Luke

1. Luke

2. “Luke, our dear doctor, and Demas send you their greetings.” (Colossians 4:14) • “As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.” (2 Timothy 4:6 – GN) • “Only Luke is with me…” (2 Timothy 4:11 – GN)

3. “Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1-4 – GN)

4. “…and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.’” (Luke 3:22 – GN) • “Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.” (Luke 4:1,2 – GN) • “The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.” (1 John 3:8 – GN)

5. “The Devil said to him, ‘If you are God’s Son, order this stone to turn into bread.’ • But Jesus answered, ‘The scripture says, Human beings cannot live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:3,4 – GN) • “Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, ‘If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. For the scripture says, 'God will order his angels to take good care of you.' It also says, 'They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' • But Jesus answered, ‘The scripture says, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:9-12 – GN)

6. “Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. ‘I will give you all this power and all this wealth,’ the Devil told him. ‘It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.’ • Jesus answered, ‘The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’” (Luke 4:5-7 – GN) • When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.” (Luke 4:13 – GN)

7. “Jesus’ refusal was curt: ‘Beat it, Satan!’ He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.’ The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.” (Matthew 4:10,11 – The Message)

8. “The Jewish authorities came back at him with a question, ‘What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?’” (John 2:18 – GN)

9. “Herod was very pleased when he saw Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been wanting to see him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some miracle. So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer.” (Luke 23:8-9 – GN)

10. “People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: ‘You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders made fun of him: ‘He saved others, but he cannot save himself ! Isn’t he the king of Israel? If he will come down off the cross now, we will believe in him! He trusts in God and claims to be God’s Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!’” (Matthew 27:39-43 – GN)

12. “Where is this so-called Father of yours?’ Jesus said, ‘You’re looking right at me and you don’t see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father.’” (John 8:19 – The Message)

13. “But [the people] would not welcome or receive or accept Him, because His face was [set as if He was] going to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, ‘You do not know of what sort of spirit you are, For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.’ And they journeyed on to another village.” (Luke 9:53-56 - Amplified)

14. “Now that you have known me,’ he said to them, ‘you will know my Father also, and from now on you do know him and you have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father; that is all we need.’ Jesus answered, ‘For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?’” (John 14:7-10 – GN)

15. The parable of the gold coins • “Another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it hidden in a handkerchief. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.’ • “…I will use your own words to condemn you!” (Luke 19:20-22 – GN)

16. “Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, “There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: ‘My rights are being violated. Protect me!’ He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, ‘I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won’t quit badgering me, I’d better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I’m going to end up beaten black and blue by her pounding.’ Then the Master said, ‘Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?” (Luke 18:1-8 – The Message)

17. “And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Suppose one of you should go to a friend’s house at midnight and say, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don't have any food for him!' And suppose your friend should answer from inside, 'Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking. And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish? Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-13 – GN)

18. “The Helper will come – the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God.” (John 15:26 – GN) • “When the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth…He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you.” (John 16:13,14 – GN) • “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.” (John 14:16-17 – GN)

19. “One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, ‘This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!’ So Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them---what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, 'I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!' In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.’” (Luke 15:1-7 – GN)

20. “Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them---what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it. When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says to them, 'I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!' In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents.’” (Luke 15:8-10 – GN)

21. The prodigal son • “So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! I will get up and go to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers.’ So he got up and started back to his father. He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’

22. “But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’ And so the feasting began.” (Luke 15:23,24 – GN)

23. “In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him, ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Your brother has come back home,’ the servant answered, ‘and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.’ The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’ ‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’” (Luke 15:25-32 – GN)

24. The shrewd manager • “If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you? No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.” (Luke 16:11-14 – GN)

25. “Jesus said to them, ‘You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by people are worth nothing in God’s sight. The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.’” (Luke 16:15-16 – GN)

26. “There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’

27. “But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.’ The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house, where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’ Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’ The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’” (Luke 16:19-31 – GN)

28. “..a place of special custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to them, who distribute to them temporary punishments, agreeable to every one’s behavior and manners…Angels are appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downwards. Now those angles are set over these souls, drag them into the neighborhood of Hell itself….they do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but when they have a near view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful expectation of future judgment, and in effect punished thereby…” • Later, they go to “a lake of unquenchable fire…prepared for a day afore-determined by God, in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men…this everlasting punishment…”

29. The good, are “led with hymns, sung by angels…to a place where they wait for the rest and eternal life in Heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call the bosom of Abraham.” • There is a “chasm deep and large fixed between them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them cannot be admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it.” • Hell: “to these belong unquenchable fire, and that without end, and certain fiery worm never dying, and not destroying the body, but continuing its eruption of the body with never-ceasing grief; neither will sleep give ease to these men, nor will the night afford them comfort; death will not free them from punishment.”

30. Literal interpretation • Abraham’s bosom? • Chasm in between? • If the soul is apart from the body, is there a need to cool the tongue? • This is the only case in which Hades is associated with any punishment

31. Parable Who is the rich man? Who is Lazarus? ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’” “From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus…the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, because on his account many Jews were rejecting them and believing in Jesus” (John 11:53 – GN)