August 05 2024

Monday August 05

The Reality of Jesus

Luke 1:1-4

1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

The other morning, I woke up thinking about our pastor chats on the Gospel of Luke and how it presents us with the reality of Jesus. We live in a day of “Virtual Reality” and “AI”. Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real, making the user feel they are immersed in their surroundings. You are deceived into thinking something is real when it really doesn’t even exist at all.  Artificial intelligence (AI) is now commonplace and is even doing our thinking for us and replacing human creativity and intelligence. It also can deceive us into an artificial world where now we don’t know what is real and what is true!

Too many people today, including Christians, have never experienced Jesus as a very real person, living in a very real time, in a very real geographical location! He is just a story in a book for us to believe or not to believe. Luke’s purpose and my purpose in studying the Gospel of Luke is to encourage us to experience Jesus as a very real person who loves us, and is present tense available to save us, and help us along life’s way!

Another reason I want to take the time to study the Gospel of Luke is to focus on some “Good News”. The very word “Gospel” means Good News. Today whenever we turn on the news it is anything but good. All you hear and see is a world full of confusion, chaos, conflict, violence, strife, and war. Most of our conversations with co-workers, family and friends are about issues, problems, difficulties, about finances, health, and family problems. Well, the Bible is the “Good News” Book!!!!

That’s what the Gospel of Luke is about, and that Good News is about the person of Jesus Christ! Luke makes sure that his researched account of Jesus’ birth, life, and death is both historically and spiritual accurate!  All the Gospels present Jesus Christ is their own unique way for a specific purpose.

The Gospel of Matthew, was written primarily to the Jewish world, emphasizes that Jesus was born the Messiah and presents the Lord Jesus as the King of the Jews, and Redeemer. Numerous times Matthew repeats, “And it was fulfilled…”. Proving that Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies concerning His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection.

The Gospel of Mark, written primarily for the Roman world, emphasizes that Jesus was the Suffering Servant, prophesied in Isaiah 53. Jesus humbled Himself and came to do the will of His Father and to reveal the amazing love and grace of God.  This is clearly seen in Jesus’ own words, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). There is no genealogy recorded in the Gospel of Mark because a servant’s genealogy was insignificant and not worthy of being recorded. 

The Gospel of Luke, written primarily for the Greek world, presents Jesus as the Son of Man. Luke focuses on Jesus’ humanity and beautifully details the announcement of His incarnation and His birth (Luke 1 and 2). Luke is the only Gospel that gives a glimpse into Jesus’ childhood years (Luke 2:40, Luke 2:42-43).  The genealogy in Luke begins with Joseph, as the husband of Mary, and traces Jesus’ ancestry through Mary’s bloodline, from the line of David (making Jesus the biological heir to the throne of David), and all the way back to the first man, Adam. Jesus is presented to the Greeks as the “Perfect Man”.

The Gospel of John is the universal Gospel written for the whole world. John presents Jesus as the Son of God. There is no genealogy mentioned because Jesus is God from the beginning! (John 1:1-4). John shared the miracles that Jesus did proving that Jesus is the Son of God so that we would believe and have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

It is my prayer that as we study Luke, we will all embrace the reality of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our daily lives! How real is Jesus to you?

God bless!