Hello everyone. Today we pick up in Luke, though we've been reading it for a few days now. Luke is interesting in it's structure and the way it was written. Luke was in fact written by Luke who was a first century physician and companion to Paul the apostle. Whenever Paul mentions Luke by name it is in fact this Luke. Luke is credited with not only to have written the gospel, but also the book of Acts. Both the Luke and Acts bear the introduction to a man named Theophilus. Luke adds "most excellent Theophilus" in the gospel Luke. Theophilus was a prominent Roman name. It has been theorized that this Theophilus was in fact a high ranking Roman official who converted to Christianity. The Roman official Theophilus did exist. As to whether that Theophilus and Luke's Theophilus are the same man is uncertain, though it leaves something to think about.
The gospel of John leads the way with the most exclusive material. Luke is second in this regard possessing much exclusive material itself. Luke is known as the gospel of parables. There are some found here in Luke that are not found in the other three. The parable of the lost son, for example, is found only in Luke. Luke is also known for being the best written of the four. This is probably due to Luke's formal education as a physician.
If you read through Luke and see an emphasis given to the poor, you aren't imagining things. Luke gives a special emphasis to caring for the poor. Matthew says, Blessed are the poor in spirit," while Luke says, "Blessed are you who are poor." Jesus is shown by Luke to have cared deeply for the poor, women, children and Gentiles. Which makes sense because Luke's audience to which he wrote was a Gentile. Jesus was constantly on the move in Mark's gospel. Here in Luke, Jesus is always praying.
People have asked, "Why do we need four gospels?" Each gospel reveals more about our Lord. Each gospel tells us something different about Jesus. I'm more than happy to have all four. Though I will caution you to be very careful in reading any extra biblical gospels like Thomas, Judas, Peter and Mary Magdalene. These gospels are not in the Bible for a reason. If you have any questions about biblical and non-biblical books, please ask. For now let's look at Luke gospel.
17:1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
Why does Jesus want us to rebuke our brother when he sins? Based on what He said in verses 1-4, we can tell that He is concerned with someone's sinful behavior leading others to accept and engage in the same sinful behavior. "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck." That's harsh!!! Yes, harsh but true. We are always afraid of hurting someone's feelings. Or we are too sensitive and get our feelings hurt. Let me ask you, would it be better to stop sinning or be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around your neck? In other words, if you are sinning and someone rebukes you, own up to it and stop sinning rather than get offended.
You who are scared to confront someone in their sin, confront them. After all, sin hurts us and those around us. It wouldn't be very loving of you to let your brother continue to live in his sin. We are so afraid of this term "rebuke." We think its a bad thing. Rebuke doesn't mean we have to yell at someone. Rebuke simply means to expose or correct. If you need to expose someone's sin and correct them, do it in love. Love should be your motivation. If you do so without love, you are just as guilty as the person you rebuke.
Read 19:11-27
The parable of the ten minas teaches us a very important lesson. Was the king unfair or unjust towards the servant who did not do anything with his mina? The application is this: We are all entrusted with talents and gifts by God. Some of us are lucky enough to be entrusted with wealth. Though these things can be a benefit to us, we aren't proved trustworthy if we use them only for ourselves. Our gifts, talents and wealth are to be multiplied for the pleasure of our King. That means we have to use our gifts to serve God. How do our gifts serve God? By servicing to others in love. Our gifts and resources are given to us to lead others into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Period. If you are using your gift and it's not leading others to Jesus, then you are not using your gift to the glory of God. Also, we cannot show favoritism towards who we share our gifts with. Gifts are used for everyone, not just to a certain group.
Though I have spent more time giving you background than normal and not as much time on the material as normal, I believe that in our reading today these two passages are important. We have to protect each other from the sin in our lives. We have to keep it from spreading among us. That's also why God has given us gifts. We have gifts to serve God and each other. One way we serve each other is by protecting the church in love. The Church is important to God. After all, Christ died for the Church. If God is serious about the Church, which is made of people and not a building, we too should be serious about the Church. I love you all. Until next time...
Stay continually at the temple praising God. Grace and peace to you all.
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