The Gospel of Luke opens with Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, singing about God's

coming redemption. And then we learn of the prophet Anna, who meets Jesus in the temple when he's dedicated

as a baby. And then she begins to tell everyone who is looking for the redemption of Israel about Jesus.

So Luke really wants us to notice all the people around have this expectation of what the

redemption of Israel involves, and a story comes into their head when the word redemption is uttered.

And that story is how God rescued Israel from Egypt through Moses in the past.

And their hope is that God will raise up a new leader, just like Moses, to rescue Israel again

from their current oppressors, Rome.

So to talk about the redemption of Israel is to talk about this coming liberation, a release

from the bondage of slavery to Rome.

A Moses-Exedist-style redemption is what people think Jesus is here to do.

But Jesus didn't quite confront the leaders of Rome like Moses confronted Pharaoh.

In fact, Rome captures Jesus, crucifies, and kills him.

Crucified Messiah equals no redemption.

So this raises the crucial question then.

Are those poems from chapters 1 and 2, were they just wrong?

What Luke wants us to see is that Jesus was not merely about releasing his people from slavery to Rome or Herod.

Jesus saw a bigger, badder enemy that he needed to confront, and that is death itself.

And so all through his life, Jesus confronted this enemy when he healed people's bodies.

And he confronted this enemy when he forgave people's sins.

He sees the enemy under the names of sin, the Satan, a spirit that affects our bodies so that they die, and the power of darkness.

So this becomes Jesus and Luke's redefinition of redemption.

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