The Son of Man
Saturday, February 19th, 2011The phrase “the son of man” (o uios tou anthrōpou) occurs 82 times in the Gospels, and four additional times in the rest of the New Testament. In Hebrew, which Jesus may have been speaking, the term is ben Adam, literally, son of Adam. There are four common viewpoints regarding what Jesus meant by this [...]
Sabbath
Thursday, January 6th, 2011Sabbath (Heb. Shabbat): Despite the mistaken belief by many Christians that Sunday is the Sabbath, it is actually the seventh day of the week, Saturday. And since Jewish days begin and end with the sunset, the Sabbath begins on Friday evening at sunset, and concludes on Saturday evening at sunset. The origins of the Sabbath [...]
Luke 5:33-39
Friday, October 22nd, 2010Luke 5:33-39 contains three short parables, the first in Luke’s Gospel. The parables of Jesus are some of the most difficult passages to understand in the New Testament. Much of this is due to our separation in time, language, and culture from Jesus. But even the disciples of Jesus, who did not face these contextual [...]
Luke 5:27-32
Sunday, September 26th, 2010Jesus continues to show His followers what it looks like to be fishers of men. Sometimes Jesus shows love to the poor and sick who are outcast; other times He reaches out with love to the rich and famous who are also outcast in their own way. But Jesus is never constrained by cultural stigmas. [...]
Luke 5:12-16
Sunday, April 25th, 2010After calling some fishermen to follow Him, Jesus begins to show them what it means to be a fisher of men. The people that Jesus tried to catch were not the rich, the powerful, and the influential, but primarily the poor, the sick, and the neglected. Tax collectors, prostitutes, Gentiles, and thieves were drawn to [...]
Luke 4:38-44
Saturday, March 13th, 2010In fulfillment of Luke 4:18-19, Jesus continues to carry out His ministry through preaching the gospel and performing miracles. 4:38. After preaching in the synagogue and casting out the demon (4:33-35), Jesus entered Simon’s house. This is the first time Simon—who later becomes known as Peter— is mentioned in the book of Luke, and he [...]
Luke 4:16-19
Sunday, January 17th, 2010From a thematic perspective, Luke 4:16-30 may be the central passage of the Gospel. This passage contains a mission statement from Jesus about His ministry and also provides a foreshadow for how His ministry will be received. The rest of the Gospel of Luke unfolds how Jesus fulfilled this mission, and yet was continually misunderstood [...]
Luke 4:14-15
Saturday, November 28th, 2009The ministry of Jesus finally begins in Luke 4:14-15. And yet, these verses are not really the beginning of ministry for Jesus. Chronologically, they do not immediately follow the events of 4:1-13. There is actually about a one year gap in between verses 13 and 14. When the Gospel of Luke is compared with Matthew, [...]
Luke 4:1-13
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Luke 4:1-13 contains a description of the forty days of temptation Jesus experienced in the wilderness. The placement fits perfectly in the narrative as it immediately follows the genealogy of Jesus and precedes the beginning of ministry of Jesus. The genealogy concluded with a reference to Adam, the son of God (3:38), which recalls for [...]
Luke 3:23-38
Thursday, September 17th, 2009After writing about the baptism of Jesus, and His anointing by the Holy Spirit, it would seem natural for Luke to transition immediately into the ministry of Jesus. But instead, he records the genealogy of Jesus. Issues as to why Luke does this, and how to understand this genealogy abound. The approach here will be [...]
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