Luke: Unique Incidents

Now it is incumbent upon me to extend a very sincere thanks to the assembly here for their kind invitation, their warm fellowship. The abundance of their fellowship and kindness is only exceeded by the abundance of the Nats. And if you ever decide to have a Sunday school for Nats, you will fill the auditorium, no doubt.

A privilege as well to share with our two brethren in the ministry of the Word of God this weekend. I did encourage our brother Walls to take as much time as he needed in light of the wealth of his material, the depth of his subject, the breadth of his gift, and the lack of my voice. So he's been very gracious only taking a few extra minutes.

Now before opening the Word of God together, we'll speak to God in prayer. Our Father, we take these moments, and they are precious, to bow before Thee, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that while no man has seen God at any time, that the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father has come and told him out.

We thank Thee that while he moved here upon earth, Thy Son revealed Thy heart. And as we have looked upon him, we have learned something of the Father's heart. And so for Thy Son once more, and for Thyself we do bow with reverence and thanksgiving.

We look to Thee now to graciously help in this session of the ministry that the Word of God will be faithfully, clearly, and solemnly as well applied to every heart and conscience. We commit ourselves now, look to Thee together, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Turn to Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2. Gospel of Luke in Chapter 2. I was thinking that you have a choice during this meeting. If you want the meeting to go its scheduled time, which is 340, you can pray my voice will hold up. If you want a long break, then you can pray the opposite.

So we'll see whose prayers are effectual. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2. And these are all very familiar portions of the Word of God, so we'll just break in. Luke Chapter 2 and verse number 48.

His parents looking for the Lord Jesus, the boy of 12. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he speak unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

Jesus increased in wisdom, and stature, and in favor with God and man. Look further, if you will, in Chapter number 4, verse number 16. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 4, verse 16.

And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

When he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. Then as a result of what he has to say, they are filled with wrath, verse number 28.

And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, thrust him out of the city, led him to the brow of a hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power.

In the synagogue there was a man which had the spirit of an unclean demon. And what follows is his dealing with the demon. In verse number 38 and 39, it is with the disease or the debility of Simon's wife's mother.

And then in verse 40 and 41, it is with the various diseases afflicting the city. Verse number 42, And when it was day, he departed, went into a desert place, and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. But he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent.

And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. One final reading in chapter 22, Luke's Gospel chapter 22. Verse number 39, He came out and went as he was wont to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples also followed him.

When he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. Let me just stop there. Just mention an obvious fact that perhaps you've never thought of.

The Lord Jesus Christ never asked anyone to pray for him. Even the great Apostle Paul, in all of his letters, requests prayer. The Lord Jesus never asked anyone to pray for him.

You pray that you enter not into temptation. Verse 41, He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. And sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When he rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said to them, Why sleepy? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Now we trust God will add his blessing to the public reading of his word. I would have a small fear somewhere in my heart that in taking up unique features of each of these Gospels, some might view this just as an exercise in biblical gamemanship. Just something interesting to notice and something novel to follow.

But I would hope that you would realize that the God who has placed into our creation the hallmark, the fingerprint of design, has done the very same thing in the book we have before us. It is a book that bears the imprint of divine design. Nothing haphazard, nothing by chance, nothing omitted, nothing added that was whimsical or in any way meaningless.

Wherever there is a difference, wherever there is something unique, God is putting his fingerprint there to remind us this is divine design. And as we see that, it gives us tremendous confidence that the book we hold in our hand is a book that comes from God. So we have looked at in Matthew an invitation that was unique to Matthew.

We looked in Mark at insertions, Mark chapter 10, just one chapter, at unique insertions. We looked earlier today in the Gospel of John at unique insights that we have from John 18 and John 19. And now we want to look at unique incidents, things that are only recorded by Luke, events in the life of the Lord Jesus, or aspects of those events only recorded by Luke the physician.

It may surprise you that more of our New Testament was written by Dr. Luke than anyone else. You add together all the chapters of his Gospel, all the chapters of his Acts of the Apostles, and his contribution to the New Testament exceeds the Apostle John, exceeds that of the Apostle Paul. He had more input into our New Testament than anyone else.

And his Gospel has a unique charm to it. There's something about Luke's Gospel that draws us time and again to it, as we look at the beauty of Christ, a perfect man, as displayed and as portrayed under the pen of this inspired writer. It is the Gospel, first of all, that reminds us of a godly remnant.

You recall that Matthew was written to Jews, and it begins with Gentiles coming to find Christ. Here in the Gospel of Luke, Luke was penned for Gentiles, and Luke has a godly Jewish remnant awaiting Christ. So the Spirit of God is balancing.

Lest Jews think they had an inside track, he tells them that when Christ came, wise men, Gentiles from the east came, you weren't interested. And lest Gentiles think that somehow they are special, they are reminded that when the Lord Jesus Christ came, there was a Jewish remnant. There was Zacharias and Elizabeth.

There was Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, all awaiting his coming. It is the Gospel that tells us of a godly remnant. It's the Gospel that tells us about the growth of the Lord Jesus.

Those verses we read earlier in chapter 2, only Luke gives us the details of his birth. Only Luke gives us those early years of his life. You may think that men wrote what they wanted to write, or men wrote what they knew about writing.

Who knew the most? This is not a trick question, but it'll make you think. Who knew the most about the early years of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you say, well, Matthew, Mark, Luke, none of them were there. At the foot of the cross, there's a disciple.

At the foot of the cross, there's a woman. The Lord Jesus Christ says to Mary, woman, behold thy son. To John, behold thy mother.

From that hour, that disciple took him unto her own. Now, if you could have sat at night over a cup of tea with Mary, what would you have asked her? What questions would you have grilled her with? Any mother here would know exactly what you would ask. What was it like raising a perfect child? What was it like having a child in the home who never disobeyed, who never needed to be corrected, who never needed to be taught not to say no, who never needed to be taught not to interrupt? And I think those years that John spent caring for Mary, he learned more about the early life of the Lord Jesus than anyone else who penned the scriptures.

And yet, when he begins his gospel, he doesn't go to Bethlehem or Nazareth. He goes to eternity. And it's Luke who is given the privilege of writing of the early years of the life of the Lord Jesus, the gospel that tells us of his growth.

It's the gospel that shows us the Lord Jesus as a guest. Seven different times, he sits at tables with men as a guest. And of course, that last occasion at Emmaus, the guest becomes the host as he breaks the bread and cares for them.

It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus as a guest. It's the gospel of gladness filled with song. It's how it begins, how it ends.

It's the gospel filled with gladness and joy. It's the gospel as well that tells us something of his grief, of his emotion. We read together of the strong cryings and tears in Gethsemane.

It is the gospel that is preeminently the gospel. It tells us of salvation, of a savior, of peace, of mercy. And I think that if you just catalog it in your mind, if you sit through a series of gospel meetings, it is likely that Luke is preached on more than any other gospel.

The parables, the illustrations, the gospel messages that emanate from this gospel. But above all, it is the gospel of the grace of Christ. His graces, his beauty as a man are seen in every chapter.

In every way, his beauty shines forth. We have read in Luke chapter 2. Let me just go through them quickly for you, and then as time and voice permits, we'll fill in the details. In Luke chapter 2, we read of a boy, 12 years of age, and we read of him that he went down.

In Luke chapter 4, we read of him, he sat down. In Luke chapter 4, further on at Capernaum, he came down. And in Luke chapter 22, he knelt down.

He went down. He sat down. He came down.

He knelt down. In Luke chapter 2, I see the grace of his submission. In Luke chapter 4, where he is in the synagogue and he is preaching, I see there the grace of his sensitivity to scripture.

And we'll mention that in more detail. When I come to chapter number 4, I see the grace of his steadfastness. Despite rejection, despite the brow of the hill, despite the anger and hostility of men, nothing deters him.

He came down to Capernaum, goes to the synagogue again, takes up the word of God again. The grace of steadfastness in the service of God. And when you come to Luke chapter 22, it is the grace of surrender.

The grace of surrender. So come with me again then to chapter number 2, the Lord Jesus Christ and he went down. This past week was a week that commemorated 75 years of D-Day.

When I read and looked on YouTube at some of the testimonies, some of the events of D-Day, the individual heroism, men who knew as they stormed the beaches of Normandy that they were going to die. They had little doubt. And men who, when they were dying, crawled to become barriers for their fellow soldiers, to become human shields, recognizing they were going to die.

And so they might as well become human shields for other soldiers who were trying to storm the beach. When I read of that, you'll forgive me if you feel I'm being unjust, but I wondered would that ever occur again today in our society? Individualism used to mean individual responsibility. Individualism meant that you took responsibility for yourself, for your actions, for your deeds, and possibly as well for the potential of your life.

Individualism has morphed from meaning individual responsibility to individual entitlement. That there is no one more important than I am. There is nothing more important than I am.

There is nothing really that I will ever sacrifice if it's going to mean I'm the loser. When we come to the Word of God, when we look at the Word of God, when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, we will see the grace of submission. We have a wrong concept of submission.

We were taught as young believers that wherever you have the first mention of an important topic, an important theme, there are truths that are introduced there that will be true wherever the subject is taken up in the Word of God. What we read in Luke chapter 2 is the first mention in our New Testament of submission, and it is the Lord Jesus who was subject. So immediately, immediately that should banish from our minds and thinking any idea of inferiority of personhood.

It has everything to do with position in God's hierarchy, not with personhood and value before God. Just, I mean, you could go through this in a hundred different ways. The misunderstood man to parents who were relatively ignorant, the Son of God to peasants, the omniscient to the limited, the creator of all to a carpenter in Nazareth.

You could get no higher than he was, and yet he chose to stoop no lower than to become subject to earthly parents. The grace of submission. We chafe against submission because we feel we are important.

We are not going to yield our individualism to anyone else. Your Savior and mine became subject to earthly parents. You don't want to submit.

You find it difficult to submit. You find it chafing to your ego to submit. However low you go, you have a Savior who went lower still.

In God's government, there is a hierarchy in every structure. In creation, in government, in marriage, in family, in the assembly. God has a hierarchy that when it is bowed to, leads to harmony and the best possible outcome that could ever occur.

Here the Lord Jesus Christ, we read that he went down and he was subject to them. The grace to submit. But would you allow me just to take verse 51 and verse 52 and just bring them together and omit a few words.

He went down and he increased. Can you see they're brought together? He went down and he went up. He submitted and he grew.

That is so counterintuitive, isn't it? It seems like it doesn't fit. That when he submitted, he actually grew and increased. It may be counterintuitive, but it is God's way.

It is God's formula for growth. When I find my sphere, when I submit to the place, whether it is in government, society, family, marriage, or the assembly. When I find my rightful place and I take that place, that is where I can be the most used for God and where God can develop me and use me in the greatest possible way.

I'm not dealing now with our sisters and their hair and their head covering, but just allow me an illustration from that. Why do you think it is that Paul says, a woman's hair is her glory? You may say, well, it makes her look beautiful. And it can indeed.

But there's something far more involved than that. Her long hair is her visible symbol of the role she has taken of submission in marriage and in nature. So when she takes her rightful place that God has given her in the natural sphere, it is her glory.

She rises to her highest beauty, her highest potential, her highest usefulness. When she assumes the role God has given in his creatorial, in his hierarchy in creation. So when we find the role and the place God has assigned to us, we come to the place where God is able to bless and use and increase us according to his wisdom and according to his plan.

The grace to submit and the growth that was evidence. Here in chapter two, our brother is afraid he's going to take all of my thunder. We see truth about sonship.

Here is the perfect son submitting to his father, first of all, in heaven. And as a result of that submission, submitting to earthly parents, I learned something here about the badge of sonship. You know what the badge of sonship is? He grew, he grew.

We have that in verse number 40. He went down to Nazareth and he grew. Is it an amazing that the wickedness of Nazareth did not hinder the growth of Christ? The misunderstanding of parents did not hinder the growth of Christ.

The lack of appreciation of the entire village did not hinder the growth of Christ. Do not blame your lack of growth on circumstances. Don't blame it on the oversight.

Don't blame it on your parents. Don't blame it on your husband. Don't blame it on where you work.

There is nothing that can hinder your growth except you. Joseph grew in Egypt in Potiphar's in a prison. Moses grew on the backside of a desert with no fellowship.

Daniel grew down in Babylon with only a few close friends. The badge of sonship, genuine sons grow. You've got an entire book to feed on.

You've got a spirit of God within. You've got a intercessor above. You've got a father to go to.

The badge of sonship is growth. The beauty of sonship, he was subject, willing to be subject, willing to submit. The behavior of sons, he increased.

The balance of sonship with God and with man. He grew before God and he was in favor with God and with man. There was a balance to his life.

Wonderful to see that. Wonderful to see a balanced Christian, to see someone who is growing and they are in the Word of God. They appreciate the Word of God.

They're becoming more like Christ in life, but also they're able to be helpful to the people of God. Here was one who was balanced in his life. He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and with man.

We could talk about the business of sons. Wish you not that I must be in my father's business. If you're a son, get busy in your father's business.

The beauty of his submission. But I want to come to chapter four and speak about the beauty of his sensitivity. He comes to a synagogue in Nazareth where he had been brought up and he stood up.

Can you stand up where you were brought up? Said it somewhere else, I am thankful. I was not saved until I was 21 and the boys I hung around with, I grew up in the inner city in Philadelphia, and I'm very thankful those boys aren't in this audience. The Lord Jesus could go to the very place he was born, could look in the faces of those he grew up with, and he could stand up where he was brought up.

He had a consistent life. There wasn't a boy, wasn't a man in the who could say, I remember when you were a boy, what you did. I remember when we were out together one night and what you did.

I remember some of the things you said. No, he could stand up where he was brought up. Could I just appeal to young Christians? Do not segment your life that what you do at school, what you do at work, what you do when you're on vacation, what you do at home has nothing to do with what you do when you're here.

It has everything to do with when you're here. He had the moral right to stand up and handle the Word of God, and no one could point a finger. Now, none of us is perfect, so the standard has been, the bar has been set far above that which we can possibly attain to, but I should so strive to live that there is nothing inconsistent in my life that when I stand up and speak about it, someone can say, I know something about him.

And if you'll just allow this aside for just a moment, there likely are young men here looking, I hope you're looking because they're here, looking for young women to marry. I don't know if it's right or wrong for a man to boast about his wife, but let me boast about my wife. There's nothing about my wife that would ever hinder my opening the Word of God anywhere and preaching on anything that's in it.

I don't have to say, well, people know my wife, and I can't say that. So when you're looking for a wife, remember, it will have an effect upon your ministry, your usefulness for God. You might have a Barbie for a wife, and it may close your mouth.

Now, some of you do have Barbies for wives, and you can talk. That's fine. God bless you.

I'm just saying, remember, your wife has a bearing upon your ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ could stand up where he was brought up, nothing to hinder him. He was so competent.

He was so sensitive to the Word of God. He knew just where to turn. He knew just what to say, and he knew just when to close the book.

We've all been told time and time again that what follows on from where he stopped was speaking about the day of vengeance of our God. He came to announce a day of grace. He didn't come to read about the day of vengeance of our God.

He was skillful in his handling of the Word of God. That doesn't result from reading one chapter in the morning or tearing the page off the calendar and just reading the verse. If, as a young woman or as a young man, you want to be skillful in the Word of God, want to be sensitive when the Spirit of God prompts you to speak, you will need to spend time in the Word of God.

Now, of course, the Lord Jesus, the living Word, the incarnate Word, was virtually synonymous with the written Word, but still, his sensitivity to it. Our brother was reminding us yesterday in his excellent ministry how he used the Word of God in every set of circumstances, used it so appropriately, so expertly, so accurately. Wouldn't you love to be able to handle the Word of God like that? I have to make a confession.

There is nothing that makes me feel so inadequate as when a young believer or an older one comes to me with a problem, and I cannot find an answer in the Word of God for them. I cover it up. I usually quote something like what our brother said, all things work together.

But even as you're saying it, you know that they, it's like, you know, forget that, you know. It is the Word of God, but, you know, that's just off the top of your head. That's not really meeting my need.

Everything, every answer we need is in this book. Our problem is knowing it. The Lord Jesus was skillful.

He was selfless as well. I find it amazing. His fame was spreading throughout.

And, you know, we know where he reads. He says, the Spirit of God is upon me. What I've done, all that you've heard, all the glowing reports of my success, it's all the Spirit of God.

It's not me. What a tremendous testimony, how he worked, his competent service, his costly ministry. It was not exactly a friendly audience.

It's almost like Trump going to CNN for an interview, right? I mean, it was a hostile crowd, and yet he's faithful with the Word of God, his grace in his sensitivity to the Word of God. But then we read about how he came down. He came down.

He's led to a brow of a hill, and they're about to cast him off. And he passes through the midst, goes his own way. Maybe I should just mention, because you may think that the Lord Jesus escaped out of their hands by some strange, miraculous smokescreen.

What had just happened previous to this? Satan had said, if you're really the Son of God, cast yourself down, and the angels will look at the display you'll make. Look at the fantastic publicity you'll get. Angels will come and rescue you.

What would have happened if they had cast him off the brow of the hill? Angels would have come to bear him up. It's another temptation. It's temptation in a different form.

And again, it's going to happen at Calvary, isn't it? Come down. Just come down. So whether it's Satan saying, cast yourself down, whether it's the town people wanting to throw him down, whether it's men at the cross, come down and we'll believe you.

He's being tempted in all of those places to display himself and pass him through the midst. He goes his way. But he's not distracted.

He's not deterred. He's not detoured. He came down, and where does he go? Right back to a synagogue.

Right back to a synagogue. He had just been rejected at one synagogue, and he goes to another synagogue. The grace of his steadfastness, moving on in the work of God, despite the frowns of men, despite the fury of men, he just moves forward, seeking to honor and seeking to serve God in every possible way.

Just moving forward for God. Horatio Nelson was one of Britain's greatest, well, probably is Britain's greatest naval heroes. He is credited single-handedly with frustrating Napoleon's attempt for world domination.

By his naval victory over Napoleon or Napoleon's army, he had lost his right eye in a battle at Calvary. Later on, he was in line in a battle in his ship, and one of the men said, the commander has ordered retreat. Pull your ship back from the battle.

Nelson lifted the scope to his blind right eye and said, I see no signal. Fight on. And he won the victory and won the day.

Steadfast, moving forward. The Lord Jesus Christ, steadfast here, not distracted, in no way affected by everything that came, whether it was the flattery of men, whether it was family earlier and later calling him. And on one occasion, Mark tells us, they thought he was mad out of his mind, no time even to eat.

Family didn't influence him. The fury of men didn't influence him. The flattery of men did not influence him.

Even friends with their well-meaning words like Peter did not distract him. He was steadfast in his service for God. I would imagine if you are doing anything for God, you will know discouragement.

Whether it's a Sunday school class, whether it's trying to raise your children the way you feel they ought to be raised for God, whether it's shepherding, whether it's an ESL class, whether it's gospel outreach, tract distribution, discouragement seems to be built into every form of service for God. Here was one, never discouraged, never discouraged. I don't have time to stay with.

He says at the end of chapter 4, I must preach. I must preach. Go through Luke's gospel and notice all the musts linked with the Lord Jesus.

We read one of them earlier. I must be about my father's business. I must preach the God and the Lord Jesus compelled by the will of God, compelled by the need of men.

I must preach the grace of his steadfastness in service. As a result, he's able to deal with the demonic. He's able to deal with the debilitated, able to deal with the diseased.

He's able to meet every need. What may seem like an initial roadblock, the fury of the people in Nazareth, and he comes to Capernaum, and he's seen there, and God begins to use him, and could I use the word success in a very careful way? He sees fruit now from his ministry, and the entire city gathered to his door, and blessing for all. Quickly come to chapter 22, the Lord Jesus Christ not now went down, not now sat down, not now came down, but the Lord Jesus Christ knelt down in Gethsemane.

Could I just mention this? In an attempt, well-meaning men who have written, likely you have heard some of their preaching online, it's all available, well-meaning men have suggested the Lord Jesus Christ was in a deep depression in the garden of Gethsemane, or that the Lord Jesus Christ was struggling to submit his will to his father's will. Now all of that is done with an attempt to help us identify, or help us identify with the idea that he knows our depressions, he knows our struggles. Could I say it is 100% wrong? The Lord Jesus Christ never was depressed.

Depression has at its very core guilt, and helplessness, and hopelessness. You could never ascribe that to Christ, and whatever else Gethsemane was, it was not a struggle of Christ to submit his will to his father's will. There was always one will, absolute harmony between father and son, and I might dare to suggest that Gethsemane is the entire Godhead, wrestling with the possibility, is there any other way? And having to own, there is no other way.

There are secrets, there are depths to Gethsemane, we are best not to try to fathom, but it is not a desperate man, struggling in the darkness of Gethsemane. I would also say the Lord Jesus Christ never knew fear. Fear is because of sin.

Adam said, I heard thy voice, and I was afraid. The Lord Jesus never was afraid. He feared God, but he never had fear as we have fear.

But when I come to Genesis 22, rather Luke 22, he is submitting to the will of God, and he is submitting with strong cryings and tears. We don't have time. Notice the distance, a stone's throw.

Think of those who were stoned in the Old Testament. Luke tells us it was a stone's throw away. Luke tells us as well, of the dependent man, an angel coming, and the things I cannot begin to explain to you, that the Creator would have the ministry of an angel in Gethsemane.

The dependent man of Luke, seen absolutely surrendering the greatest cost to what he hated the most. He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. We can't begin to fathom what the cross meant for Christ, not just the judgment of God he would bear, but to bear sin, to be identified with sin, what he hated the most, what he had the least to do with, what was going to cost him the greatest.

Surrender to all the will of God. The distance, the dependence, the distress, and the absolute surrender. Not my will, thine be done.

We have looked at events that only Luke pens. A time when he went down and was submissive. A time when he sat down, sensitive to all the Word of God.

A time when he came down, steadfast in the work of God. A time when he knelt down, absolutely surrendered to all that God desired for his life. May God bless his Word.

Shall we pray? Our Father, we bow together in the name of thy Son. We have looked at one who is infinitely lovely. What amazes us is we trace this beauty in one event and another beauty in another event, but to the eye of the Father, every beauty was on display every moment of his life.

We bow in worship to thank thee for him. We have been reminded so wonderfully that a day is coming when we will be conformed to the image of thy Son, morally like him. We can scarce believe the change so radical in all of us, and thank thee for all that grace has wrought, and bow in worship.

We're thankful for the refreshments provided in the kindness of thy people for our bodies. Thank thee for the spiritual food that we have enjoyed and that will soon follow. Remember us, we pray, in the interval as we give thanks for the Lord Jesus in his name.

Amen.