John Newton, the converted slave trader and author of Amazing Grace,described it as the part of Jesus’ teaching that has been most neglected by his own people. The passage he had in mind was Luke 14:12-14: “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives or […]
So far we have considered that the great theme in Luke’s Gospel is that Jesus brings in a great reversal. We’ve seen the two main ways in which people end up on the wrong side of that reversal- through religious pride and an obsession with wealth. Incidentally it seems to me that both of these […]
In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus says these words, “Blessed are you who are poor…Woe to you who are rich…” (Luke 6:20,24). Unlike the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, there is no reference to “in spirit.” So is Jesus proclaiming blessing or woe depending purely on our financial status? Or should we […]
In my last post I noted that the great distinctive of Luke’s Gospel is the theme of reversal- introduced by Jesus and completed when he returns. That means that there are dangers for us to avoid (lest we be brought down) and attitudes to cultivate (that we may be lifted up). The chief danger, of […]
We’ve recently completed a brief series in Luke’s Gospel. Whilst I enjoyed working on the individual passages, I felt that we struggled to pick up some of the major themes of the Gospel. Each of the four Gospels is distinct. At the end of his Gospel, John notes that he has had to be selective […]
I’ve been pondering writing this for some time. But I’ve always hesitated- partly because a blog seems mildly pretentious and partly because there is already so much material out there on the internet. However, I’ve also felt that there is more I want to teach and pass on than is possible in a thirty minute […]