Be an Authentic
Disciple of Jesus: A Challenge from Luke to Every Believer
Questions:
1. What do you
know of Luke’s gospel? Do you know which
stories and events are found only in Luke’s account?
2. Have you
ever read through the gospel of Luke at one setting? I would strongly encourage you to do so
before you begin this year’s study.
3. What do you
think of when you hear “Luke” mentioned?
4. What is your
favorite story in Luke?
5. Why do you
think Luke wrote his account of Jesus’ life?
6. What
relationship does the gospel of Luke have with Acts of the Apostles?
Let the journey begin!
We have undertaken the challenge to study one of the most compelling
accounts of a man’s life ever written.
Most of us are familiar with Luke’s Gospel - for various reasons. It contains some of our favorite stories,
stories which are not found in the other gospels. We would not know of the prodigal son without
Luke’s account, and where would we be without the story of the Good Samaritan? Luke gives us more information than the other
gospels concerning the birth of Jesus.
He also gives us a more thorough treatment of Jesus’ compassionate
concern for the unfortunate and the ignored.
Luke gives us unique insight into some of the teaching methodology of
Jesus. And, of course, Luke does not end
his account with the ascension of Jesus, he gives us a
wonderful history of the early church that we know as Acts.
There are many different ways to pursue the study of
Luke/Acts. The focus of this particular
study will be to glean from the accounts the meaning and actions of authentic
discipleship. This is not intended to be
a comprehensive treatment of Luke’s writings.
Such an effort would take many more weeks, even years. Clearly, anytime one focuses on a particular
theme or approach to a biblical book, some verses are not treated fully and
others no considered. If some of your
favorite passages are left untreated, we encourage you to pursue your own
careful study of those verses. Include
your findings in the notes of this study.
The gospel according to Luke will be encountered in
study during the calendar year of 2003, and with the Lord’s blessings, a study
of Acts will begin in 2004.
Let’s begin this consideration of
Luke by asking why he wrote his account of the life of Jesus. Luke acknowledges that others have written
accounts (“many others” 1:1) of these events.
He saw those accounts as having been handed down by “eyewitnesses and
servants” of the word. Luke tells us in
his introduction that he threw his hat in the ring for the purpose of convincing
a certain Theophilus that what he had heard about Jesus was absolutely true.
Much has been written concerning
Theophilus - Who was he? What was his
relationship with Luke? And why was Luke
so compelled to assure Theophilus that Jesus was indeed Messiah? The most plausible explanation is that
Theophilus was a wealthy man, perhaps a God-fearer (Gentile who believed in the
Hebrew Scriptures but had not gone through the rituals of circumcision - thus
becoming a proselyte). Luke, likely the
physician spoken of in Colossians
After joining the journey of Paul in
the vicinity of
It is clear that while Luke
dedicated the work to Theophilus, he intended that his work be read by a much
wider audience. While his specific
objective was to convince Theophilus of the truth of the claims of Jesus and
His followers, Luke obviously desired that anyone reading his work would come
to believe in Jesus as the Christ. It is
interesting how Luke approaches this task.
The “star” of the show is not Jesus.
The life of Jesus is not even the theme of his two volume work. The focus of the work is God and the theme is
the fulfillment of God’s ancient and eternal purposes. The account of the life of Jesus and the
development of the early church is told in that context. This is absolutely critical in our
understanding of Luke/Acts. These are
not two volumes informing us of “how to be saved” and “how to have the correct
pattern for church.” Rather, it is a
work focused on telling the story of God’s activity through Jesus and then the
church, demonstrating how God’s eternal purposes were faithfully fulfilled
first by His Son, and then by the faithful followers of His Son - the Way (the
church as it is often identified in Acts).
Luke’s appeal and desire is that Theophilus and each of us who read
these accounts can continue to participate in God’s redemptive story. Luke Acts is a personal challenge to each of
us to release our lives to the purposes of God!
Consider the rather abrupt ending of
Acts. Scholars have spent much time
trying to understanding why Luke quickly ended the story. Was he out of writing materials? Was he interrupted by the Romans and forced
to prematurely end the story? Was Paul
still alive when the account was written?
When one reads the entire story in one setting, it becomes clear that
Luke ends Acts in a masterful and intentional way – the story simply does not
end. It is an invitation to a continual
participation in the story. We are
challenged to see our lives in the context of the eternal purposes of God.
And so, this will be the focus of
our approach to this study. God, in
Jesus, is revealing life as He intends it to be lived. Jesus came as “the Word made flesh” (John
From the beginning, God created
humankind with a specific purpose - to be in His image and His likeness. This is not a description of essence - but of
function. That is, God created humankind
for the purpose of being like Him in this world. Another way of saying this is that God
created us to be holy as He is holy.
This is the constant and consistent call throughout Scripture. We are to be “set apart” for God’s
purposes.
And what an incredible story! From the beginning to the end (well,
actually, the end is yet to come), the story compels us to take a closer look
at our own lives and ask the question, “Is my life a part of God’s redemptive
story?” This is the invitation of
Luke. May we spend much time in prayer
and reflection as we attempt to restudy a story we know so well. Accept the challenge to read the story as if
you have not heard it before. Reflect on
what Jesus is teaching us in His every act.
The wonderful thing about Jesus is that He doesn’t just tell us what to do, He embodies the message as well. He is the message. He is life.
He embodies salvation. The invitation
to authentic discipleship is not about being religious - it is about finding
life.
Study questions:
1.
What was Luke’s purpose for writing his account of the life of Christ?
2.
What is the relationship between the books of Luke and Acts?
3.
Why should they be studied together?
What is their common theme?
4. In what
sense are we invited to be a part of the story?
5. Do we see
our lives in that context? Why or why
not? Does this make a difference in how
we live each day?
6. How would
you describe “salvation” as it applies to your daily life?
7. What do you
think it means to be an “authentic disciple” of Jesus in today’s world?