As if the events surrounding the outset of Jesus’ public ministry weren’t profound enough, Luke records yet another astonishing and pivotal moment in his gospel. Having entered the local synagogue and read from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus rolls up the scroll and declares: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”...
Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days to enter into battle with Satan (Luke 4:1-2; Mark 1:12-13). This temptation in the wilderness was a pivotal moment in the mission of the Son of God to accomplish salvation for humanity. As the wonderful...
Following John’s preaching of the soon-coming Messiah, “the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'” (John 1:29)! Yet Jesus came that day to be baptized himself by John and demonstrate the perfect obedience by which he would...
After over 400 years of silence, the word of the God came to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son, John – the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. We read that “he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”...
The incident of Jesus remaining in the temple gives us a unique look into his life as a young boy. Not only do we observe Jesus fully dedicated to the will of his heavenly Father, that he “must” be in his house (Luke 2:49), but we also see him in...
Unique to Luke’s Gospel is the mention of two characters who play a small but profound role in the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. These two saints, Simeon and Anna, had been faithfully committed to serving and worshiping God. They knew that God had promised a Messiah who would come to save...
The familiar story of Christ’s birth includes a variety of characters, from the powerful Caesar Augustus all the way down to the lowly shepherds. Most would think that the sending of God’s own Son into the world would take place in the most extravagant, influential, politically expedient, and visible way possible....
Luke’s gospel begins with two angelic announcements and two prophetic songs. In these narratives, through both the words of the angel and the doxologies of Mary and Zechariah, we are given a further glimpse into God’s plan of salvation that would soon find its fulfillment in Christ Jesus. John’s miraculous birth prompted Zechariah...
In the early stages of Luke’s gospel, before Jesus Christ is even laid in the manger, we are given a foretaste of his life, his ministry, and his mission. Gabriel tells Mary that he will be great, the Son of the Most High and holy, and will reign over his kingdom forever. Then, the Spirit...