A prophet in his hometown

Luke 4:14-30 ¹⁴ Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. ¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." ²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" ²³ He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" ²⁴ And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." ²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Welcome, let's get started

“Come, follow me.” Luke 18:22

Welcome!

I want to kick off an online Bible study of Luke. We will trace how Luke develops a view of prophetic ministry and discipleship. I’ve selected twelve key passages in Luke and Acts. My intent is to take up a passage every two to four weeks.

My hope is that you will want to follow this series and contribute comments along the way.

Luke’s vision for prophetic community

Luke takes the most expansive view of discipleship, including women and a large number of unnamed followers. Disciples closest to Jesus were the twelve apostles and named women who supported and traveled with them. Jesus sent an intermediate circle of seventy disciples on a wider mission than that of the twelve. He “sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” (Luke 10:1). The there was a much larger group of disciples who traveled with him.

Luke 19:37-38 ³⁷ As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"

Luke also has a strong interest in prophetic ministry. Luke and Acts present the Holy Spirit as a present and dynamic reality in the lives of the saints and prophets of Israel up to the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The work of Holy Spirit is manifest in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Finally, the Holy Spirit is the empowering force poured out on the early church in Acts 2. Yet even before Pentecost, Luke hints at the formation of prophetic community as seen Luke 19:37-38, Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In a loud voice they proclaim the coming kingdom. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Luke embraces an expansive view of prophetic discipleship. We are all called to follow Jesus Christ and to embody a prophetic community in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Getting started

The best way to start is simply to read Luke from start to finish. The following outline may help you get an overall view of Luke. Each section tells us something distinctive about prophetic ministry and discipleship.

1) The coming two prophets: John and Jesus 1 – 2

2) John’s prophetic ministry 3:1 – 3:20

3) Preparation and early ministry of Jesus 3:21 – 4:44

4) Calling disciples and teaching 5 – 8

5) Sending and training disciples 9:1 – 13:21

6) Discourses along the way to Jerusalem 11:14 – 19:27

7) Jesus’ ministry and death in Jerusalem 19:28 – 23:53

8) Discipleship of the risen Christ 23:54 – 24:53

I encourage you to begin reading Luke. Read it through several times!

Image by Jungle Boy