The prologue of Luke’s Gospel (1:1 – 4)
Light to them that sit in darkness (1:5 – 2:52)
The birth of John the Baptist foretold (1:5 – 25)
The birth of Jesus foretold (1:26 – 38)
Mary visits Elisabeth (1:39 – 45)
Mary’s song of praise (1:46 – 56)
The birth of John the Baptist (1:57 – 66)
Zacharias’ song of praise (1:67 – 80)
The birth of Jesus (2:1 – 7)
The angels’ annunciation to the shepherds (2:8 – 20)
Jesus is named (2:21)
The infant Jesus is presented in the temple (2:22 – 39)
The boy Jesus in the temple (2:40 – 52)
The ministry of John the Baptist (3:1 – 15)
John denies that he is the Christ (3:16 – 18)
John the Baptist imprisoned (3:19 – 20)
The baptism of Jesus Christ (3:21 – 22)
The genealogy of Jesus Christ (3:23-38)
The temptation of Jesus Christ (4:1 – 13)
Jesus returns to Galilee (4:14 – 15)
The rejection of Jesus Christ at Nazareth (4:16 – 30)
Jesus moves to Capernaum (4:31)
The man with an unclean spirit (4:32 – 37)
Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law (4:38 – 39)
Jesus heals many at Peter’s house (4:40 – 41)
The disciples search for Christ (4:42 – 43)
The first preaching tour in Galilee (4:44)
Jesus calls the first disciples (again) (5:1 – 11)
Jesus cleanses a leper (5:12 – 16)
Jesus heals a paralytic (5:17 – 26)
The call of Matthew (5:27 – 32)
A question about fasting (5:33 – 39)
Lord of the sabbath (6:1 – 5)
The man with a withered hand (6:6 – 11)
Jesus chooses the twelve apostles (6:12 – 16)
Jesus teaches and heals (6:17 – 19)
Blessings and woes (6:20 – 26)
Love for enemies (6:27 – 36)
Judging others (6:37 – 42)
A tree and its fruit (6:43 – 45)
The two foundations (6:46 – 49)
Christ heals a centurion’s servant (7:1 – 10)
Jesus raises the widow's son at Nain (7:11 – 17)
Christ is asked for his credentials (7:18 – 23)
Jesus commends John the Baptist (7:24 – 30)
A fickle generation (7:31 – 35)
A sinful woman forgiven (7:36 – 50)
Some women accompany Jesus (8:1 – 3)
Four kinds of person (8:4 – 8)
The purpose of the parables (8:9 – 10)
The parable of the sower explained (8:11 – 15)
A lamp is not to be hidden (8:16 – 18)
The true kindred of Jesus (8:19 – 21)
Jesus stills the storm (8:22 – 25)
Jesus heals the Gadarene demoniac (8:26 – 40)
Jairus pleads for his daughter (8:41-42)
A woman healed of an issue of blood (8:43 – 48)
Jesus raises Jairus' daughter (8:49 – 56)
The twelve apostles, sent to preach (9:1 – 2)
Instructions to the twelve (9:3 – 5)
The twelve, preaching and healing (9:6)
Herod's perplexity (9:7 – 9)
The feeding of the five thousand (9:10 – 17)
Peter's declaration about Jesus (9:18 – 20)
Jesus foretells his death and resurrection (9:21 – 22)
The cross and self-denial (9:23 – 26)
The transfiguration (9:27 – 36)
Jesus heals a demon possessed child (9:37 – 42)
Jesus again foretells his death (9:43 – 45)
True greatness (9:46 – 48)
John's question about other disciples (9:49 – 50)
A Samaritan village refuses to receive Jesus (9:51 – 56)
Three would-be followers of Jesus (9:57 – 62)
The mission of the seventy (10:1 – 12)
Woes to unrepentant cities (10:13 – 16)
The return of the seventy (10:17 – 20)
Jesus thanks his Father (10:21 – 24)
The parable of the good Samaritan (10:25 – 37)
Jesus visits Martha and Mary (10:38 – 42)
The Lord teaches how to pray (11:1 – 13)
The Lord’s prayer (11:1 – 4)
The parable of the friend at midnight (11:5 – 8)
Ask, seek, knock (11:9 – 13)
An analysis of unbelief (11:14 – 54)
Jesus and Beelzebub (11:14 – 23)
The return of the unclean spirit (11:24 – 26)
True blessedness – belief and believing (11:27 – 28)
The sign of Jonah(11:29 – 32)
The light of the body (11:33 – 36)
Jesus denounces Pharisees and lawyers (11:37 – 54)
Living in a world of darkness (12:1 – 59)
On guard in a world of darkness (12:1 – 3)
Exhortation to fearless confession (12:3 – 12)
The parable of the rich fool (12:13 – 21)
Living by faith (12:22 – 34)
The parable of the watchful servants (12:35 – 40)
The parable of the faithful steward (12:41 – 48)
Jesus Christ, the cause of division (12:49 – 53)
Interpreting the times (12:54 – 57)
Settling with your opponent (12:58 – 59)
Christ’s lessons on disasters – repent or perish (13:1 – 5)
The parable of the barren fig tree – a glimpse of the heart of God (13:6 – 9)
Jesus heals a crippled woman – finding freedom (13:10 – 17)
The parable of the mustard seed (13:18 – 19)
The parable of the leaven (13:20 – 21)
Strive to enter the strait gate (13:22 – 30)
Christ’s lament over Jerusalem (13:31 – 35)
Christ deals with aggravations (14:1 – 35)
Jesus heals the man with dropsy (14:1 – 6)
The parable of the wedding feast – humility and hospitality (14:7 – 14)
The parable of the great feast – excuses for refusing God (14:15 – 24)
The cost of discipleship (14:25 – 33)
About salt (14:34 – 35)
The parable of the lost sheep (15:1 – 7)
The parable of the lost coin (15:8 – 10)
The parable of the prodigal son (15:11 – 24)
The parable of the unjust steward (16:1 – 13)
The law and the kingdom of God (16:14 – 18)
The rich man and Lazarus (16:19 – 31)
Some sayings of Jesus (17:1 – 10)
Jesus cleanses ten lepers (17:11 – 19)
The coming of the kingdom (17:20 – 21)
False Christs and false prophets (17:22 – 25)
The days of Noah (17:26 – 27)
The days of Lot (17:28 – 30)
No turning back (17:31 – 33)
One taken and the other left (17:34 – 36)
The final devastation (17:37)
- to enable Theophilus to know the certainty of the things in which he had been instructed
- to record the accounts of eyewitnesses of things delivered to the church
- to identify the things believed by Christians in the early church
- to write an independent testimony of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ
- to include material not included by other Gospel writers
- to provide material for gospel preaching
Bible Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke
by Dr Peter Masters, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London (supplemented by Bible Notes)
This commentary on Luke’s Gospel will have a greater emphasis on evangelistic content than the commentaries on the other synoptic Gospels, because this book has been used to preach many gospel sermons in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, from which content is drawn.
Luke’s Gospel is one of what are called the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke. John’s Gospel is quite different in character. The three are called synoptic because they ‘see together’, that is, they contain much material in common, often recording the same events, the same sayings, the same miracles and parables of the Lord, and covering roughly the same period of time. But while they see together, there are also individual differences between them, which result from differences of style – God inspired them to write, but he used their distinct ways of thinking and writing, from their different purposes in writing, and from the different readers for whom they wrote.
Two of the Gospel writers – Matthew and John – were apostles, while Mark and Luke were associates of the apostles. Mark’s Gospel was greatly influenced by the Apostle Peter, while Luke was the close companion of the Apostle Paul. In both cases there is evidence of the influence of the associated apostle. Matthew was a Jew and writes for a Jewish readership. He quotes many passages from the Old Testament in support of his argument, and to prove that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah, a form of argumentation expected by the Jewish reader. Mark writes for Jews and Gentiles. His Gospel is characteristically terse, and it is written as more of a gospel tract. Luke writes a carefully researched account of the life of Christ and is therefore more biographical in nature. He writes for Gentiles, and so, for instance, traces Christ’s ancestry back to Adam, while Matthew stops with Abraham, the covenant head of Israel. Matthew tends to group material together on a topical basis, bringing together the parables in Matthew 13, and having an eschatological section in chapters 21 to 25 which is placed differently by other writers. He does so without implying that all of this was delivered on the same occasion. Mark follows a more chronological order, as does Luke. In the Synoptic Gospel we find material that is common to all three Gospels, material that is shared by two of them, and material that is unique to just one of the writers.
Summarising Hendriksen’s introduction, he accepts the traditional ascription of this Gospel to Luke, the beloved physician, on the balance of probability. He does so for the following reasons. Luke is distinguished by Paul from those of the circumcision (Colossians 4:11-14) and therefore is a Gentile. This is consistent with the written form found in Luke’s Gospel which is that of an educated Greek. The same person who wrote Luke’s Gospel also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, as is clear by comparing the introductions of the two books. Luke was the companion of Paul, and the third Gospel ‘breathes the spirit of Paul’, including a striking resemblance in the institution of the Lord’s Supper between Luke (chapter 22:19-20) and Paul (1 Corinthians 11:23-25), and it is clear from other New Testament books that Luke was with Paul in major parts of his missionary journeys (Colossians 4:14), and was in Rome during Paul’s two imprisonments – the first because Luke travelled to Rome with Paul (the ‘we’ passages in Acts 27 and 28), and the second because Paul says that Luke was one of the few people still with him (2 Timothy 4:11). However Luke is never mentioned by name in the Book of Acts. There is a characteristic modesty about all of the Gospel writers, none of whom name themselves as authors (though in Matthew’s case he does refer to himself as a disciple). Hendriksen also refers to the evidence in the writing of the third Gospel and the Book of Acts that the author had medical knowledge, consistent with him being ‘the beloved physician’ (Colossians 4:14). Assuming Luke to be the author, his presence or absence with Paul is indicated in the Acts narrative by the sections of the book where the author switches to ‘we’ and ‘us’ including himself with Paul.
We learn much about Luke’s motive and purpose in writing from the first four introductory verses of his Gospel. He is the only Gospel writer to start with an introduction in which he explains his purpose in writing and how he went about his work. Luke’s Gospel is written for an individual, Theophilus, and it is written to instruct him and to provide him with a carefully researched account of the life of Christ. This will enable Theophilus to be sure of the things he believes. No doubt Luke knows that Theophilus will pass this document on to others and that it will become the possession of the churches of Jesus Christ in all ages.
Where did Luke obtain his material? He tells us that he obtained it by consulting many witnesses, including some uninspired written sources. Sources used by Luke included oral and written. See the exposition of Luke 1:1-4 for more detail. Luke works as a historian. He gathers reliable information that others have compiled before him and he searches out the eyewitnesses who can provide him with firsthand information. He is not himself an eyewitness, but was probably converted under the ministry of Paul. Tradition identifies him as a man from Antioch, with ties to Philippi. Although he was a close companion of Paul and learnt much from the apostle, he does not limit his source material to Paul. He goes and finds all that have been associated with the Lord and his ministry – there were many still alive at the time of the writing of Luke’s Gospel. Hendriksen dates the Book of Acts between AD 62 and the middle of AD 64, probably AD 63, and therefore dates Luke’s Gospel which was written with it at AD 61-63. At this time there would still have been many alive who had witnessed Christ’s teaching and miracles first hand.
Luke’s Gospel contains much material not found in Matthew or Mark, as follows. The first two chapters cover events associated with the announcement and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, as well as Christ’s presentation at the temple, and the one event in his childhood which is handled by inspired writers. Chapter 3 has Luke’s genealogy of Christ which is very different from Matthew’s. Chapter 4 contains the account of the murderous rejection of Christ by the people of his own city of Nazareth. Chapter 5 has the calling of the first disciples beside Galilee. Chapter 6, although it contains many sayings of Christ which are familiar to us from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, is probably a different sermon recorded only by Luke. Chapter 7 gives us the raising of the widow’s son at Nain, and the description of the sinful woman anointing Jesus’ feet. Chapter 9 tells us of the Samaritan village which refused to receive Christ. Chapter 10 has the sending out of the seventy and their reporting back to Christ, the parable of the good Samaritan, and the visit to the house of Mary and Martha. In chapter 11 there are instructions on prayer and perseverance in prayer, Christ’s teaching of the eye being light of the body, and the denouncing of the Pharisees and lawyers.
Luke then has a long section exclusive to his Gospel from chapter 12:1 to 18:14, mostly sayings of Christ. Some of this material is found in other Gospels but seems to have been delivered on a different occasion – Christ, like all teachers, surely used the same material more than once. Chapter 12 gives us teaching for the disciples delivered in front of huge crowds including the parable of the rich fool. Chapter 13 contains the parable of the barren fig tree, of the mustard seed, and of the yeast, and the healing of a crippled woman, as well as lamentation over Jerusalem. In chapter 14 we have the healing of a man with dropsy, the parable of the guests invited and of the marriage feast, and the cost of discipleship. Chapter 15 has the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. Chapter 16 has the parable of the dishonest steward, the law and the kingdom, and the rich man and Lazarus. Chapter 17 contains warnings about offences, teaching on forgiveness and on faith, the healing of the ten lepers, and instruction on the end times. Chapter 18 gives us the parable of the widow and the unjust judge and the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Chapter 19 has the account of Zacchaeus, the parable of the ten pounds, and Christ weeping over Jerusalem. In chapter 22 we read of the dispute among the disciples about who is the greatest, Christ’s instruction on taking up a sword, and the mocking and beating of Jesus. Chapter 23 tells us of Jesus before herod, and chapter 24 includes the appearance of Christ to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. There is a great deal of material not found in other Gospels.
But some of Luke’s content is shared with Mathew and/or Mark. In these cases we find some differences. How do we account for them? The interpreter with a high view of the word of God will hold to the inspiration of Scripture and be fully persuaded of its inerrancy and infallibility. He will assume there are no real contradictions and that all apparent discrepancies can be reconciled. Apparent discrepancies may be accounted for in the following ways. Different Gospel writers include different material, and not all of them include all that was said or done on a particular occasion. This may be because they have different purposes in writing or different readers for whom they write. Matthew, for example, writes for Jews and quotes Isaiah 40:3 to describe John the Baptist’s ministry (Matthew 3:3), but Luke continues the quotation further because he is writing for Gentiles, and includes the words, ‘Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God’ (Luke 3:5-6). One Gospel reports speech as direct and another as indirect. Differences in direct speech may occur because the same content is spoken on different occasions. There may be differences because not all words are reported. The words were originally spoken in Aramaic, and the Holy Spirit has rendered them in Greek according to his satisfaction using the different individual minds of the human authors through whom he chose to speak. The English translation of the Greek may not be consistent. The Spirit has chosen to vary the words to give the sense and all his words are inspired. Do words need to be exactly what was said to be inspired? No, the Spirit is able to paraphrase his word where we are not.
Liberals have attacked Luke’s Gospel on various grounds. It is said that Matthew writes an account taking advantage of the Old Testament, and he has the star and the wise men and Luke knows nothing of this. They say Luke did not know about Matthew’s journey to Egypt. His passing over material is no proof that Luke was unaware of this, and it was the guidance of the Holy Spirit that determined what should be included and what should be left out. They say Luke got wrong the Roman governor in Luke 2:2. (See in situ for a discussion of this.) They start with various presuppositions: all secular writing is more reliable than Scripture and should take precedence over it. They assume that the Bible is not an inspired book, and is written with a bias of its own. Josephus therefore who is a neutral historian will have superior information. They assume that the Gospel writers were digging for facts, but had no divine aid. They discuss the whole subject so loftily as if the Bible writers had no contact with each other and did not know each other. You would never have believed they lived in the same area at the same time and were part of the same church at a crucial stage in its development. They complain long and loud about order of events. All is muddled up according to the critics. They regard differences in order as disagreement, but we see that the Gospel writers have quite different purposes to fulfil, and are perfectly free to group material together into themes. The person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the pinnacle of God’s revelation to the world. It is entirely appropriate that it should be covered multiple times by more than one writer. They complement each other, confirming many things as independent witnesses, as well as selecting material of their own as God inspired them. They do not collude together but give reliable testimony of their own as reliable and honest witness might do in a court of law.