Physician by Occupation

 

Luke the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14) was a Greek speaking medical doctor and firm friend of the Apostle Paul. During the closing days of Paul’s life, when the Apostle found himself in jail once again, Paul reported that Luke alone is with me (2 Timothy 4:11). Luke then stood by the Apostle Paul through thick and thin, even when others had deserted him. The consensus suggests that Luke was the only non-Jewish Gospel writer – though  some consider that he may have been a ‘proselyte’, that is, a Gentile convert to Judaism.

 

Penman by Pre-Occupation

 

Under God, Dr Luke’s main legacy to the world is the twenty four chaptered Gospel which bears his name, along with the New Testament book entitled the ‘Acts of the Apostles.’ This latter may be considered as ‘Luke’s Gospel Volume II.’ It tells us of the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the church throughout the Graeco-Roman world. The name ‘Acts’ is a shorthand. A fuller title might be ‘The Acts of the Risen Christ, by His Holy Spirit, through His Apostles.’

Luke penned both his Gospel and Acts as a Christian ‘apo-logy’ to a high-up, Roman official named Theophilus. ‘Apology’ here is a technical word. Luke certainly wasn’t apologising for the Christian Faith No. He was giving an ‘apo-logia’, that is,  a word in defence, or a word of explanation about the Christian Faith to an intelligent but ignorant friend – most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed (Luke 1:4). In picking up his pen so – divine inspiration notwithstanding – Luke gained for himself the accolade of being one of the world’s greatest historians.

 

Luke’s Gospel

 

Luke gleaned the information for his account of the life and ministry of Jesus by careful research and investigation. We can see that Almighty God put his scientific mind to a higher use. Unlike Matthew, Mark (who gained his Gospel information from Peter) and John, Luke was not one of the twelve disciples, and so was not a first hand witness to Jesus’ words and deeds. Under the guidance and superintendence of the Holy Spirit however, Luke was enabled to write a Gospel as accurate and inerrant as each of the Gospels. Hence his introductory explanation: It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely (or accurately) for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed (Luke 1:3,4).

It is interesting to note the medical matters which feature in Luke’s Gospel Whilst Mark relates Jesus’ healing of a man … who had a withered hand (Mark 3:1), Luke describes the same incident by telling us of a man … whose right hand was withered (Luke 6:6). Whilst Mark relates Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law when she lay sick with a fever (Mark 1:30), Luke tells us that Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever (Luke 4:38). Then when Matthew and Mark record how Jesus cleansed ‘a leper’ Luke alone notes the extent of his leprosy when he describes how there came a man full of leprosy (Luke 5:12). These small extra details square with a medical mind, used to making accurate diagnoses and writing up medical notes.

 

The Virgin Birth of Christ

 

Significantly, it is Dr Luke who goes into the most detail of all the Gospel writers concerning the virgin conception of Christ – His conception by the Holy Spirit, without the aid of a human father, in the womb of the virgin Mary. Luke relates the angel explaining to Mary how The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

The intimate details concerning Jesus’ virgin conception would be known to Mary alone. Luke then evidently had her confidence. It is as though, whilst researching his Gospel, he took Mary into his surgery, and there she divulged the information concerning the miraculous conception of the eternal Son of God.

 

The Saviour of Sinners

 

Luke’s distinctive ‘angle’ on the Lord Jesus is that Jesus is the compassionate Saviour of sinners, and that the salvation He came to bring is universal in its scope. Interestingly, whilst Matthew traces Jesus’ human genealogy back to Abraham, the founding father of the Hebrew race, Luke traces Jesus’ human ancestry right back to Adam, the founding father of the whole human race (Luke 3:23-38).

If there is one key verse which unlocks the whole of Luke’s Gospel, it would be the words recorded in Luke 19:10, where the Saviour Himself explained that ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). From this key verse we glean truth concerning the Saviour’s manhood, mission, mandate and mercy.

 

1. His Manhood

 

Jesus describes Himself as The Son of Man … The compassionate humanity of Christ is a distinctive of Luke’s Gospel. Our God, in Christ, knows what it is like to be human, sin apart. We have not a high priest Who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14). Our Saviour is a Saviour of real, tender and compassionate humanity.

 

1. His Mission

 

The Son of Man came … The Lord Jesus went on a missionary journey like no other missionary journey. He came from heaven to earth so that we might go at last to heaven. He was born so that we might be born again. The living Saviour was born to die so that dying sinners might be born again and live eternally.

 

iii. His Mandate

 

The Son of Man came to seek and to save … Paul concurs with this in his succinct statement that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Our greatest need is to be saved from the condemnation we deserve for our sins. Our greatest need is for a Saviour. Christ alone is the Saviour for our greatest need. There is salvation in no one else .. (Acts 4:12) Luke recorded sometime later.

 

1. His Mercy

 

The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Without Christ we are indeed, sadly, badly and eternally lost. We are under God’s wrath for ever. Yet the Christian’s testimony is ‘I was lost, but Jesus found me.’ ‘I was perishing, but Jesus saved me.’ In Luke 15, Luke relates Jesus’ telling three parables about three lost objects – a lost sheep, some lost silver and a lost son. All three parables contain the joy of being found – an illustration of the joy which accompanies salvation. Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost (Luke 15:6). Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost (Luke 15:9). this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (Luke 15:24).

If we hold in our minds the fact that Jesus is the Saviour of sinners, when we read through Luke’s Gospel,  we will interpret every line of it correctly. When Jesus was born, Luke records that a message from heaven rang out proclaiming to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). In Luke 15:2 Luke records how some murmured against Jesus saying ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’ And, as we have seen, in Luke 19:10 he records the Saviour’s Own explanation of His life and ministry with the words The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

 

The Road to Calvary

 

When we read Luke’s Gospel right through from the beginning, we cannot help noticing that it reads like one long journey to Jerusalem. As early as Luke 9:51 we see that He (Jesus) set His face to go to Jerusalem.  On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus spoke of His departure, which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Then in Luke 18:31 Luke records how Jesus, taking the twelve, He said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.’

                Why then this emphasis on going up to Jerusalem? Because it was at Jerusalem when they came to the place which is called The Skull (Calvary), there they crucified Him (Luke 23:33). The Saviour procured His people’s salvation in Jerusalem, at the place called Calvary. Salvation was wrought, not by His life but by His death, not by His instruction but by His crucifixion, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Luke 9:22).

When Christ was crucified at Calvary, Luke alone records that Jesus said ‘Father, forgive them …’ (Luke 23:34). The words transcend their immediate setting, for the forgiveness of sins lies at the heart of salvation. Christ died that we might be forgiven. It is precisely because Christ suffered and died for sins not His Own at Calvary, that there is a Gospel of salvation at all The salvation procured by Christ at Calvary is as central to Luke’s Gospel as it is to the whole Bible, hence Luke closes his first volume with the risen Christ’s Own explanation ‘Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations … (Luke 24:46,47).

So thank God for Luke’s Gospel. But thank God even more for the Saviour of sinners Luke describes therein. Truly, the Father has send His Son as the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14).

 

O sweet is the story of Jesus

The wonderful Saviour of men

Who suffered and died for the sinner –

I’ll tell it again and again

 

He came from the brightest of glory

His blood as a ransom He gave

To purchase eternal redemption

And oh! He is might to save.

 

 

Streaker!

 

Did you know that one of the four Gospel accounts contains a reference to a streaker? Mark’s Gospel alone – in Mark 14:51,52 – tells us that when the Lord Jesus was arrested, a young man followed Him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

The common consensus is that this streaker was actually young John Mark himself, the writer of the Gospel. His recording of the incident does not really add anything essential to the story of Jesus, so we wonder why it is in the Bible at all? Perhaps it is just Mark’s way of saying ‘I was there’ – his signature of authenticity, if you like.

 

Gospel Writer

 

Mark’s streaking apart, under God, we are certainly in his debt for his Gospel account of the life and ministry of Jesus. His Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels – just sixteen chapters in all. He has a very ‘racy’ style. You could read his Gospel through in not much more than an hour. If you do, note how often he carries you forward with his characteristic words and immediately. Mark’s emphasis is more on what Jesus did than on what He said, and his particular perspective and angle is that the Lord Jesus is the Lord’s Servant. Jesus’ own words recorded in Mark 10:45 actually give us the key which unlocks the whole of Mark’s Gospel. In Mark 10:45 we read that ‘The Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’  The first ten chapters of Mark show Jesus giving His life in service. Whilst the last six chapters of Mark show Jesus laying down His life in sacrifice – a sacrifice, in His own words ‘as a ransom for many’:-

 

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin

He only could unlock the gate

Of heaven and let us in.

 

Only human

 

Mark then was certainly a gifted young man. But this being said, he was only human. Mark had his home in the city of Jerusalem, and at one time, set out with the apostle Paul and Barnabas – who was actually Mark’s cousin – to accompany Paul on his first missionary journey. Mark thus witnessed the great apostle’s preaching and lifestyle at first hand. And he no doubt saw many lives transformed by God’s saving grace through the instrumentality of the apostle Paul. Yet Acts 13:13, ‘warts and all’ records how Mark deserted the missionary party, and left them and returned (home) to Jerusalem. Acts doesn’t explain why he did this. Perhaps he was homesick … Perhaps he could not keep up with Paul’s pace … We don’t know The stress of the Bible though is that the best of men are mere men at best, and only the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is sinless and perfect, and worthy of our adoration, adulation, worship and praise.

A chapter or two later in Acts, we meet up with Mark once again. And here again, the humanity of God’s chosen instrument is all too evident. Paul was about to embark on another missionary journey with Barnabas, and Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark (Acts 15:37). But Luke then records how Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them … and had not gone with them to the work (Acts 15:38). He then goes on to say that there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed … (Acts 15:39,40). Here than was a blazing row between Christian brothers How embarrassing for them to have all this recorded in the Bible for posterity! Sadly, Christians do sometimes ‘fall out.’ But what was the outcome of it all? The outcome was that souls were saved, and the Church of the Lord Jesus was built. It all goes to show how the work of the Gospel is God’s work. The faults and foibles of men are no hindrance to omnipotence. Jesus said ‘I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). Thank God that nothing can hinder Him from fulfilling His eternal purposes of grace!

 

All’s well that ends well

 

Finally, we note concerning Mark, that all ended well. He was eventually reconciled to the great apostle. Yes, there was a rift between him and Paul, but they made it all up some years later. Some of Paul’s last recorded words – from a prison cell, not long before he was martyred – are contained in 2 Timothy 4:11. Here he writes: Get Mark and bring him with you; for he is very useful in serving me

                It just does not do for Christians to fall out. Hence Paul in Philippians 4:2: I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. The Gospel is the Gospel of reconciliation – that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them … (2 Corinthians 5:19). In the Christ of Calvary, God has dealt with the sin-barrier which separates us from Him. Through Christ, we are reconciled to our Maker Himself. When we have been reconciled to God through Christ though, it is highly inconsistent if there is then some disharmony between us and others who profess to know and love the same Saviour. We have the same heavenly Father. We are redeemed by the same precious blood. We are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit. We are heading for the same eternal Home … Of course, there will only be total harmony in the Age to come, yet this apart, Psalm 133:1 holds true when it says Behold, how good and pleasant it is, when brothers dwell in unity.

                There then is something of Mark’s biography. He certainly make his mark on the world! His Gospel is part of the inspired Word of God. Mark was then a man who was most definitely used by God – and yet he was only a man. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). Marks’s motto would no doubt be the same as every Christian saved by grace: ‘Don’t look at me, look at my wonderful Saviour!’

 

Jesus! The Name high over all

In hell or earth or sky

Angels and men before it fall

And devils fear and fly

 

Jesus! The Name to sinners dear

The name to sinners given

It scatters all their guilty fear

It turns their hell to heaven

 

His only righteousness I show

His saving truth proclaim

Tis all my business here below

To cry ‘Behold the Lamb!’

 

 

The Call of Matthew

 

The Bible records how Jesus … saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office And He said to him ‘Follow Me.’ And he rose and followed Him (Matthew 9:9).

This concise account of Matthew-Levi’s call to follow Christ has a lot more to it than meets the eye. It actually contains some implicit evidence for the deity of Christ. The question is begged: Who is this Who is able to give the authoritative command ‘Follow Me’? Who is this Who is able and worthy to command and demand our total allegiance and obedience? Surely only God Himself is worthy of such. In the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah once issued the challenge: If the LORD is God, follow Him (1 Kings 18:21). Here however we see Jesus issuing the command ‘Follow Me.’ It shows that Jesus Christ is God.

 

The Conversion of Matthew

 

Matthew’s call to follow Christ was the biggest milestone in his life. Along with Christ’s summons, Christ’s salvation was imparted. Christ’s word accomplished a great work, for the commandment issued was also an enablement imparted. Matthew was never the same again. Therefore, if any one is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Humanly speaking, Matthew was an unlikely candidate for salvation. Few in Israel would have singled out a tax collector for divine blessing. Taking money off people never boosts your popularity! Tax collectors were a despised breed. They were well known for being less than scrupulous – even for being embezzlers and defrauders. They were also loathed for their being in-league with the occupying, pagan, Roman power At the call of the Lord though Matthew left his tax office behind, and became one of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve disciples. The differing and diverse backgrounds of these twelve disciples are a picture of the Gospel of reconciliation in microcosm. All were now one in Christ – though we could speculate on the nature of the banter and table talk which occurred between Matthew – a Jew formerly in league with Rome – and Judas and Simon the Zealot – disciples who were formerly not averse to overthrowing Rome by paramilitary force.

 

The Composition of Matthew

 

Under God, Matthew’s main legacy to the world is his Gospel – the written account and compilation of the life and teaching of Jesus which bears his name. Matthew’s initial occupation was such that he was used to writing and keeping accounts, and the Lord God sanctified this ability of his and put his talent to a higher use to write Matthew’s Gospel – the first book in our New Testament

It is fitting that Matthew’s Gospel should open the New Testament, as Matthew’s Gospel is the Gospel with the most Jewish flavour to it, and as such is the ideal bridge between the Old and New Testaments. It has been well said that the New Testament completes what the Old Testament commences, and this is particularly true of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew goes to great lengths to show that the many promises which God made in Old Testament times all have their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ. All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet (Matthew 1:22). ‘Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them’ (Matthew 5:17). Truly, in the Lord Jesus, all the promises of God find their Yes in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 

The Christ of Matthew

 

Each of the four Gospel writers has his own distinctive perspective on the life and ministry of Jesus. It is as though the same Person’s portrait is being painted from four different angles. Matthew’s particular emphasis is that Jesus is the Christ. He is the longed for Messiah promised by God. A turning point in his Gospel occurs when Peter makes the open confession to Jesus: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16).

‘Christ’ is a title, not a name. The title means ‘the anointed one.’ In Old Testament times, prophets, priests and kings were all anointed with oil at the outset of their ministries. It symbolised their being set apart by God and specially endowed with His Holy Spirit so that they could fulfil their specific callings. When the Lord Jesus commenced His ministry, Matthew records He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on Him (Matthew 3:16). As the Anointed One, Christ fulfils the roles of prophet, priest and king in His One blessed Person.

 

The Clue to Matthew

 

If there is one verse which gives us the key to unlock all twenty eight chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, it is Matthew 21:5. The verse – which again, is a fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy, namely Zechariah 9: 9 – reads:-

Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, humble and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.’

 

1. The Character of Christ

 

‘Behold your King … Kingship was a facet of Messiah-hood. The Messiah was One Who would bring in God’s everlasting kingdom. He would bring in eternal life – the life of the Age to come. The Jewish people looked back to the reign of king David as being something of a golden age, hence, when they looked forward to the Messianic Age, they viewed it through ‘Davidic spectacles’ A Greater than David would come, right all wrongs and bring in the kingdom of heaven. And the Bible reveals Jesus to be ‘Great David’s Greater Son.’ He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16) – the root and offspring of David (Revelation 22:16).

Matthew then wrote his Gospel to direct our attention to the Messiah-King: Behold your King … The Shorter Catechism states ‘Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.’ If we belong to Jesus we are the glad subjects of His kingdom. We are under Christ’s crown and covenant He has conquered us with His saving grace. He has made us His willing servants We worship Him as One Who is enthroned in heaven at God’s right hand, working and weaving all things for the good of His people. He reigns and He will yet come to reign. When He comes again in glory, He will put down all who oppose Him and eradicate all that is contrary and incompatible to His rule of justice and love. Behold your King is coming to you.

 

1. The Cross of Christ

 

The great King of Matthew’s Gospel is also, however – and most paradoxically – a humble king. Humble and mounted on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass It reminds us that this King stooped to conquer. He bowed most low to lift His people most high. In fact, He conquered by seemingly being conquered, when the hands of cruel men nailed Him to a plank of wood and hung Him up to die. Matthew’s Christ is a crucified Christ. He records pointedly that when Christ was crucified, over His head they put the charge against Him, which read ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS’ (Matthew 27:37). The notion of a crucified Messiah could not have been further away from the popular political Messianic expectations of the day. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block (scandal) to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). Yet is was by His cross that Christ gained the victory, for it was there at Calvary that He wrought the eternal salvation of His people which only He could win. On the cross His precious blood was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). On the cross the Messiah made purification for sins (Hebrews 1:3) and was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28).

 

iii. The Conquest of Christ

 

Matthew wrote his Gospel because he was concerned that we too should come to know and love the Messiah Whom he had come to know and love. When we read Matthew’s Gospel we are indeed brought face to face with the longed for Messiah – the One Who alone can give us entry into the kingdom of heaven.  That Jesus is indeed the Christ is fully and finally evidenced in Matthew’s last chapter, where we read of God the Father’s Own vindication of His Son by raising Him from the dead. The final words uttered by Matthew’s crucified and conquering King affirm that ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me …(Matthew 28:18). Peter likewise affirmed and confirmed this at Pentecost in the first ever Christian sermon when he proclaimed God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus Whom you crucified (Acts 2:36).

Matthew’s Gospel then thus repays our careful and prayerful attention. In reading its pages we are compelled to pay homage to the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah we encounter there.

 

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

Great David’s greater Son!

Hail in the time appointed

His reign on earth begun!

He comes to break oppression

To set the captives free

To take away transgression

And rule in equity

 

O’er every foe victorious

He on His throne shall rest

From age to age more glorious

All blessing and all-blest

The tide of time shall never

His covenant remove

His name shall stand for ever

His changeless Name of love.

 

Copyright Timothy Cross