7 Powerful Bible Verses From The Book Of Luke

Here is what I consider 7 powerful Bible verses from the Book of Luke

A Survey of the Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke the Physician who also wrote the Book of Acts. Many historians see Luke’s two books as two of the most historically accurate books ever written. The precise detail with which Luke wrote these two books would also classify him as Luke the Historian. This book was likely written from between 61-61 A.D. and was written to the Greek believers and the fact that both this gospel and the Book of Acts were written to Theophilus doesn’t mean that it was written to a specific person but the ones who loved God as Theophilus means “love” or “lover of God” and those would obviously be Christians. It was extremely difficult selecting only seven powerful verses from the Gospel of Luke but here is what I consider the seven most powerful verses from the Book of Luke.

Luke 1:3-4 “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

Since we know that there is much history in this book as well as the Book of Acts, it shouldn’t surprise us that Luke wrote this so that we “may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” It’s like reading a history book of the life and times of Jesus Christ and of the church (in Acts) and the evidence is from “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us” (Luke 1:3).

Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Here is the greatest birth announcement ever given anywhere at any time in history. The Son of God was born into the flesh as John writes “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). No wonder there was a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and declaring “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

Many claim to be Christians but if they do not live like Christians, then why do they call Jesus Lord? Why call Him Lord if they don’t do what He tells them? If He is truly their Lord, they then would obey Him and do what He asks them to do for if they don’t do what He tells them, then He’s not really their Lord; they are their own lord. That’s why Jesus said “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:43-44a). I can stick a label on the thorn bushes that grow in the alley and call them “tomatoes” but they are still thorn bushes. Jesus said “You shall know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:16) not by their words or labels.

Luke 9:24“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

This is exactly the opposite of the way the world thinks and lives. The world sees saving their life as the most important thing but Jesus teaches that if we want to save our life, we’ll lose it, meaning that he must “deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23b). The way to save your life is to lose it but the way to lose your life is to try and save it. We must deny ourselves (losing our own way of life) and take up Jesus’ cross and then follow Him and not follow our own ways.

Luke 10:2 “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

The last averages I read where that only 5% of Christians, that’s about 1 in 20, witnessed to the lost more than once. I don’t mean “letting their light shine” or “by their life” but by using words to tell people about Jesus Christ. It seems you can say anything in public, in the movies, or on TV but they don’t tolerate Jesus’ name. Only 5% of churches have an active Outreach program where they do door to door, do street evangelism, or hand out Bible tracts. That number has been shrinking and makes Jesus’ prayer request all the more urgent; pray to the Lord of the harvest to send us more laborers for there are few laborers but a huge harvest.

Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The reason we are so short on laborers is because we take people’s rejection of Jesus personally but it is the message they reject, not really the messenger so don’t take it personally because they’re really rejecting Jesus and not you. They may hate the messenger but they hate the message even more.

Luke 23:34 “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Are there any more powerful words in the Bible than Jesus asking the Father to forgive them for what they were doing to Him on the cross? This is how “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8) and it was “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10). Can you imagine dying for your children or your spouse? Now, can you imagine dying for someone who had beaten you to a pulp? Someone who had tortured you beyond description? Next, imagine them crucifying you and you were totally innocent. Now imagine dying for someone who was doing these things to you. Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies and wicked sinners!

Conclusion

The Gospel of Luke is rich in history and theology and gives us a great glimpse of the mind of Christ. In this gospel you hear Jesus’ beseeching us to pray for laborers to enter the harvest, to not take rejection personally, to lose our life for His sake to save it, to deny ourselves, to be forgiving considering how much we’ve been forgiven, and if we call Him Lord, He expects that we’ll do what He commands us to do or stop calling Him Lord.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.