 – Behold the man
Zechariah 6:12 …Behold the Man whose name is the BRANCH…
The words Behold and the Branch were used in prophecy to promise the coming Messiah. And in those prophecies the coming Messiah was promised to be the King, a servant, a man, and God. The Messiah was promised to be all four in one person.
And we have been seeing that God wrote one Gospel for each of those 4 prophecies. One of the purposes for this is to in detail show the fulfillment of each one of those promises.
Luke deals with our Lord’s Humanity. Luke was well fitted for this because he was a doctor.
Matthew was written by someone who had a position in a government. Mark was written by a servant of the apostles. God picked up an instrument to pen each gospel that was well fitted for that job. God used His power in the circumstances of life to prepare each man differently according to the gospel he would pen. It really is amazing.
We saw last week a difference in Luke. Luke is written with its eye on the humanity of Jesus. And every human has family. So Luke starts out with the husband of Mary’s cousin.
He kind of back talked the angel Gabriel and Gabriel took his voice away. He could not speak until John was born.
Every human has a mother, so Luke goes into how Gabriel told Mary that she was going to give birth to God’s son Jesus. Some family members do not have great faith and others do. Mary responds differently to Gabriel than Zacharias did. She responded with faith.
Luke then talks about Zacharias’ wife and her cousin Mary. And how excited Mary was that Elizabeth was pregnant and how she went to stay with her until the time of the birth of John.
People have real families with real trials and real events in their lives, and emotions, and friends. And families have gatherings. We did not highlight that last week. Look at Luke 1:58.
Luk 1:58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
Luk 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
According to the O.T. Law boys were to be circumcised on the 8th day. It became a big family event. Her neighbours and cousins all came out for it. They would have food and rejoicing.
And gatherings of family and friends is going to have drama and disagreements. This is all a part of the human condition. This is all showing that Jesus was born into a real family and all that goes with it. The group decided to name the child after his father.
The mother and father put what God wanted over the group.
Luk 1:60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
Luk 1:61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
Luk 1:62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
Luk 1:63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
Luk 1:64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
Gabriel took Zacharias voice and now he has it back. And He starts praising God. Big Time. It would have been something to see. The joy, the excitement, the shock of the group.
I made the point last week. When Jesus became man, He did it all the way. He took no shortcuts. He was in the womb for 9 months. He went thru birth and getting circumcised. And He did not give Himself an abnormal perfect family. He did not give Himself a rich pampered family that has servants and palaces. Jesus’ chose to have a common family.
There were cousins and uncles and aunts and the groups that they all associated with. There was drama and various levels of faith throughout the family. All the kinds of things that normal families have.
Jesus did not refuse to go thru all the same things that we do. The only difference is He went thru it all without sin. Amen!
Christ is presented in His humanity. But care is taken to make sure that we know that He was not like other men. He is the only perfect sinless man.
Twice in 1:27 it is recorded that Mary was a virgin. Jesus did not have the sin nature that is passed down thru man.
So let’s look at some of the other things that are different in the book of Luke.
Only in Luke do we see his mother and legal father being subject to common taxation.
Only in Luke do we see him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
Only in Luke do we see that there was no room for Him at the inn.
In Luke he is not spoken of as The King of the Jews but as a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. This is a title that reaches out beyond the Israelites and takes in the Gentiles too.
Luk 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luk 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luk 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Jesus became fully man for all men. So in the book that is focusing on His humanity we see a focus that Jesus came for all men.
When Jesus was presented at the temple the Holy Ghost came upon a man and he in the Spirit spake.
Luk 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
Luk 2:23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Luk 2:24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
If you know your O.T. offering you know that turtledoves or pigeons was the offering of the poor.
Luk 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luk 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Luk 2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Luk 2:28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Luk 2:29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
Luk 2:30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Luk 2:31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
Luk 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Two more times here we see Jesus was prepared for all people and as a light to the Gentiles as well as the glory of the Israelites.
Only in Luke do we see that Jesus grew.
Luk 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
He had growing pains like everyone else, He lost His baby teeth and got new ones like everyone else.
Only in Luke do we see Jesus as a boy of 12.
Only in Luke are we told that Jesus was subject to His parents
and Luk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Matthew starts with a genealogy and moved forward from Abraham thru David to Joseph.
Luke also has a genealogy but it starts with Joseph and moves backward all the way to Adam. Matthew’s shows Jesus was in line of the throne and a right to be king.
Luke goes all the way back to Adam. Every human is a descendant of Adam.
The genealogy of Jesus is traced back to Adam. This connects him to all men. Humanity is in view here and not the royal line. Jesus is presented as the second Adam. But Jesus is shown in contrast to the first Adam. Adam, in his unfallen state was merely innocent. We are told in Luke that Christ was holy.
In Luke Jesus is tempted of the devil, yet without sin. It was impossible for Jesus to sin, but He went thru the temptation. Jesus experienced everything that we do. He did not spare Himself any of it.
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Catch it. Where he had been brought up. He went thru it just like you did. And notice as his custom was he went to synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Only in Luke are we told that it was His custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read.
And like any other man, Jesus turned the pages until He had found the place he was looking for. This is only in Luke. In His humanity He had to turn the pages just like everyone else.
Jesus then preaches to them and they do not react well.
Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
Jesus experienced rejection, and slander, and attempted murder here and of course later actual murder.
There is no back stabbing, hurt or betrayal that you experience that Jesus does not understand.
He took no shortcuts, He did not spare Himself any of it, He became fully human. And at the same time fully God. They took Jesus out to the brow of a hill and was going to throw Him off. But because it was not yet His time, He performed a miracle and just passed through the midst of them.
In Luke we see Jesus portrayed as a Friend of publicans and sinners.
In Luke we see Jesus as a Man of Prayer
And frequently eating food. 7:36, 11:37, 14:1, 19:7, 24:30, 24:42-43
This shows the reality of His manhood.
Luk_9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Jesus was poor on this earth. He gave Himself no privilege over the human condition.
Luke does not ignore that Jesus is King and there are many examples in Luke of Jesus serving with love and compassion, and in Luke you will see Jesus in His deity preforming miracles. But while all of that is being told, there is a focus, a highlight on His humanity.
Anywhere you see Son of man, it is His humanity that is being highlighted. Anywhere you see Son of God, it is His deity that is being highlighted.
And sometimes you see both highlighted together and sometimes even all 4. Go to Luke 23
Luk 23:32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
Luk 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luk 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Jesus praying for others. That is serving others even while He was dying.
Luk 23:35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
Luk 23:36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
Luk 23:37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
Luk 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
God made sure that there was also a testimony that day that Jesus is the King.
Luk 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
Luk 23:40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
Luk 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
This is only in Luke. The thief says this man hath done nothing amiss. A testimony to His humanity.
Luk 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Here is deity. How? Because only God can forgive sins. Jesus as God forgave this thief and promised Him that He would be with Him in paradise.
Luk 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Luk 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luk 23:47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
Again a statement that Jesus was a man.
In Luke on the Cross all 4 are shown. Jesus is King, He is a servant, He was human. So fully human that He died. And at the same time fully God.
While each gospel presents Jesus from an entirely different viewpoint, and focuses on a specific aspect of Christ, they do not exclude what is in the others.
The focus of Luke is the humanity of Jesus.
As I have said before the themes of the Gospels have many purposes. One of them is to have an effect upon us. Matthew should influence us to recognize Jesus as our King. Mark shows us how Jesus served and we should try to serve that same way.
Luke shows us that Jesus became fully man. How should this effect us?
- We should be very thankful that He took no shortcuts and went thru it all so that He could truly be human so He could be a suitable substitute for us. He took backstabbing, He took rejection, He took false judgement, He accepted poverty.
- Luke should help us realize that Jesus understands our hurts and our trials. Because we can see that He experienced it all. From hunger to betrayal. He understands it all.
- Luke shows us that Jesus is not a cold hard callous God. He is tender. He has emotion. He is compassionate. He cares. He even stopped dying on the cross long enough to pray for sinners and to forgive one and take a repentant thief with Him.
I am very thankful for the book of Luke.
See more lessons from the Gospels