Book Of Luke Essay, Research Paper

Luke 1: 26-52 The Annunciation When I read the Annunciation, I didn t understand Mary s reaction. The exact words were Mary was greatly troubled at his words [ Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you ]. She didn t show enough emotion. I mean, an angel appeared to her. If that happened to me, I d have created a me-shaped hole in the wall. I also don t understand why the angel Gabriel didn t punish Mary for questioning him like Zechariah did. Zechariah was silent for nine months for questioning Gabriel, yet Mary asked all sorts of questions and received all the answers. In the end, she said yes. A person who is about my age said she would have the Son of God. That just blows my mind. She would willingly take on such a grave responsibility without consulting with anyone, without sleeping on it, or even making a second thought. Me, I would be completely ambivalent. It made me keep thinking back to the Good Morning America story I saw about the 12-year-old girl that became pregnant, and had a baby. I think about how emotionally hard that must have been for her and what emotional state it must have put her family and friends in. Luke 2:1-20 The Birth of Jesus I have heard this story so many times, in so many contexts, that it is getting very old. I understand that is an awful thing to say, but its how I feel. It s like listening to your favorite new song on the radio for the first time. You absolutely adore it! You want to have the CD so you can listen to it forever. But as you hear the song time and again, it gets older and older to the point that if you hear it one more time you will just burst. That s the point I m at with the Nativity Narrative. Even though it has become very repetitive over the years, I still think the story of the birth of Jesus has a profound meaning. Even when he was a newborn in the manger, he was still revered as the Messiah. The shepherds saw him in a manger just as the Angel of the Lord said he would be, and automatically they knew he was special. They knew he would do something special that would change the world and began to glorify God for sending him. Luke 2:41-52 Jesus at the Temple In this passage, Jesus obeyed his parents. The Son of God was obedient and respectful towards his parents. He could have been a brat, saying, I m your Messiah! You can t tell me what to do! I m holier than you are! He instead followed the fifth of the Ten Commandments: Honor your father and mother (Exodus 20:12). He was lost for three days. Had I disappeared for three days, my mom would have gone totally insane. Then when she found me, I would have gotten the beating of a lifetime. Mary must have gone psycho when she couldn t find him that first night. But when she found him on the 3rd day, Mary probably threw a colossal temper tantrum. Imagine, Mary screaming her head off at the Son of God in a place of worship, and all the rabbis and priests are just staring in awe. This passage reminded me about the time that I lost my cousin in a Kroger. I was babysitting him one day in Arkansas while my parents, my uncle, and my aunt went golfing. He refused to drink anything besides lemon lime Gatorade, and threatened to hold his breath until he passed out. This was when I was 12 and extremely na ve. I put him in the shopping cart seat and turned my back for a second to find the right kind of Gatorade, and he got out and started wandering around the store. Matthew, my cousin eluded me for 15 whole minutes, and by the end of the first five minutes I was in a total frenzy trying to find him. For Jesus to disappear for three whole days must have been sheer torture for his parents. Mary mustn t have slept a wink the whole time. Luke 8:1-15 The Parable of the Sower I really like this parable. Out of all of Jesus parables mentioned, this is my favorite, mostly because it reminds me so much of the ministry of Tom Randall. Tom is a former member of the US International Basketball Team in Asia. During halftime, he would spread the Word of God to the thousands in the stands. Since a motorcycle accident made him retire, he took up the game of golf. He is sometimes the chaplain for the PGA. Tom talks about relationships with God and Jesus, just like the parable did. He is the one who brought me to Jesus and God. That s why I think of him every time I read this parable. What does this parable mean? I think it means that your relationship with God depends on the way you take His Word to heart. Those who have good foundations on which a relationship with God can root and grow are like the seed that falls on fertile ground. Those who have a foundation on stone (the seed that fell on rocky land) cannot root their relationship. Individuals, who let their bond with God develop among thorns (the seed on the thorns), have their bond stifled by the riches, pleasures, and worries of life. Lastly, seeds that fall on the road are like the people who let the devil take the word of God from their hearts. They can t have a relationship with God if they can t keep the Word in their hearts. I m not sure which category I would fall under. I think I would maybe apply to the seed that falls on thorns. I get so caught up in my problems on a day-to-day basis, that I forget to keep the Word of God in my heart. Luke 8:22-25 The Storm Calmed The Apostles lost faith. Faith is based on trust, so they really lost trust in God that they would be saved from the storm. I ve lost trust in people two times in the past year. The one I am going to mention happened when I did a project in science with two of my friends. It was a project that was based completely on aesthetic appearance, so we needed certain materials far in advance to make them look good. I said I would get all the rest of the materials if the other two would get little Styrofoam balls. I brought everything in the next day, but they didn t bring the balls. This happened for the next 3 days. To make an excruciatingly long story moderately lengthy, I got the balls myself, and they didn t even help me build the model in the end. I lost trust in my two friends that week I felt like I couldn t depend on them anymore. Even though I m sure the Apostles didn t lose that type of trust in Jesus, its still similar.

I think this passage was mentioned in the book of Luke to show that all people lose faith at least one time in their lives. Jesus lost it on the Mount of Olives, just like the Apostles did in the boat. To do so is human. Luke 22:66-23:25 Jesus Trial After he was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he was taken before the council of elders. He didn t admit to anything when asked if he was the Messiah. He only said, You say that I am. He never said a definite yes or no. When Jesus was brought before Pilate after being convicted by the Sanhedrin, he was charged with absolutely ridiculous charges. I couldn t find any evidence that he opposed Cesar and his taxes, which was his charge. Pilate didn t find Jesus guilty. Jesus own followers, the people who waved palms for him the past Sunday, but the people were unyielding. He ultimately sent Jesus to Herod, since he was from Galilee. I think the only reason Jesus was sent to Galilee is because Pilate couldn t make up his mind whether or not to find Jesus guilty. I mean, had he found Jesus not guilty, it would have been political suicide. Had Pilate found him guilty, he would be tortured by the thought of sending the Son of God to the cross. Herod found him not guilty. Pilate found him not guilty. Only the people of Jerusalem, Jesus former followers, found him guilty. Pilate was too big of a coward to stand up to the masses. Had Pilate been fearless when addressing the people he had jurisdiction over, Jesus would have been freed. Pilate was more interested in being popular than doing the right thing. Pilate even knew what he was doing was wrong, otherwise he wouldn t have washed his hands of Jesus.Luke 23:33-56 The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus The story of Jesus crucifixion seemed to be missing parts that are mentioned in the other Gospels. The book of John says Then Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27). That doesn t happen in Luke. Also, Jesus doesn t say My God!!! Why have you forsaken me? like he does in the other Gospels. It is so ironic that the eclipse happened at about the same time Jesus died. It s as if God was sad and therefore cast the world into darkness. Luke 24 The Ascension of Jesus I ve always pictured this scene in my mind. The eleven, watching Jesus as he rises to the sky and disappearing out of view. Then I get the feeling like the ascension is happening in a theatre and if Jesus goes too high, he ll hit the ceiling. The one thing Luke is missing is a map in his Gospel. I have no clue where Bethany is compared to Jerusalem and Galilee. I just have to assume that Bethany is far away, because scripture says Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany . If I was one of the 11 Apostles, I would ve been sad instead of joyous when Jesus ascended into Heaven. I would ve been happy that Jesus was with his Father in Heaven, but sad to see a friend go. I mean, the Apostles spent ten plus years with Jesus, seeing him every day. Then suddenly he isn t there anymore by your side. Conclusion I enjoyed the book of Luke. It doesn t, however, demonstrate a full summary of my faith. None of the Gospels individually do. An almost complete analysis of catholic faith, in my opinion, only takes place when all the Gospels are combined, and read. For instance, Jesus received wounds while on the cross. The book of Luke only tells of 4: the ones on each hand and the ones on each foot. However, Brother Richard wears a rope around his waist, and the three knots on it have five loops, symbolizing the five wounds of Jesus. We never hear of that fifth wound in Luke (the one in his side). The book of John tells us that Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27), That never happens in Luke. A Christian person, be they Catholic or Protestant, needs all four books of the Gospel to understand at least part of their faith. The parables of Jesus that are retold in Luke are amazing!! The impact of the parable of the mustard seed was tremendous on my personal faith. I think I might have gone now from a shriveled animal cell to a swelled plant cell (I think that s an increase of approximately 5 micrometers, which is huge comparatively). For someone to have the faith of a mustard seed might sound like they have little faith, but Jesus said that they could tell a mulberry tree to uproot itself, and the tree would obey. That is shocking to me. That someone having faith that small would actually have faith bigger than all of ours combined. There hasn t been that big of a growth in my relationship with Jesus from reading the book of Luke. I mean, I had a relatively good relationship with Him before this project. Also for procrastinators like myself who are sitting at their computers three nights before the paper is due, there isn t the time for spiritual growth. Had I started this project earlier, I would have gotten more out of it. It s kind of distressing really, that I had this wonderful opportunity and didn t act on it and become even closer to Jesus and God.