The significance of the ascension, Luke 24:49-53

A few days ago I watched the video released by the terrorist group ISIS, in which they set afire a captured Jordanian pilot. It was a gruesome video, and I don’t recommend that you watch it. It’s one of those things that you won’t be able to get out of your mind. But I had my reasons for watching it. Not the least of which was that many Christians have been burned at the stake over the centuries. For instance, William Tyndale who was the first to translate the Bible into English was burned at the stake in 1536. And

Read More…

The key to the gospel is repentance, Luke 24: 33-48

Last week we looked at the lessons learned on the road to Emmaus by two of Jesus’ disciples. And the lessons that these two men learned was basically a completion of their theology. They had an incomplete theology concerning the Messiah, and so Jesus helped them to see how the Old Testament scriptures spoke of His suffering. That was what they had not understood. They thought that Christ’s death eliminated Him from being the Messiah. Jesus showed them from scripture how His suffering and death were in fact predicted and consequently proved that He was the Messiah. And then if

Read More…

Lessons learned on the road to Emmaus; Luke 24:13-32

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I remember as a boy, I had a voracious appetite to read books. I grew up without a television and so reading was for me the primary source of entertainment. Everything I became interested in, I first of all went to the library and checked out every book I could find on the subject. And that was all fine and dandy until one day I decided I wanted to learn Karate. There were no Karate schools around, and if there were I would not have been allowed to attend them anyway. So

Read More…

Left Behind, Luke 24:1-12

I’m sure you all have heard of the movie that came out recently in the theaters called “Left Behind.” As you may know, it is from a book series that has been around for quite a while actually, by a Christian author named Tim LaHaye. In case you’re not familiar with the story line, the basic premise is that there is a divine event called the rapture in which all Christians mysteriously disappear and the series deals with the people on earth that are left behind to deal with the tribulation events. Well, at the risk of offending some of

Read More…

Sanctification through the burial of Christ, Luke 23:50-56

As I have alluded to many times before, Luke has an interesting way of arranging and presenting his historical account in such a way as to present an underlying allegory or symbolism that teaches a fundamental doctrine or principle of Christianity. And in today’s passage, I think we see that illustrated in the burial of Christ. The symbolism in this passage of the burial of Christ presents for us the doctrine of sanctification. The doctrine of sanctification is one of the most essential doctrines of the gospel, but unfortunately also one of the most overlooked doctrines. Modern churches today tend

Read More…

The reaction to Christ’s death, Luke 23:44-49

One of the more popular news stories that we always see at the end of the holiday season is something along the lines of people who passed away during the last year. It’s a way of remembering people that have died, perhaps prematurely, or perhaps tragically. And I can think of a few this year; Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, and Jay Adams come to mind. But unfortunately, as time goes on, the memory of many of those who have passed away will grow dimmer for most of us, if not altogether forgotten with the passage of time. There are some

Read More…

The King Rejected and Received, Luke 23:32-43

As we look at this familiar passage today which deals with the crucifixion of Jesus, there is a temptation for a preacher to try to present something which is very familiar in a fresh way. And so often the way that is done is to dramatize the story by adding all sorts of details concerning the method of crucifixion, or the torture of crucifixion, or other details that might make the story more interesting. But the gospel writers do not expend much effort attempting to dramatize the physical act of the crucifixion. Luke just states it as simply as possible

Read More…

The reason for the season; Luke 23: 26-31

It’s amazing that in spite of Christmas being a celebration of the birth of Christ, essentially celebrating Jesus’ birthday, the enemy is doing everything he can to detract from the true meaning and diminish people’s recognition of what it is all about. I can’t imagine that our culture would tolerate the kind of animosity that is happening today towards Christmas if it were a celebration of any other historical or religious figure’s birthday. But even so, Christmas is still a very popular holiday celebrated the world over. However, I’m afraid that even when we recognize Christmas for what it truly

Read More…

What will you do with Jesus? Luke 23: 1-25

What will you do with Jesus? That is the question of the ages. It is the question that every person of every age must answer for themselves. It is in this scenario played out here in the final chapters of the gospel of Luke that we see one person after another faced with the question of “what will you do with Jesus?” See, it is not enough to simply believe that He exists. All the players in this last act of the ministry of Jesus certainly believed that He existed. But they all must decide not if He is, but

Read More…

From faith to fear to failure; Luke 22: 49-62

I’ve often jokingly said that I discovered panic attacks. And I’m only half kidding when I say that. Almost 18 years ago I went through a period where I had debilitating panic attacks every day for about 3 years. I may make light of it sometimes now, but I can assure you that panic attacks are no laughing matter. So along the way I learned something about panic attacks. And one of the things I first learned was that when you have a panic attack, your body wants to respond in one of two ways; fight or flight. That is

Read More…