Luke 1
Luke 1
A historian's preface, two angelic announcements, and two canticles mark the opening of Luke's carefully crafted gospel.
Luke — chapter by chapter
All 24 chapters, from the angel in the temple to the ascension at Bethany.
Luke's 24 chapters divide into four movements. The infancy narrative (1-2) gives the canticles and the Christmas story. The Galilean ministry (3-9:50) opens with John's preaching and ends with the transfiguration. At 9:51 the long travel narrative begins — ten chapters of teaching on the road to Jerusalem, where Luke's great parables are gathered. The Jerusalem section (19-24) moves through the passion to the resurrection morning, the walk to Emmaus, and the ascension at Bethany.
Infancy narrative
Two annunciations, three canticles, a manger, and the boy in the temple.
Luke 2
Luke 2
The nativity, the shepherds, the Nunc Dimittis, and the twelve-year-old in the temple establish Luke's distinctive infancy narrative.
Galilean ministry
The baptism, the temptation, Nazareth, the calling, and the transfiguration.
Luke 3
Luke 3
John preaches redistribution in the desert, Jesus is baptized and identified by a heavenly voice, and a genealogy traces his ancestry to Adam.
Luke 4
Luke 4
Jesus announces his programmatic mission from Isaiah in Nazareth, is nearly killed for implying it extends to Gentiles, and begins healing in Capernaum.
Luke 5
Luke 5
The calling of the first disciples, the cleansing of a leper, the healing of a paralyzed man, and Levi's call from the tax booth.
Luke 6
Luke 6
Two Sabbath controversies, the appointment of twelve apostles, and the Sermon on the Plain with beatitudes for the poor and woes for the rich.
Luke 7
Luke 7
A Gentile centurion's faith exceeds Israel's, a widow's son is raised at the city gate, and a sinful woman's tears receive forgiveness at a dinner party.
Luke 8
Luke 8
Women supporters are named, the sower parable is explained, and four demonstrations of authority over nature, demons, disease, and death follow in rapid succession.
Luke 9
Luke 9
The twelve are commissioned, the crowds fed, Peter names him the Messiah, the transfiguration happens on a mountain, and the deliberate march toward Jerusalem begins.
Central Section — the journey south
He set his face to go to Jerusalem. The great parables gather on the road.
Luke 10
Luke 10
The seventy are sent and return, the good Samaritan parable redefines the neighbor, and Mary of Bethany sits at the teacher's feet.
Luke 11
Luke 11
Jesus teaches the Lord's Prayer and the parable of the persistent petitioner, defends his exorcisms, and delivers sharp woes against the Pharisees and lawyers.
Luke 12
Luke 12
Warnings against hypocrisy and greed, the parable of the rich fool, teaching against anxiety, and parables of watchful slaves frame a chapter of sustained urgency.
Luke 13
Luke 13
Galilee's calamities frame a call to repentance, a barren fig tree gets one last chance, and a bent woman is healed as Jesus moves toward Jerusalem.
Luke 14
Luke 14
A Sabbath healing at a Pharisee's house leads to teaching on humility and hospitality, and a parable about a rejected feast that fills with the uninvited poor.
Luke 15
Luke 15
Three concentric parables of loss and recovery build to the prodigal son — the defining parable of Luke's gospel — in which a father runs to embrace a returning wastrel.
Luke 16
Luke 16
The parable of the shrewd manager and the story of Lazarus and the rich man frame a chapter on the use of wealth and the cost of ignoring the poor.
Luke 17
Luke 17
Warnings about stumbling, the parable of the undeserving servant, ten lepers and one thankful Samaritan, and teaching on the Kingdom's sudden unannounced arrival.
Luke 18
Luke 18
The widow who wears out an unjust judge, the tax collector who goes home justified, and the rich ruler who cannot let go of his wealth.
Luke 19
Luke 19
Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree, the parable of the king's returning reckoning, and the triumphal entry with weeping over Jerusalem.
Jerusalem ministry and passion
The entry, the temple controversies, the last supper, trial, and cross.
Luke 20
Luke 20
Confrontations with priests, scribes, Sadducees, and spies in the temple produce the wicked tenants parable and the famous render to Caesar exchange.
Luke 21
Luke 21
A widow's two coins, the prediction of Jerusalem's destruction by armies, cosmic signs of the Son of Man's coming, and a call to watchfulness.
Luke 22
Luke 22
The Last Supper with its words over bread and cup, the arrest in the garden, and Peter's denial with the Lord's look across the courtyard.
Luke 23
Luke 23
Two trials that find no fault, the Herod scene Luke alone includes, a crucifixion with words of forgiveness and paradise, and the centurion's verdict of innocence.
Resurrection
The empty tomb at dawn, seven miles to Emmaus, and the ascension at Bethany.
Luke 24
Luke 24
The empty tomb at dawn, the slow revelation on the road to Emmaus, the appearance to the eleven, and the ascension at Bethany close Luke's gospel.