Like the other evangelists, Luke above all presents the figure of Jesus. Jesus is prophet (4:24), king (19:38), God’s chosen †servant (23:35), the Son of Man (22:69), the Messiah (9:20), the son of David (18:38–39), and the Son of God (1:35). More than the other evangelists, Luke emphasizes that Jesus is the Savior, the one who brings God’s salvation (2:11, 30; 19:9). Luke also emphasizes that Jesus is Lord (Greek kyrios, 2:11), the same title used for the Lord God of Israel in the †Septuagint and elsewhere in Luke (1:68). Thus, as recent scholarship has shown, Luke “does indeed portray Jesus as Israel’s Lord and God.”27
Reading Luke Today
In several ways, Luke’s Gospel both invites and challenges today’s readers. It invites them to answer Jesus’ call to discipleship—“Follow me” (5:27; 9:23, 59; 18:22)—while challenging them to take seriously his words about detachment from material possessions and merciful care of the poor and needy (10:37; 12:15–21; 14:13, 33; 16:19–31). It invites them to develop a life of prayer (11:1–13) modeled after Jesus’ own prayer (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 22:40–46), while challenging them to persevere “without becoming weary” (18:1) when an answer to prayer seems a long time in coming. It invites them to be witnesses (24:48) to the risen Jesus by their words and deeds, while challenging them to maintain their testimony in the face of persecution (21:12–13). Despite the challenges, however, Luke invites readers to experience the joy of the gospel (2:10; 15:32; 24:52).
Finally, Luke’s readers today can know that through an encounter with Jesus, liberty from the captivity (4:18) of sin and the new life of grace are available not just at some future time but at the present moment. “Today . . . a savior has been born for you” (2:11). “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled” (4:21). “Today salvation has come to this house” (19:9). So, start reading Luke’s Gospel today!
1. Simon J. Gathercole, “The Titles of the Gospels in the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 104 (2013): 66–68.
2. Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 3.1.1, trans. Dominic J. Unger and M. C. Steenberg, ACW (New York: Newman, 2012), 30.
3. Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 3.14.1.
4. See the discussion in Rick Strelan, Luke the Priest: The Authority of the Author of the Third Gospel (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006), 69–98.
5. See the discussion in Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke, 2 vols., AB (New York: Doubleday, 1981–85), 1:40–51; and, more recently, Michael Wolter, The Gospel according to Luke, vol. 1, Luke 1–9:50, trans. Wayne Coppins and Christoph Heilig (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016), 6–10.
6. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 301.
7. Origen, Commentary on Romans 10.39.1–2.
8. See the discussion in Strelan, Luke the Priest, 71; Fitzmyer, Luke, 1:47.
9. Anti-Marcionite Prologue for Luke; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.4.6; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew Preface.2.
10. E.g., Origen, Homilies on Luke 1.6; Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel according to Luke 1.11; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew Preface.2. These writers consider the “gospel” to which Paul is referring to be Luke’s Gospel.
11. Among recent commentators who consider Luke to be Jewish, see, e.g., Wolter, Luke 1–9:50, 10–11, and James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015), 8–10. On the other hand, John T. Carroll, Luke: A Commentary, New Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012), 2, considers it probable that he was a Gentile.
12. As mentioned, Origen identified Luke with the Lucius of Rom 16:21, who was a kinsman of Paul—i.e., Jewish. Epiphanius, Panarion 51.11.6, considered Luke to be one of the seventy(-two) disciples whom Jesus sent out on mission (Luke 10:1), and hence Jewish.
13. E. Earle Ellis, The Gospel of Luke, rev. ed., New Century Bible (Greenwood, SC: Attic, 1974), 52–53; David E. Garland, Colossians and Philemon, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 278.
14. Wolter, Luke 1–9:50, 11–12; Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012–15), 1:400.
15. Alexander Mittelstaedt, Lukas als Historiker: Zur Datierung des lukanischen Doppelwerkes (Tübingen: Francke, 2006), 131–59. Drawing on Mittelstaedt’s work, Wolter, Luke 1–9:50, 11, concludes: “The announcements of the destruction of Jerusalem . . . cannot function as dating criteria.”
16. E.g., Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1994), 16–18. Bock dates Luke to the early to mid-60s.
17. See Colin J. Hemer, The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989), 365–410.
18. Mittelstaedt, Lukas als Historiker, 170–71.
19. Ecclesiastical History 2.22.
20. The Anti-Marcionite Prologue mentions the region of Achaia, where Corinth was located. Jerome, Commentary on Matthew Preface.2, also mentions Achaia and nearby Boeotia.
21. James D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 185 (emphasis in the original).
22. Michael F. Bird, The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), 249–52.
23. Richard A. Burridge, What Are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 185–212.
24. Assuming, with most scholars, the authenticity of these verses.
25. Stanley E. Porter, “Luke: Companion or Disciple of Paul?,” in Paul and the Gospels: Christologies, Conflicts, and Convergences, ed. Michael F. Bird and Joel Willitts (London: T&T Clark, 2011), 146–68; Sigurd Grindheim, “Luke, Paul, and the Law,” Novum Testamentum 56 (2014): 356.
26. The Church Fathers (e.g., Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 3.11.8; Augustine, Harmony of the Gospels 1.6.9) who compared the four evangelists to the four living creatures (Rev 4:7; see Ezek 1:10) consistently identified Luke with the calf on account of the Gospel’s interest in the temple and its priestly sacrifices. They understood Luke’s Gospel to have a priestly character.
27. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016), 243.
Outline of the Gospel of Luke
I. Preface and Infancy Narrative (1:1–2:52)
A. Preface (1:1–4)
B. Announcement to Zechariah of the Birth of John (1:5–25)
C. Announcement to Mary of the Birth of Jesus (1:26–38)
D. Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth and Her Magnificat (1:39–56)
E. Birth of John and Zechariah’s Benedictus (1:57–80)
F. Birth of Jesus (2:1–20)
G. Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (2:21–40)
H. Finding Jesus in the Temple (2:41–52)
II. Preparation for Jesus’ Public Ministry (3:1–4:13)
A. Preaching of John the Baptist (3:1–20)
B. Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus, Son of God (3:21–38)
C. Temptation of Jesus (4:1–13)
III. Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee (4:14–9:50)
A. Jubilee Proclamation in Nazareth (4:14–30)
B. Miracles in Capernaum (4:31–44)
C. Simon Peter and the Catch of Fish (5:1–11)
D. Healing a Leper and a Paralyzed Man (First Controversy with Pharisees) (5:12–26)
E. Call of Levi and Two Banquet Controversies (5:27–39)
F. Two Sabbath Controversies (6:1–11)
G. Choice of the Twelve (6:12–16)
H. Sermon on the Plain (6:17–49)
I. Miracles of Jesus the Prophet for a Centurion and the Widow of Nain (7:1–17)
J. John’s Messengers and Jesus’ Witness to John (7:18–35)
K. Pardoning a Sinful Woman in a Pharisee’s House (7:36–50)
L. Women Disciples with Jesus and the Twelve (8:1–3)
M. Parables on Hearing the Word of God (8:4–18)
N. Jesus’
New Family (8:19–21)
O. Jesus’ Lake Trip: Calming the Storm and Healing a Possessed Man (8:22–39)
P. Healing a Woman with Hemorrhages and Raising Jairus’s Daughter (8:40–56)
Q. Mission of the Twelve (9:1–6)
R. Herod’s Perplexity about Jesus’ Identity (9:7–9)
S. Feeding the Five Thousand (9:10–17)
T. Peter’s Confession of Jesus as Messiah and Jesus’ Revelation of the Cross (9:18–27)
U. Transfiguration of Jesus (9:28–36)
V. Healing a Father’s Possessed Son and Instructions for the Disciples (9:37–50)
IV. Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:44)
A. First Part of the Journey (9:51–13:21)
1. Beginning of the Journey: Facing Jerusalem (9:51–62)
2. Mission of the Seventy-Two (10:1–20)
3. The Father and the Son Who Reveals Him (10:21–24)
4. The Love Commandments and the Parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25–37)
5. Martha and Mary (10:38–42)
6. The Lord’s Prayer and Other Teaching on Prayer (11:1–13)
7. God’s Kingdom over Satan’s Kingdom (11:14–26)
8. The Sign of Jonah and Sayings on Light (11:27–36)
9. Woes against the Pharisees and Law-Scholars (11:37–54)
10. Discourse on Authentic Discipleship, Treasure in Heaven, and Warnings to Repent (12:1–13:9)
11. Healing a Crippled Woman (13:10–17)
12. Kingdom Parables: Mustard Seed and Leaven (13:18–21)
B. Second Part of the Journey (13:22–17:10)
1. The Narrow Door into the Kingdom of God (13:22–30)
2. Herod’s Wish to Kill Jesus and Jesus’ Lament about Jerusalem (13:31–35)
3. Healing a Man with Dropsy (14:1–6)
4. Banquet Parables and Teaching on Discipleship (14:7–35)
5. Parables about Finding Lost Sinners (15:1–32)
6. Parables about Mammon and More Teaching on Discipleship (16:1–17:10)
C. Third Part of the Journey (17:11–18:30)
1. Healing Ten Lepers (17:11–19)
2. End Times: The Coming of the Kingdom and the Son of Man (17:20–37)
3. Parables about Prayer (18:1–14)
4. Teaching on Entering the Kingdom (18:15–30)
D. Fourth Part of the Journey (18:31–19:44)
1. Prediction of the Passion on the Way Up to Jerusalem (18:31–34)
2. Events in Jericho: Healing a Blind Man and Saving Zacchaeus (18:35–19:10)
3. Parable of the Returning King (Ten Gold Coins) (19:11–28)
4. Events on the Mount of Olives: Riding a Colt and Being Hailed as King (19:29–40)
5. Prediction of the Destruction of Jerusalem (19:41–44)
V. Jesus’ Ministry in the Jerusalem Temple (19:45–21:38)
A. Cleansing the Temple and Teaching in the Temple (19:45–48)
B. Jesus’ Authority Questioned (20:1–8)
C. Parable of the Tenant Farmers (20:9–19)
D. Question about Tribute to Caesar (20:20–26)
E. The Sadducees’ Question about the Resurrection (20:27–40)
F. Jesus’ Question about the Messiah and David (20:41–44)
G. Warning about the Scribes and Praise for a Widow (20:45–21:4)
H. End Times: The Destruction of Jerusalem and Coming of the Son of Man (21:5–38)
VI. The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus (22:1–24:53)
A. The Plot of Judas and the Chief Priests (22:1–6)
B. Preparations for Passover (22:7–13)
C. Last Supper: Institution of the Eucharist and Instructions for the Disciples (22:14–38)
D. Agony and Arrest on the Mount of Olives (22:39–53)
E. Peter’s Three Denials (22:54–65)
F. Hearing before the Sanhedrin (22:66–71)
G. Trial before Pilate and Hearing before Herod (23:1–25)
H. Way of the Cross: Simon the Cyrenian and the Women of Jerusalem (23:26–32)
I. Crucifixion of Jesus and the Plea of the Good Thief (23:33–43)
J. Death and Burial of Jesus (23:44–56)
K. Women at the Empty Tomb (24:1–12)
L. The Road to Emmaus and the Breaking of the Bread (24:13–35)
M. Resurrection Appearance in Jerusalem (24:36–49)
N. The Ascension of Jesus (24:50–53)
Luke States His Purpose
Luke 1:1–4
Immediately sparking the reader’s interest and displaying his own literary credentials, Luke begins his Gospel with a stately preface—brief but remarkably packed with meaning—in which he sets forth his intention of writing a historical account of the words and deeds of Jesus. His purpose is to assure his readers, schooled in the Old Testament and the Christian faith, of the truth of these words and deeds.
Preface (1:1–4)
1Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, 3I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
OT: 2 Macc 2:19–32
NT: Luke 24:48; John 15:27; Acts 1:1–2, 21–22; 1 John 1:1–3
Catechism: three stages in the formation of the Gospels, 126; catechesis, 4–6
Lectionary: Third Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C)
[1:1]
Matthew and Mark directly introduce Jesus in the initial verses of their Gospels. Luke instead begins with the qualities and purpose of his Gospel about Jesus, writing a complex, one-sentence preface that extends for four verses. His Gospel is not the first, since many have undertaken to do what he is now doing. Luke likely refers both to written sources that still exist today (such as the Gospel of Mark) and to others no longer extant. He stands in the tradition of these earlier efforts and seeks to complement them.
What others have done and what he sets out to do is to compile a narrative. Since it is about past events—namely, those regarding the life of Jesus—Luke here signals that he is writing history, as the details in verses 2–3 further clarify.1 Moreover, these events are not random happenings but have been fulfilled among us—that is, they are the fulfillment of God’s plan, especially as foretold in the Old Testament. Indeed, at the end of the Gospel, Jesus will tell his disciples: “Everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled” (24:44; see 4:21; 9:30–31).
[1:2]
Another indicator that Luke is writing history is that these events were observed by eyewitnesses. They were present from the beginning, which may refer to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (John 15:27; Acts 1:21–22) but also to the events surrounding his birth, with which the Gospel begins. Luke also mentions ministers of the word, who together with the eyewitnesses are the bearers of the traditions about Jesus and have handed them down.2 Possible sources belonging to both categories are the twelve apostles (Luke 6:13–16; Acts 1:13, 26), eyewitnesses who became ministers of God’s word (Acts 6:4; 10:39–42). Other eyewitness sources likely include named characters in the Gospel, such as Mary Magdalene and Joanna (Luke 8:2–3; 24:10); Martha and her sister, Mary (10:38–42); Zacchaeus (19:1–10); Cleopas (24:13–35);3 and even Mary, the mother of Jesus, for the account of Jesus’ birth (2:19, 51).4 Luke’s companion Paul would be a source who was a minister of the Word but not an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly life (1 Cor 15:3).
[1:3]
Luke’s aim to write history is evident also in his emphasis on investigating (or “following”) things accurately and anew (or “from the beginning” [NIV]; see Acts 26:5), in order to write them in an orderly sequence. This last quality can mean chronological order (Acts 3:24), but also logical arrangement in narration (Acts 11:4). These qualities are meant to distinguish Luke
’s Gospel from its predecessors (e.g., Mark’s Gospel does not recount Jesus’ birth) and to present Luke as a trustworthy and capable writer.
Luke addresses one reader in particular, Theophilus (also Acts 1:1), a person of high standing since he is called most excellent. Perhaps he is Luke’s patron, who financed the publication of the Gospel.5 He may be a Roman official, like Felix or Festus (Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25), although there were also prominent Jews named Theophilus.6 Probably he is already a Christian believer (see Luke 1:4). An actual person is meant, but the name—which in Greek literally means “God-loving” or “loved by God”—also takes on a symbolic meaning for any such reader of Luke’s Gospel.
[1:4]
The Gospel’s purpose is to give certainty7 to Theophilus and all its readers. Added emphasis is given in the Greek text since it is the last word of the sentence. Christian readers can have assurance of the truth of the teachings about Jesus they have received—literally, the things about which they have been instructed or “catechized” (verb katēcheō; see Acts 18:25).
Reflection and Application (1:1–4)
Reading like a “Theophilus.” St. Ambrose comments, “The Gospel was written to Theophilus, i.e., to him whom God loves. If you love God, it was written to you. . . . Diligently preserve the pledge of a friend.”8 And Origen remarks, “Anyone who is ‘Theophilus’ is both ‘excellent’ and ‘very strong.’ . . . He has vigor and strength from both God and his Word. He can recognize the ‘truth.’”9
The Gospel of Luke Page 3