Charlemagne, aka Charles the Great (~742-814AD) was called the “The Father of Europe” having united most of Western Europe for the first time since the collapse of the Roman Empire. We are told that some 180 years after his death, Emperor Otho ordered his tomb opened.

In addition to finding numerous treasures in the tomb, they also found the skeleton of the King seated on a throne, crown on his skull, with a copy of the Gospels open on his lap. His skeletal finger pointed to these words, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his soul?”

That question was first uttered by Jesus of Nazareth, and it is embedded in an ancient text we are going to look at in this study. We’ve been looking at the historical biography of Luke, this 1st century physician who investigated and documented the life of Jesus for an official by the name of Theophilus. We know this document as The Gospel of Luke. 

And Luke thought it worthwhile that in pondering who Jesus is, all who would read his good news about Jesus should also ponder this earth-shaking, life-defining, reality-clarifying question from the lips of Jesus.