Day 16: Luke 4-6. Jesus' Ministry Begins
In Luke 4, Jesus is tempted by the devil. The content of the temptations is very similar to Matthew (as you might suspect), but the temptations are in a slightly different order (an orderly account, remember?). The last sentence is ominous: the devil departs from Jesus "until an opportune time". (What does your translation say?)
Afterwards, Jesus begins his ministry by going to his hometown, wowing them all with his preaching, and, within the space of a few minutes, making everyone angry enough to want to kill him. the theme of Jesus' ministry is set then from the beginning. The sentence we hear him read in the synagogue, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor...." is the theme of his ministry. Large, appreciative crowds, and anger and rejection also appear right here in Luke 4.
In Luke 5, Jesus calls disciples. John has already been put in prison (see Luke 3), so their ministries do not overlap. When Jesus calls Simon, the fisherman immediately recognizes that he is in the presence of holiness. "I am a man of unclean lips," he says. Then, Jesus begins healing and casting out demons.
Luke 5 ends with the saying (we may recognize) about the new and the old wineskins. May I say that on one level I understand this metaphor (Jesus is the new wine, and the old wineskins will not be able to hold him), but on the other hand, there's more than meets the eye. So what does the last verse mean: "No one who drinks a well-aged wine wants new wine, but says, 'the well-aged wine is better.'" (It's literally true, of course, but otherwise, what does it mean? Especially if we believe Jesus is the NEW wine?) What do you think?
Chapter 6 begins with more arguments regarding Jesus' healing on the Sabbath. He goes up the mountain to pray (you will discover that Jesus prays a LOT in the gospel of Luke), and then chooses his twelve apostles. Then he comes back down the mountain to preach a sermon. It is in many ways similar to the Sermon on the Mount, but it's shorter (for one thing). It is called (of course) the Sermon on the Plain. A few other things to note: instead of beginning with a string of "Blesseds" as in Matthew, Jesus has three Blessings and three Woes. And instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus says "Blessed are you who are POOR". Not spiritually. Literally.
What sticks out for you in Jesus' Sermon on the plain?
Afterwards, Jesus begins his ministry by going to his hometown, wowing them all with his preaching, and, within the space of a few minutes, making everyone angry enough to want to kill him. the theme of Jesus' ministry is set then from the beginning. The sentence we hear him read in the synagogue, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor...." is the theme of his ministry. Large, appreciative crowds, and anger and rejection also appear right here in Luke 4.
In Luke 5, Jesus calls disciples. John has already been put in prison (see Luke 3), so their ministries do not overlap. When Jesus calls Simon, the fisherman immediately recognizes that he is in the presence of holiness. "I am a man of unclean lips," he says. Then, Jesus begins healing and casting out demons.
Luke 5 ends with the saying (we may recognize) about the new and the old wineskins. May I say that on one level I understand this metaphor (Jesus is the new wine, and the old wineskins will not be able to hold him), but on the other hand, there's more than meets the eye. So what does the last verse mean: "No one who drinks a well-aged wine wants new wine, but says, 'the well-aged wine is better.'" (It's literally true, of course, but otherwise, what does it mean? Especially if we believe Jesus is the NEW wine?) What do you think?
Chapter 6 begins with more arguments regarding Jesus' healing on the Sabbath. He goes up the mountain to pray (you will discover that Jesus prays a LOT in the gospel of Luke), and then chooses his twelve apostles. Then he comes back down the mountain to preach a sermon. It is in many ways similar to the Sermon on the Mount, but it's shorter (for one thing). It is called (of course) the Sermon on the Plain. A few other things to note: instead of beginning with a string of "Blesseds" as in Matthew, Jesus has three Blessings and three Woes. And instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus says "Blessed are you who are POOR". Not spiritually. Literally.
What sticks out for you in Jesus' Sermon on the plain?
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