Tag: Gospel of Luke
Holy Spirit descended like a dove
What does it mean that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32)?
Good tidings of great joy
What were the good tidings of great joy in Luke 2:10?
Passion Week, Holy Week
Passion Week (also known as Holy Week) is the time from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday). Also included within Passion Week are Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Passion Week is so named because of the passion with which Jesus willingly went to the cross in order to pay for the sins of His people. Passion Week is described in Matthew chapters 21-27; Mark chapters 11-15; Luke chapters 19-23; and John chapters 12-19. Passion Week begins with the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday on the back of a colt as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.
Passion Week contained several memorable events. Jesus cleansed the Temple for the second time (Luke 19:45-46), then disputed with the Pharisees regarding His authority. Then He gave His Olivet Discourse on the end times and taught many things, including the signs of His second coming. Jesus ate His Last Supper with His disciples in the upper room (Luke 22:7-38), then went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray as He waited for His hour to come. It was here that Jesus, having been betrayed by Judas, was arrested and taken to several sham trials before the chief priests, Pontius Pilate, and Herod (Luke 22:54-23:25).
Following the trials, Jesus was scourged at the hands of the Roman soldiers, then was forced to carry His own instrument of execution (the Cross) through the streets of Jerusalem along what is known as the Via Dolorosa (way of sorrows). Jesus was then crucified at Golgotha on the day before the Sabbath, was buried and remained in the tomb until Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, and then gloriously resurrected.
It is referred to as Passion Week because in that time, Jesus Christ truly revealed His passion for us in the suffering He willingly went through on our behalf. What should our attitude be during Passion Week? We should be passionate in our worship of Jesus and in our proclamation of His Gospel! As He suffered for us, so should we be willing to suffer for the cause of following Him and proclaiming the message of His death and resurrection.
Kingdom of God does not come with observation
What does it mean that the kingdom of God does not come with observation (Luke 17:20)?
At the end of the Old Testament, the Israelites were left anticipating the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. The Israelites believed the establishment of this kingdom would result in political independence for themselves: the Messiah would remove the yoke of Rome from the Israelites. Jesus’ statement, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation” (Luke 17:20, NKJV) was in answer to a Pharisee’s question about when the kingdom would come (verse 20). Jesus’ reply was shocking to His audience because it went against centuries of anticipation of a kingdom that is observable!
The New Testament begins with John the Baptist announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 2:2). Jesus, the King, begins His ministry also announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17). Jesus performs signs and miracles proving His statement and revealing who He is (Matthew 8:14–17; 9:1–8). Even with Jesus presenting the proof and fulfilling prophecies regarding the Messiah, He is rejected by Israel (Matthew 21:42; Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31; cf. Matthew 12:22–29). This rejection of Jesus leads to His death, resurrection, and ascension. Again, God’s people were left anticipating the coming of Christ as King (Revelation 19:11–19). One day, He will establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:1–7).
In Luke 17:20, when Jesus says that “the kingdom of God does not come with observation” (NKJV), He is stating that the kingdom will not be preceded by observable signs. The kingdom of God would not be inaugurated with spectacle or splendor. Contrary to popular opinion, there would be no great and magnificent leader who staked out a geographical claim and routed the Romans; rather, the kingdom would come silently and unseen, much as leaven works in a batch of dough (see Matthew 13:33). In fact, Jesus says, the kingdom had already begun, right under the Pharisees’ noses: “You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you” (Luke 17:21, NLT). God was already ruling in the hearts of believers, and the King Himself was standing among them, although the Pharisees were oblivious to the fact.
The first coming of Jesus was accompanied by signs, miracles, and wonders, but He never sought the public eye. His second coming will be different. Jesus was rejected during His first coming but will reign at His second. The establishment of the kingdom has been postponed and will be fulfilled at a later date (Luke 19:11–27; Revelation 19:11—20:6). Jesus described the nature of His return as sudden and obvious: “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other” (Luke 17:24).
The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day were correct in their belief that, when Jesus establishes the kingdom of God on earth, it will be physical and triumphant. Jesus will rule from Jerusalem on the throne of David (Psalm 110:1–2; 2 Samuel 7:16). However, they disregarded prophecies such as Isaiah 53 regarding Jesus’ rejection and suffering.
The Pharisees looked for the Messiah to be a conquering king who marches into Jerusalem with grandeur and a great show of might. What they got was not much to observe: a nondescript man “lowly and riding on a donkey” into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9; cf. Matthew 21:1–11). The kingdom had come, but not with observation.
Your faith has made you well
What did Jesus mean when He told people, “Your faith has made you well”?
The first recorded instance of Jesus saying, “Your faith has made you well” is found in Matthew 9:22 (ESV) where Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood. The KJV translates Jesus’ words as “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” and the NIV says, “Your faith has healed you.” The same incident is also recorded in Mark 5:34, where Jesus says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (ESV).
Jesus also says, “Your faith has made you well,” to a leper He had healed (Luke 17:19) and a blind beggar (Luke 18:42). Other times Jesus links faith and healing without using the exact words, “Your faith has made you well,” such as in Matthew 8:13 and 15:28.
The healing that these people experienced is expressed, in Greek, by a form of the word sozo, which means “to preserve, rescue, save from death, or keep alive.” Sometimes, sozo refers to spiritual salvation, which is also linked to a person’s faith. For example, when the penitent prostitute washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, He told her much the same thing: “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50; for other examples, see Mark 10:52 and Luke 17:19). When Jesus spoke of the faith of the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9, His healing was very likely more than physical; it was a spiritual healing as well, as she is told to “go in peace” (Mark 5:34).
When Jesus said to certain people, “Your faith has made you well,” He was saying that their faith (their confidence in Him) had been the means of their restoration. The power of Christ was what effected the cure, but His power was applied in connection with their faith. Just as the faith of some enabled them to receive healing, so healing was sometimes stymied by a lack of faith (see Matthew 13:58). In the same way, salvation comes to a sinner through faith. Everyone who is saved must believe, but it is the power of Christ that saves, not the power of faith. Faith is only the instrument, not the power itself.
In other words, the value of one’s faith does not come from the one who expresses it but from the object in which it rests (Mark 10:52; 11:22). Ultimately, healing is not contingent upon the quality of one’s faith, but upon the Healer. It was through Christ that the woman in Matthew 9 was able to receive a bodily peace as well as a spiritual peace.
We must recognize that Jesus did not indiscriminately heal all the people all of the time. For example, in the scene of the disabled man at the pool of Bethesda where multitudes gathered to be healed, Jesus chose only one man to heal (John 5:1–11), and his is an interesting case. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be made well. His answer was steeped in superstition: there was no one to carry him to the pool, and he wasn’t fast enough to get into the water at the right time. This confused and needy man was healed by God’s grace. He had no faith in Jesus; he didn’t even know it was Jesus who had healed him until later (John 5:12–13).
Another example of someone who was healed before faith is the man born blind in John 9. He did not ask to be healed, but from many others, he was chosen to be healed—another example of God’s grace. In the case of the man born blind and in the case of the man at the pool, Jesus dealt with their physical problems separately from dealing with their spiritual need—the man in John 9 later comes to a full realization of who Jesus is and exercises faith in Him (verse 38). Jesus’ healing of these men was not about their faith as much as it was about His will.
Everyone whom Jesus willed to be healed was healed. Sometimes He healed those who expressed their faith in Him, and He made a point of emphasizing the condition of their heart: “Your faith has made you well.” Other times, in His great mercy, He healed those who had no faith and later drew them to Himself.
Do this in remembrance of me
Why did Jesus say to “do this in remembrance of Me” in Luke 22:19?
On the night before He died, Jesus Christ shared a Passover meal with His apostles. Traditionally, Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Yet, during the meal, Jesus gave fresh meaning to the bread and wine, identifying them as symbols of His impending death. In this way, Jesus transformed the Passover observance into a memorial of His own sacrifice and established a new and enduring ordinance for the Church.
At a pivotal moment in the meal, with the apostles reclining around a table, Jesus demonstrated this transformation in a tangible way. After He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and distributed it to the apostles, He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, ESV). Even though Jesus’ directive only refers to the bread in Luke’s Gospel, Paul added that it extended to the wine or “cup” as well: “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (1 Corinthians 11:25).
With these instructions, Jesus commanded His followers to regularly participate in this commemoration later named the Lord’s Supper (e.g., Acts 2:42; 20:7; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20). To understand the reason for the repetitive nature of the ordinance, it’s important to recognize that Jesus redefined the bread and cup to symbolize something greater than freedom from Egyptian slavery. The bread symbolizes Jesus’ body. Consuming it during the Lord’s Supper recalls the sacrificial purpose of His death for sinners (Isaiah 53:12; Galatians 1:4, 2:20; Titus 2:14). The cup symbolizes Jesus’ blood, shed for the forgiveness of sin (Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7). This transformation of the meaning of the bread and cup highlights Jesus’ death as the ultimate fulfillment of what the Passover event and meal only foreshadowed.
With the bread and cup imbued with fresh meaning, Jesus instructed His followers, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This instruction means that Jesus’ followers are to regularly consume the bread and cup to memorialize His death on the cross for sin.
The act of remembrance, illustrated in the Lord’s Supper, is an important theme in the Bible. It often contrasts the behaviors of those who obey God with those who don’t. For instance, disobedience is associated with forgetfulness of God (e.g., Judges 8:34), and obedience is the result of remembering Him (cf. Psalm 78:11, 35, 42).
Furthermore, in the Bible, remembering often implies more than just mental recollection. As seen in the tradition of the Passover meal, those who partake do more than merely think about their ancestors’ escape from Egyptian slavery; they also symbolically reenact parts of it. For instance, participants consume maror, a bitter herb, often represented by horseradish, to symbolize the misery of slavery (Exodus 12:8). Similarly, they eat unleavened bread called matzah to represent the Israelites’ hasty departure from Egypt—they had no time to wait for the bread to rise (Exodus 12:18).
In a similar way, observing the Lord’s Supper involves more than just cognitive recall. It is a multisensory experience in which eating bread and drinking the cup deepens the engagement of those who partake. Contrary to the beliefs in some traditions, the point of the commemoration isn’t to re-crucify Jesus, just as the purpose of the Passover meal wasn’t meant to re-enslave and free the Jews. Instead, the Lord’s Supper enables participants to identify with God’s deliverance of sinners through Jesus’ death on the cross.
While the observance of the Lord’s Supper in modern churches is often a solemn and reflective experience, its theologically nature is celebratory. Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), has provided sinners with the ultimate sacrifice. His death on the cross fulfilled what the sacrificial lamb of Passover meals only foreshadowed (Hebrews 9:27). When Christians regularly partake of the bread and cup to memorialize Jesus’ death, they aren’t only obeying a command, but praising and thanking God for the victory and freedom that is theirs in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Abundance heart mouth speaks
What does it mean that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45)?
This verse is from what is sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain. In this part of the sermon, Jesus tells us how we can judge a person’s character. We do it in much the same way we look at a tree or plant to tell if it is a “good” plant or not: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers” (Luke 6:43–44). If you want to know what kind of tree or plant you have, you have to look at its fruit. A pear tree sounds like a good tree, but, if you have a Bradford pear tree, you will get small, inedible pears about the size of marbles. What is on the inside—what the tree is really “made of”—will determine what kind of fruit it produces. Jesus says that the same is true of people.
In Luke 6:45, Jesus says that people can be judged by what they say and do because these things reveal what is really inside the person: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” If you want to know what is on the inside of a person, you simply watch his actions; listen to what comes out of his mouth on a regular basis. This is not being judgmental; this is being realistic.
If a person is angry, rude, lewd, or immoral on a regular basis, you can be assured that this is what he is like “on the inside.” If a person is consistently kind, encouraging, and polite, then you can be sure that is what he is like “on the inside.” Of course, it is possible that someone might put up a façade to deceive others regarding his character, but eventually what is inside will come out. The mouth speaks out of the abundance—the overflow—of the heart.
The primary point of application in Jesus’ words seems to be this: when we see evil consistently coming out of a person in word and deed, we should not deceive ourselves by saying, “I think he really is a good person inside; he just has some bad habits” or “That’s just the way he talks, but he’s not really like that.” How many people fall in love and get married, thinking that the bad behavior they have observed is only an aberration? How many parents deceive themselves regarding the spiritual state of their children, thinking that they are true believers because of a childhood profession of faith, even though their lives demonstrate a heart of evil?
When Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” He meant that consistently sinful words and deeds are indicative of a sinful heart. Rather than always giving people “the benefit of the doubt,” we would do well to recognize the “fruit” we observe and respond accordingly. Being a “fruit inspector” does not mean we consider ourselves to be without sin; it does mean that we are realistic about whom to trust and whom we allow to exert influence over us and the people for whom we are responsible.
Pressed down, shaken together, and running over
What does “pressed down, shaken together, and running over” mean in Luke 6:38?
In Luke 6, Jesus describes the way His faithful followers are to live. In verses 27–38, He zeroes in on heart attitudes, teaching His disciples to cultivate an inner generosity of forgiveness, grace, and love: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (verses 37–38, NLT).
Jesus wants us to remember that we reap what we sow and in proportion to the measure that we sow. If we don’t want to be judged and condemned, we’ll stop judging and condemning others. If we wish to receive abundant forgiveness, then we’ll liberally demonstrate forgiveness toward others (Matthew 6:14; 18:21–35; Ephesians 4:32). We will treat others how we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes (Luke 6:31). If we seek only to acquire things for ourselves, we will lose everything (Luke 9:25). But if we spend our lives generously pouring out God’s grace, forgiveness, and love onto others, we will receive back “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” (Luke 6:38).
The terminology “pressed down, shaken together” described the measuring practice of a generous merchant in Bible times. In the original Greek, the word translated as “pressed down” (piezomai) means “to be or become compacted by downward force or pressure.” “Shaken together” (saleuomai) denotes the process of agitating an ingredient in a back-and-forth motion until it becomes tightly packed and settled.
For example, an open-handed seller of barley grain would pour his grain into a measuring jar or basket, then press it down and shake it together to maximize the space. He would do this until the grain overflowed, ensuring the full grain volume would be given. The contents were then spilled into the recipient’s lap, who folded his outer garment like a pocket and used it to transport the grain (see Ruth 3:15).
Jesus used the “pressed down, shaken together” illustration to help us understand a principle of reciprocity in our treatment of others and our approach to life. He said we will get back to the degree we are willing to invest in others and in this life—“The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (verse 38). Jesus wasn’t focused on financial giving here. He was talking about everything we do, urging us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Are we stingy with our grace, kindness, forgiveness, and love toward others, or are we lavishing these gifts to the same degree Jesus poured them out on us? We cannot love like Jesus in our own strength, but only through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22–23).
Although Jesus wasn’t explicitly talking about monetary giving in Luke 6:38, the “pressed down shaken together” principle does apply: “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything” (Proverbs 11:24, NLT; see also Proverbs 11:25; 22:9; Malachi 3:10). The apostle Paul taught, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6–8, see also 2 Corinthians 9:9–11).
Spirit of infirmity
What is a spirit of infirmity?
The term spirit of infirmity occurs in Luke 13:11 specifically in the KJV. Here a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years is healed by Jesus on the Sabbath day. Luke says she has a “spirit of infirmity” or a “disabling spirit” (ESV) or a “sickness caused by a spirit” (NASB) or is “crippled by a spirit” (NIV), crippled by an evil spirit (NLT). Quite simply then, this “spirit of infirmity” is a demon who caused the woman to be crippled for eighteen years.
The Bible is clear that spiritual warfare exists. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” And, from Luke 13, it is clear that evil spirits can sometimes cause physical maladies. However, it is not clear that there are specific spirits whose “specialty” is such things as sickness or poverty or anger. Luke’s reference to the “spirit of infirmity” indicates that, at least in that one case, a demon had been granted power to inflict a disability. Extrapolating a doctrine that categorizes demons according to the afflictions they cause goes beyond what the Bible teaches.
We need to be careful not to overemphasize the power of demons. Many human ailments are simply caused by living in a fallen world, and there are many instances in Luke’s gospel of people being healed of diseases with no mention of a demonic cause. In Luke 13 Jesus specifically speaks of Satan having bound this woman (verse 16). But, in many other cases of healing, He simply heals with no mention of evil spirits involved.
Today, there are some people who refer to “spirits of infirmity” as being the cause for sickness. Or they may talk about “spirits of” particular emotions or sins, such as anger or lust. Certainly, Satan and his demons can attack our bodies, emotions, and thinking patterns. But we cannot blame every illness or every difficult emotion or every sin on Satan’s influence. There is a variety of reasons a person may be struggling with such things.
No matter the specific cause of an infirmity, we can bring the problem to God in prayer. James 4:7–8 talks about resisting the devil and submitting to God. Prayer is one way to do this. James 5:16 says we should confess our sins to one another so that we can pray for healing.
The major thing to observe from Luke 13:10–17 is the power and compassion of Jesus. In an instant, He overcame the disability this woman had been struggling with for eighteen years. He healed her on the Sabbath day, to the indignation of the Pharisees. He responded to her need with compassion, calling the woman a “daughter of Abraham” (verse 16) and highlighting how much God loved her and was willing to free her.
- 1
- 2
