Windows on Paradise Scenes of

What hope can Jesus Christ offer to people who have been damaged by life or rejected by society? Does his gospel have answers for us today as well as for a life to come? He says he has the right to rule. But what sort of a king is he, and what difference does his kingdom make in the world now? In his Gospel, Luke presents scenes from a life without equal, showing how Christ proved to be the champion of the outcast and oppressed who lifts up those who have been lost and forgotten and makes them his own forever. The most profound questions about time, eternity and death are found in Christ, according to Luke. And he makes it clear that he found in Christ someone worthy to rule both his life and his destiny.By gathering several of these scenes together, David Gooding presents an overview of leading themes in Luke’s Gospel. From the individual stories, he shows that the gospel of Christ does not ignore the hard facts of reality. Taking the scenes together, he shows that the Paradise that Christ spoke of is more real than we can imagine, and that the one who promised its life and rest is faithful beyond what we could hope.

David W. Gooding (1925-2019) was Professor of Old Testament Greek at Queen's University, Belfast and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He taught the Bible internationally and lectured on both its relevance to philosophy, world religions and daily life
 
He published scholarly studies on the Septuagint and Old Testament narratives, as well as expositions of Luke, John 13-17, Acts, Hebrews and the New Testament's Use of the Old Testament.
 
His expositions of Scripture are enhanced by what F. F. Bruce once called David Gooding's 'rare combination of gifts: spiritual insight, classical learning and literary appreciation'. Yet his insights into the wisdom and love of God owe at least as much to his deep desire to know the Saviour he had trusted in his youth and whose word he has found, throughout his intellectual and personal life, to be true. His work continues to influence the public teaching and private ministries of men and women throughout the world, some well-known and many more unknown.