Discovering Jesus: A Physician's Perspective

 

Discovering Jesus

Steve W. Reeves

 

INTRODUCTION:
A. Andy Williams was a popular singer for many years. Visitors to Branson, Missouri,
    have probably seen the “Andy Williams Moon River Theater.” Several years before
    he passed away Williams went to visit a friend in one of the local nursing homes. As
    he entered the lobby he saw an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair. He stopped
    and chatted with her and found her to be very pleasant. Finally he asked, “Do you
    know who I am?” She looked closely and said, “No, but it you’ll go to the nurses’
    station they’ll tell you who you are!”
B. The great question of our day is not, “who are you,” but “who is Jesus?”
    1. Was Jesus real or was He a mythological character?
    2. Was He the Son of God or merely a wise teacher?
    3. This is a question that refuses to go away. It is the subject of documentaries and
        debates, movies and music, novels and news.  It is just as relevant in 2018 as it
        was in the first century.     
    4. The great commentator, William Barclay said, “Real religion is a personal
       discovery.” There is no one who can make this discovery for you. You must
       investigate it yourself.
D. Half way through the first century there was a physician who wrote about the identity
    of Jesus and the impact He had on the world. His name was Luke and the two books
    he wrote were the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Who was this man and what
    was his method for discovering Jesus?
 
I. THE MAN
    A. He was the writer of the third book in our New Testament.
       1. The books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the “synoptic” gospels. They
            are called “synoptic” because they present a common view of Jesus. 
        2. In all likelihood Mark was the first gospel to be written. Matthew and Luke both
            used Mark as a general outline of their books.
    B. Luke was one of the most educated writers in the New Testament.
        1. He was a physician. Colossians 4:14 describes him as, “the beloved physician.”
            Physicians have inquisitive minds. They want to know, “what’s going on.” Do you
            see how this type of mind assisted Luke in his quest to discover Jesus.
        2. The extent of Luke’s scholarship can be seen in the first four verses of his book.
            In the Greek language these verses comprised one long sentence. This
            sentence is comprised of some of the most classical and formal Greek language
            in the New Testament. Luke had the ability to write in a scholarly, manner.
        3. The idea that faith cannot co-exist with scholarship is erroneous.  
 
    C. Luke was a gentile.
        1. He was from Antioch. In Acts Antioch plays an important role in the history of the
            early church. This was Luke’s “hometown.”
        2. He was the only non-Jewish writer of the gospels and perhaps of the New
            Testament.
    C. He was a missionary.
        1. We know that he traveled with the apostle Paul on his second and third
            missionary journeys.
        2. The first fifteen chapters of Acts are written as an observer. Beginning in chapter  
            16 Luke began using the word, “we,” indicating that he was traveling with Paul.
            He was an eye-witness of many things about which he wrote.
 
II. THE METHOD
    A. Luke did not make up the story of Jesus as he went along. He investigated and
        wrote with a very deliberate method. Isn’t this what you would expect of a
        physician? You do not want a physician to diagnose your health with a random
        guess. You want them to investigate and use their knowledge and expertise.
    B. Luke wrote with a three-fold strategy.
        1. Preparation
            a. Those who are students may ask, “Why do I need to know about a subject
                that seems to have no bearing on my field?” The answer is, “preparation.”
            b. Luke’s preparation is described in the first two verses of his gospel.
                “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things
                accomplished among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who
                from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.”
                1.) There were many people who were eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus. The
                    miracles of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus and the compassion of Jesus
                    were not fabricated. These were facts established by eyewitness accounts.
                2.) Courtroom testimony must be based on fact, not “hearsay.” The gospel of
                    Jesus is based on eyewitness accounts.
        2. Planning
            1.) Luke’s plan is expressed in verse 3. “It seemed fitting for me as well, having
                investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in
                consecutive order.”
            2.) Luke’s plan was to investigate.
                a.) The scope of his investigation was, “everything.” He interviewed
                    eyewitnesses. He collected data. He was interested in facts.
                b.) He investigated carefully. Luke records several accounts not found in any
                    of the other gospels including, the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and
                    lost son in Luke 15, detailed story of the thief on the cross, the story of
                    Zacchaeus and others.
            3.) Many people make assumptions about Jesus without careful investigation.
                You have no right to make a decision about Jesus without carefully
                investigating His life and the impact He has had on history.
        3. Purpose
            a. Luke’s purpose was to take everything he could learn about Jesus and
                present it in consecutive order,
            b. Did he do this so it could be placed on a shelf in a library? Notice verse 4 as
                he wrote to one referred to as, “Theophilus.”  “So that you may know the
                exact truth about the things you have been taught.”  He is writing to present
                evidence for faith (Hebrews 11:1).
 
  III. THE MESSAGE
    A. There is remarkable consistency throughout the synoptic gospels. Luke, however,
        writes as one of us.
        1. He was not Jewish. 
        2. From his gentile perspective he wrote about Jesus’ concern for those who had
            been excluded from Jewish society. The poor, the lepers and women. He
            demonstrates how every person is important to God regardless of their gender,
            their ethnicity or their economic standing. 
    B. You and I need to listen to Luke.
       1. In a deeply troubled world Luke tells us about the only one who offers lasting
            hope.
        2. In a world of political division he tells us of the one who transcends human
            authority.
        3. In a world of power, prestige and possessions, Luke tells us the real meaning of
            life is to follow the one who was born in humility.
 
CONCLUSION:
A. James Allan Francis (1864–1928) wrote a brief essay entitled, “One Solitary Life.”

 

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was his coat. When he was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.

 

B. Luke’s message is how this solitary life impacts your life. We invite you to come to

  Christ today through faith. Put your trust in Him. Turn away from a life of sin. Be
   baptized into Christ. Come back to Him if you have strayed. We welcome you.
 

 

   

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