Luke: God's Plan and Money

Money. Fame. Power. These are some of the highest values in our culture today. If you don't believe me then just look at who we treat as our modern day heroes: Hollywood stars, CEO's, professional athletes. What do these people have in common? You guessed it! Success. Status. Gold toilet seats.

Many have claimed that this obsession with success and status has eroded the value that we place on our teachers, pastors, police workers, firefighters and even JESUS. Why? Low Pay. Low Notoriety. Low Status. Who wants to settle for these? Because of this, many have tried to increase Jesus' status by airbrushing Him with a new, Hollywood image. "Believe in Jesus and He'll fill up your storehouses with rich material blessings." "Follow Jesus and you'll have your best life now." "Aaron Rogers follows Jesus and so why don't you?" But Luke will have none of this. In fact, in his gospel, Luke presents money, fame, and power as some of Jesus' primary nemeses. Let's take a look...

JESUS CAME TO SAVE ALL PEOPLE
While the Gospel of Luke shares many of the same themes as the other three gospels (conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders, Jesus as the Son FROM God, and 'the first shall be last' nature of Jesus' kingdom), Luke makes his own unique contribution. More than any other gospel, Luke sets out to demonstrate that Jesus and His kingdom are available to ALL people (not just Israel). This is made most obvious by the fact that Luke's genealogy emphasizes Jesus' connection with ALL humanity as the son of Adam.

But also, Luke's geographic structure of his gospel (that continues through the book of Acts) makes it clear that Jesus and His kingdom are available to ALL people. The story of Jesus begins in Galilee and journeys to Jerusalem where Jesus ultimately dies and is raised from the dead. And then in the book of Acts (the sequel to Luke's gospel), the Word of God travels from Jerusalem to Judea/Samaria until it reaches the ends of the earth.

And as the Word of God travels, it reaches ALL types of people. The Word of God first comes to a Jewish priest (Zechariah), then to a woman (Mary), then to a group of lowly shepherds, an Ethiopian eunuch from Samaria (see Isaiah 56:3-8 for the significance of eunuchs in God's plan) and finally unclean Gentiles. What is Luke trying to communicate? Jesus and His kingdom are NOT limited to the Jewish religious establishment. NO. They are available to ALL people: Jew, Gentile, the blind, the sick, the unclean, the rich, and the poor. This is why Jesus quotes from the Old Testament at the beginning of His ministry:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

This quote from Isaiah 61 demonstrates that Jesus is continuing God's plan from the Old Testament, a plan which sets out to reach and rescue ALL people.

JESUS CAME TO CONTINUE GOD'S OLD TESTAMENT PLAN
But rescuing ALL people requires resurrecting God's covenant promises (the promises thought to have died with the exile). And Luke makes it obvious that Jesus came to restart God's plan. How? He casts the story of John's birth in the context of Abraham. Both Abraham and Zechariah (John's father) were righteous (Gen. 15:6; Lk 1:6), blameless (Gen. 17:1; Lk. 1:6), advanced in years (Gen. 18:11; Lk 1:7), and had barren wives (Gen. 11:30; Lk 1:7). And then Luke shows how Jesus' birth (1:28-32) fulfills the Davidic covenant as depicted in Isaiah 9. Jesus is the Son of the Most High (Lk 1:32; Is. 9:6) who will reign forever (Lk 1:33; Is 9:7) on the throne of David (Lk 1:32; Is 9:7). Luke is trying to show that the covenants of old are back in action. They have been revived! God's rescue plan is on the move again! And so Luke strategically records the things that "must happen" (gr: dei) for God's plan to reach its final fulfillment (2:49; 4:43; 9:22; 13:33; 17:25; 21:9; 22:37; 24:7, 26; 24:44).

THE BIG OBSTACLE: MONEY
But God's rescue plan is not without its obstacles. If you read closely, you'll notice that the greatest obstacle (according to Luke) to people embracing Jesus is MONEY! Judas betrayed Jesus because of MONEY (Luke 22:3-6). The Pharisees refused to embrace Jesus' teaching because they loved MONEY (Luke 16:14). The rich young ruler refused to follow Jesus because of MONEY (Luke 18:18-30). MONEY served as an obstacle to God fulfilling His plan in the Old Testament and it is creating a stumbling block to Jesus in the New Testament! This is why Jesus emphasizes: you can't serve both God and money (Lk 16:13)! This is why the poor are blessed (Lk 6:20)...without the obstacle of MONEY, it is easier for them to embrace Jesus' kingdom blessings!

THE BOTTOM LINE
Now many people try to explain away the power and influence of money in their lives. I hear people say all the time, "Remember it's not money that is the root of all evil; it is the LOVE of money." I have a feeling that many people who make this statement actually LOVE money but just won't admit it. This, of course, is based off of Jesus' own litmus test in Luke 18:18-30: "If you're not willing to sell all you own for God then you're not completely in love with God...you're also in love with MONEY, STATUS, and POWER." As you can see, Jesus sets the bar high when it comes to MONEY. Based on His standard, ALL of us actually LOVE money to some degree! So how much do you love money? Are you more in LOVE with God or more in love with MONEY, STATUS, and POWER? How can you begin to value God more and MONEY, STATUS, and POWER less? That is Luke's question to you!