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So…the book of Luke. I like Luke because he’s authentic. He was a doctor and the only non-Jew to pen one of the gospels. I think that’s important because he is writing to his Greek friends, people who don’t necessarily know all about the Jewish religion, people who are probably skeptical about the whole thing. And he just tells it like it happened. I love that Luke doesn’t pull punches; he doesn’t leave out or gloss over the hard and crazy things Jesus said. (Check out Luke chapter 11 where Jesus curses the religious leaders with six woes for being “like unmarked graves which men walk over without knowing it”!!!)
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| Jesus is inviting us to take off our masks! |
In twenty-first century America, we are used to having everything sold to us. We expect everything, including our breakfast cereal and toilet paper, to come to us in neat packages with brightly-colored pictures on the front. I am bothered by the fact that we want Jesus to come the same way. We want a story from the Bible that goes down easy, that we can pour milk over and eat with a spoon. But Jesus doesn’t need a PR representative. Jesus isn’t selling. He told some rich religious people, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable to God.” (Luke 16: 14-15) Jesus sees through the masks and invites us into the kingdom of God where we learn to play by different rules and value the things that God values. There are a lot of lessons from Jesus about taking off masks. We can’t hide our hearts from God. He knows how messy and needy we are. Jesus words are heavy; they don’t go down easy. So, whether we are “expert witnesses” who’ve been following along with Jesus for years or, like Luke’s Greek friends—new to the whole thing, we’ve got to peel off the masks of self-justification and cynicism and recognize Jesus. In Luke chapter 4, a demon recognizes Jesus, saying, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” It’s pretty crazy that demons know the truth that religious people are blind to.
God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear you, and hearts that are courageous enough to follow you into the radical life you call us to!
-Peace,
Laura Cottrell
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So…the book of Luke. I like Luke because he’s authentic. He was a doctor and the only non-Jew to pen one of the gospels. I think that’s important because he is writing to his Greek friends, people who don’t necessarily know all about the Jewish religion, people who are probably skeptical about the whole thing. And he just tells it like it happened. I love that Luke doesn’t pull punches; he doesn’t leave out or gloss over the hard and crazy things Jesus said. (Check out Luke chapter 11 where Jesus curses the religious leaders with six woes for being “like unmarked graves which men walk over without knowing it”!!!) 
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