That perfect man . . .

My daughter was in her teens when she decided a certain TV personality was a perfect man. She now realizes he was not, but at the time he looked awfully good to her. Both of us realize, as almost everyone knows, finding perfection is impossible, or is it?

Luke addressed his Gospel primarily to Greek readers presenting Jesus as the Son of Man, the ideal human being. The Greeks had long sought after the “perfect man” so this New Testament book was designed to show them their ideal. Luke did this in several ways.

First, he described the unique birth of Jesus, born of a virgin and protected by God (Luke 1 and 2). Then he writes of God’s verification of His love and pleasure:

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21–22)

Luke also tells of Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath day testifying Himself of His role as a man:

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “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 recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17–21)

His mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He was sinless and not lost Himself.

Luke also puts emphasis on His prayer life, parables, gracious dealings with interesting people and evidence of the Holy Spirit in His life. The Spirit was involved in His birth, descended on Him at His baptism, was upon Him in the synagogue as He quoted Isaiah 61 (above) because He was full of the Holy Spirit and followed His leading:

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. (Luke 4:1–2)

I’ve been reading the book, “Twelve Patients” on which the television series, “New Amsterdam” is based. It is not an easy read. The stories of real people in dire straits, including the author who himself battled cancer, is well-written and gut-wrenching. This book is putting a stop to my whining about petty things like a sore neck. It almost makes me feel guilty about being as healthy as I am.

When I read about Jesus and His perfections, I’m pulled to the other end of emotions. It is one thing to compare my health to those worse off and quite another to compare myself with Someone who is sinless, lived totally pleasing to God, knew His mission and fulfilled it perfectly, and was willing to do whatever the Holy Spirit asked of Him, even go into a desolate place to be tempted by the devil.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Oh Jesus, from this brief overview of Luke, I am drawn again to the wonder and perfection of You. You came to seek and save me, as well as millions of others. I must bow my head in gratitude at the amazing grace of God and the humility of the incarnation. You became a man, a perfect man, that I might be redeemed, even one day to be like You. I am overwhelmed once again.