Right now we are flying through the New Testament in my Intro to New Testament class. We've been talking a lot about how to look at these books in context and now we are just diving into them. Let me tell you - a Gospel each week is kind of intense, but it's going to get more intense as we do all of Paul's pastoral epistles in a week and some other conglomerations of books. Wow ... lots of reading for me! (surprise, surprise)
Today's question was: "Of the major and distinctive themes of Luke's gospel, which is the most poignant for our time? The first-century church? Jesus' audiences?"
Here's my short response.
Today’s world needs to hear the same things as the first century Christians and those that heard Jesus for the first time. God wants to redeem and save His world and He has a plan to do that.
Luke began the story of Jesus’ public ministry with Jesus reading from Isaiah. I think that this proclamation in Luke 4:18 clearly defines the themes that Luke is about to present. These words offered hope to people who were looking for a Messiah to bring freedom, then among the first century Christians they found hope in a Savior that would release them from the oppression and persecution so often visited on them and today while we need to know those things, we are called more than ever to grow into discipleship as we bring good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, healing / recovery of sight to the blind and release for the oppressed.
Redemption and salvation are themes that desperately need to be heard in our world today, as they have since the moment Jesus entered this world. In Luke 24:47, Jesus said when with his disciples after the Resurrection, “and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his (Christ’s) name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Redemption through repentance and the forgiveness of sins. This is what mankind continually needs to hear.
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