Luke by Dennis McCallum (1999)

John the Baptist paved the way of Christ's earthly ministry. At the time, people were confused on who he was, as the two comings of Christ had been concealed by God. People were expecting Elijah to come before the Messiah, but John instead removed a key obstacle to people believing in Christ when he came. God's mystery plan that was revealed through the Cross gives us a greater appreciation for His work throughout human history.

Mary is approached by the angel Gabriel, announcing that she will give birth to Jesus. Mary's response was one of active trust and obedience to God's Will for her life. Mary had the option to resist God's Will, but showed an availability to what God was trying to do in her life. As we make ourselves available to God's Will, we get incredible opportunities to affect the course of eternity for God.

The birth narrative of Christ depicts a life characterized by rejection and exclusion from the beginning. King Herod was threatened by Christ taking his rule and sent Magi to find Jesus. The Magi were honestly seeking to know who Jesus was, an attitude that is still essential today when it comes to Jesus. The birth narrative of Jesus is ironic given Jesus' work and what he would accomplish at the cross for those who rejected him.

The genealogy of Jesus Christ is a powerful apologetic for the authenticity of God's Word. God's plan revealed through His Word has been in place for thousands of years. The genealogies reveal God's grace as he uses common and sinful people to advance His plan through Christ, highlighting the hypocrisy that Jesus would combat during his ministry.

Christ encounters Satan in the wilderness, giving insight into aspects of spiritual warfare. Jesus was totally dependent on God when he encountered Satan's accusations, combating them with the Word of God. Satan's temptations often revolve around living for self, but Jesus demonstrated that patiently depending on God through the Holy Spirit produces real satisfaction. Learning to combat Satan's temptations and live for God's purposes is deeply fulfilling.

Jesus' first teachings centered around God's Word as he simultaneously performed miracles. These miracles were used to authenticate Jesus' message, for symbolic teachings, and to demonstrate Jesus' authority over the demonic spirits and even death itself. Jesus Christ's message was for the humble and not the self-righteous, as he showed people's need for forgiveness through him apart from any human works.

Jesus' calling of the 12 disciples was towards a life that was a thrilling mission orchestrated by Jesus. The disciples were willing to suffer for the sake of Christ and ultimately led the way during the early church movement. God's call on people's lives is for their good and for the good of others. For those who encounter Christ, they should be willing to get equipped and ask for his forgiveness.

Jesus' healing of a paralytic and a man with leprosy demonstrates his radical concern for the outcast within society. He goes a step further by commissioning Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Tax collectors were despised within society, but Jesus had compassion and sought those who were rejected to be his followers instead of those who didn't think they needed help. Jesus' love for sinners and those who are helpless demonstrated God's radical love to those who are undeserving.

Jesus' sermon on the plain highlights genuine faith versus legalistic religion. Jesus taught that a life characterized by humility, suffering, and self-denial leads to real happiness. Jesus' teaching opposed the prideful, self-righteous attitudes of the Pharisees as he encouraged sacrificial love as the highest priority. As we learn to give like Christ, we'll experience God meeting our needs in a real way.

Jesus teaches his audience the need for spiritual discernment in light of false teachers. False teachers have teachings that don't match scripture, use their authority for selfish gain, aren't accountable to others, lie about ministry, and pursue wealth. As Christians, we should expect false teachings and learn how to discern when they are in our midst, while looking to follow those who model servant leadership like Jesus and live out his Word.

Jesus shows the distinction between unrighteous judgment and needed discernment and judgment. Discerning judgment is based on moral right and wrong from God's Word and is centered around truth and falsehood. On the other hand, unrighteous judgment concerns itself with judging others' motives and condemning others. When we humbly focus on our own personal character growth with God instead of focusing on others failings, God is able to help us avoid self-righteous judgment and look to help others to grow with God.

Jesus' final admonition on his Sermon on the Plain centers around the foundation to which people will build their life upon. There are many foundations that we can build our life around, including our family, materialism, and personal desires. However, real life fulfillment will come from placing Jesus at the center of our lives and living for him before all else. This teaching includes a testimony from a man named Chad who made Jesus the foundation for his life.

Jesus' interaction with a centurion reveals the nature of what makes great faith. The centurion's faith amazed Christ and was characterized by humility, trusting in God's Word, and asking but not demanding from Jesus. Jesus challenged the Pharisees lack of forgiveness, highlighting their misguided spirituality. True spirituality is exemplified by radical love and forgiveness that comes from an understanding of God's love and forgiveness towards unworthy sinners.

Jesus uses a parable to describe the common responses people have towards his Word. One response to God's message is to be a forgetful hearer, who hears the message and then immediately is swept away. Others can superficially hear God's Word, but after a while fall away. Some can hear God's Word, only to get distracted by riches or worries in the world. Jesus desires the humble and honest heart of a responsive hearer, someone eager to hear his Word and live by it. This parable calls attention to the personal need for individuals to listen and decide which soil they want to be when they encounter God's message about Jesus Christ.

Jesus' interaction with the demonic gives insight into occult powers. Occult worship is widespread within culture and is demonic by origin. However, Jesus Christ has authority over all demonic spirits and powers. The response to encountering occult and demonic powers is to ask for Jesus Christ to come into your life for spiritual protection, to discern what is from God and what is from other demonic forces, and separating ourselves from the occult.

Jesus' sending of the twelve shows that God's work will be done God's way. Jesus' method was to send his disciples to seek those who were spiritually responsive to his message, as God empowered their work. Their service depicts Christian ministry, a unique opportunity for Christians to see God work in their lives as they look to meet the needs of others. The feeding of the 5,000 shows that Jesus' method was using people who were available and willing to serve others, leading to real satisfaction.

Jesus gives two decisions to his followers: die to self or live for self. Choosing to pursue Christ above everything else is the key to effective discipleship and followership as we weigh the cost in our lives. Those who decide to live spiritually mediocre lives will lose themselves, while those who have counted the cost of discipleship and are eager to sell out for God will gain true life. This decision happens after the decision to accept Jesus Christ as savior has occurred.

Jesus' transfiguration up on the mountain revealed his true glory, while testifying to prophecy concerning Christ from the Old Testament and foreshadowing his work on the cross. The experience that Peter, John, and James witnessed is an example of God using experience to promote further dependence and trust. Often times, people use experience as an idol, instead of trusting in the stability of God's Word and what Jesus did. Developing a category for spiritual experience without needing them for our faith is important for growing Christians.

Jesus taught that those who are like children would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Christians who substitute ambition and ego for humility and serving others emulate the attitudes of children in God's Kingdom. Jesus taught the principle of cooperation while allowing for disagreement on non-essential doctrine among believers in Christ. Jesus also rejected the ideas of racism and hate, instead affirming love for all people that reflects the love of God. Humility, cooperation, and love are key principles for effective Christian ministry.

Jesus interaction with an expert in the law shows our inability to keep God's law perfectly. Rather than try and use works to become right with God, Christ offers forgiveness through his death on the cross to fulfill God's law and have a relationship free from works. The expert in the law desired to be righteous on his own, so Jesus used a parable of the Good Samaritan to show that God's requirement of love requires initiative, compassion, meeting immediate and long-term needs, and a willingness to suffer discomfort. This was shown through Jesus' life as we are unable to love God and others perfectly but can have Jesus pay for our failures at love.

Communicating with God through prayer is a relational, subordinate, and dependent process that Jesus modeled. Within times of prayer, we should recognize and praise God for who He is. From there, God is able to help us intercede for others, remind us of His mission for us and even help protect us from temptation in spiritual warfare. Christians who have effective prayer lives have learned the relational communication needed between God and themselves.

Jesus' prayer teaches us the importance of persistence in prayer with God. This aspect of prayer is helpful to get greater communication with God, promotes faith and appreciation, confronts Satanic opposition, and channels the power into God's hands instead of ours. Because of His goodness, we can expect God to act in our best interests through prayer.

Jesus' time of prayer communicates how Christians can utilize prayer in spiritual warfare. Satan is looking to prevent people from knowing Christ personally and prayer is our main weapon to combat his schemes. As we attack Satan's kingdom and try and help people understand their need for Christ, we need to be sober and alert to Satan's counterattacks. Understanding God's Word is essential to combat Satan's tactics through prayer, both individual and corporately.

Jesus warns his audience about the temptation of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy could be identified by a lack of honesty in efforts to appear more righteous than others while neglecting their own short comings. God is more concerned with the internal heart attitudes than the external actions we do before people. As we reject hypocrisy, we are able to see God's power more fully and develop close relationships that are honest as we learn to cooperate to fulfill His purposes.

Jesus' interaction with the rich fool highlights the perils of materialism. Those entranced by wealth are oblivious to what God says about how to use His resources and look to selfishly accumulate more and more for themselves. Often, those who seek after wealth and riches encounter worry and anxiety, as they are unable to fully control everything they are trying to keep hold of. God's way includes trusting Him to meet our needs, and acting as stewards with His resources to accomplish His purposes. This type of lifestyle leads to real fulfillment in a way that riches and wealth is incapable of.

Living for Jesus gives us the opportunity to invest in spiritual rewards in the next life. When Christ returns, each person will be assessed with how they used the resources God gave them and rewarded for their work. In light of his return, we should seek ways to build up the Body of Christ and invest our lives into the eternal work God has for each of us. This teaching includes interviews asking people about heaven.

Jesus is asked about those killed at a tower in Siloam, calling to attention the question of the problem of evil. This question is addressed primarily through four worldviews: Spiritualism, Naturalism, Monoism, and Biblical Christianity. The first three views don't match what we know internally, along with external evidence from science, and lead to fatalism about the cruelty people experience in the world. The biblical view shows that God is loving and has allowed suffering temporarily so that as many people could place their faith in Christ before He judges all evil in the world. This provides hope and significance to the suffering we encountert.

What will the Kingdom of God be like? How will God's message be spread? The answer is surprising. The Messiah came first not as a conquering king as expected, but as a humble servant. His message is spread not as a political power play, but through grass movements, gradual and quiet.

Jesus teaches using parables while dining within the home of the leader of the Pharisees. He teaches on pride and humility, and God's desire to have a relationship with people. The lessons to learn are that we should be willing to take the lower seat and be humble, and that God will find people who want to relate to him.

When we reject God, our assumption is that He will reject us. Through several parables, Jesus demonstrates that in reality, when we reject God, He is waiting to receive us with open arms. God wants a relationship with each of us, and waits for us to turn back to Him.

Jesus teaches a parable in which a corrupt servant cheats his master. Knowing that he will be fired for his corruption, the steward sets out to ensure future employment by letting those indebted to his master off the hook. We are called to be crafty and shrewd like the steward in the parable. Knowing the state that the world is in and what is to come, we should set ourselves up for success in the future and live for eternity.

The Pharisees taught that the rich were favored by God, while the poor lived under His judgement, a teaching not supported by the Bible. Through a parable and through action, Jesus refutes this way of thinking, demonstrating that the rich are just as capable as the poor of going to Hell. He instructs the Pharisees to observe their scripture to find the answers of eternity, and not to seek material gain as proof that God favors them.

Jesus here gives his disciples several lessons. First, he warns about being a stumbling block to others coming to know Christ for which he reserves stricter judgement as the consequences are devastating. Second, Jesus advises them to rebuke a brother when he sins, practicing discipline, but to forgive others as well, unconditionally and in Christ's example. Next, Jesus describes how it is not the amount of faith that is the issue, but instead it is the object of one's faith. And finally, he admonishes the entitlement attitude, as we are instead called to cultivate thanksgiving in our relationships with Christ.

In this parable, Jesus first describes a Pharisee who goes to worship in the temple. He exemplifies a self-righteous attitude, minimizing and compartmentalizing his sin in order to tell himself that he is justified before God. In contrast, the tax collector realizes his sin for what it is and confesses this humbly before God and asks for God's mercy. It is this second character who returns home justified before God, as God's righteous standard is not a comparison of how we measure up against others, but against His own perfection. This teaching also includes a personal testimony from Dave Glover about his own experience with this concept.

The accounts in Luke 18 and 19 present two men in contrast. First, there is a rich man who approaches Jesus as a good teacher, thinking he has done enough good to earn salvation. He leaves grieved, however, because Jesus challenges his good deeds. The second man, Zacchaeus, eagerly goes to meet Jesus despite being known as a sinner. He repents before Christ and receives salvation in his humility. In response to this story, we are faced with several questions: will we trust that Jesus is the Messiah, not just a good teacher, liar, or lunatic? And will we walk away from Jesus sad or with joy?

In the parallel accounts of Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells the parable of three servants who were entrusted with money while their master was away. He teaches the principle of stewardship, that we do not own what we have been given. We will be held accountable to God at the end of our lives for what we chose to do with the things given to us. Two servants act wisely and make smart investments for the master with the stewarded money while the third servant buries it in the ground and receives the master's wrath for being irresponsible and lazy. With the stewardship God has given to us, we have the opportunity to achieve something lasting with our lives that will affect eternity.

Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, moving closer toward his death, is another fulfilled prophecy. This particular prophecy helps identify Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Additionally, Daniel 9 is an incredible prophecy than verifies Christ as Messiah by the astounding accuracy of it's prediction. A careful study of the prophecy and it's calculations lead to a precise prediction of when Jesus would die on the cross.

Jesus responds to the religious leaders of the day as they attempt to question his authority. Answering them in several ways, he ultimately shows that God is sovereign. \r\n\r\n

Three New Testament chapters combine to give a more full picture of Jesus' description of the end times. Humanity as a race cannot fix itself and needs rescued, and God intends to do that.

While Jesus explains the details of the end of the world, the natural question of timing arise. When will these things take place? Although we can know many of the signs, we cannot know the specific time. Because of this, Christians should strive to be alert, focused, and live with a sense of urgency.

Jesus, talking with his disciples, describes what will come in the end times. How can we know that his predictions hold weight? We can look towards prophesy that has already been fulfilled.

Jesus is betrayed by two of his followers, but in the end they have very different responses to their failure. The difference between Judas and Peter's narrative's can be understood by taking a closer look at what "godly sorrow" really is. How will we respond to our own failure?

Jesus sits down to a final meal with his closet companions, and instructs them to carry on the tradition. Here we find the origin of the ritual of communion, done to remember and proclaim Christ's death.

In the paramount event of all of human history, Jesus Christ is convicted and crucified. Predicted in Psalm 22 and fulfilled in the gospel accounts, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of humanity. How will we choose to respond to him?

While Jesus went to the cross, the people around Him responded in many ways. From top Roman officials to other prisoners, they all reacted to Jesus. How will we react to him?

After Jesus is crucified and buried, his followers are shocked to discover an empty tomb and a resurrected Christ. How can we know the resurrection happened? The evidence is impressive, and we are left with a convincing apologetic for the validity of the Bible and Christianity as a whole.

Jesus' followers are despondent following his death because their own plans and expectations seemed to be crushed. Meeting two of them on the road to Emmaus, in response Jesus explains the scriptures and God's plan. We deal with despondency in our own lives, and God's Word provides the comfort and revelation to us today. His plans are greater than our own!