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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer for the Morning

Oh Lord, most heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought me to the beginning of this day; I give you thanks for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of my life. Grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all my doings, being governed by your will, may be righteous in your sight. Through Christ our Lord, I pray.

Meditation

[May all my doings be governed by your will.]

Prayer to Love Others Today

Oh holy Christ, who has commanded us to love others as ourselves, and not to judge others, but to look to our own sins rather than criticizing our fellow man; I pray you to keep your words in my heart when others offend me, for they may fly from my mind when I am gripped by emotion. Many times I judge, many times I feel anger at others, many times I look down upon someone. And even when I show a smile, my heart may yet be filled with sin, anger and malice and jealousy.

I pray to you, mighty Christ, burn your love on my heart. Let me never forget the beauty and peace of loving my fellow man. Help me be sincere in choosing good over evil. Let me seek my glory in you, Lord Christ, instead of in my own image. Soften my heart so that I feel true sympathy, and so I value others just as I do myself.

May your Holy Spirit, who is with me, guide me in everything I think and do, this day and always.

by Mason Barge

Benediction

If you are with me, O God, who can be against me? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Luke the Evangelist by Claude Vignon, ca. 1647.

Introduction to Luke

Luke 1:1-4, 3:23-38, 8:1-3 (ESV)

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

         *         *         *

Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, . . . the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

         *         *         *

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Notes on the Scripture

Overview of the New Testament: (3) The Gospel of Luke

Luke is the only book in the Bible not written by a Jew. Luke was a physician, an early Gentile convert (possibly from Antioch), and was known for accompanying Paul on two of his missionary journeys and tending to him while he was at Caesarea. It would be going too far to call this the “Gospel of Paul”, although Paul no doubt felt considerable relief at its writing, since it took pressure off of him to do it. Paul was the missionary to the Gentiles, and Luke's gospel is generally intended for them.

The gospel is also unique inasmuch as the author was not an eyewitness of the events. Rather, Luke was an historian of Christ. (He would later add “historian of Paul and the early church” to his credentials, by writing the Book of Acts.) He recounts his purpose in the opening verses, addressing the Gospel to Theophilus. This “Theophilus” might have been an actual person, and many people believe it refers to an actual person; but more likely it is a collective form of address for anyone who believes in Christ, as theophilos means “one who loves God” in Greek.

Luke is the longest, most comprehensive, and most orderly gospel, and is written in the most educated Greek. Rather than being the “generic gospel”, however, it has a distinct character. The emphasis of Luke is parables; it contains more of them than any other Gospel (19 total) and is the sole source of the most famous ones: The Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Women are noticeably prominent in Luke; it begins with long accounts about Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and includes wonderful passages about the sisters Martha and Mary, Mary Magdelene, and others.

Another characteristic of Luke is its emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. Luke 2 gives us a unique perspective on Jesus' birth and presentation at the Temple, and has the only account of Jesus as a boy — the story of him staying behind in Jerusalem when he was 12. The Jesus of Luke gets hungry and tired, sleeps, has friends, etc. We get from Luke more of an sense that Jesus had a normal human aspect to his life.

Luke is well-rounded; it does spend some effort to show Jesus' role as the messiah predicted by the Hebrew prophets and his role as King. But Luke's genealogy of Jesus (beginning at Luke 3:23), although it includes David, extends all the way back to Adam and God, making it meaningful to the Gentile as well as the Jew.

Possibly the most remarkable aspect of this humble physician’s gospel, however, is that it is the first half of a two-volume work. While scholars love to make names for themselves by bringing up new doubts about who wrote various books of the Bible, there can be no doubt that one man wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, a long and unique two-volume history of God's salvation of humanity through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

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