This week we begin a new 3 week worship series on the Gospel of Luke. During this series we will give a brief overview of the Gospel of Luke and wonder together about the implications of the Gospel for the times and circumstances in which we live.
“Each of the Gospels presents the story of Jesus in a different way, and much of their richness is lost if one tries to harmonize them into one consistent account….The Lukan Jesus is compassionate, a friend to outcasts…Jesus is the Savior sent to seek and to save the lost. Luke sets the life of Jesus both in its historical context and in a theological context. All that happens in the Gospel and in Acts is ultimately a part of God’s redemptive plan for the salvation of all humanity…it continually calls the Christian community to model more fully Jesus’ concern for the oppressed, the overlooked, and the outcast. The kingdom community is one in which the social barriers that divide and exclude are torn down and God’s grace can begin to flow to and among the wealthy and the poor, the sick and the self-righteous, the powerful and the excluded.” (From New Interpreter’s Bible. Introduction to Luke. pp 3-30)
“The Jesus of Luke is an enormously powerful figure…he comes on the scene as a prophet straight out of the Hebrew Bible. At his first appearance in his hometown synagogue he quotes the prophet Isaiah and it’s the passage that talks about freeing those who are oppressed and letting those who are blind see. Jesus is a powerful figure and comes across as a liberator, a great miracle worker. But… also as the quintessential benefactor. He is the one who dispenses the great gifts of God and God is viewed again as a great benefactor figure in Luke/Acts. So Jesus is probably at his most powerful in the gospel of Luke, from a variety of perspectives, as prophet, as healer, as savior, as benefactor.”(Holland L. Hendrix President Emeritus of Union Theological Seminary)
Worship will be rooted in 3 passages:
Week 1 November 10: Luke 4.14-9.50 Overview. The Jesus of the Gospel of Luke.
Week 2 November 17: Luke 19.28-21.38 Jesus journeys to Jerusalem.
Week 3 November 24 Luke 22.1-24.53 The death and resurrection of Jesus.
Read Luke 4.14-9.50
What image of Jesus arises for you from this passage? How might this image shape your understanding of following Jesus this week?
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