Luke 3.1-20 - The Warm Up Act

John the Baptist bursts onto the scene with one basic agenda – preparing the way for Jesus’ public ministry; calling people to ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.’  John was doing what the prophet Isaiah had previously spoken of – making a pathway for the Lord to return to his people.  And this was now the time.  Salvation was at hand.  The people must return to God in word and deed.  Love and justice really do matter.

• What do you need to turn away from that’s currently hindering your obedience to God?

• How does the idea of Jesus being judge as well as saviour make you feel?

• Is your understanding of Jesus too tame?

• What situations of injustice, whether local or global, might you begin to confront?

Luke 2.1-52 - Jesus: In the House

He has come at last.  Jesus is here.  Salvation has arrived.  This child is the saviour, God’s anointed Messiah, whose arrival the people of Israel had long been waiting for.  He, not Caesar, is the true ruler of the world and his kingdom is open to all – both Jew and Gentile.  But this is not the sort of kingdom that God’s people were expecting.  There is no fanfare, or display of royal power and prestige; only a child – humanly weak, insignificant and vulnerable, but the divine king nonetheless.

• Of all the people reacting to the good news of Jesus’ arrival who do you identify with most – Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna?

• Do you ‘treasure’ Jesus in your heart?

• Are you ‘amazed’ by Jesus?

• In what ways can you celebrate the advent of Jesus today?   

Luke 1.57-80 - Thanksgiving: Zechariah's Song of Praise

Another song, another celebration of God acting at last, finally doing what he had promised.  But this is not just about the gift of a son to Elisabeth and Zechariah.  No, something much bigger is going on.  And that something is the coming of ‘salvation’ – God’s mercy, deliverance from enemies, the forgiveness of sins, and rescue from death itself; all themes of Zechariah’s prophetic song, which at once affirm that things can be put right.  In fact, things will be put right.

• Look at the verbs in Zechariah’s song.  Can you name some of the ways in which God is at work in your world?

• What does God’s ‘salvation’ mean to you?

• What might God’s ‘salvation from our enemies’ look like for you or someone that you know, or a situation that you’re aware of?   

• God will put all things right.  In what ways does knowing this give you hope today?

Luke 1.39-56 – Anticipation: Mary’s Song of Praise

Mary and Elizabeth shared an ancient dream, the dream of Israel – that one day Israel’s God would come and rescue his people; that he would at last do what he had promised to their ancestors – to bless all the families of the earth through the family of Abraham.  And now excitement is building because the Holy Spirit is at work.  Something new is happening.  The dream is becoming a reality.  The world is about to be turned upside down.  And so Mary bursts into song – a song that simply celebrates God, who is Lord, Saviour, Mighty, Holy, Merciful, and Faithful.

• What has God done to change your life?

• How can you celebrate God today?

• What do you think God wants to turn upside down in your world?

• Can you imagine the bursting open of disappointment into bright hope?  What might that look like in your life at present?

Luke 1.1-38 - Prologue: Clearing the Stage

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’?

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.