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Luke 9.18-27 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
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Icon of St. Luke, Evangelist |
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WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? Luke’s Perspective: |
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Who is Jesus according to Luke?
And the angel said to Mary in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
Unlike the Messianic mystery in Mark’s gospel, for Luke, Jesus is “Lord” and “Son of God” from the very start. There is no doubt about the identity of this man in Luke’s mind. The title Lord brings with it a strong connotation of divinity and “Son of God” associates Jesus in an absolutely unique way with God the Father. Jesus is not another just another teacher or prophet; He is the very Son of God who has taken on human flesh! Do we live this belief out in how we think and talk about Jesus? Do we hear what Jesus says to us in Scripture as God’s very own voice speaking to the depths of our heart at the moment or as an outdated book disconnected from the present? |
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“And Simeon “took [the child] in his arms and blessed God, saying . . . ‘My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.’” (Luke 2:28-32)
Because this man is Lord, the very Son of God, he comes to humanity bringing salvation for all peoples. The Son of God, the Lord, has taken flesh in order to save us, His beloved people. This salvation for us is because we have sinned and rejected the Lord. But now He comes to save and restore us. This is the cause for great rejoicing! Indeed, the words for “joy” and “rejoicing” appear more often in Luke’s gospel than in any other New Testament book. Do we honestly admit our sins and our desperate need for the salvation that Jesus brings? Do we live our Christian lives full of joy and hope, or to we go to Mass and perform good actions because we feel like we have to? In what ways can we be better witnesses to the a life of Christian joy even in the midst of suffering?
“Filled with the Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days.” (Luke 4:1-2)
Jesus is truly filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything that He does, He does as a divine person in complete unity with both the Father and the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit empowers Jesus, and later in Luke’s writing, Jesus’ disciples to carry out all of their apostolic work. Jesus gives us a model of what our lives as Christians are to be: filled with the Spirit. We receive the very same Holy Spirit particularly at our Confirmation and are called to let that Spirit guide every action of our lives, just as Jesus did. Are we attentive to the Spirit in our lives? Do we pray that Spirit be present with us in all that we do, even the smallest and most boring parts? How can we try to live more radically as disciple of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit?
“Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, ‘It is written “My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” ’” (Luke 19:45-46)
Luke understands that Jesus is a man of prayer. He cleanses the Temple so that it can be a place of prayer. Multiple times in Luke’s Gospel Jesus withdraws by himself to pray. In chapter 6, Luke even describes Jesus as praying all night long. And not only does Jesus pray often, but He prays intensely, giving Himself entirely to His Father in prayer. At the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus “prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.” (Luke 22:44) Are we also men and women of prayer? Do we clear everything that gets in the way of our prayer out of our lives? Are we willing to sacrifice to take the time to pray, whether it be time with friends, watching television, or even sleep? When we go to pray, do we give ourselves entirely to the Father, opening ourselves entirely to His will for us?
“After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.” (Luke 19:28)
The symbol attributed to Luke is an ox. An ox is a gentle animal, but persistently strong and continues to move on. Jesus is the same, gentle, but strong and persistent. In Luke’s gospel, we find Jesus on a steady movement toward Jerusalem where he knows He will suffer and die. He continues on even when He knows the price is His own life, all the while reaching out the poor and the needy in society. Gentle enough to reach out to the most vulnerable and yet strong enough to lay down His life as the sacrificial animal. Do we continue striving to follow Jesus, even after the good feelings stop, even when it’s boring and dry and we feel there are much more exciting things? Are we gentle enough to reach out to those who no one else will reach out to, the isolated kid at school or the friend down the street who everyone else has abandoned?
So, since now we have encountered Jesus from Luke’s perspective, who was Luke himself?
Luke rarely mentions himself in his works, humble enough to get out of the way and let the person of Jesus shine through. However, we do know that Luke was a companion of Paul and a physician. We also know from Paul’s comments that Luke was likely a very warm person and highly respected by others.
Finally then, when and to whom did he write?
Luke addresses his work to “Theophilus,” who was probably a upper middle class member of society in Rome because Luke addresses him as “Most excellent.” His elegant writing style shows his education and his acquaintance with Roman society. Luke was written somewhere between 60 and 80 AD. A date in the mid 60s seems the most likely. To support this notion, in his Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells us the stories of Peter and Paul, but does not include their deaths, which makes it seem likely that he died with them in Rome in about 64 AD, which would date the Gospel to just before that time. |
