“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”Read the surrounding chapter
Time, place, and setting
- Time
- First century ministry; proposals for Gospel composition span later decades. 5
- Place
- Judaea, Jerusalem, Galilee and the journey toward Jerusalem. The final scenes return to Jerusalem and its vicinity. 1
- Setting
- Jesus proclaims God’s kingdom within Jewish life under Roman power. His compassion, teaching, suffering and resurrection shape the call to follow him. 1
Luke 1:46 to 79 and 2:22 to 38: Mercy remembered
Mary’s praise begins with personal joy and moves toward God’s mercy, the proud brought low, the hungry filled and Abraham remembered. Zacharias’ prophecy joins Israel’s redemption to John’s calling and knowledge of salvation through forgiveness. Prayer and prophecy connect these scenes to earlier scriptural hopes. 18 Genesis 12 and 17 and 1 Samuel 1 and 2 provide earlier covenant and prayer settings. The songs’ scriptural language shapes their meaning within Luke. 6 Simeon later speaks of salvation before all people, light for Gentiles and Israel’s glory, while warning of opposition. Anna’s testimony places recognition within the expectation of redemption in Jerusalem. 1
The surrounding narrative gives these songs people and places: households, a temple, waiting parents and a child presented according to the law. The infancy events and Gospel composition belong to different chronological questions. 5 The imperial census notice is particularly debated. 8 Its historical problem need not displace the songs’ clear emphasis on mercy and promise. The Gospel does not identify its author by name; the received physician association draws on tradition and letters. Vocabulary is compatible with medical knowledge without proving authorship. 10 These distinctions keep the passages available for worship and careful study without turning an uncertain reconstruction into the foundation of their message. 1
Luke 3:21 to 4:30: Sonship, testing and release
At the baptism Jesus prays, the Holy Ghost descends and the voice identifies him as the beloved Son. Luke’s earlier account already presents his sonship. Sonship precedes the Spirit’s anointing for ministry. 17 Wilderness testing follows, answered through Scripture about worship, trust and obedience. The Nazareth reading then announces Isaiah’s promised restoration. 4 The Greek noun behind deliverance in 4:18 means release in that clause. 2 It belongs with captives and the surrounding announcement; elsewhere, the same lemma with sins denotes forgiveness. Context supplies the sense rather than a single English substitute imposed on every occurrence. 1
Isaiah 61 concerns restoration after desolation; Isaiah 58 joins acceptable worship with relief from oppression. Jesus declares fulfilment and answers the synagogue with Elijah’s widow and Naaman. Their particular stories give mercy a wider horizon. 15 Luke’s audience response is first amazement and then anger. The following Capernaum scenes show teaching, deliverance and healing among actual people. Churches can read this sequence as encouragement to proclaim good news and pray for divine healing, while Luke 13’s rejection of comparative blame keeps suffering people from being treated as a spiritual ranking. The promise is interpreted through Jesus’ ministry, not an impersonal mechanism. 1
Luke 6:27 to 49, 7:36 to 50 and 8:1 to 3: Grace in relationships
Love for enemies, prayer for those who mistreat disciples and mercy like the Father’s frame the teaching about giving. Luke 6:38 therefore belongs within generosity and the refusal of condemning judgement, rather than a promised financial return for a donation. Jesus ends with hearing and doing, pictured through buildings with different foundations. Gospel genre is discerned through connected formal and content features. 21 Here the narrative’s teaching and subsequent encounters work together: the centurion, grieving mother and misunderstood anointing woman receive Jesus’ attention in chapter 7. Forgiveness, healing and restored relationships are varied saving encounters. 7 1
The woman’s welcome in 7:36 to 50 contrasts with Simon’s judgement. Jesus speaks about forgiveness, love, faith and peace. The text does not name her or equate her with Mary Magdalene, who is named at the start of chapter 8. The women there participate through practical material support. 14 These neighbouring scenes honour responses to grace while retaining their distinct persons and circumstances. The church can value prayer, generosity, listening and ministry without assigning every participant the same biography. Luke’s care is personal, and the narrative provides enough concrete detail to prevent a general label from replacing a person. 1
Luke 10:25 to 37 and 15:1 to 32: Compassion and shared joy
The lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, answers with love for God and neighbour, then asks who his neighbour is. Jesus’ story ends by asking who acted as neighbour to the wounded man. Compassion changes the direction of the question. 11 The Samaritan approaches, tends wounds, carries the traveller, provides lodging and arranges further care. The priest and Levite pass by, but their motives are not stated. The narrative makes attentive action visible without requiring an invented explanation of everyone’s inner life. Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 6 give the earlier settings of the commandments. 1
Luke 15 answers complaints that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. Searching and rejoicing connect the sheep, coin and sons. Unexpected parable details heighten attention to the challenge. 20 The father takes the initiative toward both children. 9 He restores the returning son, then leaves the celebration to address the resentful elder son. The elder is invited to share the household’s joy. 3 His response is left open. That ending speaks directly to the original grumbling audience and continues to challenge Christian communities whose welcome is narrowed by resentment. Grace brings joy that others are invited to share. 1
Luke 16:1 to 31 and 19:1 to 10: Money, neglect and restoration
The steward’s changed bills are followed by sayings about faithful handling of small and great responsibilities and service to God or mammon. Exact debt and commission arrangements remain uncertain. 19 The account’s commendation of shrewdness should be read with those surrounding sayings, not as a general endorsement of wrongdoing. Lazarus at the gate then reveals a neglected neighbour amid abundance. The final appeal to Moses and the prophets places responsibility within revelation already received. Proclamation and provision for needy people belong together. 16 Luke’s material teaching asks how possessions serve relationships, not how religion can secure accumulation. 1
In Jericho, Zacchaeus receives Jesus while the crowd objects. His words about giving and restitution are followed by Jesus’ announcement that salvation has come to the house and that he too is a son of Abraham. The declaration answers the crowd’s judgement of him. 13 The Son of man’s stated mission to seek and save the lost governs the scene. Generosity and repair are responses within that encounter rather than a purchase of salvation. The restored man’s household setting makes grace public, and the story’s position just before Jerusalem joins the journey’s teaching about possessions to Jesus’ seeking purpose. 1
Luke 22:14 to 27 and 24:13 to 53: Covenant and risen witness
The Passover meal announces the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. The disciples’ dispute about greatness is answered by his presence as one who serves. The arrest includes his healing of the injured servant, and the trial exposes false accusations alongside declarations of innocence. At the cross he forgives, receives the penitent criminal and entrusts his spirit to the Father. Luke 24 then centres on the empty tomb, the risen Jesus, Scripture opened and repentance and forgiveness commissioned in his name. Jeremiah 31, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 31 give earlier covenant, suffering and prayer contexts; Luke’s own narrative makes the Christian connection explicit. 1
Ascension joins the resurrection conclusion to Acts’ continuing witness. 12 The promise of power from on high leads into Acts 1 and 2, where the Spirit empowers proclamation, prophetic speech and tongues. Acts 10 and 13 show that witness extending to new audiences. For Pentecostal readers, the risen Jesus remains the centre of gifts and empowerment. First Corinthians 12 to 14 place gifts under love, common benefit and understandable edification, while James 5 encourages prayer and care for the sick. Luke’s witnesses return with joy and bless God in the temple. Their worship opens toward the promised mission, preserving both grateful dependence and public service. 1
Sources
Numbered references support the material above. Scripture quotations use the KJV.
- The Holy Bible, King James VersionKing James translators · 1611
Luke 1 to 24; Genesis 12 and 17; Exodus 3, 12 and 13; Leviticus 19 and 25; Deuteronomy 6 and 8; 1 Samuel 1 and 2; 2 Samuel 7; 1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 5; 2 Chronicles 28; Isaiah 40, 49, 53, 58 and 61; Jeremiah 7 and 31; Psalms 31, 91, 110 and 118; Daniel 7; Malachi 3 and 4; Jonah 3; Acts 1, 2, 7, 10, 13, 20 and 28; 1 Corinthians 12 to 14; James 5; Colossians 4; 2 Timothy 4; Philemon 1; Greek Luke 4:16 to 21
View the source - A Greek English Lexicon of the New TestamentJoseph Henry Thayer
Entry 859, historical introduction and both numbered senses; Luke 4:18
View the source - The Gospel according to St Luke, Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesFrederic William Farrar · 1891
Luke 15:11 to 32
View the source - Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, LukeHeinrich August Wilhelm Meyer
Luke 4:16 to 21
View the source - Luke and Acts, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Volume 12Allison A. Trites and William J. Larkin · 2007
Luke introduction, printed pages 3 to 9 and 24, publisher preview PDF 18 to 25
View the source - The Gospel According to Luke: All Flesh Shall See God’s SalvationGreg Carey · 2012
Pages 3 to 8, publisher supplied selection
View the source - Salvation in Luke ActsMark Allan Powell · 1992
Complete prose, pages 5 to 10
View the source - Detaching the Census: An Alternative Reading of Luke 2:1 to 7David J. Armitage · 2018
Pages 75 to 77 and 93 to 95, introduction and Discussion
View the source - The Parable of the Prodigal Father: An Interpretative Key to the Third Gospel (Luke 15:11 to 32)Trevor J. Burke · 2013
Pages 217 to 218 and 234 to 238, introduction and Reading the Parable
View the source - Luke the Physician: Some Notes on the Internal EvidenceLuuk van de Weghe · 2025
Pages 31 to 33 and 43, medical vocabulary and concluding argument
View the source - The Good Samaritan and the Hope for Kingdom Restoration (Luke 10:25 to 37)John A. Davies · 2025
Pages 154 to 155 and 170 to 173, opening, Christological and ethical readings, conclusion
View the source - The Ascension in Luke ActsJohn F. Maile · 1986
Pages 29 to 31 and 57 to 59, opening and concluding argument
View the source - The Enthymeme in Luke 19:9 and the Salvation of ZacchaeusFrank Z. Kovacs · 2022
Pages 120 to 121 and 139 to 143, rhetorical form and summary
View the source - A Dialogic Reading of Luke 8:1 to 3Mphumezi Hombana and Jurgoi Saleh Jnr · 2025
Contextual Considerations through Divine Grace Reciprocated in Gratitude
View the source - Jesus and the Marginalized: Attaching Pastoral Meaning to Luke 4:14 to 30Jeannette Steyn and Aneel Yousaf · 2010
Sections 4 and 5, Context and Exegesis and Historical Background
View the source - Provision for the Poor and the Mission of the Church: Ancient Appeals and Contemporary ViabilityChristopher M. Hays · 2012
First mission section and Authority of Jesus; Love and Conclusion
View the source - Jesus and the Spirit in Lucan PerspectiveMax Turner · 1981
Pages 4, 34 to 38 and 41 to 42, originating notice and Spirit argument
View the source - The Motif of Worship, Prayer, and Prophecy in Luke 1:5 to 25 as a Bridge between the Old Testament and the Gospel of LukeDaniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh · 2024
Pages 7 to 13, literary analysis and exegesis
View the source - And How Much Do You Owe? Take Your Bill, Sit Down Quickly, and Write (Luke 16:5 to 6)Luca Marulli · 2012
Pages 200 to 202 and 213 to 216, debt arrangements and concluding interpretation
View the source - Incongruity in the Gospel ParablesDavid Seccombe · 2011
Pages 165 to 172, parable incongruities and conclusion
View the source - What Are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco Roman BiographyRichard A. Burridge · 2018
Introduction I.4 to I.8, publisher preview PDF 20 to 24
View the source