Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus, the Son of Man

“Man of sorrows!” what a name for the Son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim!

Hallelujah, what a Savior!”

So the wonderful hymn by Philip Bliss begins.

If we fully understand the hymn, if we understand the purpose of Luke in writing his account of the Gospel, we too, would sing — Hallelujah, What a Savior!

Bliss’ song exemplifies who Christ was and why He came.

And that is reiterated in the Gospel account from Luke.

Luke

And Jesus did this.

Luke’s primary focus of his Gospel account is Jesus is the Son of Man who has come to save!

He came to save the Lost.

Luke, who was a physician, wrote two-volume history, along with the book of Acts, both addressed to the same man, Theophilus.

His gospel account is the longest book in the New Testament and, combined with Acts, makes Luke the author of more than 1/4 of the New Testament — more than any other writer, including Paul and John.

His gospel account and Acts covers more than six and half decades from the birth of John the Baptist to Paul’s first Roman imprinsonment.

More than 40 percent of his Gospel account is not found in the other accounts, including 7 miracles of Christ and 17 of His parables.

And yet Luke remains relatively unknown.

His name only appears 3 times in the New Testament and none of them in his own writings.

We only know he was a Gentile, a physician, and a beloved friend and companion to Paul.

Luke begins his gospel account unlike the other three accounts, with a compelling, serious prologue, written in polished Greek, introducing his historical account of the Son of God to his Gentile readers and the purpose for which He came.

I want you to notice the words of verse 4:

What are “the things?”

The immediate answer is “the things” concerning Jesus, the Son of Man.

And these things can be divided into 4 sections:

What to believe concerning Jesus.

How to live knowing Jesus.

Why to rejoice because of Jesus.

What to Expect of Jesus.

I. What to believe concerning Jesus

William Hendricksen rightly said, “Apart from God’s special revelation man is living in darkness.”

The modern individual argues, “Maybe what Luke had to say was good to believe then, but we are further a long in science, morals, and life — it’s not good enough for me.”

But man’s basic need as a sinner has remained the same since the Garden.

And the ultimate question man faces is not only the questions of life — but the question of death — It’s the question of Job in :

But how can a person be justified before God?

And so, it’s apparent that we need exactly what Theophilus needed, what every man needs — Doctrine.

We need teaching, specifically, we need teaching concerning Jesus.

Who was this Jesus?

Well, as we read from , “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The context of the statement is the story of Zacchaeus, a Jews, a tax collector.

What’s amazing is the statement Christ made in verse 9.

He too is a son of Abraham.

What’s amazing about this statement is that Zacchaeus was of Jewish heritage.

Well, of course he would be a “son of Abraham.”

Isn’t that who the sons of Abraham are?

Jews?!?

But Luke writes to a man named Theophilus — a Gentile!

In fact!

Luke was not a Jew!

He was also a Gentile, a Greek, probably from Antioch, who later resided in Philippi.

So, Luke, a Gentile, writes specifically to a Gentile, Theophilus, in order to give “an orderly sequence…so that (Theophilus) may know the certainty of the things about which (he) had been instructed.”

What a man needs is Doctrine — True Doctrine concerning Jesus Christ.

And this is what Luke is giving Theophilus — and Us! as we take up the book.

So that you may know

Luke gives this orderly sequence so that Theophilus “may know.”

Luke’s purpose is not that Theophilus would know the certainty of the things as a history lesson, but to believe them!

This is what doctrine is for.

Doctrine is meant to be believed.

What was the ruler of the Synagogue told in ?

Philippians

“Only Believe!”

Satan’s aim is to see to it that the sinner does not believe, and as a result, to remain lost.

What are we to believe?

We are to believe the Scriptures — to believe what God has said.

Luke begins in verse 1 with “the events that have been fulfilled among us.”

This refers to prophecy from God’s sent prophets.

God called His prophets and gave them His word to give to His people that they may believe — to believe what He said about salvation through His Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, the Great King, the Son of God, the Son of Man.

Luke ends his account in chapter 24 by repeated appeals to God’s Word — from Angels, from the Lord Jesus Himself.

What we are to do to be saved.

I am to confess my sinfulness to God and implore Him for His grace, like the tax collector, standing far off and not even raising his eyes to heave, but beating his chest in — “God, turn Your wrath from me — a sinner!”

We are to believe that mercy is given to us through the work of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who being both God and man, and completely sinless, is able to save to the uttermost all those who surrender to Him as Lord and bow before Him.

This Savior was born of a human mother, Mary, and is therefore man.

But this human mother was a virgin when she conceived the Lord Jesus, not by a man, but by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Jesus is God, and without sin.

And so, Luke, along with Matthew, teach the doctrine of the Virgin birth.

And so, Jesus declares that He, the Son of Man has authority as God to forgive sins.

This comes out in the story Luke recounts in about the paralyzed man whom Jesus not only heals, but forgives his sins.

Luke’s account of the Life of Jesus tells us what we are to believe about Jesus.

He is the Son of Man who has come to take away the sins of the world.

II.

How to live knowing this Jesus

One look at our culture would indicate we really do not know how to live.

Because of the entrance of sin, man does not know how to live.

We may be tempted to think that this was obvious from the beginning when Adam and Eve’s answer to their nakedness was to sew fig leaves together and make coverings for themselves.

But the real indicator was that they did not believe God.

And so now, though we boast about all our accomplishments, our knowing how to live has only digressed intensely.

The reason for this — Apart from God’s special revelation man will never know how to live.

In his gospel account, Luke stresses a threefold knowledge of how to live by knowing — and I mean in a saving way — the Lord Jesus Christ.

Man must live Humbly before God.

Read .

And humility leads properly to gratitude.

Read .

Man must live in Homage for God.

Read .

We are to live in homage before God, which is greater than all our doing.

Man must live in Helpfulness before God.

Read .

All of these is a life lived like Christ who entered a world filled with divisions and barriers between men and an infinite gulf between man and God.

Jesus insisted on a love that would destroy the divisions and barriers between men.

Love your enemies

Luke 6:27-

Preach the Gospel to all nations