When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. Luke 4:32
INTRO: First, we’ll take an ariel view and point out a few things
A parallel is developed between the first two scenes (vv. 31-37)
– Luke uses three words that describe the response of people to Jesus to link these scenes Continue reading
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17
INTRO: This morning’s gospel reading was Matthew 5:13-20
It is a small patch of a much larger quilt, The Sermon On the Mount
– and for whatever we might say about it, the sermon is not a lovely philosophy of life or a useful outline for human behavior and interactions
– in fact, some of it is rather harsh (for example, if we fail to be the “salt” Jesus says we are to be, we are “no longer good for anything”) Continue reading
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And the recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19 (read verses 14-30)
INTRO: In this passage Jesus’ ministry is summarized from the outset
Luke is tracking Jesus’ steps
– he’s been baptized, completed his ordeal, and now he’s back in town
– but he’s returned different – “in power”
Almost immediately he becomes a public figure (v. 14) Continue reading
“Christ In the Wilderness”
Ivan Kramskoy
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:1-2
[Yes, we re returning to the temptation story again this week. There are a couple more points that I wanted to draw out before moving on.]
INTRO: These first two verses set the stage for the episode that follows
The camera zooms in on Jesus first – his name appears as the story begins
– he is a long way from home, from family, and from the old neighborhood
He is being guided through a transition
– he’s not in charge of this moment in his life, but he’s ready
– he braves the desert alone, subjecting himself to two opposing forces Continue reading
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:1-2 (1-13)
INTRO: We return to where we left our bookmark
Jesus is on the move and he goes from his baptism directly into the wilderness
Even if we had never heard this story before, there is something about it that sounds familiar
– we can detect a series of events in Jesus’ movements that are typical of folk tales from ancient times to today
Continue reading
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-11
INTRO: This last week I read the story of the flood and realized we had to return to Luke 3
Jesus’ baptism deserves a closer look
– Peter saw a correspondence between the Genesis flood and baptism (1 Pe. 3:20-21)
– the flood gave the earth a good bathing – it washed away human corruption
Think of the Earth after the flood as a “sterile field”
– it could have remained disinfected if God had not spared Noah and his family, because they carried in their hearts the germ of human corruption Continue reading
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also bapized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-22 (read entire chapter)
INTRO: From the end of chapter 2, the story jumps ahead, skipping eighteen years of Jesus’ early life
Verses 1-3 give us the geopolitical setting for John’s story
These names of people and places are like vectors that help us locate the story in its historical and cultural context
– a hierarchical and oppressive system and at all levels in the service of Rome
Luke isn’t writing a history as we think of it–that is to say, he isn’t marking a point on a “time line”
– he’s telling a story, so his concern is not a date, but what this situation means to the characters
– in verses 19-20 we will see how politics affect John the Baptist
And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Fathers house?” Luke 2:49 (read 2:21-52)
INTRO: For many years, my parents had a stable Sunday routine
We would go to church, go out to lunch with other families, swing by the store for the Sunday paper on our way home, nap, and then return to church for the evening service
– the predictability of a routine can be boring, but it can also comforting
– if our weekdays are chaotic, then falling back into a routine on the weekend helps to restore our sanity
One Sunday Dad pulled up to the front of the grocery store and I jumped out as usual Continue reading
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:78-79 (read vv. 57-80)
INTRO: A day or two after our most recent grandson was added to the clan, I went to see him
When I asked the baby’s name, my son-in-law began to explain how he came up with “Indy”
– he got it from the movie character, Indiana Jones–only Sid didn’t care for “Indiana,” but he liked the nickname Indy
– my daughter, who was lying on her side gently stroking her fourth child, said with a sigh of resignation, “That was our deal. I got to name the girls and Sid got to name the boys.” Continue reading
And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38
INTRO: On one of our trips to Russia, we walked through a park near the Kremlin in Moscow
Observing that the large metal sculptures reminded me of fairytales, I asked our translators whether the one closest to us was the story of the fish that begged for its life, promising to fulfill a wish for the man who caught it. The translators confirmed that it was what I had guessed and they were surprised to learn that I knew those same fairytales (I was surprised to learn how many fairytales have come to us from Russia). I recognized the sculptures because the familiar images belong to both cultures Continue reading