In warning about the evils of greed, Jesus used a parable: “There was a rich man blessed with [fertile land.] He thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to keep all my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I will put all my good things together in my new barns. Then I can say…Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!’“But God said to that man, ‘Foolish man! Tonight you will die!... Who will get [your things] now?’ This is how it will be for anyone who saves things only for himself. To God that person is not rich.” (Luke 12:13 21)
Many people do not know that loving your enemy is the heart of the gospel. Although loving and praying for your enemy may seem impossible at times, it is written in the gospel of Matthew that loving your enemy is loving God. In Matthew 5:43, Jesus teaches about loving your enemy, praying for your enemy, and shows examples of loving your enemy.
Luke’s Gospel greatly emphasizes the social justice aspect of Christian living. Throughout the third book in the New Testament, the story and history of Jesus Christ is written, and Luke preserves the many sayings of Jesus warning that those with material possessions have a
I chose to read The Gospel of Luke for my project. It is said that The Gospel of Luke was written somewhere between 80 CE - 90 CE. The Gospel of Luke was written for Theophilus, who was called “Friend of God”. But The Gospel was also written for a wider audience, including converts and potential converts.
Jesus is portrayed as a compassionate healer and teacher in Luke's gospel. Luke also portrays Jesus as a saviour in the image of a divine man. Like was a well educated jew that was struggling with the christians new faith. Luke is one of the synoptic gospels in the New Testament whose audience appears to be gentiles. Luke portrays Jesus as a person who reaches out to the poor and brings Justice to all. In Luke 10:38-42 Jesus visited Martha and Mary. Martha was disrespectful to Jesus as she put cleaning before Jesus, where as Mary sat down at Jesus’ foot and stayed with him. Jesus then says “Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things” Jesus is showing compassion and love even though Martha was showing disrespect towards Jesus. Overall,
In this teaching, Jesus was saying that we treat one another with love and compassion as he have loved us as much as laying his life for our sake, in order for us to join him in the kingdom of God. He said that we should speak well even to those who curse and despitefully use us and abuse us because, our reward for such time is in heaven and it is God who will revenge about these things for us. He said that we should love our enemy also not only our friends because God loves us the same way and God does not discriminate from anyone, despite their falls.
He is mentioned to by Paul as "Luke the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14). Luke fixed forth the humanity of the Son of Man and cites it in chronological order the life of Christ. Being a physician, he is more precise when using language. For example, when he indicates a leper he uses the identical medical term to describe the circumstance, for example "full of leprosy" (Luke 5:12). Luke’s gospel is particularly focused towards an individual named Theophilus and is focused on the complete story and past events of Jesus Christ from his birth and ministry to his crucifixion and resurrection. A major theme in Luke’s gospel shows how important the poor were to Jesus and how we should not neglect the poor. Examples of this are seen when the book talks about the distinctive beatitudes “blessed you are poor…hunger now...weep now...” and the distinctive woes “woes to you that are rich...that are full...that laugh now…” which overall say, money and power will tend to bring judgement upon you. In addition, the gospel of Luke refers to certain parables like the Rich man and Lazarus. This sends a message to warn the rich who tend to trust in their riches more than in God, wealth tends to pull us away from God and that if we neglect the poor and prioritize our riches more we will go to hell. Asking oneself- is your existence a blessing for the
Gospel of Wealth is an article written by Andrew Carnegie back in 1889. Carnegie was the second richest man in America. By dominating the steel industry. Carnegie believed that people like him had a responsibility, to use their wealth (money) to benefit the good. So, people like him should promote the welfare of others or charity to close the gap between rich and the poor. This belief became known as the Gospel of Wealth. Carnegie believed that leaving all your money to one person was unacceptable. While you are alive they should use their money to benefit society. Carnegie gave about 90% of his wealth during his lifetime (Ame3).
When looking at Jesus’ teachings at the Sermon on the Mount, he gives clues onto what the ideal person is portrayed as. Many use St. Matthews version of the Sermon as an ideal reference: “How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill” (Sermon on the Mount, Verse 3 and 6). By a stale look at these verses, one can infer that the ideal person to “receive the blessings of God” are poor, because when looking at the Gospel given by Luke he tells us about that the people who will be suffering are the rich. Since rich people tend to be greedy and selfish, it was simple to see that poor people will be more appreciative of what they would soon have. Therefore, from verses 3 and 6, it can be implied that the ideal person is selfless. Although, when looking at the ideal person from this stale
Reverend Young addresses Christians about wealth inequality as he states that Jesus cared for the poor and consequently, followers of the faith have an obligation to do the same.
Jesus then laid down many guidelines to his disciples and spoke wisdom of trials to come. Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew, Sermon). This meaning that people who are humble and accept their sins toward God, may be rich in spirit, giving them a place in the kingdom of heaven. This idea was very popular due to many people in ancient society felt powerless, due to a lack of money. The second major point Jesus stated, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew, Sermon). This Meaning that if one strives for a relationship with God they will find one. Giving these followers hope and believe that they have a chance to become part of something larger than themselves, which would be a strange concept for them in their time. The final and most important ideal given is, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”. This being said Jesus Blesses those of his followers who were being punished for believing in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus to be the son of God. This has major ties to the Roman Empire and their persecution of Christians (Many Europes). This can also be viewed as foreshadowing towards the futures of some of the disciples. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, these words became the
Luke portrays Jesus in a human like perspective, as a teacher to all. Luke shows Jesus lineage is traced back to Adam and Eve; Adam and Eve were the first humans so to trace his ancestors back to them is showing how he was born to parents just like you and I. Jesus is a teacher of human ethics, on how we are intended to live our lives. Jesus was the teacher of these things, throughout Luke he tells the story of Jesus and how he traveled from town to town, city to city teaching these ethics to as many people as he could. His focus was primarily on the poor, weak and needy. Jesus was focused on his impact in society as a whole; Luke refers to Jesus as a philosopher, social critic and social reformer. Luke shows how Jesus taught “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not,
The Gospel of Luke is revered by Christians for its deep, strong, sound, well written content. There are many thoughts professed in this chapter can be applied to our lives; but I will shed some more lighten on one chosen topic I stumbled across that pertain to the current times. There are innumerable aspects of the term following God, and I'm highlighting one that stood out in the Gospel of Luke. What does the bible say about materialistic things, or Materialism? Luke 6:20-26 states; "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all the people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." Here, this verse is stating the
This myth has given rise to the misconception that Heaven is racist. Jesus, however, is loving towards everyone. When a Roman centurion (a military officer for the enemy of God’s people) asks Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant, Jesus complies. Jesus wants everyone to enjoy the kingdom of God and says in many verses that citizens from all around the globe will be in God’s kingdom. Like He will bring reconciliation to Heaven and Earth, Jesus will bring reconciliation to every nation. In “Chapter 9: Welcome to the Wedding,” Butler reiterates God’s seriousness about salvation. God wants everyone to accept Christianity and enter Heaven. Therefore, God will negatively judge those who do not take him seriously and those who want to bring their sin into Heaven. These people will not receive God’s glory. While the previous chapters discuss God’s judgment, “Chapter 10: The Servant at the Center” discusses Jesus’ judgment. During the crucifixion, Jesus judges us. He “reveals on the cross that we are more sinful than we ever could have imagined and more loved than we ever dared dream” (161). Because Jesus loves us, he judges
He came into the world to work along side the poor, the rich, the healthy, the sick, the good and the bad. Examples of this are shown in stories such as that of Jesus and Zacchaeus, the sinful tax collector (Luke 19) and the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). These gospel stories are used today to show how Jesus’ love and compassion flowed through to all man kind and that it was not reserved for any favoured groups or individuals. Luke is demonstrating to his audience the universality of Jesus and that salvation is offered to everyone.