As this part of Luke wraps up, we get the list of the twelve people Jesus handpicks to be His closest friends and followers—His apostles. Some of the names jump out right away: Peter, James, John. They’re all over the gospel stories and go on to become major leaders in the early church. But then there are others—guys like James, son of Alphaeus—who we honestly don’t hear anything else about, apart from their names. It’s a mix of personalities, backgrounds, and even political views. You’ve got Matthew, a tax collector who worked for the Romans, and then Simon, a Zealot who probably couldn’t stand Rome. That’s a pretty wild combo to put on the same team. There’s no one type of person Jesus chooses. No spiritual résumé required. Some of these guys had serious doubts, some made huge mistakes, and one of them even betrayed Him. Still, Jesus chose them—flawed, messy, regular people—to be part of His mission. And that’s the reminder tucked into these few verses: Jesus can call anyone, and He’ll use everyone who’s willing to say yes to following Him.
Imagine it: it’s your day off, the sun’s out, there’s a soft breeze, and you’re just walking through a wheat field with Jesus. As you stroll, you casually pick a head of grain, rub it in your hands, and pop it in your mouth—just enjoying the moment and the peace of being with Him. The whole scene just feels like rest. But not for the Pharisees. They’re watching this peaceful moment and instead of seeing rest, all they see are broken rules. And it’s the same thing in the next scene, when Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath—they’re upset, not amazed. Why? Because somewhere along the way, they lost sight of what the Sabbath was really about. The Sabbath wasn’t meant to be a burden—it was meant to be a gift. It’s not about control; it’s about letting go. It’s a weekly reminder that we’re not in charge and we don’t have to be. The world keeps turning even when we stop working. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, is our true rest. And He invites us into that rest—not just once a week, but in every part of our lives. Taking a break, pausing, resting—it’s not laziness. It’s trust. It’s us saying, “Jesus, you’ve got this.”
After watching Jesus forgive sins —and then seeing Him and His disciples hanging out and feasting with tax collectors and other outcasts—the Pharisees are done. They’ve had enough. So, they confront Him. “Why,” they ask, “don’t your disciples follow the traditions? Why aren’t they fasting like John’s disciples or ours?” Jesus’ answer probably didn’t help their frustration. He doesn’t dismiss the old ways outright, but He makes it clear: the traditions and practices of the past, while meaningful, just aren’t enough. He didn’t come to tweak the system or give religion a little makeover. He came to do something entirely new. What Jesus is bringing isn’t a patch job. It’s a whole new way of connecting with God—a new covenant that goes way beyond the limitations of the old one. What’s needed isn’t just reformation. It’s transformation. That’s the heart of it. Jesus didn’t come just to give us better rules or habits to clean up our lives a bit. He came to give us new life. A whole new way of living and being. And here’s the thing: the people who struggle the most with this new life? Often, it’s the ones most invested in the old ways—the ones who’ve grown comfortable with the rules, the rituals, the structure. Sometimes religion itself can become the biggest barrier to real relationship with God.
We kicked off this part of Luke with Jesus calling some pretty unexpected people to follow Him—but now, He takes it even further. In this story, Jesus doesn’t just invite someone unlikely… He invites someone most people would’ve seen as completely undeserving. Back in the day, tax collectors weren’t just unpopular because, well, no one loves paying taxes. In first-century Judea, they were seen as traitors. They worked for the oppressive Roman Empire, collecting money that funded the very soldiers keeping their fellow Jews under control. And to make things worse, most of them padded their own pockets by overcharging people. And yet—Jesus looks at one of them, Levi (aka Matthew), and says, “Follow me.” Just like that. No lecture. No conditions. Just an invitation. And Levi? He’s so overwhelmed that he throws a huge party and invites all his fellow outcasts to meet Jesus—the one who reaches out to the people everybody else rejects and says, “You’re invited.” And here’s the thing: Jesus is still doing that today. He’s still inviting the unexpected, the outcasts, and the ones who feel like they don’t belong. And every time one of them says “yes”? Heaven throws a party. The only question is—are we joining the celebration? Or are we standing off to the side like the religious folks back then, complaining about grace because we’ve forgotten just how much we need it too?
This story is a classic Sunday School favourite and it’s easy to see why. You’ve got friendship, bold faith, and a powerful moment where Jesus not only says He can forgive sins, but proves it. For anyone listening who hasn’t made the decision to follow Jesus yet, this is such a great moment to introduce them to who He really is— yes, He’s someone who sees and cares about our practical needs, but He also sees our deepest need: the need to be forgiven. Jesus doesn’t just fix what’s broken on the outside. He goes deeper. He has the authority to heal hearts and make lives whole. And for those of us who already know what Jesus can do, this story is a challenge. It’s a reminder that we’ve got people in our lives who haven’t met Jesus yet—and we’ve got a role to play. The paralyzed man’s friends didn’t just hope for healing—they believed Jesus could do it, and they did whatever it took to get their friend in front of Him. That kind of faith and determination made all the difference. So, the question for us is: who needs us to carry them Jesus so He can heal and forgive them?
Jesus isn’t just able to heal us and make us clean—he actually wants to. That can be a tough truth to hold onto sometimes. Some of us doubt his power, others doubt his desire to step in and help—and let’s be honest, some days we struggle with both. In the story of the leper who comes to Jesus, the man clearly believes Jesus has the power to heal. What he’s not so sure about is whether Jesus actually wants to. But Jesus doesn’t hesitate. He says, “I’m willing,” and then backs it up by healing him on the spot. If you’re preaching today, don’t miss the chance to remind people of that. Jesus can heal, absolutely—but more than that, he wants to. He’s willing. He’s not distant or reluctant. He sees us, and he cares. And here’s the cool part: when Jesus heals someone, they become a walking advertisement to the world of who he is—proof of both his power and his heart.
As we pick back up in Luke, we’re introduced to some new characters: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John (although only Peter is mentioned by name in Luke’s account). Jesus jumps onto Peter’s boat so He can better teach the crowds, and after finishing His teaching, Peter complies even though he had just gone through a long, hard, frustrating night of work. Once Jesus is done teaching, He does something bolder: He tells a group of tired, worn-out fishermen who are ready to head home to toss the nets they’ve just finished cleaning out into the sea. What fisherman would ever take instruction from the son of a carpenter and an itinerant teacher on how to catch fish? It’s safe to say Peter wasn’t thrilled with Jesus’ request, BUT, thrilled or not, he obeyed! The decision to do what Jesus said didn’t just lead to a once-in-a-lifetime haul of fish; it led to lives and ultimately a world that would be changed because of their willingness to say yes to Jesus. At the end of the day, what changes everything isn’t whether we like what Jesus is calling us to do; it isn’t how enthusiastic about what He asks of us; it’s whether we, like Peter, will respond to His instruction with obedience “because He says so.” At the end of the day, this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to following Jesus.
In order for us to live, Christ had to die. On Good Friday, we reflect on the price it cost to free us from our sin. We can only live because our sin was nailed to the cross with Christ. In order for us to have the certain hope of resurrection, we first need to be certain that we have trusted in Jesus’s death for our salvation. In order for us to be freed from the bondage of sin, God had to take on flesh and be nailed to a cross. In order for us to be freed from the law, the LORD had to subject himself to the curse of death. In order for us to be freed from death, Jesus had to be buried in a tomb. If we have trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. If Jesus has paid the price for us, then Paul tells us our promise from God is as follows: 1. We can walk in newness of life (vs.4) 2. We will be resurrected. (vs.8-9) 3. We are no longer slaves to sin (6-7) 4. We are not subject to the law but recipients of grace (vs.14) On Good Friday, Jesus paid the price to secure all these promises for anyone who believes in him. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate that through the price Jesus paid, we who believe in him, are recipients of these incredible promises. Paul then tells us that the only reasonable response to receiving the new life Jesus gives us is to live like new people: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.” On Easter Sunday, we celebrate all that God has promised us through Christ, and we are reminded that the resurrection life we have been given through Jesus should cause us to live our lives differently here and now.
News of Jesus has gotten out. The crowds are swelling, wanting to see this man who has the power to heal and cast out demons, this Jesus who speaks with an authority none of them had ever experienced before. And then something truly incredible happens: Jesus withdraws from the crowds who are clamoring for Him and heads elsewhere. Often our greatest moments of testing come, not in moments of failure but in moments of perceived “success.” What allows Jesus to resist the temptation to be drawn into the adulation of the crowds? What allows Him to resist getting comfortable where He is? What allows Him to make a decision that cuts against the grain? It’s that He knows His purpose. As Christians, as a church, the temptation to achieve worldly success and adulation will lead us into a failure to live out God’s real purpose for us if we don’t have clarity on what God’s mission and purpose for us truly is.
When the gospel is preached, and the Holy Spirit is at work, it causes people to respond. Sometimes that response is positive, as we see in vs. 14 and 15. Sometimes that response is negative, as we see when Jesus returns to Nazareth. This is especially true when it comes to how people respond to who Jesus actually is. It’s one thing to be curious about Jesus, to be attracted to the blessing you think Jesus may be able to offer. It’s another thing to acknowledge Jesus as king and be willing to offer yourself to Him. As the end of this story shows, though, we can boldly declare the reality of who Jesus is without worrying about how people will respond because at the end of the day, God is in control and sovereign over all, and nothing will happen apart from His good plan.
After his baptism, Jesus heads into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days. Upon completion of 40 days of fasting, the devil appears to tempt Him. This passage provides us with an opportunity to show our church both how the devil tempts us and how, like Jesus, we can resist that temptation. Knowing how the devil tempts us is important, so we are prepared when temptation comes our way. First, it may be helpful to note that as human beings, we will be tempted. We should especially expect temptation when God is most active and at work (this story happens right after Jesus’ baptism and the Father’s public pronouncement of Jesus as the Son) and when we are at our weakest (Jesus has been without food for 40 days in the wilderness). It’s also the case that the weapons of the devil in our temptation are lies, which he often disguises in partial truths. Both in the garden of Eden and here in the wilderness, the Devil uses God’s own words taken out of their fulness and context to tempt. In order to resist temptation, we need to follow the example of Jesus by fighting Satan’s lies with God’s truth and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.
The gospels contain two (very different) genealogies. Both genealogies establish Jesus’ Davidic lineage, but while Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry through Solomon, Luke traces it through Nathan. The reason for this discrepancy continues to be debated by scholars. What is even more telling, though, is that while Matthew’s genealogy starts with Abraham and traces forward to Jesus, Luke’s genealogy starts with Jesus and traces back to Adam. The difference between Luke’s genealogy and Matthew’s is rooted both in audience and purpose. Luke, writing to a primarily gentile audience, is seeking to show that Jesus is the Saviour and Messiah of all people. Also, in placing His, He now records Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to Adam to establish that the Son of God is also the Son of Man, a direct descendant of Adam. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 3:15, the one who would crush the head of the serpent under His heel. Jesus is the true and better Adam, as Paul writes to the church in Rome in Romans 5:12-21. Only a true son of Adam and the divine Son of God could be one to serve as the Saviour of all.
In Matthew 28:18-20, we see that disciples of Jesus ought to be baptized just as Jesus was, but why was Jesus baptized? Luke 3:3 tells us that John was “proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” but Jesus had no sins that needed to be forgiven as the sinless Son of God. In Matthew 3:15, we see that Jesus says He is being baptized to “fulfill all righteousness.” This gives us insight into why Jesus would be baptized. First, He is baptized as a symbol of His full obedience to the Father. In this, He sets the example for all His disciples who would come after Him. Second, His baptism by Jesus identifies Him as the one whom John had been preparing the way for. When the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends, and the Father speaks His approval, we see the public ministry of Jesus inaugurated in a powerful way. Through His baptism, Jesus shows Himself to be our perfect example and our long-awaited Saviour.
As we pick back up in the book of Luke, we are reintroduced to a now-grown-up John the Baptist. Once again, Luke makes it clear that the story he is telling is a real one, rooted in history. The person of John is real, and so is the message he proclaims: “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (vs.3). In doing this, he is preparing the way for Jesus, who has come to bring full and final forgiveness of sins for all who repent and believe in his name. The repentance that John preaches is one which is evidenced through action. John makes clear that real repentance requires not only a change of heart and mind but that it exhibits itself through a change in the way we live. As we preach this passage, we must call people to the same type of repentance. Also, like John, we are not Jesus. Jesus alone can judge, and Jesus alone can offer life.
Our culture often defines freedom as the absence of rules or responsibilities, but the Bible teaches us that that type of freedom is no freedom at all, instead it is enslavement to sin. In opposition to the world that holds out license as the essence of freedom and religions that seek to burden us with the law and legalism, Jesus calls us into a new way of living where we find the liberty we long for by living under the Lordship of Christ.
When children get a scrape or cut, they often want a bandage. Bandages can be helpful, they can offer protection for the wound and control the bleeding, but bandaging a wound is not the same as having a wound healed. Many people have deep wounds that they have covered with layers and layers of bandages, those bandages may help to control the bleeding and offer some protection, but God wants something so much more for us then simply managing our wounds, He wants to heal them.
While many of us are tempted to find our value, identity, and meaning in our productivity, it’s also true that we’re also tempted to believe we will find our satisfaction and comfort in consumption. We’re constantly fed the lie that what we’re longing for will be found if we had “just a little more.” The truth is that ultimately true satisfaction is only found in Jesus, the salvation that is found in Him and also the work that He has called us to. The good news is not just that Jesus has saved us from sin and death but also that He has saved us to a life of purpose and meaning.
“Busy” and “tired.” That’s how so many people describe themselves. We live in a world where so often our value is tied to our productivity. That’s not just true in the world, it’s so often true in the church. We may know that we’re not saved by our works, but we often live as if we will be saved by our work. In the midst of a world that is filled with tiredness and busyness, the invitation of Jesus is like an oasis in the midst of a desert: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”