Month: <span>January 2016</span>

Luke 17-18 points to the opposition Jesus faced from the Pharisees. Jesus used their erroneous, selfish point of view as a foil for instructing His followers about the characteristics of authentic discipleship. Whether Jesus was arguing with the leaders of Israel or performing messianic signs of the kingdom, Jesus demonstrated His supremacy in the revelatory acts of God. Jesus fulfilled a unique, elevated position in the storyline of Scripture.

(1) In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healed ten lepers by declaring them clean. Because skin diseases can be highly contagious, in Leviticus 13-14 Moses established laws for how priests would identify and treat conditions that could spread by contact. In Num 5:1-4, Moses reiterated the demand that those with skin diseases should be quarantined so that the contamination would not spread throughout the camp. Once the priest could no longer identify signs of infection in the diseased person, the priest would offer sacrifices on behalf of the one who was ill. Those suffering from skin diseases had to endure social and religious separation during the process of cleansing. Shocking it was then when a group of ten lepers approached Jesus begging for mercy, and Jesus declared them clean and told them to go to the priest in Jerusalem so that they could offer a sacrifice and be restored to the community. One of the ten lepers, a Samaritan, did not make it to the priest, though. Luke reported that this man returned, gave glory to God, and fell at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him (Luke 17:16).

(2) In Luke 17:26-37, Jesus argued that the Pharisees should consider the dullness of those destroyed in the days of Noah and Lot, and be prepared for the day of the Son of Man. God told both Noah (Gen 6:9-22; 2 Pet 2:5) and Lot (Gen 19:14) to announce to their audiences the imminent judgment that the Lord was bringing upon them. But Noah’s contemporaries and Lot’s sons-in-law did not give the warning a second thought. Jesus saw the same attitude in the Pharisees. They thought themselves exempt from even the possibility of condemnation, galaxies removed from the wicked of ancient times. But Jesus knew the Pharisees were as culpable as those who ignored Noah while he built the ark (Matt 24:37-38//Luke 17:26-27) and the residents of Sodom as they went about partying while Lot preached repentance. Jesus warned them to look at historical precedent and understand that their present course of pursuing earthly security would prove faulty in the day of His wrath when some would be taken and others left to destruction (Matt 24:39-41//Mark 13:15//Luke 17:30-35).

(3) In Luke 18:20, Jesus cited from the Ten Commandments to confront the rich young ruler who wanted to justify himself by mere obedience to the law. Previously, Luke reported that an expert in the law approached Jesus asking, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). The lawyer’s question prompted Jesus to tell the Parable of the Good Samaritan, arguing that loving one’s neighbor included loving one’s natural enemies. The rich young ruler approached Jesus with the same question, confessing to Jesus that he had kept the commandments (Matt 19:16-22//Mark 10:17-22//Luke 18:18-23). Jesus did not challenge his assertion but said, “You still lack one thing: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). The young man left “extremely sad,” Luke reported, “because he was very rich” (Luke 18:23). According to Jesus, obedience to the Ten Commandments did not equate to salvation (Exod 20:1-17; Deut 5:6-21). Eternal life is for those who trust Jesus’ word and obey Him.

(4) In Luke 18:31, Jesus stated that the Old Testament predicted His suffering and death at the hands of Gentiles, and the fact that He would rise on the third day. In Psalm 22, the psalmist described his sufferings—sufferings that anticipated what Jesus endured in His trial and crucifixion. In Isaiah 53, the prophet detailed the sufferings of God’s servant. In Ps 16:9-11, the psalmist stated his confidence in God to raise him to eternal life. Jesus told His disciples that the events predicted in texts like these would be accomplished in His forthcoming death and resurrection (Matt 20:17-19//Mark 10:32-34//Luke 18:31-34).

As Jesus’ popularity grew, so did the opposition He received from the contemporary Jewish leadership (Luke 12:1; 14:7-14; 18:9-14). Jesus opposed the Pharisees’ selfishness and used His debates with them to instruct His disciples in kingdom values, especially financial generosity. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because of their selfishness and misapplication of the Old Testament. Since the Jewish leadership neglected the demands for mercy present in the Law and the Prophets, they were unable to comprehend the greater demands for unselfishness and generosity that Jesus set forth as means of participation in God’s kingdom. Jesus admonished the Pharisees for not recognizing His unique relationship with the Old Testament.

(1) In Luke 15:1-2, the Pharisees grumbled because Jesus showed hospitality to sinners, setting aside Mosaic commands related to ritual purity. In Leviticus 11 Moses catalogued animals that were unclean, commanding Israel to abstain from touching or eating them lest the nation compromise its pure status before the Lord. Moses reiterated these commands in Deut 14:3-21. The Pharisees interpreted Moses’ commands as a basis for separating from Gentiles and ceremonially unclean individuals at meals. The righteous should not associate with the unrighteous, they thought. Even the Psalms begin with the righteous happily separating themselves from the wicked: “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!” (Ps 1:1). Accordingly, Luke reported, “All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him. And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!’” (Luke 15:1-2). The misplaced pride of the Jewish leadership occasioned Jesus’ parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son (Luke 15:3-32). While the Jewish leadership rejoiced over their separation from unclean sinners, heaven rejoiced over the lost being found.

(2) In Luke 16:16, Jesus said that the Law and Prophets were until John and that the kingdom of God had arrived in Himself. In essence, Jesus announced that a new standard of judgment had arrived; no longer could one point to a passage of the Law or Prophets to show their righteousness (Matt 11:12-13//Mark 13:31//Luke 16:16-17). God knows the heart, and Jesus’ ministry revealed people’s hearts in a way that the Law and the Prophets could not. The Pharisees—thinking they could employ the law to acquit themselves—were all the more guilty because the law actually pointed to Jesus and they should have recognized Him. Jesus thus reinforced the place of the law as the arrow pointing to Him, saying, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out” (Luke 16:16-17).

(3) In Luke 16:29-31, Jesus taught that if someone rejected the witness of the Law and the Prophets, they would not repent even if someone rose from the dead to testify of God’s judgement. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) illustrated Jesus’ point in Luke 16:16-17 that the Old Testament witnessed to Himself. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus reinforced the theme of financial stewardship that Jesus introduced in the Parable of the Lost Son and was still on the minds of the Pharisees after the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:14). In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, a poor, ill man was left at the rich man’s gate. Both men died, but in the afterlife their circumstances were inverted. Abraham said to the rich man, “Remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony” (Luke 16:25). In the context of Jesus’ diatribe with the Pharisees in Luke 15-16, Abraham’s statements in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus reinforced what Jesus taught about money and salvation history. Jesus’ point was that the Pharisees were guilty by their own standard; they used the Old Testament as an excuse for their greed and selfishness. Since the Pharisees had rejected the Old Testament pointers to Jesus, they would certainly not accept the witness of His resurrection.

In Luke 9:51-19:40 the author recounted Jesus’ teaching as He approached Jerusalem for the last time. Of all the controversies surrounding Jesus’ ministry, none surpassed the discontinuity between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel regarding the Sabbath. According to Jesus, godliness was not manifested by what Israelites refrained from doing on the seventh day, but by what His followers were to practice each day: humility before all, and commitment to Him. Jesus lamented Jerusalem’s stubborn opposition to God’s word and instructed His disciples in the humility and devotion that would characterize all who would enjoy the eschatological banquet. In Luke 13-14, Jesus depicted His ministry as the grid for interpreting the narrative of Scripture.

(1) In Luke 13:16 and 28, Jesus referenced the patriarchs as participants in the kingdom of God. In Genesis 12 and 15, God expressed His promise to Abraham, assuring Abraham land and lineage. Through Abraham, God promised to bless the nations. When Abraham and Sarah were past the age of childbearing, God gave them a son, Isaac (Gen 21:1-7). Isaac fathered Esau and Jacob by his wife Rebekah, and the Lord chose Jacob to continue the line of blessing from Isaac and Abraham (Gen 25:19-26:6). When Jesus healed the crippled woman in one of the Galilean synagogues on the Sabbath, the leader of the synagogue was indignant with Jesus for working on Israel’s sacred day. Jesus justified His act of kindness toward the woman based on the fact that she was a descendant of Abraham (Luke 13:16). Later when someone in the crowds following Jesus asked Him if there were only a few being saved, Jesus answered, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able” (Luke 13:24). Jesus taught that works of righteousness are consistent with the way of salvation, concluding that at the judgement the unrighteous would be in the place of despair (Matt 8:11-12//Luke 13:28-29). From the realm of torment, the unrighteous would see “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:28).

(2) In Luke 13:10-17 and 14:1-6, Jesus healed the diseased on the Sabbath. Jesus’ power and mercy expressed toward the woman who was crippled for eighteen years in Luke 13:10-17 anticipated Jesus’ healing of the man with dropsy in Luke 14:1-6. Based upon the commands in Leviticus 13-14, the discharge of fluid from this man’s body would have made him unclean. Yet, somehow, he found his way into a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath when the Pharisee was hosting Jesus for a meal. The Jewish leadership watched to see if Jesus would heal the man—on the Sabbath. Jesus did, and taught that the Sabbath had a different function in the kingdom of God than what was generally accepted by the Jewish leadership. God jealously instituted the Sabbath to test Israel’s reliance upon Him. As the Israelites rested from their work and were yet satisfied, other nations would ask Israel about the Lord and want the Lord to be their God (Exod 16:1-30; Num 15:32-36; Deut 4:1-8; 5:12-15). Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees was not that they had too high a view of the Sabbath, but their understanding of the Sabbath was insufficient. Earlier in Luke’s account, Jesus had permitted His disciples to pick grain and eat on the Sabbath (Matt 12:1-8//Mark 2:23-26//Luke 6:1-5), declaring Himself the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).

(3) In Luke 13:35, Jesus quoted Ps 118:26 to proclaim His messianic authority in pronouncing the destruction and restoration of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the city where the royal figure Melchizedek served as priest to God Most High (Gen 14:17-20). Jerusalem was the city of David, where the Lord established Israel’s temple and monarchy (1 Chron 21:18-22:1; Pss 2:6; 48:2; 137:3). Jerusalem and the temple became polluted by Israel’s idolatry. God condemned the city to destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 24:10-12) according to the words of the prophets like Jeremiah (Jer 1:15; 5:1-13; 7:1-11). Jesus portrayed Himself as one of the prophets Israel rejected (Luke 13:34) and pronounced that the city would be destroyed. But Jesus’ word of condemnation would not be His last. Jesus took up Ps 118:26, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” to prophesy the chorus the people would sing when they recognized His glory. Psalm 118 is a song of victory for the Lord’s saving power over Jerusalem despite the fact that the city had been rejected and attacked by the surrounding nations. The One coming in the name of the Lord would bring final deliverance.

Luke was a skilled and organized writer. He reported the events of Jesus’ life with clarity and sophistication. In Luke 11-12, Luke noted how Jesus used the Old Testament autobiographically to announce that the history of Israel reached its zenith in His ministry.

(1) In Luke 11:29-32, Jesus compared Himself to Jonah and Solomon to rebuke those who demanded a sign from Him. Jesus condemned the generation of His day because they continually sought a sign that He was the Messiah—even though He performed many miracles in their presence (Matt 12:39-42//Luke 11:29-32). To them He promised the sign of Jonah, saying, “For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation” (Luke 11:30). Jonah was three days in the fish before preaching to Nineveh, and Jesus would be three days in the tomb. While the fish was sent to keep Jonah alive, the sign of Jesus was greater—He died and was raised to life. No sign could authenticate Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah more than His death and resurrection. If the crowds and Jewish leadership would not believe the empty tomb, no other sign would be given them. Yet Jesus knew the hard-heartedness of the day. Since the Jewish leadership rejected Him, while the wicked city of Nineveh repented at the words of Jonah, “In 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4), the people of Nineveh would rise up in condemnation of those who rejected the greater ministry of Jesus. Likewise, since the queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kgs 10:1)—and Jesus’ generation rejected His superior wisdom—at the judgment she would rise up and condemn the hardness of those who rejected Jesus.

(2) In Luke 11:47-51, Jesus denounced the Pharisees for acting consistently with their fathers, those who had killed the prophets like Abel and Zechariah. In Gen 4:8, Cain killed his younger brother Abel in a jealous rage. When the Lord confronted Cain, He told the murderer that Abel’s blood cried out from the ground (Gen 4:10). Since Abel died unjustly, he became a martyr, a prophet of righteousness. Toward the end of his life, King Joash of Judah turned from the Lord (2 Chron 24:15-22). Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest acted as a prophet and confronted Joash, and the king responded by having Zechariah stoned in the courtyard of the temple (2 Chron 24:21). Throughout Israel’s history, from the time of Abel to Zechariah, Israel rejected the prophets. Because the Pharisees had rejected Him, Jesus inferred that it was as if His opponents were actually participating with their forefathers in the persecution of all the prophets (Matt 23:34-36//Luke 11:49-51).

(3) In Luke 12:53, Jesus cited Mic 7:6 to inform His disciples that their devotion to His kingdom would cause separation in some of their closest relationships. Micah confronted Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord and one other. In Mic 7:6, the prophet lamented the social decay in Judah—so fractured was the nation that no one could be considered a loyal friend, not even those in one’s family. While Micah argued that the divisiveness of his day was the result of unfaithfulness to the Lord, Jesus said that all who are faithful to Him would have to endure loss of relationships as close associates and family turned from following Him (Matt 10:34-36//Luke 12:49-53). Jesus did not come to bring peace to all human relationships, but peace between God and His people—which would cause many to oppose His followers and separate from them. “They will be divided,” Jesus said, “father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:53).

Jesus’ mission in Luke 9-10 revealed that as He turned His attention toward Jerusalem, He did so in light of the record of redemptive history in the Old Testament. He was not a radical, esoteric figure, but One who brought to culmination God’s earlier acts of revelation in the Old Testament.

(1) In Luke 9:28-36, Jesus was transfigured before some of the disciples and spoke with Moses and Elijah—prophets who spoke for God and performed miracles in the Old Testament. The account of the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8//Mark 9:2-8//Luke 9:28-36) set forth Jesus’ unique place in salvation history. When Peter, John, and James saw the change in Jesus’ appearance, Luke reported that they also saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. The three were not discussing Moses’ leadership in the exodus (Exodus 12-15) or Elijah’s great acts like the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18), but Jesus’ departure that would take place via the cross in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). The voice from heaven confirmed for Peter, John, and James that Jesus was God’s Son, the Chosen One whose ministry fulfilled all that Moses and Elijah had done in God’s name.

(2) In Luke 9:51, Jesus’ mission toward Jerusalem echoed the significance of the city of David in the Old Testament. Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, visited Abraham and received a tithe of the spoils of war from the patriarch (Gen 14:17-20). Jerusalem was the city of David, the place that David established as the center of Israel’s religious and civic life (1 Chron 21:18-22:1; Pss 2:6; 48:2; 137:3; Zech 9:9). But after the days of David, Jerusalem descended into an idolatrous abode—a place hardened to God’s prophetic word and destined for destruction (2 Kgs 24:10-12; Jer 1:15; 5:1-13; 7:1-11). Jesus understood Himself to be in the tradition of the rejected prophets, those whom Jerusalem loathed. Luke wrote, “When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Jesus sent seventy disciples to journey south ahead of Him, preparing the towns and villages for His ascent to Jerusalem. He was so sure that Jewish leadership would seize Him there that when He was warned along the way that Herod Antipas, the iron-fisted governor of Galilee, wished to kill Him. Jesus replied, “I must travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:33). If the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem had a chance to get Jesus, then even the danger of Herod Antipas would have to take second place. As Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to die, He wept over the city and pronounced judgement against it (Luke 19:41-44).

(3) In Luke 10:27, an expert in the law said that Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18 were the commandments that led to eternal life. After stating the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, Moses told Israel that they were to love God with all of their life (Deut 6:5). In Leviticus 19, Moses prescribed various laws for Israelite purity and justice. As the people of Israel showed love for one another (Lev 19:18), they would reflect God’s holiness and purity in the Promised Land. Jesus’ discussion with an expert in the law (Matt 22:34-40//Mark 12:28-34//Luke 10:25-28) demonstrated His new, advanced proclamation of the way of salvation. This lawyer came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus asked him how he understood the law, the lawyer answered that the way of salvation was found in love for God and love for one’s neighbor, in accord with Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18. Jesus affirmed the man’s analysis of the way of salvation. But the lawyer wanted to justify himself and asked Jesus to define who qualified as a neighbor. The lawyer’s query prompted Jesus to tell the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). Jesus’ point with the parable was that the lawyer needed to be more concerned with being merciful to those in need around him than wondering who qualified as his neighbor. The lawyer appeared to be near salvation, but Jesus exposed the lawyer’s self-righteousness and lack of love toward the needy around him.

At the outset of his Gospel, Luke told Theophilus that after investigating the matters thoroughly, he set out to write an orderly account of the things that Jesus said and did (Luke 1:1-4). In Luke 7-8, Luke recorded some of Jesus’ messianic miracles and how observers responded to Jesus. When Jesus taught, He presented Himself as the focal point of God’s revelation in the Old Testament. Jesus’ ministry had shared points of contact with the prophets of Israel but ushered in an era that was qualitatively superior. Jesus read Scripture as a storyline that reached its apex in Himself.

(1) In Luke 7:27, Jesus affirmed John the Baptist’s role as His forerunner by quoting Mal 3:1. During the early stages of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, some believed upon Jesus, but others rejected Him. Over time, even John the Baptist began to re-evaluate his cousin. John had baptized Jesus but was soon jailed for preaching against Herod the tetrarch (Matt 14:3-4//Mark 6:17-18//Luke 3:19-20). While Jesus was ministering throughout Galilee, proclaiming the good news and healing many—acts that confirmed His messianic claims—John was left in prison (Matt 11:2-19//Luke 7:18-30). John thought that Messiah would not only preach and heal, but also exercise God’s wrath upon Israel’s enemies in accord with Isa 35:4, “Say to the faint-hearted: ‘Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.’” John thus sent his disciples to inquire of Jesus if Jesus was in fact the Messiah. The Lord answered with deductive reasoning, affirming that John was in fact the messenger who had been sent according to Mal 3:1: “Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You; he will prepare Your way before You” (Luke 7:27). Since John was the messenger of the Lord, the Lord had indeed arrived. While Jesus emphasized John’s greatness, He also pointed out that an entirely new day had dawned in His coming, saying, “The least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).

(2) In Luke 8:10, Jesus employed the words of the prophet Isaiah to explain His use of parables. As Jesus’ popularity grew, prompted primarily by the miraculous signs He performed, Jesus began to teach in parables. Learning from a parable required ears that had been enabled to discern the thrust of the figure. Jesus used the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-9//Mark 4:3-9//Luke 8:4-8), to communicate the reality that only the good soil responds appropriately to the scattered word. Thus, at the end of the day, the quality of the soil is revealed by the crop it produces. When the disciples were puzzled about the meaning of the Parable of the Sower and asked Jesus for an interpretation, Jesus cited Isa 6:9, saying, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that: ‘Looking they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’” (Luke 8:10b). Jesus quoted from the section of Isaiah that records the prophet’s call experience. Isaiah was sent to preach in Judah during the Assyrian advance—a time when the hearts of the people were not receptive to God’s messenger. Jesus’ parables served a dual purpose, revealing the truth of His kingdom to those who had been made perceptive while also hiding God’s word from the hardened.

Luke’s account of Jesus’ early Galilean ministry established Jesus as a uniquely powerful and controversial figure. Jesus placed a premium on mercy, not the traditions of the Pharisees. Something new had arrived and the traditional way of thinking about matters like forgiveness of sin, fasting, and observance of the Sabbath would have to be reconsidered. Jesus’ ministry in Luke 5-6 offered a portrait of His supremacy in Israel’s religion.

(1) In Luke 5:12-26, Jesus demonstrated that He had the power to forgive sin, fulfilling the standards of the Mosaic law. When Jesus cleansed the leper (Matt 8:2-4//Mark 1:40-44//Luke 5:12-14), He warned the man not to make the matter known widely, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing as a testimony to them” (Luke 5:14). Moses’ instructions in Leviticus 13-14 detailed how priests were to identify and treat skin diseases. The purification protocol Moses established was based on the fact that it took a period of time for skin diseases to run their course. Only after the skin showed no sign of disease could a person return to a state of cleanliness and normal societal relations in Israel. But Jesus cleansed this leper in an instant, simply by His word. Jesus indirectly testified of His messianic status by sending the cleansed man to the priests to tell them what Jesus had done. Luke went on to note that Jesus healed a man who was carried to him on a stretcher and let down through the roof of the home where Jesus was teaching (Matt 9:2-8//Mark 2:3-12//Luke 5:18-26). Luke arranged these healing episodes to emphasize Jesus’ messianic status in accord with Jesus’ proclamation that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to set the captives free (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus—in the hearing of the Pharisees and teachers of the law—told the paralyzed man, “So you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…I tell you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home” (Luke 5:24).

(2) In Luke 5:33-39, Jesus taught that the new covenant required new structures of spirituality. While the Old Testament law required fasting only on the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:26-32), the practice became synonymous with mourning over Israel’s subjection to her enemies (1 Chron 10:12; Zechariah 7-8). The Pharisees traditionally fasted twice per week (Luke 18:12). In the Judaism of Jesus’ day, fasting was looked upon as a special demonstration of one’s piety and concern for the nation of Israel. Some questioned Jesus about why His disciples did not fast like John’s disciples or the Jewish leadership (Matt 9:14-17//Mark 2:18-22//Luke 5:33-39). Jesus answered by saying that the new message of God’s kingdom required a new outlook on spiritual habits like fasting.

(3) In Luke 6:1-5, Jesus claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. After God created the earth in six days, He rested on the Sabbath (Gen 2:1-2). In Moses’ list of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, he stated that God’s Sabbath rest was the reason for Israel to rest on the Sabbath day (Exod 20:8-11). After the destruction of the Second Temple, and even as far back as the days immediately preceding the Babylonian captivity (Jer 17:19-27; Ezekiel 20), Israel and Judah thought the Sabbath second to none in their religion. The Sabbath separated them from all other peoples—showing their special place in God’s plan (Deut 4:1-8). When the Pharisees noticed that Jesus permitted His disciples to pick grain and eat it on the Sabbath, they were out of sorts (Matt 12:1-8//Mark 2:23-28//Luke 6:1-5). Jesus cited David’s unlawful consumption of the showbread when he was on the run from Saul as precedent that His disciples could pick and eat grain. Jesus’ freedom from traditional Sabbath-keeping was an offense to the Pharisees and an affront to any who understood that faithfulness to the rules of the seventh day was the fulcrum of national independence. A new day had dawned.

Luke opened his Gospel in a scholarly fashion. In Luke 1:1-4, he told Theophilus that he used sources and did research to present an orderly account of Jesus’ life and the events that had been fulfilled among them. Luke’s idea of fulfillment included Old Testament predictions of the Messiah. References to the Old Testament in Luke 3-4 authenticated Jesus as the devoted Son of God, the Messiah of Israel according to the expectations established in the storyline of Scripture.

(1) In Luke 3:4-6, Luke proposed that the ministry of John the Baptist fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness, one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. John prepared the way for the Messiah by filling the valleys, leveling the mountains, straightening the crooked paths, and smoothing the rough ways (Matt 3:1-6//Mark 1:2-6//Luke 3:1-6//John 1:19-23), metaphorical descriptions of how John’s preaching called people to rearrange their lives in accord with Isa 40:3-4. According to John, God’s gift of salvation was to be expressed in fruitful living—like generosity to those in need and fair government/business practices—as opposed to simply claiming a lineage to Abraham (Luke 3:7-14). John’s teaching was so profound that many thought he was the Messiah, but John said, “I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).

(2) In Luke 3:23-38, Luke recorded the genealogy of Jesus so as to highlight Jesus’ messianic status. In accord with Matt 1:1-17, Luke wrote that Jesus’ line included such figures as David and Abraham. But Luke went further back than Matthew and traced Jesus’ lineage to Adam and God. Luke’s genealogy demonstrated that Jesus’ coming had an historical significance for all humanity.

(3) In Luke 4:1-12, Jesus employed the Old Testament to rebuke the Devil during the period of temptation in the wilderness. As in Matt 4:1-11 and Mark 1:12-13, Luke wrote that after John baptized Jesus, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. At each point of temptation, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6-8, Moses’ injunction for Israel to obey God in faithfulness. Jesus did not rebuke the Devil based on His powerful status as the Messiah by quoting Psalm 2, 45, or 110, but rather upon His humble attitude as Son, One utterly devoted to God the Father.

(4) In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus announced that Isa 61:1-2 had been fulfilled in His arrival. Having returned to the region of Galilee following the temptation experience in the Judean wilderness, Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth. One Sabbath when Jesus was at the synagogue, He found Isa 61:1-2 and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). As He read it, Jesus said that He had fulfilled the Scripture, but the people scoffed. They knew Jesus as the son of a carpenter, a commoner. Jesus responded by stating that just as God withheld blessing from Israel during the days of Elijah (1 Kings 17-18) and Elisha (2 Kings 5), God’s favor would be hidden from many in Israel during His ministry. This prospect so enraged the synagogue crowd in Nazareth that “they got up, drove Him out of town, and brought Him to the edge of the hill their town was built on, intending to hurl Him over the cliff” (Luke 4:29).

The first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke are an orchestral arrangement of witnesses proclaiming that the promises and hopes of the Old Testament pointed in the direction of the child born to Mary and Joseph. Luke recorded for Theophilus the solo performances of the angel Gabriel, Mary the mother of Jesus, Zechariah the father of John the Baptist, and Simeon and Anna in the temple complex, in order to point out that they were all reading the same score. The participants in Luke 1-2 understood Jesus from a distinctly Old Testament point of view.

(1) The angel Gabriel employed Old Testament themes to explain the roles of John the Baptist and Jesus. In Luke 1:13-17 the heavenly messenger described John as a Nazarite, one who would avoid strong drink. Moses described the Nazarite vow as a voluntary commitment to seek the Lord for a period of time by abstaining from strong drink, letting the hair grow, and avoiding contact with a corpse (Num 6:1-12; 1 Samuel 1-2). In Luke 1:16-17, Gabriel echoed Isa 40:3, Mal 3:1-6, and Mal 4:5-6 when he proclaimed that Elizabeth’s son would turn to Israel to seek the Lord their God and go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah. Luke recorded that Gabriel later visited the virgin Mary, announcing to her that she would miraculously conceive and bear a Son who would sit on the throne of David (Luke 1:30-33, 35). The angelic proclamation is a conflation of Isa 7:14, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel;” Isa 9:6-7, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace…He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom…from now on and forever;” and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the Lord’s promise to David that his lineage would rule in Israel for eternity.

(2) Mary’s song of praise reflected upon the Abrahamic covenant, the song of Hannah, and the Psalms. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary responded to the announcement that Elizabeth was pregnant by singing her own song of praise to the Lord. Like Hannah before her (1 Sam 2:1-10), Mary was a humble woman who had been favored with conception. In her song of praise, Mary employed themes of victory from Psalms 34, 35, 89, 99, 100, 103, 107, and 118. Mary understood that the miraculous conception was consistent with the way God had acted toward Israel in the past, recalling God’s blessings to Abraham and his descendants (Luke 1:55). The God who had been faithful to fulfill His promises of land and lineage (Genesis 12, 15; Exodus 4-15; Josh 21:43-45) had acted again.

(3) After Zechariah announced that his son would be named John, he prophesied of Israel’s salvation in terms consistent with Old Testament expectations of deliverance. In Luke 1:67-79, Zechariah described the Lord as, “the God of Israel,” the One who had “visited and provided redemption for His people” (Luke 1:68). Zechariah rejoiced not only because his son would be the one who would go before the Lord, preparing His ways, but even more so because the One who would deliver Israel from her enemies (Isaiah 53, 60-66; Micah 7; Malachi 3) was at hand.

(4) In the temple complex, Simeon uttered prophetic praise concerning Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles and to Israel. Simeon’s prophecy in Luke 2:30-32 reflected Isa 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned;” Isa 42:6-7a, “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose…I make you a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeons;” and Isa 49:6, “It is not enough for you to be My servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

(5) Anna proclaimed the birth of Jesus to all who were looking for the salvation of Jerusalem. She understood Jesus as the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophetic themes—like those found in Isa 40:1-2a, “‘Comfort, comfort My people,’ says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of servitude is over, her iniquity has been pardoned;” and Zech 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (see Matt 21:5//John 12:15).