When you think of the Gospel of Luke,think of Jesus Christ as Man.
The book Luke was written by Luke, a doctor who traveled on missionary trips with the Apostle Paul (Col. 4:14). In his book, Luke emphasized Jesus’ ancestry through his mother Mary’s family. He told of Jesus’ birth, early childhood, baptism, temptation, and entry into ministry. These stories (showing Jesus’ humanity) have natural appeal to all: Greeks, Hebrews, the Church, and all Mankind. In this third Gospel, Jesus is seen as a baby, a son, a man, a citizen, a teacher, a person, a human. He was fully God, but He was fully human. The angel Gabriel told Mary that she would bear God’s Son and call his name JESUS (Luke 1:31). Joseph and Mary raised Jesus from an infant to a man (2:52). Jesus trusted, obeyed, followed, and honored God, his Heavenly Father. His personal life is our example of how a human can be totally dedicated to God. In Luke, we have another example from Jesus: how people can be filled with God’s Spirit for ministry. At his baptism (around age 30), Jesus was filled with God’s Spirit (3:21-23). This filling was for his public ministry that began at that time. He returned from his baptism—still filled with God’s Spirit. As Jesus started his public ministry, “there went out a fame of him” (4:14). He ministered by God’s Spirit, commanded his disciples through God’s Spirit, was raised from the dead by God’s Spirit, and will reign in the future by God’s Spirit (Lk 4:14, Mk 1:28, Acts 1:2, Rm 1:4, 8:11, Isa 11). Jesus, God’s own son, depended on his Heavenly Father for Holy Spirit filling.
Application:
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit for filling, guidance, and power in life and ministry. The story of Jesus’ life should encourage us to depend fully on our Heavenly Father.
“Obey God & Be Filled With His Spirit!”
(Highlights of The Old Testament available at SWM) Click here.
