Luke 1.39-56

Cousins often share a special relationship.
I love the story of Elizabeth and Mary.  As cousins, they share family joy and fear. Elizabeth shares in the gift of prophecy with her son: Jesus is here; jump for joy.
Remember how tenuous Mary's situation is.  She leaves her village for a reason. Think of how odd Elizabeth appears to her neighbors.
God has put them together to share in salvations promise.

Luke 1.26-38

In this week's scripture, Mary learns that she will give birth to the Son of God and that her cousin will unexpectedly give birth. Mary's story is the story of society's most vulnerable.  Jesus is not born into the wealthiest family or to Nazareth's most experienced parents.  God did not send Jesus to the community with the best schools or to an earthly father who was anything other than a distant relative of David.
Luke describes Mary as someone on whom God has looked with favor.  God's favor comes to us not as something we deserve.  God's favor is grace.  And Mary is humble, God's servant. Mary steps up to fulfill history.
"For nothing will be impossible with God."

Luke 6.37-49 - Sermon on the Plain (Part 2)

Jesus' most famous sermon continues with some of his more famous imagery.  Jesus is a preacher, but Jesus is not preachy.  His images are earthy and easy to understand, yet they are not earthly, dull, or flat.  Jesus' true message is about imitation and discipleship.  If we follow the ways of Jesus, we are more concerned with leading ourselves than leading others.
When we call Him "Lord, Lord", we commit ourselves to imitate Him, learn His ways and follow Him.

Luke 6.20-37

Two of Luke's difficult sayings on stewardship:

Luke 18.22

Acts 2.45

Luke 4 - part 2

Unfortunately, this is what people think of when they think of an exorcism.  Spinning heads and vomit. Priests leaping from windows. The reality of this kind of oppression is actually worse.  The man in the congregation at Capernaum suffered greatly, with no relief until Christ.  Many suffer the same way in our own day; often, this suffering is diagnosed as some sort of mental illness. (1) We do a disservice when we despiritualize this kind of suffering. (2) We must develop a healing ministry for people who suffer in this way.  Casting out demons is not a matter of some type of incantation, but the healing power of the presence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Luke 4

In Luke 4, Jesus begins his ministry in the synagogue.  Jesus preaches with authority, a recurrent theme early in Luke.  What does this authority look like?  What about someone else who reads the same words.  Was Jesus just an effective public speaker? Surely that is not it.  Some have spoken powerful, manipulative words, without this kind of authority.  They led people to their deaths or had them kill others.

Jesus delivers the Old Testament prophetic message with a new authority, full of the grace of God, delivered to an amazed and sometimes angered congregation.  Healing and exorcism accompany these sermons.  Jesus came to transform and show the true power of God for humanity.  As he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God...I was sent for this pupose."  God be praised.

Luke

This week we begin an extended sermon series on the gospel of Luke.

Some common assumptions about Luke the writer:

1. Physician - the gospel of Luke recounts many healings and presents a compassionate Jesus. However, this profession for Luke is biblically based on Colossians 4, not the gospel itself.

2. Gentile - if Luke is a Gentile writer, he is certainly the evangelist most interested in the Jewishness of Jesus. The beginning chapters of Luke's gospel present close up views of the Temple and Jesus' very Jewish upbringing, including his circumcision on the eighth day. Based on this information, recent scholars have challenged this tradition.

3. Character in the Story - in Acts 16, Luke uses "we" in the narrative, placing himself in the story as Paul sails the Mediterranean.

The gospel:

1. Is part one of a two part series, including the book of Acts. Paul begins before the birth of Jesus and ends with Paul in Rome.

2. Is not really a gospel, but an epistle to a certain new Christian named Theophilus.

3. Is intended "so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed" (Luke 1.4).