[0:00] We step back every five, six weeks and look at the forest, look at the big picture, make sure we're getting the whole story that we've been looking at. And today we're looking, we're stepping way back. We're looking at the whole book, 24 chapters.
[0:18] So that'll take us about an hour to read through that. No, we won't do that. I'm going to pick a few verses here and there to read through, give you simply a quick, quick, so to speak, overview of the book.
[0:34] And then I want to hear from you. Let's talk about what we've learned, what we've been thinking, how we've been challenged, how has Jesus impacted us in Luke's writing.
[0:48] So if you have your Bibles, open them up with me to the Gospel of Luke. And we're going to start in chapter one. We're going to read the first four verses of chapter one. Then we're going to go over to chapter nine and read a verse there.
[1:01] Then we're going to go over to chapter 18. And we're going to go to chapter 23 and 24. So just skip around a little bit. So if you open up to chapter one, and if you're able, please stand as we read from Luke, the Gospel of Luke, beginning at chapter one.
[1:22] We're just going to look at the first four verses there. Read the first four verses where Luke tells us his purpose, why he's writing, how he's writing, right?
[1:34] What is on his mind, why he has compiled this narrative. All right, Luke chapter one, verse one. Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered, have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.
[2:24] There's his purpose. There's his purpose, that you may have certainty about the things you have been taught. Now, over to chapter nine, verse 22. Jesus speaking to his disciples alone shortly before the transfiguration.
[2:46] Luke nine, verse 22. Jesus said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
[3:02] He's speaking about himself, that he will be rejected, killed, and raised on the third day. Now, over to chapter 18, verse 31.
[3:13] Chapter 18, verse 31. As he gets close now to Jerusalem, toward the end of his life, he says again to his disciples.
[3:26] Chapter 18, verse 31. And taking the twelve, he said to them, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
[3:41] For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him.
[3:54] And on the third day, he will rise. Now, notice what Luke comments, verse 34. But they understood none of these things.
[4:06] This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what he said. Though he told them plainly that he would be rejected and killed and then raise on the third day.
[4:19] He said this several times to them. They didn't understand. Interesting, isn't it? Now, finally, over to chapter 23. Catching up to where we were just a few weeks ago.
[4:36] Chapter 23, verse 33. Let's once again consider his crucifixion. Verse 33.
[4:48] They came to the place that is called the skull. There they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
[4:59] And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments.
[5:10] And the people stood by watching. But the rulers scoffed at him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one.
[5:22] The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him.
[5:37] This is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ?
[5:47] Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.
[6:04] But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[6:22] Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
[6:34] Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last.
[6:47] Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, Certainly this man was innocent. And all the crowds that had assembled for the spectacle.
[6:59] When they saw what had taken place, returned home, beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance, watching these things.
[7:15] Now down to chapter 24, verse 1. But on the first day of the week at early dawn, they, the women, went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
[7:28] And they found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
[7:40] While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?
[7:55] He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.
[8:11] And they remembered. Down to verse 44. Appearing to the disciples in the upper room, he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.
[8:26] That everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
[8:42] And said to them, Thus it is written, That the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.
[8:59] Beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. So it reads. Let us pray.
[9:09] Father, guide our time as we discuss these things. As we think back through what Luke has written to us. As we consider that Luke wrote to give us certainty about the gospel and about Jesus Christ.
[9:27] Help us to see what he has done. And show us, Father, that assurance that we have in the gospel. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. So we live in a culture, as you know, that is very skeptical.
[9:49] Particularly about the Bible. Particularly in the Bible about Jesus Christ himself. Many will say, so-called scholars, will say, Oh, it's written later.
[10:02] And they're just myths. They're made up. The church made these things up. Centuries later. Which, by the way, they cannot prove at all.
[10:12] In fact, you can prove the other way quite easily. People dismiss history. They just kind of write up things they want to think. So that can give a person who does not know the gospel a lot of uncertainty about Jesus.
[10:28] And about the things that maybe they were taught growing up. So the question comes, how can we have assurance that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real?
[10:44] These events that happened over 2,000 years ago. How can we know that he really is the Son of God? That he truly did exist before and took on flesh and lived among us in order to lay down his life in our place, pay our debt, remove our shame?
[11:09] How can we know that's true? Well, Luke claims that he has written to give us certainty.
[11:21] He seeks to show all of us who are unsure that this is a trustworthy narrative.
[11:35] That it is true. That it is real. That it is historical. That it is verified by witnesses. He goes to a great extent, in fact, to show the historicity of it and the reality of it.
[11:53] So this is Luke. In fact, in the book of Acts, chapter 2, when Peter preaches his first sermon at Pentecost, here's Peter's words.
[12:05] He said, Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain, know for certain that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
[12:17] This Jesus whom you crucified. The result of Peter's sermon? 3,000 souls were saved. Jesus didn't even have that kind of result.
[12:29] Although I would argue that this was Jesus' real result. Peter just got to get the... When Peter did that, when he said those words, he also had cited from Scripture.
[12:43] He cited from Joel 2. He cited from Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. He was proving, as Jesus taught him, that Jesus' promises are fulfilled according to the Old, what we call the Old Testament.
[13:01] What they called the Scripture. So, just a brief thing. Two years of study here.
[13:13] Luke chapter 1 through 24. There are... If you have the outline in your bulletin, and if you want to look at that, the structure of Luke's gospel is divided into five parts.
[13:27] Chapters 1 and 2 is his preface. He tells about how the background for John the Baptist and the background for Jesus.
[13:37] And then chapters 3 and 4. We see John the Baptist's ministry begins. He's the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
[13:50] We see Jesus be baptized. And Luke tells us the lineage of Jesus going all the way to Adam.
[14:00] He shows the lineage through his mother, the physical lineage of Jesus through Mother Mary. Matthew shows the lineage through Joseph, the adopted father, but not the physical line of Jesus.
[14:17] Luke shows us Mary's line. And both of them go to David. And then both of them go to Abraham on all the way back to Adam. So he shows us that he is the promised Messiah.
[14:30] He comes from David. He is in the line of the Messiah. Chapter 4, Jesus overcomes the temptation of the devil. He had to do that. He's tempted by the devil, overcomes it.
[14:43] If Jesus had not overcome temptation, he could not have died in our place. He had to be the perfect spotless lamb of God. But he became flesh.
[14:59] And he did that through Mary. He got his flesh through Mary. And remember, Mary asked, by the way, we think, well, Mary was sinful, right?
[15:12] She wasn't holy and perfect, though the Catholic Church says that, but she wasn't. She's a normal gal. Well, how did Jesus not get the sin nature from her?
[15:25] No? Anybody know? She asked, how can this be? How can I have a child when I'm a virgin, right? Well, God will overshadow you, and the Spirit of the Most High will overshadow you.
[15:37] That's what will protect the sin nature from being passed on to Jesus. So Jesus, in a sense, is the new Adam. He's the new Adam. He's born with a perfect nature.
[15:50] He's got no sin nature in him. But he could still be tempted, just like Adam was. Adam was tempted, and how'd he do? Yeah, he failed. Jesus was tempted, did not fail.
[16:02] Over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, did not fail. Though it was difficult for him in Gethsemane, where he's dripping blots, drops of blood.
[16:16] That shows us how hard it was for Jesus. So then we come in Luke 4 through 9, gives his ministry. This is where Jesus really started to preach.
[16:28] He preached liberty to the captives. In chapter 4, he quotes Isaiah 61 and says, This is what I have been sent to do. I've been sent by the Spirit of the Lord to preach liberty to the captives.
[16:42] So every time Jesus preached, every time he taught, he was liberating captives. And sometimes that showed in a manifested in a physical way, where demons were cast out of people who heard Jesus preaching.
[16:58] He taught his, he started gathering disciples and sending disciples. He did many works in those chapters 4 to 9. He raised the dead.
[17:09] He forgave sin. He calmed the storm. He fed 5,000. He was cleansing lepers. He was casting out demons. In fact, one man who was possessed by a legion of demons and was uncontrollable, Jesus, with a word, set him free.
[17:30] Proclaimed liberty to that captive. Then we come to chapter 9 through 19. Then this section is mostly unique to the Gospel of Luke.
[17:42] This is his journey to Jerusalem. So notice Luke likes to kind of arrange the Gospel a bit geographically. So in the beginning, he's in Jerusalem. And in the second part, chapters 3 and 4, he's in Nazareth.
[17:59] Part 3, chapter 4 to 9, he's in Nazareth going and all through Galilee doing this ministry. And then chapters 9 to 19, he's on the road to Jerusalem. For 10 chapters, he's on the road to Jerusalem.
[18:11] Now, the other Gospels, we know he went back and forth. But Luke is just showing that once he started focusing on going to Jerusalem, he just set his face and he's going.
[18:22] And so everything Luke records is on that journey where he's teaching disciples. He's rebuking hypocrisy. He's talking about that the effect of his coming would cause division, not peace, which is surprising.
[18:36] He said, don't think that I came to give peace. I came to create division or to bring division. I'm going to divide families. So he told ahead, this is not going to be all roses and easy.
[18:50] He talked about his road to the cross. Several times he told his disciples that he would be going to Jerusalem. He'd be killed. He'd be raised on the third day. And then finally, he comes at the end of chapter 19 to Jerusalem.
[19:08] And this was the goal all along. So the last, almost the last five chapters of Luke are just that last week in Jerusalem, final days of his life.
[19:19] He came in. He came in with a bang, didn't he? He came into Jerusalem on a donkey, proclaiming that he is coming in the name of the Lord.
[19:29] He comes in. It kind of threw down the gauntlet, basically. Comes in. And then the first thing he does is he enters Jerusalem. He goes into the temple and he cleanses it. I mean, he's just messing things up.
[19:39] He's messing with these guys. He's just throwing things out, all the money changers and confronting again. And he's basically putting the nail in his own coffin by upsetting these leaders and confronting their hypocrisy, pointing them out to the crowds.
[19:59] So he is officially rejected then in chapter 20. Chapter 22, they hold a trial. He is rejected officially by the Sanhedrin. He is condemned to death.
[20:10] They send him to Pilate. Since the Jewish leaders didn't have the authority to put anybody to death, they're under Rome, so they have to go to Rome and persuade Pilate to kill him.
[20:22] Pilate was not persuaded. In fact, several times Pilate said, I find no guilt in this man. This man has done nothing worthy of death.
[20:35] But Pilate was a politician. He would rather have the peaceful crowd than deal justly with an innocent, righteous man whom his wife had told him, don't, don't, don't, don't deal with this man.
[20:56] So he rejected, he handed him over, crucified him. And then we have his crucifixion and his resurrection. All right. So hopefully I didn't go too long there.
[21:08] Just a quick summary. So on your outlines on the front, you have that, that all that information on the back. You have information as well of the last few studies that we did.
[21:20] You also have in minuscule. Notice that on the right side, you have some type that you might need magnifying glasses for. To read is probably .3 font.
[21:33] I don't know what it is. To fit it on there. All the parables from Luke are there. And then listed also all the places fulfilling the prophets. As you kind of walk through Luke, where Luke is showing that he's a fulfillment of the prophets.
[21:50] Okay. So more information that you need. It's all there if you're interested in it. Okay. So let's hear from you now. What have you discovered about Jesus in this journey?
[22:05] What is God teaching you? Has the gospel or has Jesus challenged you in some way? Or what you believed before?
[22:16] Or how you've lived? Or what you thought about this or that? How has it impacted you? So in general, just, you know, what have, how's it, how's it landed on you? How are you dealing with it?
[22:28] And then lastly, the last question is, has Luke given you more certainty about Jesus and the gospel?
[22:41] In other words, did he accomplish his purpose? For you. All right. Okay, please, Allison.
[22:53] You've already been preaching this morning, so go ahead. Yes, the certainty.
[23:07] Yeah. You've just been here the last part of the last part of the journey here. Yeah. Who else? Who else? And anywhere, anywhere you want to go.
[23:21] I would say yes. And part of what it opened for me to interpret really once or ten times or a hundred times.
[23:36] Didn't really have this or perceive this understanding. That's where Peter disowned Jesus. What it brought up to me was Jesus told Peter that you're going to deny me.
[23:56] Right. So he didn't really, the way I see it before, I just looked at it. Okay, that's an opportunity for things to happen.
[24:06] No, there wasn't, he foretold, you're going to deny me. He told him flat out. So otherwise, Peter might have not have done that.
[24:20] Okay. Okay. What else? So yeah, just some, something in the, in the, somewhere along the storyline.
[24:32] Something God showed you that was new. Something made you think more carefully about things. Yeah. Yeah, just kind of tagging on to what you were just saying there too. It's interesting that Jesus didn't pray that he would not be tempted to run away.
[24:49] But in fact, he said, when you, when you fail, I pray, I'm praying that your faith will not fail. So when you come back, you'll be available to encourage others.
[25:02] Don and I work with a group called Officers Christian Fellowship at the academy. And we had one of our cadets here about six months or so ago. He was going through this absolutely terrible, horrible time.
[25:14] He said, you know what, Christianity, I thought it was working, but it's not working. And just renounced everything. And a bunch of the cadets that we worked with were saying, well, you know, I guess she's gone.
[25:27] You know, she's just gone. And I said, no, she's not dead yet. She's not gone. We need to be praying for her.
[25:39] Last week, she came back. Hallelujah. I like that. That's a good reminder for all of us, I think, when we see people that appear to step away from the faith, that we need to continue praying for them and look forward to them coming back.
[25:59] Yeah. It's hope for the prodigals, isn't it? Amen. We're all prodigals in some manner. At least I know I am. Have been.
[26:10] Can still be. Yeah. Yeah. I thought, you know, it was, we talked about this time, how interesting that, you know, when Jesus is, you know, blessing the temple and, you know, addressing the hypocrisy, and, you know, the disciples are like, man, he's lost his mind.
[26:34] He's like crazy. And even saying, like, he is sealing his death. Like, he is going to make them kill him. And yet, you know, Jesus has, you know, shared so much.
[26:48] And, again, they don't get it. Right. Even, you know, the third day. Until he opens their minds. Yeah. Even in that, it's like, okay, he's lost his mind.
[27:00] He's, they're going to kill him. And, you know, and just kind of disregarded, really, everything that he was taught them. You know, to some degree.
[27:11] Mm-hmm. So. Yeah. And that's really key. What we just discovered a week or two ago that where he opened their mind to understand the scriptures.
[27:21] And the word understand means to bring together. So, in other words, he opened their mind to start to bring things together for them. Connect the dots. That they had never connected.
[27:31] They never saw that story was about Jesus. They never saw the story of Joseph was about Jesus. They never saw the story of David was about Jesus. Right. Pointing forward in a foreshadowing, in a picture way.
[27:45] Or the specific scriptures that pointed to him. Right. He went, he walked them through the scriptures. That's just incredible.
[27:57] We all go, I want her to be in that class. You know, can I take that class? Yeah, you can take that class. You have now, not Jesus, but the Holy Spirit to walk you through that class.
[28:10] So, he shows us how to read the Old Testament scriptures. To look for him. To look for him. He says he's all over. Yeah, what else?
[28:23] What else? Any other thoughts? Yes. So, I found myself, when you would teach on certain things, going back and doing a little bit more research.
[28:34] And what I saw was, I was amazed how Dr. Luke had done his research. Like, he had gone out and confirmed these things. And what he wrote wasn't always positive in the sense of following the Lord is going to be hunky-dory.
[28:51] Yeah. It's going to be pleasurable. But at the same time, even the difficulties and the challenges that he wrote about, even with the Lord, you know, talk about Peter when Ed was hanging in it.
[29:02] Or what Aaron has said earlier about forgiveness. Lord, forgive them. I'm just thankful that Dr. Luke was willing to tell the truth. Yeah.
[29:14] Because it helps today, when I walk with the Lord, to know that it's not perfect. And I am going to have challenges, but there's hope. Oh, yeah. Right? And there is forgiveness. Yeah.
[29:24] And it's not about me, but it's about the Lord and what he's doing in me. So I was just thankful. And just thanking for the cross. Even as difficult as it is, thank you, Lord, for the cross.
[29:37] Because you didn't say no. You had the option, but you didn't. So I found that in reading all of Luke. It was consistent. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah.
[29:47] And he, yeah. You call him Dr. Luke, which he was. He was a doctor, a physician. But in his research, he really became a doctor, you know, in terms of theology and scripture as well.
[30:03] Yeah. Luke's gospel, compared to the other, so you have Matthew, right? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew was an apostle. He was a follower of Jesus. So he's writing his gospel from his own perspective.
[30:14] He was an eyewitness of the whole thing. John, the same thing. The gospel of John. John was a disciple. He followed Jesus, saw everything. So he's writing as a witness. Mark was not a witness.
[30:27] But he wrote Peter. He was writing for Peter, in a sense. Mark is a written gospel of what Peter had preached for years.
[30:38] And then Luke is different. Luke didn't know. Luke doesn't enter the story of the Bible until Acts 14, 15, somewhere in there.
[30:48] He probably was a convert of Paul and followed Paul and stitched up Paul because Paul kept getting beat up, right? He needed a personal physician to follow him around.
[30:59] So he writes his gospel, as he said in chapter 1, after having read all the others.
[31:09] He's read Matthew, Mark. He's interviewed witnesses. He probably interviewed Mary because he gives details in the early chapters that only Mary would know.
[31:20] How Mary felt. What Mary was doing. How Mary and Elizabeth. Those kind of things. And so he was a researcher. And he researched carefully.
[31:32] Investigated carefully. And then wrote it out. I mean, he worked hard to write it out in consecutive order. And then with that purpose of giving certainty. He had that intent, that goal in his mind all the way through.
[31:47] Because he had become convinced. And he's writing to just one guy named Theophilus. And aren't we glad that Theophilus shared what Luke had written to him? I mean, he wrote two long scrolls.
[32:01] Luke is one long scroll. And then he wrote Acts 2. That was a second long scroll. Probably 35 feet long. But he calls book one and book two. So, yeah.
[32:13] Thankful for Luke. Who else? Who else? And by the way, the visitors here. You can pipe in. It's okay. You have thoughts or questions.
[32:24] Yeah. Go ahead. I just kind of relived a little bit for the betrayal that I did for the years. But the part that stood out this time was the thief.
[32:35] One of the two thieves that was on the cross. And it became very personal for him. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[32:47] He got it. He knew it. And Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth. Today you will be with me in paradise. And I don't know if you said this sentence.
[33:00] I don't know if it just came to me in the message that day. If it's good, I'll take credit. You can do that. Jesus gave that thief hope that wasn't dependent on his past.
[33:15] That probably wasn't me. Jesus' death on the cross gives us all hope. It's not dependent on our past. And it's actually even, but it's not just death alone, but it's the resurrection.
[33:27] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's a, we talk about deathbed conversions, you know. That's the one we think of when we think that's still possible.
[33:41] Right? Here's somebody dying. Excruciating. And he comes under that conviction and awakening in those moments.
[33:52] Isn't that tremendous? Yeah. And he didn't have to jump through any hoops, did he? Jesus didn't say, well, okay, well, you need to first go walk, you know. You need to go earn it.
[34:04] There was nothing the thief could do to earn a thing. All mercy. All grace. So, for me, if you really sit and look back at it, you had this 12 in addition to the multitudes of love of Jesus.
[34:22] And he, what, three years, three years, three years? Yeah. And they, they're this close to him. Yeah. Right? They sit with him, they eat with him, they bathe.
[34:33] But the one person who got it was the thief. Yeah. And he, they... And so, it's like, oh, there's hope.
[34:46] Look, the thief got it, crucified next to him, where it took those who were walking and touching and eating until Christ arose and came back and opened their pots.
[35:00] That's a wonderful observation. Yeah. When he got, he got it before the apostles. He got it before the apostles. Because Jesus hadn't risen yet. Exactly. And they didn't believe he was going to rise.
[35:10] This guy already believed. Hey, you're king. I know you're going to be, you're going to bring a kingdom, whenever that is. Yeah. So did the centurion. So did the centurion.
[35:22] Yeah. He just had to see Jesus. Even how Jesus died told him something. Yeah. Margo. I think it also brings out the importance of women and the faith.
[35:35] Yes. Because they were, they stayed at the cross. They observed. Yeah. Where are the guys? And where are the guys? And they ran to the tomb to embalm him or whatever you call it.
[35:51] But they were there. And the men didn't even believe them. I think they were the people. Yeah. Mark gives a beautiful testimony of the women.
[36:04] And through the gospel. Because he would say, early on, he'd say, here's, he named a number of the women, Mary and Joanna and so and so. Right?
[36:14] And they were taking care of Jesus. They were taking care of Jesus. Because Jesus isn't working. You know, well, he's working, but he's not earning anything. Right? And so they're taking care of him.
[36:27] All the way from Galilee, all the way to Jerusalem. And then he's in the trial. They're standing. He's hanging on the cross. They're standing there. Right?
[36:37] He's buried. They're standing there. Where is he buried? Because we want to go take care of him. We want to go add the spices. Even though he's died and they don't know maybe what to make of it all.
[36:49] Because they're there when the. So then they're there the next morning when the stones rolled away. They're wondering, how are we going to roll away the stone? Oh, the stone's already rolled away. Cool.
[37:00] Let's go take care of Jesus. And he's gone. It doesn't occur to them that he's raised from the dead. It just. They're just thinking his body's missing. And so.
[37:11] And then the angel tells them. He's risen. They reported to the disciples. And what are the. What are those great apostles saying? You guys are making stuff up.
[37:23] You're just making stuff up. Way to go, guys. Yeah. It's a beautiful picture of the women. Just faithful servants there.
[37:37] And they get blessed. Mary Magdalene is the first one to see Jesus raised. Why? Because she's there. She's at the tomb. You know. I'm going to borrow a charm.
[37:49] That. From Michael. Yacono. Title. One of his books. Called. Messy. Spirituality. And that.
[38:01] That's what we deal with. They dealt with it. We deal with it. It's all over the place. But.
[38:13] Looks chaotic. But it's the journey God has placed before us. And we have to. That. I think is our assurance. And our confidence.
[38:25] That he's holding on to us. And guiding us. Even though. We look like we're failing. And. We're probably the hardest judges.
[38:38] Because of our phones. Sure. Sure. And society helps. Yeah. And mom and dad helped. And who knows. Yeah. Everything outside the gospel teaches us to measure ourselves.
[38:51] Right. By our accomplishments. And. And that's. Right. A hard habit. To break. And. And. I know for me. I don't know about anybody else.
[39:03] But I didn't believe in a free lunch. Or a free gift from God. Called grace and mercy. You gotta be kidding me. There's no such thing.
[39:13] Especially from a holy. Sovereign. God. No way. Song. Song. Kind of like where Doubting Thomas was.
[39:24] Sure. Right. So we have. All these perspectives. Character. Perspectives. And these apostles. So in the end. I am with you so much.
[39:35] That. Whoa. One day. Maybe my spirituality. Will be so messy. But. He's with me.
[39:48] Well. I mean. Luke. Luke gives us a real picture of the disciples. They're not heroes. They're me. They haven't got it all together. They're far from having it all together. Right.
[39:58] And it shows us that. This is who God uses. God uses normal regular. Right. Folks that are. They don't have it all together.
[40:09] They haven't figured it all out. And he. Graciously uses us. I mean. The only guy he picked. Of the twelve.
[40:20] Right. That had maybe a good. A good resume. Was Judas. The rest of them are just. They're just regular guys. They're just.
[40:32] Fishermen. You know. Tax collector. Okay. That's not good. Tax collector. Okay. One thing that. Stuck out to me. On the mountain of all. Is when he. Is.
[40:44] Telling the disciples. Pray that. We. Are not into temptation. Later on. Sweating drops of blood. And it goes back to them. And they are sleeping. Yeah. Sorrow. That stuck out to me. And kind of.
[40:55] Titty telling off of. Diana. And saying that. You know. We lean on ourselves. And. Amen. And our own understanding. And. And. For me. That expectation.
[41:05] Of going into that. That sorrowful sleep. Like he even asked us that day. Would you sleep. You know. For sorrow. Grief. Or pain. And. Yeah. Escape. Right. Yeah. And that's. That's one of my tendencies.
[41:16] And that really stuck out with me. Because. That's the one time that. You need to lean into God. Yeah. More. And that really stuck out with me. Because. Mm. Like you were saying. It's like. The real.
[41:27] It's like. The real. Humans. That. Lean on our own. You know. Understanding. Rather than. You know. Kids. And then. You know. Later on. Says. Nevertheless.
[41:39] Not my will. But the word be done. And I've been praying that a lot. And never. Not your will. Not my will. Your will. Because we do that a lot. I do that a lot. Well. Our normal.
[41:50] Human will. The one we're born with. Wants the easy way. Right. Just like. Jesus. Jesus did not want to go through the cross. You know. Let this cup pass.
[42:00] Let. I don't want it. I don't. I can't. In his humanity. But then. Again. He's faithful. Unlike us. He's. He was just faithful. Yeah.
[42:14] Which is why we're glad. We're so. Blessed that he's faithful. Yeah. Because we. We could never do it. Yeah. Christy. So. One thing that really got me.
[42:26] Was. We're going back to the cross. With the thief. And Jesus says to him. Today. You will be with me. In paradise. There's so much. Question.
[42:36] I think. Within. Different. Churches. And stuff. What really happens to you. When you die. It says it all. Yeah. Today. You will be with me.
[42:46] If you believe. You're going to be with him. Today. When you die. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's prepared to please. Yep.
[43:00] Yeah. although theologians will write pages of that volumes of that oh it couldn't have meant literally yeah rather take Jesus' word for it than some theologian keep it simple I know there's other issues I'm not dismissing that there's other issues but he promised that man today yeah thanks isn't that also a distinctive sign of redemption Jesus is actual an acting of the hope of Jesus redeeming that thief right on the spot right as he himself Jesus is fulfilling the laws and the prophecies and acting as our ransom paying our ransom for our redemption to me it's just a real big picture signifier of how he can redeem yeah you know without all the other just a word from Jesus a word it's like who was it one of the people that petitioned Jesus was it the centurion is the centurion right his servant he just said
[44:22] Jesus just say the word you don't even need to show up you just say the word and Jesus was like I don't see that kind of faith in Israel and here's this Roman guy you know who just I know I know you you just say the word like he said to the storm right hush who is this guy great beautiful pictures yeah okay anyone else yeah last chance this is Luke this is it so in two weeks Lord willing we plan to do a little walking in Psalm 119 119 yeah it'll be short there's only 176 verses 22 sections I don't know how far we're gonna go but be fun to play with Hebrew a little bit so I agree one of the most wonderful Psalms it's really quite incredible and the theme of that study will be delighting in the word of God walking in the word of God because that's the theme of Psalm 119 the word of God okay let's pray
[45:39] Father thank you for our time together and thank you for the many ways you've taught us undoubtedly there's many other things that could come to our mind if we spent more time but we thank you for those the way you showed us Jesus the way you showed us the disciples of Jesus but ultimately Father we thank you for your servant Luke who could write so well by under the direction of your Holy Spirit who could show us Father Jesus in all his glory so we thank you in Christ's name Amen Amen