We've been talking through the Gospel of Luke.

In this episode, we're going to dig deep into the opening chapters of Luke's Gospel,

chapters 1 through 6.

We're going to talk about the birth stories of Jesus and John the Baptist.

We're going to see how these intimate stories were meant to show you that Jesus is connected

to the hope of the Old Testament prophets.

Instead of just saying, Jesus fulfills the prophetic predictions of the Old Testament.

Luke tells these stories that's just like ooze with Old Testament echoes and resonance

to show that the story of Jesus fulfilling the essence of this story of the Old Testament.

We talk about how Luke is preparing you the reader to see how Jesus' mission is not what

you think it would be.

Luke's trying to help us see in this no-name teenage girl from Nazareth becoming the mother

of the Messianic King, the essence of the whole thing, that when God's mercy shows

that, nobody's get exalted to a place of honor.

And that's a part of the pattern of how God has been working throughout Israel's story.

It's the upside downness of the kingdom.

Then we talk about what happens when Jesus begins his ministry announcing God's coming

reign.

The kingdom of God is this reversal of values and that it's Jesus creating this new space

for the rich and the poor, but especially the poor because they usually on the out to

be welcomed into God's mercy.

We'll talk about what Jesus means when he says he's bringing freedom to the poor, how

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