The record in the Gospel of Luke has a particular characteristic. This characteristic is that Luke always shows us in the Man-Savior the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality for the New Testament jubilee. Here we have three matters. First, in Luke’s composition the basic and intrinsic elements are the humanity and divinity of the Man-Savior. The Gospel of Luke is based upon the fact that the Lord has two essences—the divine essence and the human essence. Second, Luke’s Gospel presents the highest standard of morality, a morality that is the result of the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues. Third, this Gospel proclaims the New Testament jubilee. The proclamation of the jubilee is clearly made in chapter four. We need to keep these three matters in mind in reading the Gospel of Luke, for they will help us understand this Gospel. In the Gospel of Luke we have the divine essence mingled with the human essence and the divine attributes mingled with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality, and this is for the New Testament jubilee.
We need to have a full realization of these basic and intrinsic elements of Luke’s writing. By now we should have seen that in his Gospel, Luke reveals the Man-Savior as the One who is a composition of the divine essence mingled with the human essence. As such a One, He is the God-man because He is both the complete God and a perfect man. In Him we see God and man. In Him we have the complete God and a perfect man. This means that in Him we have a composition of the mingling of God with man. In this mingling, however, the Man-Savior loses neither the divine nature, the nature of God, nor the human nature, the nature of man. Rather, in the mingling these natures remain distinguishable, and there is no producing of a third nature. This is the first main point we should keep in mind for our understanding of Luke.
The Gospel of Luke also reveals that in the Man-Savior we have the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality. Throughout this Gospel we see in the Man-Savior, who is also the God-man, the complete God and a perfect man, the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues. As the complete God, He has the divine nature with the divine attributes, and as a perfect man, He has the human nature with the human virtues. Therefore, in His Person we see the divine nature with its attributes and the human nature with its virtues for the living of a life in the highest standard of morality.
The mingling of the divine nature with its attributes and the human nature with its virtues to produce the highest standard of morality are for the New Testament jubilee. In this jubilee we are freed from all bondages—the bondage of sin, the bondage of Satan, the bondage of the world, and even the bondage of the self—and we are also freed into the full enjoyment of our lost birthright, the right to enjoy the Triune God in Christ.
What we have been covering in this message is a definition and interpretation of the Gospel of Luke. In this definition we see the intrinsic elements of this Gospel. If we read Luke in a superficial way, we shall be concerned mainly with the stories in this Gospel. But if we get into the depths of this book, we shall see its intrinsic elements.
If we have a proper description, definition, and interpretation of the Gospel of Luke, we shall see that his Gospel is composed with certain intrinsic elements. These elements include the Lord’s divine nature with its divine attributes and His human nature with its human virtues. The Man-Savior, therefore, is the composition of the mingling of God and man. As such a One, the Lord lived a life in the highest standard of morality. Such a life is for the New Testament jubilee, because it is a life that frees us from all bondage and that brings us into the enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ. This is a summary of the Gospel of Luke.
We need to have an understanding of this summary of Luke when we come to chapter eleven. Otherwise, this chapter may bother us. After the parable of the good Samaritan and after the case of Martha receiving the Lord Jesus into her home, Luke inserts a chapter that covers four matters: the Man-Savior’s teaching about prayer (11:1-13), the Man-Savior rejected by the evil generation (vv. 14-32), His warning not to be in darkness (vv. 33-36), and His rebuking of the Pharisees and lawyers (vv. 37-54). Why are these four things put together? If we read Luke 11 superficially, we shall not understand why this chapter includes the Lord’s teaching on prayer, the rejection of Him by the evil generation, His warning not to be in darkness, and His rebuking the Pharisees and lawyers. However, if we get into the depths of these four sections of chapter eleven, we shall see that here the Man-Savior is dealing with the highest standard of morality. We have emphasized the fact that based upon His divine nature with His divine attributes mingled with His human nature with His human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality, the Man-Savior proclaimed the New Testament jubilee. Now we must go on to see that apart from chapter eleven it would be difficult for us to experience the jubilee.
© Living Stream Ministry All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.