Week 14, March 30–April 5: Luke 1–21
- Sun Mar 30 Luke 1–3
- Mon Mar 31 Luke 4–6
- Tue Apr 1 Luke 7–9
- Wed Apr 2 Luke 10–12
- Thu Apr 3 Luke 13–15
- Fri Apr 4 Luke 16–18
- Sat Apr 5 Luke 19–21
Luke’s Gospel includes the most extensive and familiar account of Jesus’ birth and early life. The first few chapters in Luke are filled with miraculous stories, angelic worship, fulfilled promises, the Messiah’s arrival, and profound declarations of worship for the God who lifts up the lowly, redeems his people, and is worthy of the highest praise.
Luke begins his Gospel by saying he is writing these things to give an orderly account so Theophilus (and we) can know with certainty about the things he has been taught, so Theophilus (and we) can be confident that these things are true and that they really matter. Luke’s Gospel shares many similarities with Matthew and Mark, and John too, but there are also some differences. Like we have noted before, it is important to notice the distinct emphases and messages of each of the four Gospels. We aren’t just trying to understand “what really happened,” but we’re trying to understand the inspired meaning of each of these four accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. As a biblical author writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke is trying to say something that is distinct from what Matthew, Mark, and John are saying—similar and complementary to be sure, but unique, nonetheless.
Some of the distinctive aspects of Luke’s Gospel include the universal scope of God’s saving work in Christ. Salvation is for all nations and peoples. We see this in places like Simeon’s song in chapter 2, where he blesses God as he holds the child Jesus in his arms. He quotes from Isaiah and rejoices that he has now seen the Lord’s salvation, which he prepared “in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29–32). Luke also pays special attention to the lowly and marginalized in the eyes of the world. Notice as your read along how often Jesus highlights people like shepherds, women, the poor, and others who are often devalued or thought of as lower-class citizens, particularly in the first-century Roman-ruled world. The values of God’s kingdom are often opposite from the systems and values of the world. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah exemplifies true kingdom values in many ways, and Luke pays special attention to this theme.
There is a pivotal moment in chapter 9 of Luke. There, in verse 51, it said, “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” The rest of Luke’s Gospel moves in that direction, towards Jerusalem. That is where Jesus would accomplish what he came to do. The reason Christ came, the purpose for which the second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh and dwelt among us, was to die for the sins of the world. Next week we will be reading Luke’s account of the culminating events of Jesus’ life on earth, his death on the cross for our sins and his miraculous and victorious resurrection. This is the good news announced to the shepherds by the angelic host (Luke 2:8–14), the message John the Baptist prepared the way for in the wilderness (3:4–6), the gospel Jesus commissions his disciples, and us, to take to the world (24:44–49; Acts 1:8).
Reading through each of the Gospels allows us to savor both the deeds of Jesus and the cross of Christ. As long as people have been reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John there has been a tendency either to emphasize Jesus’ compassionate works—healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, loving the lowly—or to focus only on his atoning death and victorious resurrection. But reading the Gospels well urges us to reject this binary choice. The Gospels call us to see Jesus as the one who came into the world to meet the physical needs of those around him. And the Gospels make it clear that Jesus’ miraculous deeds of compassion demonstrated to those he healed and to us today that he was the long-expected Messiah who came to conquer sin and death through his own death on the cross and through resurrection from the dead three days later. Rather than having to choose one emphasis or the other, we rejoice in both as we read the Gospels.