Luke assures us that we can trust his account of Jesus and sets the scene for the arrival of Jesus who is to take centre stage in the unfolding drama of God’s salvation story. God is moving to keep his promises and fulfil his purposes. Angels are active. An elderly couple long for a child and a young girl shows great faith. In God’s salvation story the needs, hopes and fears of ordinary people are never forgotten.
• Do you have deep unfulfilled longings?
• In what ways does the notion of a promise keeping God strengthen you today?
• How does the story of Mary – God using a very ordinary person – make you feel?
• Can you pray, along with Mary, ‘Here I am, the Lord’s servant; may it be to me as you have said’?
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
A note of introduction
The Gospel of Luke is all about God’s redemptive plan – how the good news of God’s salvation for all people began, through the power of the Spirit, with Jesus in Galilee and Jerusalem. The Gospel explains who Jesus was, what he did, why he came, and how he prepared his disciples for their role in God's plan.
Of all the Gospels, the Gospel of Luke is unique. Not only is it the longest (if you count the verses!) but the story of Jesus that Luke tells has a sequel in the book of Acts. So we need to read Luke’s Gospel as the first instalment of a two-part series; part 2 telling the story of how the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus subsequently spread, through the power of the Spirit and by the work of the apostles, from Jerusalem to Rome.
In this context, the Gospel of Luke emphasises Jesus as God’s anointed Messiah for his people, Israel (with the promised inclusion of the Gentiles); the necessity of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins; the role of the Holy Spirit in God’s salvation story; and God’s acceptance of all those whom traditional religion had marginalised. And through it all, Luke invites his readers to see how they themselves fit into God’s redemptive plan.
So as we read through the Gospel of Luke together this Lent, my hope and prayer is that our place in that plan would become ever clearer to us.
Of all the Gospels, the Gospel of Luke is unique. Not only is it the longest (if you count the verses!) but the story of Jesus that Luke tells has a sequel in the book of Acts. So we need to read Luke’s Gospel as the first instalment of a two-part series; part 2 telling the story of how the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus subsequently spread, through the power of the Spirit and by the work of the apostles, from Jerusalem to Rome.
In this context, the Gospel of Luke emphasises Jesus as God’s anointed Messiah for his people, Israel (with the promised inclusion of the Gentiles); the necessity of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins; the role of the Holy Spirit in God’s salvation story; and God’s acceptance of all those whom traditional religion had marginalised. And through it all, Luke invites his readers to see how they themselves fit into God’s redemptive plan.
So as we read through the Gospel of Luke together this Lent, my hope and prayer is that our place in that plan would become ever clearer to us.
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