The Life of the Christ - ForMinistry

Contents
Index to Special Articles
Angels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Baptism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Blessed (Happy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Eternal Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Fish and Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Gentiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
John the Baptist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Lord as a Title for Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Messiah (Chosen One) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Miracles, Magic, and Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Moneychanging in the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Parables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread . . . . . . . 93
Pontius Pilate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Poor, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Shepherds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Son of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Son of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
World of Jesus, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Life of the Christ
as told by Luke
3
Introduction
Jesus said, “Tell ...what you have seen and heard.
Blind people are now able to see, and the lame
can walk. People ...are being healed, and the deaf
can now hear. The dead are raised to life, and the
poor are hearing the good news.” (7.22)
What is the overall purpose of Luke?
Luke is the first part of a two-volume work that includes The Acts of the
Apostles. This is clear from the introductions to both books (see Luke 1.1-
4 and Acts 1.1-5). These books together tell about the life of Jesus from
his birth until he was taken to heaven (Luke), and then they report how the
early followers of Jesus continued to spread the teachings of Jesus and
tell about his life (Acts).
Why was Luke written?
The author of Luke says that he has “made a careful study of everything
and then decided to write and tell exactly what took place” (1.3)
concerning Jesus. The book is dedicated to Theophilus, a friend or
supporter.
The context and authorship of Luke
Luke was likely created from at least three different sources: (1) the book
of Mark; (2) a collection of Jesus’ sayings, which Matthew also used; and
(3) a collection of stories not included in any other Gospel. Luke probably
wrote this Gospel some time after A.D. 70, the year the Romans destroyed
Jerusalem and the temple while putting down a Jewish revolt. Luke
19.43,44 appears to give details of this event. Luke’s stories about the
birth of Jesus are more detailed than those of any other New Testament
book. And some familiar stories called “parables” that Jesus used in
teaching about God’s love are found only in Luke: “The Good Samaritan”
(10.25-37), “One Sheep” (15.1-7), and “The Prodigal Son” (15.11-32).
Luke is the only Gospel that tells how Jesus visited the home of the
hated tax collector named Zacchaeus (19.1-10) and promised life in paradise
to a dying criminal (23.39-43).