This week we begin reading Luke’s Gospel. Unlike Mark where very little of Mark’s material was unique, over 40 percent of Luke is not paralleled in Matthew or Mark. Each week we’ll read something that we haven’t read in either Matthew or Mark. Luke also wrote more than any of the other New Testament authors. He wrote two books, Luke and Acts and combined they have several thousand more words than Paul who wrote the most individual books. Even if you count Hebrews as a book written by Paul, Luke still beats Paul’s word count by more than 200. Luke’s Gospel would originally have been written on a scroll about 35 ft. long, and the book of Acts would have been a scroll about 32 feet long.
Luke was often a companion of Paul and was a doctor (Col 4:14). Check the parallels of the healing miracles in Luke’s Gospel with those of Mark and Matthew and you will often see his medical interest displayed.
Luke places an emphasis on the Holy Spirit, more so in Acts than in his gospel but it can still be seen in his gospel. For example, this week when you read Lk 4:14 compare it with Mt 4:12 and Mk 1:14.
Luke also places an emphasis on prayer. Compare the account of the baptism of Jesus in Lk 3:21 with that in Mt 3:16 and Mk 1:9-10.
Another emphasis that Luke has concerns women. Rabbinical teaching forbade the teaching of women, but Luke will include Jesus teaching women and women traveling with Him and even supporting Him. This week when you read the account of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth in Lk 4:16-30 compare it with Mt 13:53-58 and Mk 6:1-6.
And finally watch for Luke’s and Jesus’ concern for the poor. Compare this week’s reading of Luke 4:18, with the parallels in Matthew and Mark given in the above paragraph.
You’ll notice these emphases throughout Luke’s Gospel.
Luke also gives us a genealogy of Jesus. It’s found in Lk 3:23-38. It differs considerably from the genealogy given in Mt 1:1-16. Both state that they are the genealogy of Joseph who was thought to be the father of Jesus, Mt 1:16 in the CSB reads, “and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah” and Lk 3:23 reads, “As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the son of Joseph, son of Heli.” Matthew’s genealogy goes from Abraham to Joseph while Luke’s begins with Joseph and goes all the way back to Adam. They agree between Abraham and David but have little in agreement after David. Matthew traces the lineage from David through Solomon while Luke traces it through Nathan. Both Solomon and Nathan were children of Bathsheba. The only names in common after David are Zerubbabel and Shealtiel unless Matthat, the grandfather of Joseph in Luke is the same as Matthan, the grandfather of Joseph in Matthew. Luke also gives far more generations from David to Joseph than does Matthew. How are these things to be resolved? This difficulty was noticed in the church when the Gospels first began to circulate together. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote the first history of the church from the days of the apostles to about A.D. 325. He died in A.D. 329. In his Ecclesiastical History he gives the account of Julius Africanus (A.D.230) who explained the differences through Levirate marriages. Africanus said his information came from family records. Another possibility that is often given is that Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary. This is done by putting a parenthesis around the phrase “and was thought to be the son of Joseph.” The original Greek would not have had any punctuation. This would make Heli the grandfather of Jesus and the father of Mary. You’ll notice that Luke gives more prominence to Mary than Joseph in these first few chapters.
Luke was often a companion of Paul and was a doctor (Col 4:14). Check the parallels of the healing miracles in Luke’s Gospel with those of Mark and Matthew and you will often see his medical interest displayed.
Luke places an emphasis on the Holy Spirit, more so in Acts than in his gospel but it can still be seen in his gospel. For example, this week when you read Lk 4:14 compare it with Mt 4:12 and Mk 1:14.
Luke also places an emphasis on prayer. Compare the account of the baptism of Jesus in Lk 3:21 with that in Mt 3:16 and Mk 1:9-10.
Another emphasis that Luke has concerns women. Rabbinical teaching forbade the teaching of women, but Luke will include Jesus teaching women and women traveling with Him and even supporting Him. This week when you read the account of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth in Lk 4:16-30 compare it with Mt 13:53-58 and Mk 6:1-6.
And finally watch for Luke’s and Jesus’ concern for the poor. Compare this week’s reading of Luke 4:18, with the parallels in Matthew and Mark given in the above paragraph.
You’ll notice these emphases throughout Luke’s Gospel.
Luke also gives us a genealogy of Jesus. It’s found in Lk 3:23-38. It differs considerably from the genealogy given in Mt 1:1-16. Both state that they are the genealogy of Joseph who was thought to be the father of Jesus, Mt 1:16 in the CSB reads, “and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah” and Lk 3:23 reads, “As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the son of Joseph, son of Heli.” Matthew’s genealogy goes from Abraham to Joseph while Luke’s begins with Joseph and goes all the way back to Adam. They agree between Abraham and David but have little in agreement after David. Matthew traces the lineage from David through Solomon while Luke traces it through Nathan. Both Solomon and Nathan were children of Bathsheba. The only names in common after David are Zerubbabel and Shealtiel unless Matthat, the grandfather of Joseph in Luke is the same as Matthan, the grandfather of Joseph in Matthew. Luke also gives far more generations from David to Joseph than does Matthew. How are these things to be resolved? This difficulty was noticed in the church when the Gospels first began to circulate together. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote the first history of the church from the days of the apostles to about A.D. 325. He died in A.D. 329. In his Ecclesiastical History he gives the account of Julius Africanus (A.D.230) who explained the differences through Levirate marriages. Africanus said his information came from family records. Another possibility that is often given is that Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary. This is done by putting a parenthesis around the phrase “and was thought to be the son of Joseph.” The original Greek would not have had any punctuation. This would make Heli the grandfather of Jesus and the father of Mary. You’ll notice that Luke gives more prominence to Mary than Joseph in these first few chapters.
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