Why I Love Luke, Isobel Lin

I have been reading Luke's gospel with my friend Jules for the last couple of months.  Though I have read it many times in my life, it still held some surprises for me.

One surprise is just how many women are in Luke's gospel!

In Luke, the story of Jesus' birth is told from his mother Mary's perspective. And Luke tells it entwined with the story of another special birth to another mother, Elizabeth - the mother of John the Baptist.

After he is born, when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple, it is not only Simeon but also the prophetess Anna who recognises Jesus to be the promised and long-awaited Saviour.

There are women who come to Jesus, sick, weak, demon-possessed, scorned and weighed down by their sins.  Women who follow Jesus on his journey and financially support His ministry. Women who stood by and watched him die, watched him be buried and then became the first witnesses to the empty tomb.

A second related surprise is in the details. The way Luke records what happens highlights Jesus tenderness towards these women.  

When Jesus meets a widow at the funeral of her only son, Luke pauses the story to tell us that "Jesus had compassion on her".  And when Jesus raises her son, Luke notes with just six words -"Jesus gave him to his mother" - the out working of Jesus' compassion for her.

And it's not just to the women that Jesus displays such tenderness. In Luke, we meet our King who humbles himself to seek and save the lost.

Why I Love Luke, Siân Lim

I met Jesus in the Gospels.

I met Jesus through His faithful witnesses, who shared, wrote down, passed down, translated, taught, and lived.

(Like Mary) I have sung His praises and treasured Him in silence.

(Like Martha) I have been told to not be distracted but to listen.

(Like the prostitute) I have been told that the shameful things are known and they are forgiven.

(Like Jairus’ daughter) I have been brought from death to life.

I have questioned His sanity. I have run in fear. I have reached out with the smallest of faiths. I have seen miracles. I have felt joy and grief intertwined as perfume mixes with tears knowing the weight of my sin and His gift of life. I have watched His death from a distance of two thousand years and countless kilometres but it has dug at my heart as one who was there. He is my Lord, my Saviour, my brother, the beginning and the end, the Creator, everlasting God. He has my name. He has always had my name. He always will.

Why do I keep reading the Gospels? To know my Saviour and to know how He sees me, loves me, keeps me. That is where I met Him. It is where I meet Him, still.

(In connection with the ‘Women Meeting Jesus’ Campaign http://www.equip.org.au/women-meeting-jesus/)

Why I Love Luke, Annabel Nixey

Why do I love Luke?

Because as a book, it gives me what I really want. 

I want safety. I want assurance. I want the confidence of knowing I'm heading in the right direction. Luke gives me that. 

That was his aim. He says in 1:4 that the reason he wrote this accurate, eyewitness based account was so that we might fully know the safety of what we've been taught. Safety. He means it in the sense of the certainty. He wants us to have that sense of confidence. That feeling of having two feet firmly planted, of being held securely. Not stumbling. But safe. 

I have moments, I had one last night, when life feels uncertain and scary and sometimes it can feel like the ground beneath me is trembling. Luke wrote his book to put my feet on sure footing. But the only reason he achieves in his aim is not because of how he wrote, but who he wrote about. 

I love Luke because as a book it points me to Jesus. It says - look to that man. Is He really the Lord? Can He really save me? Is He really worth it? Yes. 

I want safety. I want assurance. I want the confidence of knowing I'm heading in the right direction. Jesus gives me that. 

Note: We’ll be coming back to Lauren’s final blog on The Envy of Eve after the EQUIP conference in May. For those who've just joined us, you can check Lauren's blogs out (and any other books that you're interested in) by clicking on the image of the book in the 'Books We've Read' section below.