“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
—Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
Jesus: Son of God (Luke 3:21-38)
“When He took the three disciples to the mountainside to pray
His countenance was modified, His clothing was aflame
Two men appeared, Moses and Elijah came
They were at his side
The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die”
— Sufjan Stevens, “The Transfiguration”
The Fruit of Repentance (Luke 3:1-22)
“Repentance exhorts people to be fair with others and meet basic needs with fundamental aid. This is what God desires of those who know he is present and coming: a concern for him is expressed through concern for others.”
—Darrell L. Bock, A Commentary on Luke
The Certainty of Jesus (Luke 2:41-52)
“Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.”
—“Crown Him with Many Crowns”
Wait and Hope (Luke 2:22-40)
“All human wisdom is contained in these two words — Wait and Hope.”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
The Good News (Luke 2:1-21)
“Christian humanism is not based on the presumption that our humanity is self-justifying. Rather Christians are humanists because God showed up in Mary’s belly.”
—Stanley Hauerwas
God Is a Promise-Making and a Promise-Keeping God (Luke 1:57-80)
“Memory is power. The person who says that history is bunk, or that the past is gone and all that matters is today, just doesn’t know much about real life. In real life memory has tremendous power to inspire and guide.”
—John Piper, Pastor & Author
The Gift of Grace (Luke 1:26-45)
“Mary’s submission is a very lovely thing. ‘Whatever God says, I accept.’ Mary had learned to forget the world’s commonest prayer — ‘Your will be changed’ — and to pray the world’s greatest prayer — ‘Your will be done.’”
—William Barclay
The Collision of God’s Work with Our Understanding of This World (Luke 1:5-25)
“What we think about God will determine what we think about everything else. To speak of ‘God’ is to invoke the context for all understanding, that to which all life and thought are related: to the extent that we live and think at all, therefore, we do so in light of our understanding — whether explicit or implicit — of God. Theology, that is, is never merely ideation. It is always and inherently a total way of life.”
— Kavin Rowe, World Upside Down
Luke's Purpose (Luke 1:1-4)
“What I need first of all is not exhortation, but a gospel, not directions for saving myself but knowledge of how God has saved me. Have you any good news? That is the question that I ask of you. I know your exhortations will not help me. But if anything has been done to save me, will you not tell me the facts?”
—J. Gresham Machen