The Gospel According to Luke
Pastor Matt Pierson
Luke 5:12-26
“The miracles of Jesus are signs of the right order of things. Jesus was not so much turning things upside down as turning them rightside up or, at least, giving his followers glimpses of the rightside up. The miracles of healing, deliverance, provision, and resurrection all reveal that God, through Jesus, is making all things new, that he is restoring what once was unbroken.”
Matt Chandler and Jared C. Wilson, The Explicit Gospel
“Miracles are not an interruption of the natural order, but the manifestation of the true natural order as intended by God.”
Jurgen Moltmann
The Miracles of Jesus
- Arouse curiosity
- Display His power
- Reveal His compassion
- Affirm His identity
- Inspire worship
“Pain, so often viewed as an enemy, is actually the sensation most dedicated to keeping us healthy. If I had the power to choose one gift for my leprosy patients, I would choose the gift of pain.”
Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancy, Fearfully and Wonderfully
How are we living in light of the gospel?
“Love means doing all we can, at whatever cost to ourselves, to help people be enthralled with the glory of God. When they are, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving people and glorifying God are one.”
John Piper
“Christians should live on tiptoe. Alert. Joyful. Affirmative. Wide eyed. Ready…In expectation of Christ, we should prepare ourselves to participate wholeheartedly in God’s next move.”
Eugene Peterson, On Living Well
Jesus is aware of all our sins, past, present, and future. He’s not afraid of any of them.
“The dominant note left ringing in our ears after reading the Gospels, the most vivid and arresting element of the portrait, is the way the Holy Son of God moves toward, touches, heals, embraces, and forgives those who least deserve it yet truly desire it.”
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
“Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control.”
Joni Eareckson Tada
“My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up.”
Joni Eareckson Tada
“The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong, and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also a wonderful foretaste of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus’ miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.”
Tim Keller, The Reason for God