📖 Utangulizi wa Agano Jipya — Sehemu ya 4: Luka: Huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu📖 New Testament Survey — Unit 4: Luke: The Compassion of the Son of Man

I. Tabibu Mezani PakeI. The Doctor at His Desk

Mahali fulani mashariki mwa Bahari ya Mediterania, katika mwaka 60 hivi, tabibu mmoja anayezungumza Kigiriki aitwaye Luka aliketi mezani pa kuandikia akiwa na rundo la kumbukumbu za mahojiano, akaanza kitabu kilichotafitiwa kwa uangalifu kuliko vyote katika Agano Jipya. Alikielekeza kwa mtu aitwaye Theofilo — huenda alikuwa ofisa wa Kirumi, karibu hakika mtu wa Mataifa, labda mwongofu mpya aliyekuwa amesikia mifupa ya habari ya Kikristo na alitaka picha kamili. Mwanzo wa Luka ni wa pekee kati ya waandishi wa Injili. Haanzi kama Yohana, kwa umilele wa Neno. Haanzi kama Mathayo, kwa orodha ya vizazi vya Mfalme. Haanzi kama Marko, anayeanza na Mtumishi akiwa tayari mbioni. Luka anaanza kama daktari anayefungua jalada la mgonjwa: "Kwa kuwa watu wengi wametia mkono kutunga kwa taratibu habari ya mambo yale yaliyotimizwa katikati yetu, kama vile walivyotuhadithia wale waliokuwa mashahidi wenye kuyaona, na watumishi wa lile neno tangu mwanzo, nimeona vema mimi nami, kwa kuwa nimejitafutia habari za mambo hayo yote kwa usahihi tangu mwanzo, kukuandikia kwa taratibu, Theofilo mtukufu, upate kujua hakika ya mambo yale uliyofundishwa" (Luka 1:1–4).Somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, in or about the year 60, a Greek-speaking physician named Luke sat down at a writing table with a stack of interview notes and began the most carefully researched book in the New Testament. He addressed it to a man named Theophilus — probably a Roman official, almost certainly a Gentile, possibly a recent convert who had heard the bones of the Christian story and wanted the full picture. Luke's opening is unique among the Gospel writers. He does not begin like John, with the eternity of the Word. He does not begin like Matthew, with the genealogy of the King. He does not begin like Mark, who starts with the Servant already on the run. Luke begins like a doctor opening a chart: "Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed" (Luke 1:1–4).

Luka ndiye mwandishi pekee wa Mataifa wa kitabu chochote katika Agano Jipya. Yeye ndiye daktari ambaye Paulo alimwita "Luka, tabibu mpendwa" (Wakolosai 4:14), mwenzi mwaminifu wa safari aliyekataa kumwacha Paulo hadi mwisho kabisa (2 Timotheo 4:11). Alikuwa ametembea katika barabara za Kirumi, amewahoji mashahidi walioona kwa macho, amenakili orodha za vizazi, na amepanga kila habari kwa tarehe na mahali. Matokeo yake ni Injili yenye uzuri wa makini ulioandikwa na akili iliyofunzwa kisayansi — Kigiriki kilichoboreshwa zaidi katika Agano Jipya, kitabu kirefu kuliko vyote katika Agano Jipya, na chenye upole kuliko vyote. Huruma inapita katika kila sura kama kijito kitulivu.Luke is the only Gentile author of any book in the New Testament. He is the doctor Paul called "Luke the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14), the faithful traveling companion who refused to abandon Paul to the very end (2 Timothy 4:11). He had walked Roman roads, interviewed eyewitnesses, copied genealogies, and ordered every story by date and place. The result is a Gospel of meticulous beauty written by a trained scientific mind — the most polished Greek in the New Testament, the longest book in the New Testament, and the most tender. Compassion runs through every chapter like a quiet stream.

Wala Luka hakuweka kalamu yake chini Injili ilipokamilika. Aliandika kitabu cha pili, Matendo ya Mitume, kilichoelekezwa kwa Theofilo yule yule: "Kitabu kile cha kwanza nalikiandika, Theofilo, katika habari ya mambo yote aliyoanza Yesu kufanya na kufundisha" (Matendo 1:1). Kwa pamoja, Luka na Matendo vinaunda historia moja yenye sehemu mbili — kitabu cha kwanza kikieleza yale Yesu aliyoanza kufanya katika huduma yake ya duniani, cha pili kikieleza yale aliyoendelea kufanya kupitia Kanisa lake kwa Roho. Daktari yule yule makini aliyewahoji mashahidi wa Injili aliendelea kuandika habari za kuenea kwa Injili kutoka Yerusalemu hadi Rumi. Unaposoma Luka, kumbuka kwamba mwendelezo wake tayari umo akilini mwa mwandishi.Nor did Luke lay down his pen when the Gospel was finished. He wrote a second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, addressed to the same Theophilus: "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). Together, Luke and Acts form a single two-part history — the first volume telling what Jesus began to do in His earthly ministry, the second telling what He continued to do through His Church by the Spirit. The same careful doctor who interviewed the eyewitnesses of the Gospel went on to chronicle the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. When you read Luke, remember that its sequel is already in the writer's mind.

II. Orodha ya Vizazi Inayorudi Nyumbani kwa AdamuII. The Genealogy that Goes Home to Adam

Kabla ya orodha ya vizazi, Luka anatupa nyimbo za kuzaliwa kwa Yesu ambazo hakuna Injili nyingine inayozihifadhi — na wa kwanza na mkuu kuliko zote ni wa msichana mdogo. Mariamu alipomtembelea jamaa yake Elisabeti, aliimba wimbo wa sifa ambao Kanisa limeuimba tangu wakati huo kwa jina lake la Kilatini, Magnificat: "Moyo wangu wamwadhimisha Bwana, na roho yangu imemfurahia Mungu, Mwokozi wangu" (Luka 1:46–47). Ni wimbo wa mwanamke kijana maskini kutoka mji uliodharauliwa, akimtukuza Mungu anayewatawanya wenye kiburi na kuwainua wanyonge na kuwashibisha wenye njaa mema. Magnificat ni tamko la Luka kwa ufupi, linaloimbwa kabla Injili haijaanza vizuri: huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu, inayotangazwa kwanza na mama yake.Before the genealogy, Luke gives us the songs of the nativity that no other Gospel preserves — and the first and greatest of them belongs to a teenage girl. When Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, she broke into a hymn of praise that the Church has sung ever since under its Latin name, the Magnificat: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior" (Luke 1:46–47). It is the song of a poor young woman from a despised town, exalting a God who scatters the proud and lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things. The Magnificat is Luke's manifesto in miniature, sung before the Gospel has even properly begun: the compassion of the Son of Man, announced first by His mother.

Mathayo anafuatilia orodha ya vizazi vya Yesu hadi kwa Ibrahimu, baba wa taifa la Wayahudi, kwa sababu Mathayo anawaandikia Wayahudi na anataka wamwone Mfalme katika ukoo wao wenyewe (Mathayo 1:1–17). Luka hasimami kwa Ibrahimu. Anaendelea. Anampita Ibrahimu, anampita Nuhu, anawapita Methusela na Henoko, anawapita Sethi na Kaini, anarudi nyuma kabisa, mpaka anafikia jina la kwanza katika habari ya wanadamu: "wa Enoshi, wa Sethi, wa Adamu, wa Mungu" (Luka 3:38). Litazame kwa makini fungu hilo la mwisho. Luka anawaandikia watu wa Mataifa, Wayunani, jamii yote ya wanadamu. Anataka kila msomaji kutoka kila taifa ainue macho yake kutoka ukurasani na kumwona babu yake mwenyewe katika orodha ile ile ya vizazi pamoja na Mwana wa Adamu. Huruma ya Yesu wa Luka si kwa ajili ya kabila moja; ni kwa ajili ya familia iliyopotea. Mathayo anatupa Kristo Mfalme kwa ajili ya Myahudi, Marko anatupa Kristo Mtumishi kwa ajili ya Mrumi, Yohana anatupa Kristo Mungu kwa ajili ya mwamini, na Luka anatupa Kristo Mwanadamu kwa ajili ya kila mtu.Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, because Matthew is writing for Jews and wants them to see the King in their own line (Matthew 1:1–17). Luke does not stop at Abraham. He keeps going. Past Abraham, past Noah, past Methuselah and Enoch, past Seth and Cain, all the way back, until he reaches the first name in the human story: "the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3:38). Look carefully at that final phrase. Luke is writing for Gentiles, for Greeks, for the whole human race. He wants every reader from every nation to lift his eyes from the page and see his own ancestor in the same genealogy as the Son of Man. The compassion of Luke's Jesus is not for one tribe; it is for the lost family. Matthew gives us Christ the King for the Jew, Mark gives us Christ the Servant for the Roman, John gives us Christ the God for the believer, and Luke gives us Christ the Man for everybody.

III. Tamko Huko NazaretiIII. The Manifesto at Nazareth

Mahubiri ya kwanza ya Bwana Yesu yaliyoandikwa, katika masimulizi ya Luka, yalihubiriwa katika sinagogi la mji wake mwenyewe. Walimpa gombo la Isaya. Akaipata sura ya 61 akasoma kwa sauti, "Roho wa BWANA yu juu yangu, kwa maana amenitia mafuta kuwahubiri maskini habari njema. Amenituma kuwaponya waliopondeka moyo, kuwatangazia wafungwa kufunguliwa kwao, na vipofu kupata kuona tena, kuwaacha huru waliosetwa, na kutangaza mwaka wa BWANA uliokubaliwa" (Luka 4:18–19). Akalifunga gombo. Akaketi. Na katika ukimya ule akasema sentensi moja ambayo hakuna rabi yeyote wa Nazareti aliyewahi kuthubutu kuisema: "Leo maandiko haya yametimia masikioni mwenu" (Luka 4:21).The first recorded sermon of the Lord Jesus, in Luke's account, was preached in His own hometown synagogue. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He found chapter 61 and read aloud, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Luke 4:18–19). He closed the scroll. He sat down. And in the silence He said one sentence that no rabbi in Nazareth had ever dared to say: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21).

Mahubiri hayo ndiyo tamko la Injili nzima ya Luka. Makundi matano ya wanadamu waliovunjika: maskini, waliopondeka moyo, wafungwa, vipofu, walioonewa. Luka atatupitisha katika kila mmoja wao. Mjane maskini anatia senti mbili katika sanduku la hazina la hekalu (Luka 21:1–4). Mwanamke aliyevunjika moyo anaiosha miguu ya Bwana kwa machozi yake (Luka 7:38). Mtu aliyefungwa na pepo, aliyekuwa uchi makaburini, anawekwa huru na kuvikwa nguo na kuketi akiwa na akili zake timamu (Luka 8:35). Bartimayo kipofu anapiga kelele juu ya sauti za umati mpaka Yesu anasimama (Luka 18:35–43; Marko 10:46 inataja jina lake). Mwenye ukoma Msamaria aliyeonewa, mmoja kati ya kumi, anarudi kutoa shukrani (Luka 17:11–19). Tamko lililohubiriwa Nazareti linakuwa maisha yenye umbo la Injili yanayoishiwa katika kila kijiji.That sermon is the manifesto of Luke's whole Gospel. Five categories of broken humanity: the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed. Luke is going to walk us through every one of them. A poor widow drops two mites into the temple treasury (Luke 21:1–4). A brokenhearted woman washes the Lord's feet with her tears (Luke 7:38). A demon-bound man, naked among the tombs, is set free and clothed and seated in his right mind (Luke 8:35). Blind Bartimaeus shouts above the crowd until Jesus stops (Luke 18:35–43; Mark 10:46 gives his name). An oppressed Samaritan leper, one of ten, returns to give thanks (Luke 17:11–19). The manifesto preached in Nazareth becomes the Gospel-shaped life lived in every village.

IV. Mstari MkuuIV. The Key Verse

Uandike huu kwa penseli pembeni mwa Biblia yako: "Kwa maana Mwana wa Adamu alikuja kutafuta na kuokoa kilichopotea" (Luka 19:10). Huu ndio mstari ambao Luka anauzungushia kitabu kizima. Soma kila aya ya Luka ukilinganisha na mstari huo na picha inakuwa wazi. Mwana wa Adamu alikuja kutafuta — Yeye anafuatilia; hangoji. Mwana wa Adamu alikuja kuokoa — Yeye haoni huruma tu; anawafikia. Na kile alichokuja kuokoa ni kilichopotea — shilingi iliyopotea, kondoo aliyepotea, mwana aliyepotea, mtoza ushuru aliyepotea aitwaye Zakayo juu ya mti wa mkuyu, ambaye nyumbani mwake mstari huo unasemwa kwa mara ya kwanza (Luka 19:1–10). Huruma ya Luka si hisia tu. Ni kikosi cha kutafuta.Pencil this one into the margin of your Bible: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). It is the verse Luke wraps around the whole book. Read every paragraph of Luke against that verse and the picture clears. The Son of Man came to seek — He goes after; He does not wait. The Son of Man came to save — He does not merely sympathize; He reaches. And what He came to save is that which was lost — the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son, the lost tax collector named Zacchaeus up the sycamore tree in whose house the verse is first spoken (Luke 19:1–10). Luke's compassion is not a feeling. It is a search party.

V. Moyo wa Luka — Sura ya 15V. The Heart of Luke — Chapter 15

Takriban miezi minane iliyopita nilipoteza kisu cha mfukoni. Hakikuwa kisu cha kawaida, bali kile ambacho baba yangu alikibeba mfukoni mwake kwa miaka mingi. Nilitafuta kila mahali. Niliuliza kanisani. Hakuna aliyekuwa amekiona. Kisha mmoja wa wanangu akanipa kisu kipya kizuri cha mfukoni kwa siku yangu ya kuzaliwa, na karibu juma moja baadaye nikagundua kwamba hicho nacho kimepotea. Niliona aibu kumwambia. Nilitafuta garini, kwenye viti, katika kila mfuko, katika nyumba za kila familia niliyokuwa nimeitembelea. Mwishowe katika nyumba ya mume na mke wazee, mke aliondoa mito ya kochi nililokuwa nimeketi juma lililotangulia; na mumewe, anayesumbuliwa na ugonjwa wa Alzheimer, akaingiza mkono katika mfuko wake mwenyewe akatoa kitu, akisema, "Nimekiokota hiki sakafuni." Hakikuwa kisu kipya. Kilikuwa kisu cha baba yangu — kile nilichokipoteza miezi minane kabla. Katika kukitafuta kimoja, nilikuwa nimekipata kingine. Siku kadhaa baadaye nilihisi kitu kizito katika mfuko wa suruali yangu nikaingiza mkono: kilikuwa kile kisu kipya. Nilikuwa nimeutafuta mfuko huo mara tatu katika kutafuta kwangu kwa wasiwasi, lakini sikukiona.About eight months ago I lost a pocket knife. It was no ordinary one, but the one my father had carried in his pocket for years. I searched everywhere. I asked at church. No one had seen it. Then one of my sons gave me a fine new pocket knife for my birthday, and about a week later I noticed that one was gone too. I was ashamed to tell him. I searched the car, the chairs, every pocket, in the homes of every family I had visited. At last in the home of an older couple, the wife pulled the cushions off the couch where I had sat the week before; and her husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's, reached into his own pocket and held something out, saying, "I found this on the floor." It was not the new knife. It was my father's knife — the one I had lost eight months before. In looking for the one, I had found the other. Some days later I felt something heavy in my pants pocket and reached in: there was the new knife. I had searched that pocket three times in frantic looking, but I had not seen it.

Kila mara ninaposimulia habari hiyo najikuta katika Luka 15. Bwana Yesu alisimulia mifano mitatu mfululizo kuhusu vitu vilivyopotea — kondoo aliyepotea, shilingi iliyopotea, mwana aliyepotea — na hoja ya yote mitatu ni moja: mbingu haipigi miayo juu ya vitu vilivyopotea; mbingu inajipanga kuvitafuta. Mchungaji anawaacha wale tisini na tisa nyikani anamfuata yule mmoja. Mwanamke anawasha taa na kufagia nyumba na kutafuta kwa bidii mpaka anaipata. Baba, kijana alipokuwa bado mbali sana, anamwona, anamwonea huruma, anakimbia, anamwangukia shingoni, na kumbusu. "Vivyo hivyo, nawaambia, kuna furaha mbele ya malaika wa Mungu kwa ajili ya mwenye dhambi mmoja atubuye" (Luka 15:10). Liangalie neno huruma. Kwa Kigiriki ni splanchnizomai — neno la ndani kabisa ya matumbo, neno lile lile linalotumika kwa Msamaria Mwema anapomwona mtu aliyejeruhiwa, neno lile lile linalotumika kwa Bwana Yesu anapoyaona makutano. Huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu si chozi linalotiririka shavuni; ni mbio za baba, joho lake likipepea nyuma yake, akimkimbilia kijana ambaye bado ananuka nguruwe.Every time I tell that story I find myself in Luke 15. The Lord Jesus told three parables in a row about lost things — a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son — and the point of all three is the same: heaven does not yawn over lost things; heaven mobilizes. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the open country and goes after the one. The woman lights the lamp and sweeps the house and searches carefully until she finds it. The father, when the boy is still a great way off, sees him, has compassion, runs, falls on his neck, and kisses him. "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10). Notice the word compassion. In Greek it is splanchnizomai — a deep-gut word, the same word that is used of the Good Samaritan when he sees the wounded man, the same word that is used of the Lord Jesus when He sees the crowds. The compassion of the Son of Man is not a tear running down a cheek; it is the running of the father, with his robe flapping behind him, toward a boy who is still smelling of pigs.

VI. Huruma Inayovuka MipakaVI. The Compassion that Crosses Lines

Luka anaandika habari nyingi zaidi za kuvuka mipaka kuliko Injili nyingine yoyote. Msamaria anasimama kwenye barabara ya Yeriko ambapo kuhani na Mlawi walikuwa wamepita kando, naye anazifunga jeraha za mtu ambaye kila chuki ingemfanya kuwa adui yake (Luka 10:25–37). Akida wa Kirumi anatuma ujumbe kwamba hastahili Yesu aingie chini ya dari yake, naye Yesu anastaajabia imani hiyo na kusema, "Nawaambia, hata katika Israeli sijaona imani kubwa namna hii" (Luka 7:9). Mwanamke mwenye dhambi anaingia ghafla katika karamu ya Farisayo na kulia juu ya miguu ya Yesu, naye Bwana anamtetea: "Dhambi zake zilizo nyingi zimeondolewa, kwa kuwa alipenda sana" (Luka 7:47). Mjane wa Naini anarudishiwa mwanawe wa pekee (Luka 7:11–15). Mariamu Magdalene, aliyetolewa pepo saba, yuko kwenye kaburi tupu (Luka 24:10). Luka anaandika mengi zaidi kuhusu wanawake kuliko Injili nyingine yoyote. Anaandika mengi zaidi kuhusu maskini. Anaandika mengi zaidi kuhusu waliodharauliwa. Huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu ni huruma inayovuka mipaka — juu ya kila ua ambao viongozi wa dini waliwahi kujenga.Luke records more parables of crossing lines than any other Gospel. A Samaritan stops on the Jericho road where a priest and a Levite had passed by, and binds up the wounds of a man whom every prejudice would have made his enemy (Luke 10:25–37). A Roman centurion sends word that he does not deserve to have Jesus enter under his roof, and Jesus marvels at the faith and says, "I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel" (Luke 7:9). A sinful woman crashes a Pharisee's dinner party and weeps over Jesus' feet, and the Lord defends her: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much" (Luke 7:47). A widow of Nain is given back her only son (Luke 7:11–15). Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven demons had gone, sits at the empty tomb (Luke 24:10). Luke records more about women than any other Gospel. He records more about the poor. He records more about the despised. The compassion of the Son of Man is line-crossing compassion — over every fence the religious establishment had ever built.

VII. Msalaba wa HurumaVII. The Cross of Compassion

Luka anaandika maneno matatu kutoka msalabani ambayo hakuna Injili nyingine inayoyahifadhi. La kwanza ni sala kwa ajili ya askari waliokuwa wakigongelea misumari: "Baba, uwasamehe, kwa kuwa hawajui watendalo" (Luka 23:34). La pili ni ahadi kwa mwizi aliyekuwa akifa: "Amin, nakuambia, leo hivi utakuwa pamoja nami peponi" (Luka 23:43). La tatu ni kuikabidhi roho yake kwa mara ya mwisho: "Baba, mikononi mwako naiweka roho yangu" (Luka 23:46). Marko na Mathayo wanatuacha tusikie kilio cha kuachwa. Luka anatuacha tusikie sala ya msamaha.Luke records three sayings from the cross that no other Gospel preserves. The first is a prayer for the soldiers driving the nails: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). The second is a promise to a dying thief: "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). The third is a final committing of His Spirit: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46). Mark and Matthew let us hear the cry of dereliction. Luke lets us hear the prayer of pardon.

Alexander H. Stephens, Makamu wa Rais wa Muungano wa Majimbo ya Kusini (Confederacy) wakati wa vita, alikuwa Gavana wa Georgia karibu na mwisho wa maisha yake. Alikuwa kilema. Madaktari wake waliposema kwamba anakufa, wakuu wa serikali walijaa chumbani mwake wakimsihi atie sahihi nyaraka zao muhimu. Stephens aliwapungia mkono waondoke akamwita katibu wake. Alimwambia alete karatasi moja ya zamani iliyofifia kutoka mezani pake. Katibu akaileta. Ilikuwa ombi la mama mnyenyekevu kutoka vilimani mwa Georgia, akiomba msamaha kwa ajili ya mwanawe aliyekuwa katika gereza la jimbo. Maofisa wa baraza walimsisitiza Stephens aiweke kando na ashughulikie mambo ya serikali. Akajibu: "Hapana. Nitatia sahihi hii. Mambo makuu ya serikali yatajishughulikia yenyewe." Akiwa ameegemezwa juu ya mto wake, aliichukua karatasi ile iliyogeuka manjano, akachovya kalamu katika wino, akaandika juu ya ombi lile neno moja: A-M-E-S-A-M-E-H-E-W-A. Chini yake akatia sahihi jina lake. Kisha akaanguka nyuma juu ya mto akafa. Miaka elfu mbili kabla ya hapo, juu ya kilima kiitwacho Kalvari, Mwana wa Mungu naye alikuwa akifa. Kando yake mwizi — mtu asiyestahili kuishi pamoja na watu — alilia, "Bwana, unikumbuke utakapokuja katika ufalme wako." Kutoka katika midomo ya Yesu iliyochubuka lilitoka jibu ambalo limesikika katika korido za vizazi vyote: "Leo hivi utakuwa pamoja nami peponi." Mtu yule asiyestahili kuishi pamoja na watu alifanywa kustahili kuishi milele pamoja na Mwana wa Adamu. Huo ndio msalaba wa Injili ya Luka. Hiyo ndiyo Huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu.Alexander H. Stephens, the wartime Vice President of the Confederacy, became Governor of Georgia near the end of his life. He was a cripple. When his physicians said he was dying, the great men of state crowded his bedroom and begged him to sign their important documents. Stephens waved them away and called for his secretary. He told him to fetch an old, faded paper out of his desk. The secretary brought it. It was the petition of a humble mother from up in the hills of Georgia, asking pardon for her son in the state penitentiary. The cabinet officials pressed Stephens to lay it aside and take up matters of state. He answered: "No. I am going to sign this. The great matters of state will take care of themselves." Propped up on his pillow, he took the yellowed paper, dipped the pen in the ink, and wrote across the petition one word: P-A-R-D-O-N-E-D. Underneath he signed his name. Then he dropped back on the pillow and died. Two thousand years before that, on a hill called Calvary, the Son of God was also dying. At His side a thief — a man unfit to live with men — cried out, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." From the bruised lips of Jesus came the answer that has echoed down the corridors of the ages: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise." The man unfit to live with men was made fit to live forever with the Son of Man. That is the cross of Luke's Gospel. That is the Compassion of the Son of Man.

VIII. Mioyo Inayowaka Katika Njia ya EmauVIII. The Burning Hearts on the Emmaus Road

Alasiri ya Jumapili ya ufufuo, wanafunzi wawili wa Bwana walikuwa wakitembea zile maili saba kutoka Yerusalemu kwenda kijiji kiitwacho Emau, wakizungumza kwa huzuni juu ya yote yaliyokuwa yametokea. Mgeni mmoja akaja karibu nao akauliza walikuwa wakizungumza nini. Hawakumtambua. Walikuwa na huzuni mno. "Wewe peke yako u mgeni katika Yerusalemu," wakasema, "hata huyajui yaliyotokea humo siku hizi?" "Mambo gani?" Bwana akawauliza. Basi wakamweleza habari yote — ya Yesu wa Nazareti, nabii waliyetumaini kwamba ndiye atakayewakomboa Israeli, aliyesulubiwa siku tatu zilizopita. Ndipo, akitembea kando yao, Bwana aliyefufuka alianza na Musa na manabii wote akawafafanulia katika maandiko yote mambo yaliyomhusu yeye mwenyewe. Walipofika Emau, jioni ilikuwa imeingia. Wakamsihi akae nao. Akaingia pamoja nao, akaketi chakulani, akatwaa mkate, akaubariki, akaumega, akawapa — nao wakamtambua, naye akatoweka. Wakatazamana katika chumba kile kitupu wakasema maneno ambayo kwangu mimi ndiyo yanayoifunga Injili ya Luka: "Je! Mioyo yetu haikuwaka ndani yetu, alipokuwa akisema nasi njiani na kutufunulia maandiko?" (Luka 24:32). Hicho ndicho kilele cha Luka. Huruma ya Mwana wa Adamu haiwasamehe tu wenye dhambi msalabani; inaipa joto mioyo baridi ya wanafunzi njiani. Inakuja kando yetu tusipoweza kumwona, inatembea nasi tukiwa na huzuni, inafunua Maandiko, na kuumega mkate.On the afternoon of resurrection Sunday, two of the Lord's disciples were walking the seven miles from Jerusalem out to a village called Emmaus, talking sadly about all that had happened. A stranger drew alongside and asked what they were discussing. They did not recognize Him. They were too sad. "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem," they said, "and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?" "What things?" the Lord asked them. And so they unfolded the story — of Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet they had hoped would redeem Israel, who was crucified three days ago. Then, walking beside them, the risen Lord began at Moses and all the Prophets and expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. By the time they reached Emmaus, evening had come. They begged Him to stay. He went in with them, sat down at supper, took the bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them — and they recognized Him, and He vanished. They looked at each other in the empty room and said the line that ends Luke's Gospel for me: "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32). That is the climax of Luke. The compassion of the Son of Man does not only forgive sinners on crosses; it warms the cold hearts of disciples on roads. It comes alongside us when we cannot see Him, walks with us when we are sad, opens the Scriptures, and breaks the bread.

IX. Neno Kuhusu Luka na WaebraniaIX. A Word on Luke and Hebrews

Wakati mwingine wanafunzi huuliza kama Luka alihusika katika Waraka kwa Waebrania. Jibu la kweli linaanza kwa kukiri: hakuna anayejua nani aliandika Waebrania. Waraka huo hautaji mwandishi wake; haumtaji mwandishi yeyote, na kanisa la kwanza lenyewe lilikuwa na mawazo yaliyogawanyika kuhusu chimbuko lake. Kwa sababu Waebrania umeandikwa kwa Kigiriki cha kifasihi kilichoboreshwa zaidi katika Agano Jipya — ubora ule ule wa hali ya juu unaoonekana katika maandishi ya Luka mwenyewe — wachache wamependekeza kwamba huenda Luka ndiye aliyeutunga, au angalau aliutafsiri au kuuboresha kutoka mawazo ya mtu mwingine. Hili ni pendekezo dogo moja kati ya kadhaa, kamwe si msimamo uliokubaliwa; wengine wamependekeza Paulo, Barnaba, Apolo, au Prisila, na wasomi walio wazi zaidi huliacha swali hilo wazi tu.Students sometimes ask whether Luke had a hand in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The honest answer begins with a confession: no one knows who wrote Hebrews. The letter is anonymous; it names no author, and the early church itself was divided over its origin. Because Hebrews is written in the most polished, literary Greek in the New Testament — the same high quality that marks Luke's own writing — a few have proposed that Luke may have composed it, or at least translated or polished it from another's thought. It is one minor proposal among several, never the settled view; others have suggested Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, or Priscilla, and the most candid scholars simply leave the question open.

Kwa makusudi yetu thamani haiko katika kulimaliza swali lisiloweza kujibiwa bali katika kuona kile ambacho ulinganisho huo unatufundisha. Luka aliandika Kigiriki bora kuliko waandishi wengine wa Injili, maandishi makini ya akili iliyofunzwa na yenye elimu; Waebrania unashiriki ubora huo wa kifasihi na kujali kule kule kwa kina kuhusu hema ya kukutania, ukuhani, na kutimizwa kwa agano la kale ndani ya Kristo. Yeyote aliyeshika kalamu, vitabu vyote viwili vinamtuza msomaji anayependa hoja zilizopangwa kwa makini. Tunashikilia kwa ulegevu swali la mwandishi wa Waebrania, kama kanisa lilivyofanya siku zote, na tunashikilia ujumbe wake kwa uthabiti: Kristo ni bora zaidi — kuhani bora zaidi, dhabihu bora zaidi, agano bora zaidi.For our purposes the value is not in settling an unanswerable question but in noticing what the comparison teaches. Luke wrote the finest Greek of the Gospel writers, the careful prose of a trained, educated mind; Hebrews shares that literary polish and that same deep concern with the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the fulfillment of the old covenant in Christ. Whoever held the pen, both books reward the reader who loves careful argument. We hold the authorship of Hebrews loosely, as the church always has, and we hold its message firmly: Christ is better — a better priest, a better sacrifice, a better covenant.

X. Injili kwa Ajili ya Kesho YetuX. The Gospel for Our Tomorrow

Kefa Sempangi alikuwa mchungaji mzalendo huko Uganda wakati wa miaka ya ukatili ya Idi Amin. Yeye na familia yake waliponea chupuchupu kutoroka nchi hiyo, hatimaye wakafika Philadelphia, na kundi la Wakristo wa Kimarekani likawapokea. Siku moja, wakiwa salama katika nyumba ile mpya, mke wake alisema wakinywa kahawa, "Kesho nitakwenda kununua nguo kwa ajili ya watoto." Na wote wawili wakaangua kilio. Kwa miaka mingi sana walikuwa wameishi chini ya tishio la kudumu la kuuawa hivi kwamba hawakuwahi hata mara moja kuthubutu, mbele ya kila mmoja, kulitumia neno kesho. Kesho ilikuwa anasa ya wale walio salama. Kesho ilikuwa tendo la huruma ambalo Mungu alikuwa amewarudishia.Kefa Sempangi was a national pastor in Uganda during the brutal years of Idi Amin. He and his family barely escaped the country with their lives, made it eventually to Philadelphia, and were taken in by a group of American Christians. One day, in the safety of that new home, his wife said over coffee, "Tomorrow I am going to go and buy some clothes for the children." And they both burst into tears. For so many years they had lived under the constant threat of being murdered that they had not once dared, in front of each other, to use the word tomorrow. Tomorrow was a luxury for the safe. Tomorrow was an act of compassion God had given back to them.

Luka aliandika Injili yake kwa ajili ya kila mwanamke anayelia huko Philadelphia anayehitaji kuambiwa kwamba kesho ni yake tena ndani ya Kristo. Luka aliandika Injili yake kwa ajili ya mwana mpotevu ambaye bado ananuka nguruwe, kwa ajili ya akida aliyefika mwisho wa uwezo wake, kwa ajili ya Msamaria aliyedharauliwa kijijini kwake, kwa ajili ya mwizi aliyekuwa akifa asiye na kitu chochote cha kujadiliana nacho, kwa ajili ya mwanafunzi aliyepoteza furaha yake njiani akirudi nyumbani. "Mwana wa Adamu alikuja kutafuta na kuokoa kilichopotea." Endelea mbele, rafiki yangu, katika Injili zilizobaki pamoja na Bwana yule yule aliyeondoka katika sinagogi la Nazareti na hakuacha kamwe kutafuta, aliyetembea katika njia ya Emau pamoja na wageni katika huzuni yao, na ambaye bado anatembea nawe leo. Yeye ni Bwana wako, naye ni yeye yule jana na leo na hata milele. Amina.Luke wrote his Gospel for every weeping woman in Philadelphia who needs to be told that tomorrow is once again hers in Christ. Luke wrote his Gospel for the prodigal still smelling of pigs, for the centurion at the end of his rope, for the Samaritan despised in his village, for the dying thief who had nothing left to bargain with, for the disciple who has lost his joy on the road home. "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Press on, my friend, into the rest of the Gospels with the same Lord who left Nazareth's synagogue and never stopped searching, who walked the Emmaus road with strangers in their sadness, and who still walks with you today. He is your Lord, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

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