Looking for Jesus according to Luke

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 6:

The scribes and the Pharisees are now watching Jesus closely to see whether he will cure on the sabbath, in order to find some way to accuse him.

- Jesus has no time to lose but apparently the religious leaders have nothing to do and plenty of time to lose: once again the choice is clear, according to whom you choose, you show what you are looking for! So the religious leaders are not the only ones to be guilty but also those who decide to follow them! It’s up to us to make the right decision!

- Jesus does everything he can to help!

- The scribes and the Pharisees don’t care!

- On the contrary!

- They speak a lot but they don’t act!

- There is no difference when people try to understand the Bible!

- The way you act shows if you really want to understand or if you don’t care!

- Yah.weh’s message is nothing new!

- He has been repeating it to mankind during the whole history of mankind!

- And mankind doesn’t want to understand!

- The Hebrews didn’t want to understand and Jerusalem was destroyed twice!

- And mankind will be destroyed again and again!

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Luke 6:

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly instructed will be like his teacher.

- Jesus taught his disciples and the apostles and when he died they replaced him which shows they were perfectly instructed.

- We can’t say the same with religious leaders, on the contrary!

- When you teach someone, on time he must be able to teach others!

- If it stops, it means something is wrong!

- When you look inside the Bible, you can see a small fire which keeps on burning whatever may happen!

- It doesn’t matter if darkness is everywhere!

- Jesus will come back to throw darkness in the trash!

- And he will do it a second time!

- We live only a few years!

- Thus we may not understand!

- In fact, people even believe that living forever would be boring!

- It shows how primitive and limited the world is!

- When you realize to which extent you can increase your abilities when you get older and that there are no limits, it is just crazy!

- It is just crazy to think how many people lose their mental abilities as they get older!

 

[JLGJLG]

Someone said:

Just thought you might like my post today as I begin studying Luke. One interesting fact is Luke was a Gentile. That would make Luke the only Gentile to pen any books of Scripture.

 

[JLGJLG]

- What does the internet say?

The traditional view is that the Gospel of Luke and Acts were written by the physician Luke, a companion of Paul. Many scholars believe him to be a Gentile Christian, though some scholars think Luke was a Hellenic Jew. Let's have a look!

The gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts. Together they account for 27.5% of the New Testament, the largest contribution by a single author, providing the framework for both the Church's liturgical calendar and the historical outline into which later generations have fitted their idea of the story of Jesus.

The author is not named in either volume, but he was educated, a man of means, probably urban, and someone who respected manual work, although not a worker himself; this is significant, because more high-brow writers of the time looked down on the artisans and small business-people who made up the early church of Paul and who were presumably Luke's audience. According to a Church tradition beginning with Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) he was the Luke named as a companion of Paul in three of the Pauline letters, but "a critical consensus emphasizes the countless contradictions between the account in Acts and the authentic Pauline letters": an example can be seen by comparing Acts' accounts of Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1–31, Acts 22:6–21, and Acts 26:9–23) with Paul's own statement that he remained unknown to Christians in Judea after that event in Galatians 1:17–24,), and while the author of the Gospel of Luke clearly admired Paul, his theology differs significantly from Paul's on key points and he does not represent Paul's views accurately. Many modern scholars have therefore expressed doubt that the author of Luke-Acts was the physician Luke, and critical opinion on the subject was assessed to be roughly evenly divided near the end of the 20th century. Most scholars maintain that the author of Luke-Acts, whether named Luke or not, met Paul.

 

[JLGJLG]

Who wrote the book of Luke? Who was the author of Luke?​

Luke, the third book in the New Testament canon, was written by Luke, a physician and companion of Paul on some of his journeys. Often referred to as the “Gospel of mercy,” the book portrays Jesus as showing compassion toward the marginalized, poor, and outcast. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is presented as the Savior of all people, not exclusively the Jews, suggesting that the author is a Gentile. The Gospel of Luke distinguishes itself by providing many historical and chronological details. Notably, Luke also includes much information on the women who followed Jesus, mentioning them about 45 times. A large section of Luke contains material unique to that book, including 14 parables not found in the other Gospels.

The author of the third Gospel does not explicitly identify himself. The recipient is indicated as “most excellent Theophilus,” the same person who received the book of Acts (Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1). As Acts is obviously a sequel to Luke, the same author likely wrote both books. Christian tradition attributes them to Luke, a physician and close companion of Paul. In his letter to Timothy, Paul mentions Luke as someone who stuck with him through hard times (2 Timothy 4:11). The use of the first-person we in Acts (e.g., Acts 27:1) confirms that the author witnessed the events firsthand. It is probable that Luke was a Gentile, making him the only non-Jewish author in Scripture. His purpose for writing the book of Luke was both theological and apologetic, aiming to reinforce Theophilus’ faith (Luke 1:4).

Luke’s awareness of other disciples’ accounts indicates that Mark and Matthew were likely already written when he compiled his account, alongside other reports and sermons the Twelve probably left. This places the Gospel of Luke sometime after the writing of both Matthew and Mark. Since Acts concludes before Paul’s death in AD 68, Luke-Acts and the first two Gospels were likely written before then.

In alignment with his goal of reinforcing Theophilus’ faith, Luke diligently conducted his research. Although not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus, he had access to eyewitness testimony and various sources, including songs, letters, speeches, and trial transcripts. Leveraging his physician’s eye for detail, he crafted an extensive and orderly account.

The early church unanimously attributed the third Gospel to Luke, and all the ancient manuscripts we have of the Gospel bear his name. Early church fathers like Irenaeus, Ignatius, Clement, and Tertullian affirmed Luke’s authorship, considering his account of the life of Christ authoritative and inspired Scripture.

We have no reason to doubt the traditional attribution of the book to Luke, and Luke is properly acknowledged as the author of the Gospel bearing his name.

 

[JLGJLG]

Someone said:

Jesus came to seek out and gather the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAELITES - todays ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIANS.

Most of the Jews had rejected him.

- My answer:

- Have a look at Revelation chapters 7, 14, 20,21 and 22!

 

[JLGJLG]

Someone said:

Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Manasseh also included Ephrain - the ancestors of the English and American Christians.

Jesus came to seek out and gather the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAELITES - todays ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIANS.

Most of the Jews had rejected him.

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer:

- Revelation 7:4-8: We are told about a limited number!

- Revelation 7:9: We are told about an unlimited number!

- Revelation 14:1-5: We are told about a limited number, they are virgins, they are blameless, they are called firstfruits!

- In the rest of the chapter, we are told about the crop of the earth!

- Revelation 20:3, we are told about the nations

- Revelation 20:4, “the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

- Revelation 20:5, “The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete.”
- Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

- Revelation 20:8, “the nations”

- Revelation 20:12,13 “And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.”

- Revelation 21:3, “His people”

- Revelation 21:26, “the nations”

- Revelation 22:3, “His servants”

 

[JLGJLG]

Someone said:

Revelation 21:3, “His people”

Yes. GOD's People are the 12 Tribes and two of them are Ephraim and Manasseh who are today's Anglo-Saxons Christians.

Get a Bible and start learning the difference between Jews and Israelites if you can.

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (1)

- Very funny!

- I always say Hebrews and never Jews when I use my own words!

- I use Yah.weh’s word instead of man’s word!

- Man’s word only leads to destruction!

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (2)

- It’s like Abraham and Abram or Abram and Abraham!

- He was first called Abram and then Abraham!

- But people always say Abraham!

According to the biblical account, Abram (“The Father [or God] Is Exalted”), who is later named Abraham (“The Father of Many Nations”), a native of Ur in Mesopotamia, is called by God (Yahweh) to leave his own country and people and journey to an undesignated land, where he will become the founder of a new nation.

- Of course, Abraham has more meaning!

- Abraham would become the father of many nations (Genesis chapter 17)!

- Maybe you have forgotten that!

- When people read you they may guess so!

- Or maybe you have taken it away!

- But the Bible is based on this promise and it concerns all mankind!

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (3)

- If we look at Revelation chapter 7, guess what? We are told about the 12 tribes of Israel!

- What is that? Hebrew or Jewish?

- Do you remember what Yah.weh said in Genesis about a man and a woman?

- No divorce!

- Now Hebrews could repudiate their wives and marry different women!

- Yah.weh tolerated it!

- He tolerated many things and at the same time he warned Hebrews!

- Where did it lead? To destruction again and again!

- For Yah.weh there was only one people, the descendants of Abraham!

- Hebrews wanted a human king instead of Yah.weh!

- They wanted to do like other nations!

- They rejected Yah.weh!

- In fact, they rejected him all the time!

- They never were his people!

- He tolerated them because of His friend Abraham and because he had made the promise to Abraham to bless all the nations through him!

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (4)

- I can also speak about the New Jerusalem to remember what the book of Revelation is!

- Thus I must copy a text I wrote about Revelation Chapter 21:

• Revelation chapter 21: we are told about the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven out of God!
• It has nothing to do with the Jerusalem on earth!
• it shines with the glory of God!
• Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal!
• The dimensions of this celestial Jerusalem are equal in length and width and height!
• Hence, 12,000 stadia = @ 1,500 miles. “A city this size would occupy the entire Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Spain” (Phillips, 644). You may recall that the Holy of Holies inside the tabernacle was a perfect cube as well (1 Kings 6:20).
• The city's wall is 144 cubits thick, which is about 216 feet or almost 66 meters. Generally, a wall is constructed to provide security and/or privacy. But most walls are only a foot (30 cm) or less thick. The massive size of these walls not only implies strength, it suggests the enormous scale of the rest of the city.
• The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone:

The first foundation was jasper,

the second sapphire,

the third chalcedony,

the fourth emerald,

20the fifth sardonyx,

the sixth carnelian,

the seventh chrysolite,

the eighth beryl,

the ninth topaz,

the tenth chrysoprase,

the eleventh jacinth,

and the twelfth amethyst.

21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

• 22But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.f 25Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
• How is it possible to misunderstand?
• It is impossible!

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (5)

- Maybe we have to look at the History of Israel (according to Biblical times)!

https://embassies.gov.il/UnGeneva/AboutIsrael/history/Pages/History-Israel-Timeline.aspx

- 17th century BCE

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - patriarchs of the Jewish people and bearers of a belief in one God - settle in the Land of Israel.

Famine forces Israelites to migrate to Egypt.

- 13th century BCE

Exodus from Egypt: Moses leads Israelites from Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Torah, including the Ten Commandments, received at Mount Sinai.

- 13th-12th centuries BCE Israelites settle in the Land of Israel

- 1020 BCE Jewish monarchy established; Saul, first king. (Here we get an official timeline, they say Jewish monarchy but they were Hebrews at this time!)

- 1000 BCE Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom. ( so Hebrew or Jewish?)

- 960 BCE Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (ten lost tribes)

- 930 BCE Divided kingdom: Judah and Israel!

- 586 BCE Judah conquered by Babilonia; Jerusalem and First temple destroyed; most Jews exiled.

- Conclusion:

- I am not a Hebrew, I am not A Jew!

- If you look at Hebrew history, you can see that it represents many centuries (17th century BCE- 960 BCE)!

- If you look at Jewish history, you can see that it is only from 930 BCE to 586 BCE!

- Do you see the difference?

 

[JLGJLG]

- My answer (6)

- Now let’s have a look at the Bible timeline!

https://biblehub.com/timeline/old.htm

- 2091 BCE God Sends Abram to Egypt (Genesis)

- 1800 BCE Jacob's Family Stays in Egypt (Exodus)

- 1446 BCE The Exodus Begins (Exodus). Then the Hebrews stay in the desert (Leviticus, Numbers)

- 1407 BCE Conquest of Midian (Numbers) - Moses' Summary of Israel's History (Deuteronomy)

- Then in the book of Joshua, Joshua leads the conquest of the land of Canaan (Joshua)

- 1375 BCE time of judges (Judges)

- 1140 BCE Naomi, Ruth and Boaz (Ruth)

- 1070 BCE Battle of Shiloh (Samuel)

- 1003 BCE Genealogies of the Israelites - Saul's Overthrow and Defeat - David Reigns over All Israel (Chronicles)

- 950 BCE The Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs) Solomon's Song of Songs

- 913 BCE Civil War against Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13)

- 853 BCE Israel and Judah against Syria (Kings)

- 1 Kings deals with Solomon, the revolt of the ten tribes and the kings of Judah and Israel!

- 2 Kings deals with kings of Judah and Israel!

- 1 Chronicles deals with David!

- 2 Chronicles deals with Solomon and kings of Judah!

- Ezra deals with the reconstruction of the temple of Jerusalem!

- Nehemiah deals with the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem!

- Isaiah is about Israel’s rebellion!

- Jeremiah deals about Yah.weh’s judgment on Israel!

- Ezekiel deals Yah.weh’s judgment on Jerusalem!

- Daniel deals with the reconstruction and the destruction of Jerusalem!

- Hosea deals with Israel!

- Joel deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Judah!

- Amos deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on different peoples including Judah and Israel!

- Obadiah deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Edom!

- Jonah deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Niniveh!

- Micah deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Israel and Judah!

- Nahum deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Assyria!

- Zephaniah deals with Yah.weh’s judgment on Judah and Jerusalem!

- Haggai deals with the reconstruction of Yah.weh’s temple!

- Zechariah deals with Yah.weh’s kingdom to come!

- Malachi deals with Yah.weh’s word to Israel!

- Are we reading the same Bible?

- The message seems to be clear but not for everybody!

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 6:

- Jesus compares the one who hears and does nothing to a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river dashed against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.

- Too many examples in the Bible show us that religious leaders built their house without foundation and their teachings lead nowhere, only in the wrong way!

- When we really listen to Jesus, we want to build our house with foundation and follow his way not their way!

- Once again, it’s up to us, we must make the right choice and know why we do it !

- When our house is in ruin, it’s too late!

- It is important to make the right choice on time!

- We must never put our confidence in man but in Yah.weh and Jesus!

- Never believe those who think they know better than others but only those who encourage you to think by yourselves!

- Of course, it is hard work!

- But we must always check by ourselves!

- We must always do our part of the job!

- Otherwise we are good to nothing!

- And the next promised land is not for us!

- The Hebrews didn’t do their part of the job and they didn’t get into the promised land!

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 7:

- John the baptist sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah!

- They can see Jesus curing people and doing many miracles and teaching about God’s Kingdom!

- And Jesus tells them to tell what they have just seen!

- Actions are better than words!

- When what we say corresponds with what we do, it is more powerful than anything!

- Jesus doesn’t answer directly to John but he tells him about his miracles and his teaching! Isn’t that the best answer?

- John the Baptist understands perfectly well and he rejoices!

- But not religious leaders: where is the mistake?

- They understand but they don’t care because it is against their own interests!

- Jesus looks for his Father’s interests, they don’t!

- So we must be careful not to serve religious leaders’ interests instead of God’s interests!

- Yes, real actions!

- Same when we speak about the Bible!

- People usually use empty words or other people's words!

- We must learn to express ourselves with our own words!

- It is much more powerful!

- I should say extremely powerful!

- Personally, I always look for other people’s words!

- When you use your own words, you show how you understand what you want to express!

- And the more you do it, the clearer it can become!

- And also more and more powerful!

- when you always repeat other people’s words, it is powerless!

- Think about Yah.weh and Jesus!

- Think about the prophets and the apostles!

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Luke 7:

- People declare God to be righteous, for they have been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and those versed in the Law disregard the counsel of God to them, since they have not been baptized by him!

- There is a big difference between ordinary people and religious leaders!

- Humility vs Pride!

- In fact, religious leaders don’t care about Yah.weh!

- They prefer looking for their own interests!

- How can they really help ordinary people?

- Jesus not only washed his disciples’ feet, he shared everything with them!

- They didn’t only receive his teachings but they could also watch him in his ordinary life!

- He also showed them how to pray!

- But above all, he told them to pray with their hearts!

- And he showed them how to pray all the time!

- And how to develop a special relationship with Yah.weh!

- Do we keep building our personal relationship to Yah.weh?

- Do we do it every day, whenever possible?

- Do we constantly see it growing?

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 7:

Now one of the Pharisees keeps asking him to dine with him. So he enters the house of the Pharisee and reclines at the table.

- When people keep asking Jesus, he listens and answers them, whoever they are!

- It reminds us of Yah.weh!

- Like father like son!

- Do we show the same attitude?

- And look! A woman who is known in the city to be a sinner learns he is dining in the house of the Pharisee, and she brings an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.

- Jesus does everything in the light and people can find him!

- Taking a position behind him at his feet, she weeps and begins to wet his feet with her tears, and she wipes them off with the hair of her head.

- She is known as a sinner but look at what she does!

- Religious leaders are far away from her because she is humble and they are arrogant!

- Also she tenderly kisses his feet and pours the perfumed oil on them.

- Ordinary people vs religious leaders who have dried hearts!

- How is it possible to be so far away from Yah.weh’s truth!

- You can’t look for power and Yah.weh’s truth at the same time!

- It is incompatible!

- Then they think that Jesus can’t be a prophet otherwise he would know the woman is a sinner!

- That’s really a good summary of religious leaders: mentally short-sighted, mentally limited, spiritually limited, spiritually dead and leading people to nowhere!

- They are completely blind!

- How is it possible to be so limited!

- But in reply Jesus says to him: “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

- Then he tells him about an analogy to make him understand and give him a lesson!

- There is only one teacher!

- Then he tells Simon about the woman and everything she does for him and because of that her sins are forgiven!

- What a lesson!

- But they don’t understand anything!

- So they prove themselves good for nothing, useless!

- And they start thinking how it is possible for a man to forgive sins!

- Authority vs meaninglessness!

- Wow: what a powerful action! It seems like a vision!

- How is it possible not to see the difference: it is so evident!

- The problem is when we get accustomed to something, we don’t see it anymore!

- What a pity!

- The woman is far better than them!

- But it is impossible for them to understand it!

- And Jerusalem was destroyed and they were destroyed with it!

- It showed who was right and who was wrong!

- Why is it necessary to study in such a way to be completely wrong!

- And the situation will keep repeating again and again!

 

[JLGJLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Luke 9:

- The apostles have a discussion about who is the greatest!

- Jesus tells them about a child!

- He tries to show them how to behave!

- They must show humility!

- It is usual among those who think they are important in this world to be the greatest or want to be the greatest but the one who belongs to Yah.weh must be humble and get away from this attitude which has nothing to do with Yah.weh!

- Jesus showed how humble he was which is not the case of religious leaders!

- Moreover, once again we see that Jesus knows what people think!

- It shows the difference between Jesus and men!

- It shows that we must keep working hard to develop humility if we want to look like Yah.weh and Jesus!

- In fact, we have to work hard in many fields or areas to look like them!

- If we think we don’t need to do it anymore, we are in trouble!

- And we are going in the wrong direction!