Luke: Part 2
Here Comes The Boom
As we move on to the second half of the gospel of Luke, we will be dissecting the last few chapters as we go from 13-24. Recalling our last post, we also can remember that the goal of Luke’s gospel is to show that Jesus is for everyone who will repent and believe, not just the Jews. And in case this isn’t clear to you, the second half of this gospel reveals this right off the bat. Jesus is talking about Galileans who recently passed away and look at what He says. Luke 13:2-3 tells us “And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate? “No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Right away we see that Jesus shows no favoritism towards one particular people group or another. Either you repent and believe in the gospel, or you will perish! You aren’t safe simply because you are born of one certain nationality or another, you are safe because you have been saved by the gospel. As The Gospel Coalition clearly states, “The Gospel of Luke was always intended for the widest audience possible. Luke was not addressing some small group of Christians in a tiny corner of the first-century world in order to meet their particular needs by writing this elaborate narrative.” It is undeniable when we read this gospel that our Lord shows zero favoritism. Christ did not come from one group or another, He came for all who would follow Him. One particular race or gender is better than another. We are all lost sinners who are on our way to Hell without a savior. Thankfully for us, Luke constantly reminds us that Jesus is available for all. With this in mind, let’s dive in.
The Narrow Door
To begin, we previously see that Luke 13 starts off with a bang with Jesus telling everyone that all will perish unless they repent, but it doesn’t end there. Chapter 13 goes even further and ends with a bang as well. Later on, we see Jesus comparing the road to salvation to a narrow gate. Luke 13:24-27 is a very humbling passage. Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ And yet He will say, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’” What a punch in the gut. Many will seek this narrow door and not be able to enter. But what reasons do we see for these people not being able to enter? We see that the character on the other side of this door mentions that they don’t know where these people are from and that they are ‘evildoers’. Again, this may seem harsh, but what’s the overall point? The point is that genuine repentance and faith in Christ aren’t common. And on top of all this, the ones that are turned away are turned away because they are evildoers, not because they are the wrong race or gender. We can’t miss this aspect of the story either. Those who don’t repent and believe in Christ are evildoers. Not Gentiles, not Jews, not men, not women, evildoers. Those who choose not to follow Christ aren’t a particular people group, they are simply those who practice evil.
Final Point
Furthermore, there are few characters in the gospels that show the reach of Christ’s saving grace more than Zaccheus. Zaccheus like Levi, was also a tax collector who wanted to know who Jesus was but was ashamed of meeting Him because of what he did for a living. When Jesus saw him, however, He told Zaccheus that He was going to stay at his house that evening. Look at Zaccheus’ response in Luke 19:8-10 “But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” When accused again of eating with sinners and tax collectors, Jesus states that He has come to save the lost. Now right away when Zaccheus shows his repentance, it looks like only one type of race is being saved becasue Jesus says that salvation has come to this house because this person is a ‘son of Abraham’. However, if you know Old Testament lingo, you know that this simply means a member of God’s family and not a particular lineage. Jesus dines with tax collectors not because He came to only save those in a certain lineage or profession, but because He came to save the lost. Which last I checked, includes everyone who has ever been born.
Lastly, I can’t think of a better way for Luke’s gospel to conclude than with Jesus’ resurrection and mission coming to fulfillment. When Jesus is risen on the third day and appears to His disciples, He leaves them with an amazing statement. Luke 24:45-47 says “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Did you catch that? Just in case it wasn’t made clear throughout the multiple stories and examples throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the gospel is for ‘all nations’. Make no mistake about it, Jesus came for all who would follow Him, regardless of nationality. If we truly repent and believe, we will be saved by grace through faith in Christ. I hope and pray that as we conclude this gospel, you will know without a doubt that Jesus Christ can save even the most wretched of sinners. Our status does not matter in God’s eyes becasue we are all fallen sinners, what matters is that we repent and believe in Christ.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Bolt, P. G. (2024, February 28). Luke. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/luke/
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