Grace Institute: Luke & Acts: The Son of Man Comes

The Son of Man Comes Luke 1:4-9:50 Spring 2008

The Coming of the Son of Man (1:1-4:13)

Luke records more of the birth and childhood of Jesus than any of the other gospels. In fact, Luke takes three long chapter filled with proclamations surrounding his coming. Angels announce his conception (1:26ff) and his birth (2:9ff). Prophets proclaim his ministry while he is yet an infant (2:252ff, 2:36ff). John the Baptist is sent as a forerunner to prepare the way for his ministry (chapter 3). Finally, God the Father himself announces his pleasure with Jesus and anoints him through the Holy Spirit for ministry (4:21ff). Then Jesus is prepared for ministry through his temptation in the wilderness (4:1-13). This all follows through from our theme verse, Luke 19:10, that first the Son of Man must come.

The Advent is Personal and Universal

Luke's narrative on the coming of the Son of Man is both personal in focus and universal in impact. We see in Luke's narrative very personal details, including events which only one or two people would have known. We also see the feelings and thoughts of the people involved. For example, in 1:29 we learn of Mary's feelings in response to Gabriel's announcement. In 2:19 we learn that Mary treasured and pondered the glorious events surrounding her son's birth. Finally Mary also treasures the events of going to the temple when he was twelve in 2:51.

Because of the intimate nature of this narrative and because Luke has already told us that he has interviewed eyewitnesses in his compilation of his gospel, it is highly likely that the source material for much of the first two chapters comes from Mary herself.

While the coming of Jesus is told from a very intimate perspective, it's impact is presented as clearly universal event. The events of Jesus birth are put in the context of universal events, such as the reign of emperor's and governors of Rome (2:1-3. 3:1-2). This newborn child would indeed be the Son of God and rule on David's throne (1:32). The angels declare to the shepherds that a child is born who is “a savior who is Christ the Lord” (2:11). But his purpose would not be to come as a conqueror or a judge, but as a savior.

This dichotomy of a savior who is both universal in impact but personal in nature is continued throughout the book of Luke. On the one hand Jesus is seen as the great savior, the Son of God, and yet as highly accessible, the Son of Man. Mary proclaimed this in her famous Magnificat . As she exalts her Lord, she proclaims Him as savior (1:47), as one who exalts the humble and humbles the powerful (1:52), and one who feeds the hungry and send the rich away empty handed (1:53). This turns out to be the ministry of Jesus who, throughout his ministry, reaches out to the disadvantaged, the poor, and the unlovely, while condemning the powerful and the rich.

Jesus, however, would not just reach out to the poor and disadvantaged in Israel, but His ministry would reach out to the Samaritans and all the Gentiles. Simeon, in his prophecy at the temple, explains this, proclaiming Jesus as an infant as “a light of revelation to the Gentiles” (2:32).

The Son of Man is Ordinary and Extraordinary

More than any other gospel, Luke emphasizes the humanity of Jesus. His favorite title for him is the Son of Man. But this title also shows a similar dichotomy. Luke shows Jesus an ordinary normal human being, but also as an extraordinary human being.

• Like an ordinary human being, Jesus is conceived and carried in the womb of a woman. But the conception is extraordinary (1:35), being conceived in a virgin by the Holy Spirit.
• Like an ordinary human being, Jesus is born into an extended loving family. But this family is extraordinary, with an understanding step-father, a remarkable mother, and a cousin who was considered a prophet of God.
• Like an ordinary human being, Jesus is born in a lowly stable to a young peasant couple. But the birth announcement is extraordinary (2:8 ff.), with singing angels and the adoration of some local shepherds.
• Like an ordinary Jewish boy, Jesus is dedicated in the temple of God. But those observing the dedication give extraordinary prophecies about him (2:29 ff.).
• Like an ordinary human being, Jesus grows and matures. But his wisdom and knowledge amaze even the most learned teachers in Jerusalem (2:47).
• Like so many Jewish faithful, Jesus was baptized. But his baptism was accompanied by an extraordinary announcement (3:22) from heaven.
• Like an ordinary human being, Jesus had a heritage that goes back to Adam. But his heritage is extraordinary (3:23 ff.), including such Jewish icons as David, Boaz, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.
• Michael Card, in his song, “The Nazarene,” eloquently put the point like this:

…the fact of His humanity was there for all to see,
For He was unlike any other man,
And yet so much like me. (Card 1986)

The humanity of Jesus became an important theological discussion in the fifth century. Gnostics denied outright the humanity of Jesus. It took a creed of the church to confirm this doctrine.

But more practically today, Jesus humanity is more than a theological doctrine. As the Son of Man, we can approach Jesus with the confidence that He understands our sufferings. More than that, he has overcome temptations and suffering and can therefore give grace and mercy to those in need.

(Heb 4:15-16 NASB) For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. {16} Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

So Luke declares in the first three chapters that the Son of Man, an ordinary but also extraordinary human being, has come to the earth. His coming has been announced by angels, by prophets and prophetess in the temple, by John the Baptist, and by the Father himself. Now that he has come, he begins the second part of his purpose... to seek the lost.

The Ministry of the Son of Man (4:14-9:50)

The Ministry Begins (4:14)

After thirty years of preparation (3:23), Jesus begins his ministry in Luke 4:14. This verse has two important little details. First, Jesus begins his ministry “in the power of the Spirit.” Throughout Luke's gospel we will see this reiterated: Jesus ministry comes under the power of the Holy Spirit. First, Jesus conception itself was an act of the Holy Spirit (1:35). The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism (2:21). He will filled with and led by the Holy Spirit in his temptation (4:1). Now we see that Jesus entire ministry is empowered by the Spirit. This becomes important as we see the flow from the gospel to the book of Acts, where it is this same Holy Spirit who empowers Jesus that will empower the church to continue the ministry Jesus begins here in chapter 4.

Secondly, Luke 4:14 tells us that Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee and the surrounding country. While there is a significant Jewish population in Galilee, they are a minority in this region. Jesus begins his ministry not in the center of Judaism, but in a Gentile region. His ministry, even at the beginning, starts with a universal focus, and will narrow as we move from this geographic marker to the next in 9:51.

The Focus of His Ministry

Jesus reiterates this purpose as He begins His ministry in Nazareth. Jesus steps up to read scripture in his hometown synagogue, reading from Isaiah that he has been anointed to reach the poor, the prisoner, the blind and the oppressed (4:18).

All of Jesus ministry will be focused around ministering to just those who society ignores and rejects: the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.

The Lepers

Jesus healing ministry highlights his purpose as He makes well those who ill and hurting. In Luke 5:12, Jesus heals a leper, and even in how he conducts this healing He illustrates the compassion He has on those who are hurting. Leprosy was considered highly contagious and so lepers had to call out whenever they walked through a crowd “leper, leper,” lest someone touch them and become infected. But Jesus reaches out and touches this leper (5:13) to heal Him.

The Tax Collectors

Jesus even chooses as one of his disciples one of these social outcasts. In Luke 5:29 Luke records the call of Matthew-Levi, the tax collector become-disciple. Tax collectors were hated people, not just because of the abusive taxation levied on the people, but because they were seen as traitors of the Jewish people. They were Jews who worked for the occupying Romans. Tax collectors were not poor and oppressed. However, they were despised and cut off from polite society in those days. They were not “down and out,” but “up and out” (Blomberg 1997) .

After Matthew decides to follow Christ, he throws a banquet in Jesus honor. But the guests to this banquet are Matthew's tax collecting friends. Jesus is not embarrassed or compromised by being in a party with the tax collectors. He has been invited as their guest of honor, and He responds. This troubles the Pharisees. Why would this teacher, this supposed man of God, hang out with the “tax gatherers and sinners.” Jesus answers:

(Luke 5:32 NASB) “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”

The Women

Luke's gospel emphasizes the role of women in the ministry of Jesus. From Jesus birth, which is told from the perspective of Mary (2:19, 51) to the resurrection, where the women could not convince the disciples that Jesus is alive (24:8-11), women play a prominent role in the life of Jesus. Women were among the closest of Jesus' disciples, some of which were quite wealthy and supported Jesus' ministry financially (8:1-3).

In that society women were not highly esteemed and would not have been considered a reliable testimony. Yet, Jesus reaches out to women in the same way he reaches out to others who society rejects.

The Samaritans

Jesus has not come to condemn the unrighteous, instead to save them. Jesus clearly states this in Luke 9:51-56. As Jesus is traveling towards Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples come to a Samaritan village. But the Samaritans do not receive Him. James and John ask Jesus if they should call fire down from heaven to destroy them for not welcoming them into their village. Jesus rebukes them, saying:

(Luke 9:55) You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.

In addition Jesus used the parable of the good neighbor to show Samaritans are to be part of his ministry.

A lawyer had been discussing the law with Jesus, asking what is the greatest commandment. Jesus answer is “love God and love others.” This lawyer, however, was looking for a loophole in the royal law. So in Luke 10:29 he asks the question of Jesus, “who is my neighbor?” With that, Jesus tells a parable, which today we call the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The Jews despised Samaritans. They were half-breeds; descendents of Jews who intermarried with the Assyrians after the fall of Israel, and were considered inferior to full-blooded Jews. They were hated not just because of their nationality, but because they were perceived as a nation of traitors who had intermarried with the enemy. Furthermore, the Samaritans had corrupted the Jewish religion and worshiped God, not in Jerusalem, but in their own false temple. Now Jesus has portrayed this Samaritan as the only one who kept the greatest commandment.

At the end of the story, Jesus asks the lawyer, “Who proved to be this man's neighbor?” The lawyer answered, the Samaritan. When Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, he was saying, love the Samaritans. Love the despised. Love your enemies. Love those who you consider inferior. Love them as yourselves.