Bible Commentaries
Luke

Luke

THE HUMANITY of our Lord is most prominent in this portrayal. Matthew's genealogy records His regal ancestry through Joseph, His mother's husband, to David and Abraham. Luke traces His descent through Mary and her rather Heli to Adam and God. One places the emphasis on the King, the Son of David, the other sets Him forth as the Son of Mankind. Consequently, this life of our Lord has a scope wider than the chosen people, and its sympathies reach out to those beyond the pale of Judaism. In the introduction to the book or Acts the author characterizes this as "the first account . . . concerning all which Jesus begins both to do and to teach until the day on which He was taken up". Thus this biography links up with the labors of the apostles in Acts, and leads on to Paul's special evangel to the nations, and is not eclipsed until Israel is set aside. Hence it approaches more closely to the grace we enjoy than any of the preceding accounts. In this biography we have the ideal Man. He is a King, as in Matthew, He serves as in Mark, He is divine as in John, but these aspects are subordinated to bring into strong relief the sympathetic, gracious, human side of His character. His birth and childhood are given much place. His maturity is announced before He enters His public ministry. His kinship with the whole race is emphasized in the commission He gives His disciples. It is the longest account we have of our Lord's life and records six miracles and eleven parables not found elsewhere. These are characteristic of the sympathetic Saviour and Healer or His people. The miraculous draft of fishes ( Luk_5:4-11 ), convinces Peter of his own sinfulness and makes him a fisher of men. The raising of the widow of Nain's son Luk_7:11-18 ), restores him to his disconsolate mother. The woman with a spirit of infirmity is released ( Luk_13:11-13 ). The man with the dropsy is healed on the sabbath ( Luk_14:1-6 ). The ten lepers are cleansed and the Samaritan alone returns to thank Him Luk_17:12-19 ). One of those who came to arrest Him having his ear cut off by an impetuous disciple, He arrests His captors long enough to heal it. Such scenes of sympathy and salvation pervade this portrayal of our Lord. The author of this account was not an apostle, like Matthew and John, nor a local Jew, like Mark, nor was he an actual witness of any of the matters of which he writes, but he was closely associated with those who had been with Him from the beginning. Hence this account is in the nature of a biography drawn from existing sources and eyewitnesses. Many similar accounts were written at the time, but, not possessing the vitality of a divine revelation, they were ephemeral and perished. Luke's close connection with the apostle Paul has led some to believe that this account is really a Pauline production and sets forth the life of our Lord in accord with the teaching of the apostle to the nations. But there is only a slight element of truth in this position. Luke's commission, conveying repentance and the pardon of sins to all nations, based on the sufferings of Christ ( Luk_24:46-47 ) was used by Paul in his earliest ministry ( Act_13:28 ; Act_13:47 ), when he was proclaiming Christ according to the flesh ( 2Co_5:16 ). Paul's later ministries, especially that for today, as set forth in his prison epistles, are based on His celestial glories, not on His terrestrial humiliation. All depends on the absence of all the features of God's operations which we find in Luke. Both cannot be true at the same time. Luke brings blessing to the nations according to the place they occupy in the Pentecostal era. They are the Uncircumcision who are merely guests at Israel's board. The revelation of the secret administration in which we find ourselves is in gracious contrast with all this. We are no longer guests but members of God's family. We are not aliens but fellow citizens ( Eph_2:11-22 ). Our blessings do not come through Israel but in spite of their apostasy. They are not on earth, but in the heavens. Luke lets a little stream of blessing trickle through to the nations. Paul submerges us in celestial bliss far beyond the highest hopes held out to the favored nation.