Transforming Encounters: The 40-Day Challenge (Luke)ნიმუში

Many have tried to portray the events that took place, and the evangelist Luke, according to his own words, carefully studied everything from the beginning and recorded all the events in the order in which they occurred. (Luke 1:1-4). It is this very account of Luke’s that we’ll be reading during 40 days of spiritual preparation for Easter, the most important Christian holiday. It is a time in which we want especially to reflect on, and experience anew, the greatest story ever told. During these 40 encounters with Jesus, chronologically recorded in the Gospel of Luke, we want to experience for ourselves, again and again, or perhaps for the first time, an authentic and life-changing encounter with the Lord - a TRANSFORMING ENCOUNTER.

An encounter is an important framework of Luke’s Gospel which emphasizes profound change, with special emphasis on the themes of mercy, inclusion, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Transforming encounters with Jesus are not isolated moments, but key events that reflect broader themes of the history of salvation, and reveal God’s nature to us, embodied in Christ. Through encounters with different people - individuals, or groups of people - we see and experience Jesus as a compassionate Savior who invites the person(s) he’s talking with to change. As we join the authors of these texts on this journey as readers of Luke’s detailed accounts, we ourselves are inevitably invited to change, as we reflect on Jesus’ words, actions, and loving, compassionate approach.

Jesus’ encounters reveal God’s character to us, and His tireless love and constant search for humanity. As we read and listen, we come to know a Jesus who breaks down barriers. He meets and invites everyone – Jews, Gentiles, the marginalized and socially unacceptable, the sick, and the rejected - to “come to Him…”. All at once we encounter a God who hears our cries, understands our struggles, and enjoys a relationship with us, who wants to walk alongside us, share in our joys and sorrows, and guide us through this life. We encounter something completely different, deep, intimate, and profound—and without us intending or planning it—that encounter transforms us.