I have a confession.
Don’t tell John.
I think Luke is my newest gospel crush.
Maybe it’s because Luke’s a doctor who understands the needs of the weak and downtrodden.
Maybe I’m captivated by the parables that aren’t in the other gospels.
Maybe it’s because Luke is the Gospel of Joy.
Here are 7 things no one probably told you about Luke and his Gospel:
1. Who is Luke?
Luke, also the author of Acts, writes his Gospel to present Jesus as the savior of both the Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). His narrative offers a historical and chronological account of Christ’s life and teachings, paying special attention to the prayer life of Jesus and the importance of women in Jesus’ ministry. Keep an eye out for both of these as you read!
2. Luke pulls a switcheroo.
His writing switches from regular Greek in the preface to a style looking a lot like the Greek translation of the Old Testament (The LXX) throughout the rest of his Gospel. It’s like using the vernacular and then switching to King James English. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about those “Thou shalt nots” that make everything sound super important and extra holy.
3. Who… me?
God wants to use us—ordinary humans—to accomplish his divine plan of redemption. Squint at the lives of Mary and Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the disciples, and more. Might be worth highlighting as you join us for Lent 2014!
4. A Gospel for the Powerless.
Luke’s narrative reminds us that God’s plan isn’t controlled by those who have earthly power. Jesus often points out the sins of those with political, economic, and spiritual power. God’s kingdom isn’t run the same as earthly kingdoms. One dictates by tyranny and fear; the other demonstrates compassion and peace.
5. Miracles, what’s the point?
Throughout Luke’s narrative, miracles evoke faith which leads to people following Jesus. Miracles aren’t a show, but an invitation to salvation.
6. Blessed are you who are poor.
The sermon on the plain in Luke 6 isn’t elevating poverty as blessedness. Instead, poverty frees you from the stronghold of materialism, allowing you to give your life more fully to God.
7. Turn Around.
Luke’s Gospel repeats the verb to repent again and again. It’s a word worth underlining as you read. He records stories featuring repentance without even using the word—like the prodigal son. Jewish understanding of repentance was a literal turning back toward covenant with God. Following Jesus is more than just becoming a fan of his actions and teachings. Becoming a disciple requires a radical commitment, a complete overhaul and reorientation of your life.
Your turn: What are you learning this week? What verse, word, passage stood out to you? Are you blogging or writing about the #LentChallenge? Leave a link to your blog as a comment below so we can follow along!
*Source: David E. Garland. Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke.
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This week I’m giving away THREE copies of Jana Riess‘ new book, The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less.
Jana blogs for Religion News Service and is the author of many books, including Flunking Sainthood, named by Publishers Weekly as one of the top ten religion books of 2011.
I asked Jana who should read The Twible:
First and foremost, the goal of The Twible is to make people laugh, to make them happy.
A secondary goal, though, has always been to help people become more familiar with the Bible as a whole. A lot of us are really intimidated by the Bible—there are 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and tons of characters to keep track of. So The Twible is like speed dating, only with the Bible. It’s a quick and entertaining introduction that might help readers decide where they’d like to dig in further into the actual Bible.
To win ONE of THREE copies of The Twible, enter a comment on the original blog post at MargaretFeinberg.com. Winners will be selected and announced next Wednesday.
Congratulations to the winners: Terri Krause, Jenni Ho-Huan, Sherilyn Leath
The Twible looks very interesting. Would love to win one to examine further.
Does sound interesting. I would love to win one so I can check it out.
I had not heard about Twible before this post. I’d love to check it out.
I am very intrigued about Luke’s writing style switching. I am going to dive into this! Bless you for sharing this.
Definitely interested in checking out Twible and I think it would be a great book to pass on to a few people that are bit intimidated!!!
I, too, am very interested in Twible. And hope I am one of the 3 winners.
Luke is my favorite because he gives all the detail!
I’m enjoying your comments. Refreshing and I seem to learn several new things each time.
Thank you for the 40 day challenge. My daughter who is reading these with her two children, passed on the challenge. I love it!
I read your book Wonderstruck and heard you speak at a conference last year in Alabama. The book was fantastic and I loved hearing you speak! When I found out that you designed the 40 day challenge, I jumped on board and am loving it! I also like reading your daily comments. Thanks for sharing! I haven’t heard about Twible until now, would love to check it out! Thank you, Margaret, for all you do! For allowing God to use you to encourage us, to help us grow, and to make us smile.
Twible sounds awesome ~ thanks for chance to win a copy 😉 And I agree, love me some Luke 🙂
I won’t quibble,
I’d love to win a copy of The Twible!
Congratulations, Sherilyn! You’ve been selected as a winner! Please send your mailing address to carrie@margaretfeinberg.com.
Among many things. God’s driving the point of GRACE into my hear this Lenten season. It’s been a tough road, honestly, but I’m getting there . 😉
Thanks for the opportunity to win Twible! (Ha-my computer’s spell check doesn’t know what to think of that word. 😉 )
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Luke. I’m joining you on the challenge and write about what I’m learning every Monday at asheritah.com. My latest post, A Lenten Prayer, is here: http://onethingalone.com/a-lenten-prayer-pages-prayer-journal/. Looking forward to the rest of the read-through!
I would love to share this with my “Jesus girls” at our Monday night study. We just finished Sacred Echo and we LOVED it! We would love to have this book and share it with our small group! Bring on the Twible!
So enjoying reading the New Testament. Would love to win the Twible. 🙂
Love this. I just started The Organic God and I am loving it! Funny story… on the weekend I attended a prayer training session led by Pastor Daniel Henderson. I was so inspired to alter the way I pray… so I started recording the way God is described in scripture and giving Him the glory for His greatness. Then I started reading your book yesterday and saw that you did that too! So awesome!
The Twible sounds like it would be a fun read.
Thanks once again for sharing and inspiring.
xoxo
Our congregation is reading through the NT together. Many have never read it from beginning to end and are discovering the person and power of Jesus with fresh eyes!
Twible looks great! I would love to use it in my 4th\5th grade classroom. Presently I have a boys group, called Growing Guys God Way, doing the forty day challenge. I am so proud of these young men.
what a great thing to do with young boys! press on!
I’m really enjoying reading the New Testament on You Version. I really get into it and I’m surprised at how quickly I get through the day’s reading, which I do in the morning. I am using the NLT version and I think this makes it easier than the King James. Some things jump out at me, like why did Jesus tell the fig tree it would not bare any fruit and the apostles later found it all shriveled up and dying. Like why did He curse the tree? Then I wonder about the translations and did Jesus really become impatient with His apostles when He said to them, “How long must I put up with you?” when they could not cast out the demon from the little boy. Matt. 17:17 It seems like the apostles were a bunch of block heads. LOL!! This is fun to discover different things and wonder about them along the way.
i wanna twible! i can dribble round the Bible quick and score myself a theology point or two? it will be SO neat to have one! thank you for the offer!
Congratulations, Jenni! You’ve been selected as a winner! Please send your mailing address to carrie@margaretfeinberg.com.
I had to laugh when you said you had a secret crush on Luke, I was thinking the same thing when I was reading this morning. Never realized how much I enjoyed his writing. Reading the word and writing by fellow believers is my fuel for life. Thank you for this wonderful 40 day challange! God bless you. 🙂
Thanks for the Lent Challenge! This is my first time though the New Testament. It has been amazing to see the words just jumping off the page at me.
So enjoying the Lent Challenge – tougher than I thought, but one of your commenters is right – the words are just jumping off the page! And the Twible does sound fun! Thank you!
This sounds really neat! i would love to have a copy!
Hi Margaret,
Yes, I am doing #LentChallenge. I will be blogging about it at http://faithcounts.wordpress.com
Yesterday, my husband and I saw the new movie “Son of God”. Seeing it heightened my understanding of the Gospels. I got home and re-read the last few chapters of Matthew that we just finished. Wow! Talk about awestruck! I am so thankful you started this #LentChallenge !
Thanks for hosting the giveaway. I’d love to win a copy of the Twible. I enjoyed the thoughts you posted about Luke. They gave me something to think about this morning.
A Christian book whose goal is to make people laugh and be happy sounds intriguing to me. I’d love to share it with my Bible study group.
Congratulations, Terri! You’ve been selected as a winner! Please send your mailing address to carrie@margaretfeinberg.com.
Margaret – The #LentChallenge has been a really great discipline for my husband and I so far this season. Thanks for inviting us – and so many others – to join you. Today, my blog post happens to be a big about what God is teaching me through the repetition of the gospels and the connection to my own life. Looking forward to continuing this journey with you!
http://charitysingletoncraig.com/2014/03/13/read-and-respond-lentchallenge/
I was particularly taken with Luke four. The testing of Jesus in the wilderness, it’s stood out to me that Satan tried to tempt Jesus where he might have been weak. He hadn’t eaten and Satan went right for tell pushing him to make stone become bread. Satan always attacks where we are weak. However the thing that stood out to me most was in verse 14 when the tempting was over Jesus returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit”. I believe the same goes for us, When our testing or trial is over we will also be in the power of the spirit. Good to remember when times are tough…the power is coming!!