On Line Bible Study - For the week February 15-21, 2010

Lesson 427

Luke 4: ¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

The three Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) offer few details with regard to Jesus' early ministry. Matthew tells us he went to Galilee to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy (Matthew 4:12-13); Mark tells us he went to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God (Mark 1:14); Luke gives us the most information, scanty as it is. Jesus

• Moves in the power of the Spirit
• Has a growing celebrity status about him
• Is praised by everyone.

The "Spirit" is a mainstay of Luke's writing; it is absolutely essential that every component of the ministry of Jesus (and later, in Acts, the ministry of the church gathered in his name) be inspired, empowered and guided by the Spirit.

It is interesting to read the King James translation of Jesus' growing reputation:

Luke 4:14b and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

The Greek word translated report in the New International Version (quoted at the beginning...) is translated fame in the King James. The King James translation is awkward - it is both a translation and something of a transliteration of the Greek word. A transliteration is a spelling in one language of a word from another language that enables us to pronounce the word correctly, apart from telling us what the word means. In this case, the Greek pheme is the source for our English word - fame. Jesus became "famous" because of the "fame" spread about him. The NIV does us a favor by translating pheme with the word "report".

What is the source of Jesus' fame?

Luke 4: ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

While miracles would certainly contribute to Jesus' reputation, initially it was his teaching. We can speculate that his teaching was compelling both for its content as well as its delivery. The parables and sermon segments that we read later in Luke attest to Jesus' ability to relate to his listeners. Jesus had something to say - good news of God! And he knew how to say it - or was gifted by the Holy Spirit to say it, and to say it powerfully.

What did he have to say? We'll talk about that next time.

On Line Bible Study - For the week February 8 - 14, 2010

Lesson 426

The text under consideration today can be found at the following link - Note: the passage is taken from The Message.

Luke 4:1-13 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204&version=MSG

Once Jesus is presented to us and the details of his baptism are taken care of, we read this fascinating story of his encounter with Satan. Darrell Bock points out several things to be aware of in this pericope:

1. Jesus' allegiance to God is unswerving.
2. The battle between Jesus and Satan begins here, and continues throughout the rest of the Gospel.
3. Jesus succeeds in the wilderness, whereas Israel failed.

This last point deserves further comment. Not only did Israel fail in their "wilderness experience", turning from God to a golden calf; so do we. The various idols of our lives are lined up to give testimony against us - whether our addictions to food, power, exercise, prestige, security. Jesus resists them all, consistently walking the narrow line of absolute faithfulness to God.

Notice that Jesus is both "filled with the Spirit" and "led by the Spirit". The passage is reminiscent of Simeon (Luke 2:25-27), for the "Holy Spirit was on him", and the "Holy Spirit moved him" to go to the Temple. In the Gospels, only Luke has this double-reference to the Holy Spirit. While Mark and Matthew indicate it was the Spirit that led him (or, in Mark, sent him, or cast him) into the wilderness, Luke makes it clear that Jesus is filled with the Spirit.

There are three temptations:

1. To turn a stone into bread, thus assuaging hunger.
2. To attain power and authority by worshiping the devil.
3. To test God's protection (love?).

But are these three different temptations, or various expressions of one temptation? Does God provide, or not, whether we are talking about food, the power we need to meaningfully live our lives, or protection? There is nothing wrong with the miraculous provision of food; Jesus fed the crowds without compromising his relationship with his Father.

Though the setting is different, there is an interesting corollary with Jesus in the wilderness and Adam in the garden. Bock points out that, with every need satisfied, with access to the food and fruit from every tree save one, Adam succumbs to the devil's lies. Jesus, on the other hand, in a state of physical compromise, holds fast to his faith in God and his obedience to his Father. This separates Jesus out from the rest of us.

Much is written about the variation in the order of temptations, the subtle difference in the language between the gospels, the source for the story (Was Jesus himself the source for this, given the fact he was alone, without any disciples at the time? Did he tell them about this experience?). Perhaps the temptations serve to demonstrate the devil's attempt to undo what had happened at Jesus' baptism. Recall the voice from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Jesus believed it. The devil could not alter it. And in his resistance to the temptations, Jesus proved it to be true.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week February 1 - 7, 2010

Lesson 425

Luke 3:23-38 [Jesus] was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat ...

There are a number of obvious differences between the genealogy found in Matthew and the one in Luke. The first - and perhaps most obvious is where they occur. Matthew's gospel starts with the genealogy; in Luke it doesn't appear until after Jesus is baptized and we are told that John was put in prison. This suggests the evangelists had different reasons for including the list of names in their telling of Jesus' life.

A second obvious difference is the order of the names, with Matthew beginning in ancient times and concluding with Jesus, while Luke begins with Jesus and concludes in ancient times.

The third difference is this: One would expect that Matthew would start where Luke would conclude, given the fact they reverse the chronology. However, that is not the case. Matthew begins with Abraham; Luke moves past Abraham and concludes with the son of Adam, the son of God. Perhaps it was Matthew's intent to link Jesus directly with the promise and covenant made between God and Abraham. Luke's intent is to link Jesus directly to Adam - the first (universal) human being, and through Adam, directly to God. So, in a sense, Luke's genealogy is more far-reaching than Matthew's. Luke acknowledges the royal connection (...the son of David...), the covenant connection with Abraham (...the son of Abraham...), the universal connection to all people (...the son of Adam...).

Scholar Darrell Bock acknowledges there are a number of names in the genealogy of Luke that are unknown to us - we simply don't know who he is referring to. But scholars are in general agreement about this fact: Luke links Jesus to Adam as a way of showing the connection between Christ and all human beings. Jesus is not a minister exclusively to the isolated people of Israel. All human beings need him, and he came to offer salvation to all. This is very much in line with what was stated early in our study of Luke - that one of the four concerns of the gospel has to do with salvation, and how it is that the Gentiles could be considered on an equal basis before God with the Jews.

Along with positing Jesus as "son of God" (although not yet in a way distinct from how Adam was a son of God), we are reminded of the first parent. Jesus comes from God; Jesus comes for all.

Luke wants the reader of his gospel to know this: Jesus came for you!