Here’s an excellent summary of the first half of the Gospel of Luke.
THIS WEEK:
In Luke, Jesus tends to heavily focus on the plight of the poor. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. In Luke, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor” and “Blessed are you who are hungry” (See Luke 6:20-21). Last week, we read Luke 4:18-19, where Jesus quoted Isaiah, proclaiming that his mission was to preach good news to the poor. What other passages have you noticed in Luke that spoke directly to issues of economic justice? Why are these issues so important to Jesus, particularly?
Do we have a similar focus?
About 50% of Mark is reproduced in Luke. What stories did you read this week that you remember from the Gospel of Mark?
Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This is a major turning point in the Gospel of Luke. Similar to the concept of “Jesus’ hour” in the Gospel of John, Jesus will hereafter always be looking toward Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. We, too, should be particularly mindful of his Passion as we read the next portion of Luke’s account.
NEXT WEEK:
Where do you see Jesus thinking about his final week in these chapters?
Notice additional conversation about economic justice in these chapters as well; for example, Luke 12:13-21 or Luke 16:1-15.
Two of the most famous stories in Luke appear in this section. The parable of the Two Brothers (aka the Prodigal Son) and the parable of the Good Samaritan are profoundly impactful in Christian thought. What about these two stories makes them so powerful?
Keep reading, and I’ll see you next week!
Grace and Peace,
Jim