“Lord of the Book”
The Gospel of Luke
We have begun a sermon series called “Authority.” Last week’s introductory message
attempted to lay a proper foundation by declaring God’s authority. The title of that message
derives from Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
Fundamental to understanding authority are two convictions: The first is that all other
authority, whether human, or angelic, or Satanic, derives from God’s authority. The second is
that God’s authority is self-authenticating. He is his own authority. He depends on no other for
his right to rule.
There is obviously much more to say about God’s authority. But it will not be long before
someone asks: How does God exercise his authority over us? The short answer is that God
exercises his authority over us through HIS WORD.
God’s Creating Word
The Bible speaks of God’s word upholding all creation including all the secret decrees and laws
which govern all that happens.
Hebrews 1:3 [Christ] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,
and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
God’s Living Word
So it is even more important to speak of Christ as the Word of God who Himself exercises God’s
authority over all things.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
Ephesians 1:22 And [God, the Father] put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him as
head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
God’s Written Word
But the Word of God available to us directly by which God exercises His direct authority over us
is the Scriptures.
Jeremiah 30:2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I
have spoken to you.
Any other expression that claims to be from God in this world must be judged by God’s word in
the Bible.
“[The Bible] is the form of God’s Word that is available for study, for public inspection, for
repeated examination, and as a basis for mutual discussion. It tells us about and points us to
the Word of God as a person, namely Jesus Christ, whom we do not now have present in
bodily form on earth.”1
The Bible’s authority is our focus for several messages in this “Authority” series. I will attempt
to demonstrate what our church’s statement of faith affirms:
“We believe in the Bible accepting fully the writings of the Old and the New Testaments as
the very Word of God verbally inspired in all parts and therefore wholly without error in the
original writings. We believe that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life
[practice].”
In time we will have to discuss what belongs in the Bible and what does not. We will delve into
what we mean that the Bible is wholly without error. We will define why the phrase “original
writings” is so significant. We will describe how the Bible functions as the supreme authority
including how we interpret it.
More basic to all these concerns is the conviction that the Bible holds final authority over us
because Christ’s personal authority validates it. This means that the Bible is not more important
than Jesus or separate from Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus and the Bible’s authority is wholly
based on Jesus’ authority. Jesus Christ reveals Himself in his Word and so rules over His Church.
We will say more about Jesus’ authority during the message on Easter Sunday. But this
morning, the starting point for thinking about the Bible’s authority is to ask what Jesus thinks
about the Bible. What authority does Jesus give to the Book?
I propose to address this question by walking through the gospel of Luke to survey Jesus’
attitude toward the Scriptures.
Why Luke?
Immediately someone will object that I am assuming the Bible’s authority in order to establish
it. I answer the objection by asking you not to assume the Bible’s authority. Simply take Luke as
an historical document.
1
Grudem, W. A. (1994). Systematic Theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 50). Leicester; Grand
Rapids: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
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It was written by a doctor (Col 4:14) who values painstaking research (Luke 1:3-4).
Luke had a close, personal relationship with the Apostle Paul.
Luke had access to eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2)
Early extra-biblical evidence confirms Luke’s reliability (quoted before 100 AD; his gospel
accepted as reliable by majority of churches by mid-second century)
Instead of jumping to the conclusion that the Bible exercises divine authority, simply accept
that Luke provides a reliable record of what Jesus said and did.
Jesus and the Authority of the Scriptures
Then we can walk through the book and note Jesus’ attitude toward the sacred writings of his
day, the Old Testament. I will take for granted that Luke recognized Jesus as his ultimate
authority. This is the supreme reason why he wrote the gospel in the first place. He aims to
declare “Jesus is Lord.”
Often in Luke Jesus exercises authority directly. But my survey will focus on some prominent
occasions when Jesus reveals his attitude toward the written Scriptures directly. I intend to
present several pieces of evidence to demonstrate that Jesus practices the authority of
Scripture.
Evidence #1: Jesus’ Encounter with Satan (4:1-13)
The great deceiver Satan confronts Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him in hopes that he would
fail like the first Adam in the garden. For our purposes we should note that Satan is aware of
who Jesus is. Jesus does not have to prove his personal authority to the Evil One.
He could have simply invoked that authority and rebuked Satan. But his method is revealing.
Jesus refutes Satan In each of three confrontations by invoking the authority of the Bible.
Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered [Satan], “It is written….” and then quotes from the Old
Testament book of Deuteronomy.
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered [Satan], “It is written….” and then quotes again from
Deuteronomy.
Luke 4:12 And Jesus answered [Satan], “It is said….” And then quotes once again from
Deuteronomy.
In direct confrontation with his most sinister enemy, Jesus relies on the authority of Scripture.
Evidence #2: Jesus’ Exposition of Isaiah (4:16-21)
Jesus visits his home town, Nazareth. He attends the Synagogue service. Verse 16 indicates that
Jesus made a regular practice of frequenting the synagogue and reading the Scriptures. On this
day he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2. When he finishes, Luke 4:21 describes his response.
Luke 4:21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.”
Jesus refers to Isaiah as part of Scripture, or the sacred writings. He grounds the authority for
his own ministry in the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy.
Evidence #3: Jesus Answers an Objection about His Ministry on the Sabbath (6:1-4)
The Pharisees witnessed Jesus eating grain from a field on the Sabbath day. This amounted to
work in their scheme of things.
Luke 6:3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read …?” and then he applies truth
recorded in 1 Samuel 21.
He expected even Pharisees to be able to read, apply, and submit to the Scriptures as God’s
authority over them rather than their traditions.
Evidence #4: Jesus Answers a Lawyer’s Question about Life’s Ultimate Destiny
(10:25-28)
Luke 10:25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you
read it?”27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as
yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Jesus appeals to what is written in the Law as the authority for knowing how to inherit eternal
life. When the lawyer quotes the Scriptures, Jesus commends his answer. He encourages the
lawyer to submit to the Scripture’s authority.
Evidence #5: Jesus Affirms the Law’s Authority (16:16-17)
Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the
kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. 17 But it is easier for
heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.
The Law and the Prophets is a title for Old Testament Scriptures, the sacred book. Jesus
indicates that God was doing something new with the preparatory ministry of John the Baptist.
Yet, despite this new thing, the Law retains its authority. It does not become void.
Evidence #6: Jesus Elevates the Scriptures above Miraculous Signs (16:27-31)
Jesus relates the eternal destiny of a rich man and the poor beggar outside his compound
named Lazarus. At death, the rich man enters a place of torment. The poor man goes to a place
of rest where Abraham, the father of faith, welcomes him. The desperate rich man pleads with
Abraham to send Lazarus back to his family to warn them so that they will not come to the
same place of torment.
Luke 16:27 And [the rich man] said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s
house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this
place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear
them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead,
they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will
they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Moses and the Prophets is another title for the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus expected
people to respond to the Scriptures’ authority above the evidence of a man come back from
the dead.
Evidence #7: Jesus Rebukes Religious Experts (20:16-17)
As Jesus comes to the close of a parable or story about the last judgment which He will oversee
as the ultimate authority, the chief priests, scribes, and elders (20:1) challenge his conclusions.
Luke 20:16 “He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When
[the religious leaders] heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But [Jesus] looked directly at
them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has
become the cornerstone’?
The authority behind his rebuke is the Scripture Psalm 118:22. He expected that they should
have read, understood, and responded in obedience to this prophetic word.
Evidence #8: Jesus Challenges the Sadducees’ Denial of the Resurrection (20:37-38)
Religious controversy was rampant when Jesus walked the earth. One camp, the Saducees,
denied life after death. When they raised the issue with Jesus in a deceptive way, He cut to the
heart of the issue:
Luke 20:37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush,
where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38
Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”
The authority behind Jesus’ answer is Exodus 3:15. He cites God’s words to Moses at the
burning bush as recorded in Scripture as a basis for arguing for life after death.
Evidence #9: Jesus Comforts Confused Disciples on the Way to Emmaus (24:24-27,
32)
On the day of his resurrection, Jesus disguised himself and walked with two of his disciples who
were traveling out of Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. They related to the Stranger what
had happened.
Luke 24:24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the
women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the
Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and
all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
“The prophets” is yet another way to refer to Old Testament Scripture. Jesus expected that his
disciples would have believed the book. Then Jesus himself began unpacking the Old Testament
as a Christo-centric book. Verse 32 describes the affect his teaching had.
Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us
on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
It was the Scriptures properly explained that cause the supernatural response in their heart.
Even if you do not accept Jesus’ resurrection as true, this account demonstrates that the early
church believed that Jesus intended them to acknowledge the Scripture’s authority.
Evidence #10: Jesus Prepares His Disciples for His Departure (24:44-47)
Later that same evening, Jesus appeared to his gathered disciples who continued in fear at
what had happened with his body missing from the grave. Jesus began immediately to prepare
them for the time that He would not be with them and directly exercising his authority. He was
preparing them to go to the nations with the gospel (47).
The authority behind the gospel for the nations is the Old Testament Scripture which is all
about him. He longs for them to understand the Scriptures. He opens their minds to it. “Thus it
is written” (46) is his appeal to authority. He refers to the Old Testament in a very full sense
here: Moses, Prophets, and Psalms (44). These titles correspond to the three ancient divisions
of the Hebrew Bible.
The conclusion Gospel of Luke: All this evidence is meant to bolster the conviction that you
cannot have Jesus as Lord without affirming the authority of the Scriptures.
In 1978 the leaders of the evangelical world gathered in Chicago to state plainly their conviction
about the Bible. The statement they wrote began,
“The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this and every age. Those
who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their
discipleship by humbly and faithfully obeying God's written Word. To Stray from Scripture in
faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master.”2
These words underscore the seriousness of the issue we have before us. At stake is the nature
of loyalty to Jesus Christ. If Jesus is wrong about the Scriptures then He lacks authority to
forgive our sin and command our obedience. If the Scriptures are not true then Jesus has
driven us to a false basis for preaching forgiveness to the nations. But Jesus does not mislead.
His authority stands untarnished by sin.
May God give us grace to submit to the Lord of the Book and the Book of the Lord.
2
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978.