◄ Luke Devotional Commentary ►
Luke 1:4
As with any historian, Luke sets out to use all the available source material and eyewitness accounts of all that the Lord Jesus began to do and to teach during His earthly life. Luke's Gospel begins with the joyful news of the conception and birth of John the Baptist who was appointed by God to be the voice of one shouting in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight."
Though all Scripture read more...
Luke 1:7
Our God is a God of miracles and Luke organised his book so that the miraculous conception and birth of John the Baptist was directly linked with the supernatural conception and birth of God's only begotten Son. And we discover they were cousins.
John was the charismatic forerunner of the Lord Jesus, and he powerfully proclaimed the arrival of Israel's Messiah-King. He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, and he read more...
Luke 1:11
Zacharias had been chosen to offer the morning and evening sacrifice before the Lord. This was the highest honour a priest could be awarded, and it was a once in a lifetime privilege to be selected to minister before the Lord in this way. It was in the midst of his allotted work while he was going about his daily duty before the Lord, that this man of God received a visitation from an angel of the Lord and was given instructions from the God he served.
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Luke 1:26
Doctor Luke was a talented historian who paid careful attention to every little detail of Christ's life and ministry. He began his good news of the gospel of Christ, based on authentic and corroborated eyewitness accounts from servants of the Lord.
Luke wrote of all that Jesus started to do from the beginning of His earthly ministry until He ascended into heaven from a mountain, close to the little town of Bethany, leaving His read more...
Luke 1:28
Six months after her cousin, Elizabeth, gave birth to John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel appeared once more - to bring Mary, a simple, young virgin who lived in Nazareth, some astonishing news: "Greetings, favoured one," he announced, "the Lord is with you."
The word, 'favoured' is closely related to the noun, 'grace'. Mary found favour with God - she found grace in the eyes of the Lord. A read more...
Luke 1:31
There is no more beautiful name than the lovely name of the Lord Jesus. In Hebrew, His name is Joshua, which means 'the Lord is Salvation', and His life and death was poured out to pay the price for humanity's sin, for sins past, sins present, and sins to come. But here in Luke's Gospel, we read that His name shall be called Jesus, because He was the one to save His people, Israel, from their sins.
Having been saved by grace read more...
Luke 1:32
The birth of every baby is a wonderful miracle of life, but the birth of the Lord Jesus was the miracle of new life that had been planned by the Most High God in eternity past. The eternal, uncreated Son of God, Creator of heaven and earth, and second Person of the Triune Godhead Who upholds all things by the omnipotent power of His mighty hand, was to come to earth and to be born as a little tiny, vulnerable baby boy, in a prepared human body that was free from read more...
Luke 1:33
It was not long after Zechariah and Elizabeth had been told of the miraculous conception of their son, who was to become forerunner of the promised Messiah as foretold by the prophet Isaiah, that Mary, a young virgin from Nazareth, was highly favoured. She was visited by the angel Gabriel, the mighty messenger from the Lord, who brought her tidings of great joy.
Like Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, and Elizabeth before her, Mary had found read more...
Luke 1:35
The angel Gabriel visited the young Mary of Nazareth to inform her of God's gracious favour towards her, for she had been chosen to give birth to the long awaited, promised Messiah Who was to sit on the throne of His father David, to reign over the house of Jacob forever. And His kingdom was to be an everlasting Kingdom. God is indeed the God of the impossible.
A plethora of heavenly truths pounded on the ears of this humble young read more...
Luke 1:37
This is the beautiful passage that announced to Mary the conception and birth of the lovely Lord Jesus Who is the Messiah of Israel, Saviour of the world, Kinsman-Redeemer of humanity, and Son of the sovereign God Who is the highest authority in the universe. The Lord promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, and nothing can change this promise.
God promised Abraham an earthly inheritance Whose Builder read more...
Luke 1:45
This young, teen-age virgin believed God's Word. She trusted that there would be a fulfilment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord, for she was part of Israel's faithful remnant. Mary was waiting for her Messiah.
She knew the prophecies and the oracles belonged to Israel. She knew theirs was the Shekinah glory, theirs were the covenants, the Law, and the prophets. She knew that her Saviour was coming one day - to visit and read more...
Luke 1:46
During her visit to her cousin, Elisabeth, the young Mary, who must have reflected frequently on the amazing mysteries which were told to her by the angel Gabriel, exploded into an ecstatic song of rejoicing praise and exultant exhilaration, as she sang her psalm of celebration - and marvelled at the wonderful work of God - her Saviour and her Lord.
Mary was one of a faithful remnant of Israel, who for 400 silent years had been read more...
Luke 1:47
God's plan of redemption had been unfolding for 4000 years. The 'Seed-of- the-woman' had silently travelled through time and secretly passed from one generation to the next, until the appointed time when God sent His Son, born of a Jewish virgin, to save His people from their sins. Only a sinless Man could offer Himself as the sacrifice for the sin of the world, and only God was good enough to pay the unfathomable price of sin.
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Luke 1:53
In her glorious song of praise to God for the great gift that lay hidden in her secret place, Mary celebrates the grace, mercy, and faithfulness of God. She pronounces an eternal truth that rejoices all who seek after the Lord with a needy heart, in humility of spirit, and a deep, hungering longing for Him.
The whole of mankind, whether they be rich or poor, sinner or saved - all rely upon God's grace and bounty. Man cannot so read more...
Luke 1:63
The song of rejoicing that Zechariah sang at the celebration of the birth of his baby son, was a touching foretelling of the important, prophetic role his child would play in life and times of Israel and their promised Messiah.
It was on the eighth day, when the baby John was to be circumcised in the presence of all his neighbours and read more...
Luke 1:68
Zachariah's unbelief when told that his old, barren wife, Elisabeth, was to bear a son who would be the forerunner to the Messiah, was replaced with a heart of thanksgiving and praise at the birth of his little baby boy.
The old priest had been filled with doubt when the angel announced the good news, but with the birth of his son he was filled with the Spirit and inspired to articulate a most beautiful hymn of rejoicing and read more...
Luke 1:69
Salvation is from the Lord, and God has raised up a Horn of salvation. A horn in Scripture denotes strength and authority, might and power, and God has raised up a Horn of salvation for us, a strong and mighty Saviour from the house and lineage of Israel's king David Who was to have the authority and power of the Almighty God.
Israel had been waiting for 400 silent years, but slowly and secretly the plans and purposes of God were read more...
Luke 1:78
The glory of God had left the Temple and for centuries, the voice of the prophets had been silenced in Israel. But the Lord had not forgotten His people, for the day at last came when once again He spoke through the mouth of Zacharias who was to utter a prophecy that the promised kingdom of God, and salvation "through the long-awaited Messiah," was at last dawning.
It was through God's grace and love that the read more...
Luke 1:79
After having been struck dumb for nine months because he doubted God's power to give him and his elderly wife, Elisabeth, a child – Zechariah's son, John, was born amidst much rejoicing and praise.
Zechariah was an elderly priest who was given a wonderful answer to prayer. In a vision from the Lord, he was told that his prayers had been answered and that his wife was to bear a son who was to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. The child's name was read more...
Luke 2:1
No matter where we are in the timeline of history and regardless of our geographical location, we know with certainty that God is in control. No matter what our personal situation may be and irrespective of the evil and madness that is permeating the nations today, we have an assurance that God will use all things that affect our lives, and the nations of the world, whether they are good or evil, to forward His perfect plans and purposes for our eternal benefit and read more...
Luke 2:4
Luke's record of John the Baptist stressed the importance of his name, while his account of Christ's birth paid particular attention to our Lord's place of birth and the political issues that caused Mary and Joseph to travel to their ancestral town. Their journey to Bethlehem was in response to an empire-wide decree from Caesar Augustus, to carry out a census of all Roman territories: "So that all the world could be taxed."
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Luke 2:5
We read in Luke, that a decree was published from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of the entire Roman world. It was the first such registration and was carried out when Quirinius was governor of read more...
Luke 2:10
"Fear not" were the first words that were spoken by the angel of the Lord, who came upon an insignificant group of shepherds, when they were abiding in the fields one night, keeping watch over a flock of sheep - close to the little town of Bethlehem.
Bethlehem was the city of David, through whom God had promised to send a Saviour, Who would shepherd His people Israel. The angel was a messenger, sent from the Lord, to tell read more...
Luke 2:11
Despite the testimony of John the Baptist, which announced the arrival of Israel's Messiah-King, and the many signs and wonders that Jesus performed during His earthly ministry, we read that the Lord Jesus was despised and rejected by the religious leaders of His day. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I wonder why the religious leaders rejected His heavenly witness.
In spite of His own gracious words, His read more...
Luke 2:14
What a glorious sight those shepherds must have encountered that night when the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared before them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them - as they tended their little flocks of sheep, on those dark hills encircling the little town of Bethlehem.
No wonder the Bible records that they were sore afraid. But what a great consolation to hear the angel's comforting words, and receive his read more...
Luke 2:26
Simeon is an example of a faithful man that walked with God. He is described as righteous and devout, and unlike the rest of the religious leaders he was looking forward, with great anticipation, to 'Israel's consolation'.
He enjoyed close fellowship with the Lord and was so in tune with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that: "It had been revealed to him, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before read more...
Luke 2:30
No doubt, from the time it had been revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ, Simeon wondered every day: "Is it today, Lord? Will today be the day I see the promised Messiah of Israel?" We are not told whether he expected a fully grown man or a newborn babe, but he had total reassurance that he would not see death until He had seen the Lord's Messiah; the holy One of God, promised to Israel so long ago.
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Luke 2:32
Simeon was a righteous man who had been promised by God that he would not die before he had seen with his own eyes the promised Hope of Israel, the appointed Messiah Who would save His people from their sin. Simeon had been given a promise from God that he would not die until he had seen the One for whom all Israel was waiting; the Seed of the woman, the Messiah of Israel, the Servant of God, the Saviour of the whole world.
He read more...
Luke 2:40
The second chapter of Luke's Gospel gives the greatest insight into Christ's early years, His childhood, and His pre-ministry preparation. Luke sets out a timeline that begins with His birth at Bethlehem, His presentation to shepherds in the field, circumcision, dedication, and presentation to saints in the Temple.
It records the prophecy of Simeon and the testimony of Anna, the old prophetess, and allows us glimpses into His read more...
Luke 3:7
It was in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, that the voice of John the Baptist resounded across the wilderness: "Prepare ye way of the Lord. Make His path straight." The humble in heart would be saved and satisfied, while the proud and arrogant would be brought low. Dishonest men would become morally upright, while those that were uncouth and crude would become submissive and refined.
John had been read more...
Luke 3:16
John the Baptist strode onto the pages of history after 400 years of prophetic silence. He came as the forerunner of the Jewish Messiah. He was sent in fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, for John referred to himself as 'a voice crying the wilderness'. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," he shouted, "Make His path straight."
Many wondered if John was the Messiah, but he vehemently denied this and bore witness that read more...
Luke 3:21
It was only after all the people had been baptised that finally Jesus came to the banks of the Jordan to be baptised of John, the final prophet and priest of Israel and forerunner of the Messiah. Oh, He was not being baptised with John's baptism of repentance, for the holy Lamb of God was sinless.
Jesus had come to fulfil all the righteous requirements of the Law that were demanded for the role of God's High Priest. And so, like read more...
Luke 3:22
The baptism of the Lord Jesus is a beautiful picture of the Trinity working in harmony, and this verse is a glorious illustration of the Godhead meeting in unity. What an astonishing happening that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should unite at this significant moment in history, when the eternal Son of God as the perfect Son of Man is commissioned to begin His earthly ministry to a lost and dying world.
Christ was in prayer when read more...
Luke 3:23
It appears that His baptism in the Jordan was a particular milestone in Christ's life, which divided His three and a half year ministry from His pre-ministerial period. It was while Jesus was praying at His baptism that the voice of God was heard authenticating Him as: "My beloved Son, in Who I am well pleased," while the Spirit of God descended upon Him in bodily form, like a Dove.
Luke includes Christ's genealogy at read more...
Luke 3:38
The host of heaven and shining stars were created of God in one mighty moment: "Let there be..." But God formed one man from the dust of the ground that He had just created: "And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being in the image of God." Adam became the unique father of the race of men: "And Adam was of God."
Every human being was not read more...
Luke 4:1
"This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased," were the wonderful words of encouragement that thundered from heaven when the Lord Jesus fulfilled all righteousness, by being baptised by John in the Jordan river. Christ's earthly ministry and three-year trek to Calvary's bitter cup which had been prepared for Him before the foundation of the world, was about to begin.
The first Adam had failed miserably to fulfil the read more...
Luke 4:14
At His baptism, the Lord Jesus was endowed with the Holy Spirit when the Spirit of God descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, after which Jesus, Who had been filled with the Holy Spirit, was led away from the Jordan River into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days and was tempted of Satan; and triumphed.
At the beginning of His ministry, we discover the Lord Jesus to be both supported by the Spirit and led by Him, read more...
Luke 4:18
For thirty-three years, the God of the universe stepped out of eternity into time. He broke into the timeline of the earth's history as the perfect Man, in order to secure redemption for all who would believe on His name.
He was the anointed One Who would redeem His people, as foretold by the prophets of old. He came as God incarnate – fully God, yet fully Man so that His shed blood would pay the full price of mankind's bottomless swamp of sin.
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Luke 4:18
Jesus had been teaching the good news of the gospel of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel for over a year. God's kingdom had finally arrived for He was indeed the promised King of Israel Who will one day sit upon the throne of His father David. Jesus was the prophesied Jewish Messiah and Saviour of the whole world Who will one day bring in His eternal kingdom, for He is King of kings, Lord of lords, and God incarnate.
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Luke 4:19
The Lord Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the grace of God, and on one specific day in the synagogue at Nazareth, He stood up to proclaim His revolutionary mission: that He was the promised Messiah of Israel and that He had come from God to address the enormous humanitarian problems on earth.
Jesus revealed that He would deal with poverty, sorrow, bondage, suffering, and oppression. He had come to proclaim the year of the read more...
Luke 4:40
We are fallen sinners living in a corrupted world, and we are incapable of keeping God's Law. We sin because we are born sinners. We were born dead in sin which means that that it is impossible for us to keep God's perfect Law. We know what is right but are unable to do it, and we know what is evil but often do things we know to be wrong. Paul put it this way, "The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not read more...
Luke 5:8
Peter and the other disciples had been witness to certain signs and wonders which we discover were designed to authenticate Christ's claims to be the anointed Messiah of Israel, for all that He said and all that He did was foretold by the prophets of old. We read of His power over unclean spirits and demons, which caused His fame to spread far and wide, and Peter himself was witness to many such healing and miracles. Peter had seen his own mother-in-law brought read more...
Luke 5:31
The Holy Spirit of God was upon the Lord Jesus Christ Who was sent by the Father to bring good news to those that were afflicted. He came to bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to captives, to declare freedom to prisoners, and to pour out the Lord's favour on all who trust in Him.
Jesus came to comfort all who mourn... and to adorn each one with a glorious garland of beauty instead of ashes. He came to offer the oil of read more...
Luke 5:32
Jesus was the perfect Son of God and He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He did not come to save righteous people for there are no righteous people, not one, for all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God, and so all are sinners and all need a Saviour.
The Pharisees criticised the Lord Jesus for eating with sinners, not realising that from God's read more...
Luke 6:27
Just as true wisdom is spiritually discerned so godly love is only possible in the life of a believer, who is walking in spirit and truth. Godly love is very different from the selfish, self-seeking human love of the natural man or the carnal Christian. Godly love is a love that transcends human understanding.. a love that has died to all self-centered, human motivation.Godly love is a love that allows the supernatural love of Christ to be freely manifested within read more...
Luke 6:28
True righteousness and godly love are two sides of the same coin, but neither are possible by human effort, strict training, mortifying of the flesh, or self-denial. True righteousness and unconditional, godly love is the supernatural enabling of a child of God by the Spirit of God, through faith.
To love our enemies and to do good to those that hate us, is impossible in our own strength. Blessing those that curse us and praying read more...
Luke 6:29
In Luke's gospel, we find the Lord giving a similar message to the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew. However, He delivers this teaching in the low-lands on the plain. Indeed, in this 'Sermon on the Plateau', Jesus is not only speaking to His disciples, but also to the disinterested multitudes and hypocritical Pharisees that only followed Him for physical healing, self-help, or destructive criticism.
Christ's discourse, is read more...
Luke 6:30
A serious and thought-provoking discourse was given to Christ's chosen disciples and the wider multitude on the high cost of discipleship, in this radical sermon-on-the-plain recorded by Luke.
Jesus taught them four blessings that would be received by those who hungered after godliness and were persecuted for righteousness sake... while an equal number of woes were passed upon those who were rich and self-sufficient, popular with read more...
Luke 6:31
"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you," is often an aggressive accusation that is blurted out by someone who has been offended by another person and who does not understand the context or underlying principle upon which this instruction, from the Lord Jesus, is given.
In Matthew, we read a similar command: "Do to others whatever you would like them to do unto you," and this has read more...
Luke 6:35
Human nature generally indicates that we are able to love the people who love us. Unsaved men and women prove this to be true. Loving those that love us comes naturally, and although there may well be a selfish motive underlying human love, Jesus tells us that if you only love those that love you, there is no credit connected with this in God's divine administration.
Loving, lending, and giving to others, too often has an read more...
Luke 6:36
As children of God, we are called to follow Christ's example and to be imitators of Him. Jesus was the holy One of Israel and we are called to be holy, just as Christ was holy: "Be holy, for I the Lord Your God am holy," we are challenged. "Love as I have loved and be perfect, for I the Lord Your God am perfect."
We are instructed to be perfect in understanding, thoroughly furnished for every read more...
Luke 6:38
Christ's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is geared towards its Jewish listeners, while a similar teaching in Luke has Gentiles as its target audience.
The subject of both dialogues is the gospel of the kingdom, and Jesus begins His discourse in Luke with four blessings for those who by faith follow Him, and four woes for those who reject read more...
Luke 7:9
Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel as their Messiah and King, but He also came as Saviour of the world. Although His ministry was to the Jew first, He always showed great compassion to the Gentiles who came to Him for help. One person who asked for His assistance was a Roman centurion, whose highly-valued servant was sick and about to die.
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Luke 8:21
When we are physically born into the human race we become part of the family of man. We are born 'in sin' with a sin nature, dead in trespasses and sin, which makes us sinners and which means that we are estranged from God. We are born into the kingdom of darkness at birth and there is a permanently, impassable barrier that separates us from the God who created us. It is only when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation that we are transferred from the read more...
Luke 8:39
The Lord Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to restore man's broken relationship with God and redeem man's soul from death. He had just astonished His disciples by telling them that physical birth and human ties are not as important as our relationship with God: "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it," was Christ's astonishing revelation to His followers earlier that day.
They read more...
Luke 9:11
The Lord Jesus was 'the One Who was to come' as prophesied throughout the Jewish Scriptures. Jesus was sent by God the Father to be the Jewish Messiah and Saviour of the whole world. He was born into the Jewish nation and had come to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He had come as the Shepherd of His people. He had come to save His people from their sins.
Like so many before Him, John the Baptist was the last and read more...
Luke 9:20
The crowds had been following Jesus because of the mighty miracles He performed, but they did not understand the spiritual implications of His mission. The multitudes had just been miraculously fed with multiplied bread and fishes, but they were blinded to the reality of His ministry as: "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world."
And as the day of His crucifixion drew ever closer (when He would offer Himself read more...
Luke 9:23
The Lord Jesus had just finished His ministry in the Galilee area and set His face to Jerusalem. He started preparing His followers for His fast approaching death and Resurrection. He began training His disciples for their post Resurrection ministry, and increasingly He made hints about His person, His sacrifice on the Cross, and His coming kingdom.
Jesus not only started to explain privately to His disciples about His mission and read more...
Luke 9:35
Jesus was transfigured in front of the three disciples who were part of His 'inner circle', not long after Peter had made the earth-shattering confession: "You are the Christ the Son of the living God." For the first time in His life and ministry, the Lord Jesus gave this little group of men a taste of the heavenly glory that He had with the Father before the world began, a peep in the eternal glory that He had set aside, in order to live and die read more...
Luke 10:1
Jesus sent a group of 70 disciples (some manuscripts say 72) as heralds along the route that He was to take from Caesarea Philippi on His journey to Jerusalem. Their mission was to alert the people in the various cities and towns along the way, to the wonderful news that the kingdom of God was very near, and that Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, was soon to pass that way.
It was a very similar commission to the one that read more...
Luke 10:16
The Lord Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the Word of God Who became flesh. He is incarnate Deity Who came down from heaven to dwell among the children of men. He is the one and only Person in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. He came to reveal God to man and to mediate between man and God.
The eternal Son of God was born into the human race as the perfect Son of Man, and the radiance of His beauty read more...
Luke 10:20
As the Lord Jesus Christ continued His journey towards Jerusalem and the Cross, we discover an increasing opposition to His Messianic claims. As the day for His departure drew ever closer, we find Jesus preparing men for a ministry that would shortly be handed over to them. After His death, burial, and Resurrection, these men were to become members of His Body on earth - through whom the gospel of God would be taught to the far corners of the earth.
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Luke 10:22
There is only one eternal Creator of heaven and earth. There is only one Almighty God, and He has made it very clear that He will not share His glory with another. And yet we discover Jesus making the most astonishing claims, which if not true would be outrageous and even blasphemous. After His Resurrection, and just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus spoke to His read more...
Luke 10:25
For three years, the Lord Jesus presented Himself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel as their promised Messiah. He was the Saviour Whom prophets foretold would save His people from their sins, and long after Jesus explained to Nicodemus that a man must be born again to receive eternal life, we discover a lawyer who was an expert in the Law of Moses, who also came to the Lord Jesus to a seek an alternative way of salvation by asking the read more...
Luke 10:27
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" was a legitimate question that this man, who was an expert in the Mosaic Law asked the Lord Jesus. The Lord did not answer directly but responded with a counter-question: "What is written in the law?" He asked him, "and how do you read it?"
Oh, his quick reply came directly from perfect Law of Moses and with keen enthusiasm this clever lawyer was read more...
Luke 10:42
The Lord Jesus reminds us that without Him, we can do nothing. Our dependence upon His person and His provision is what He is seeking from all His children, if we are to grow in grace and produce good fruit to His praise and glory. One of the biggest dangers in our spiritual walk is to render service to Him without receiving from Him the sufficient strength to carry out the task.
Mary of Bethany is found on three occasions simply read more...
Luke 11:1
Although we often imagine the ministry of John the Baptist to be one of a passionate prophet who ate locusts and wild honey as he wandered in the wilderness and accused the proud, unrepentant Pharisees of being a brood of vipers, he was also a man dedicated to prayer who prayed in the in spirit and power of Elijah. John instructed his followers to pray passionately to their Creator God. But Christ's daily devotion to prayer was that of a beloved Son desiring read more...
Luke 11:2
When the Lord Jesus taught His disciple to pray, He did not give them a magic format to repeat as a vain repetition, but a method of prayer to use as they approached the throne of grace. This is also our model of prayer that embraces praise, worship, petition, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving, and fellowship with our Father in heaven.
We are to offer our prayers to our Father Who is seated in the heaven of heavens. We are read more...
Luke 12:15
How easy it is for a believer to take his eyes off the spiritual to concentrate on the temporal. How easy it is to look away from heavenly things and direct our attentions to earthly pursuits. The child of God is to have an eternal perspective, and the hope of a reward laid up for us in heaven should be a far greater incentive for us to live a life that is pleasing to the Father than the accumulation of things that will soon pass away in this world. But too often, read more...
Luke 12:22
Somehow in the human psyche, we quite 'like' to have a few 'worries' under our belt. Everyone seems to be worried about this and that, about relationships and redundancies, life and living, health and happiness, food and finances, the government and global issues, sleeplessness, stress, strain, and supply. But the Lord Jesus, in this extended dialogue to His followers, warns of the foolishness of fretting and futility of worry, for it results in a fruitless and read more...
Luke 12:27
When we worry and fret about things, it displays a lack of faith in our heavenly Father. Frequently in Scripture, we are called upon to refrain from worry and to cast all our cares upon Him, because He cares for us. We are reminded to cast our burdens upon the Lord for He has promised to sustain us. The Lord will never allow the righteous to be shaken. The eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous because He cares for His people, and His ears are open to their read more...
Luke 12:31
In this everyday world, the struggles and strivings in life have become an accepted 'norm'. This passage exposes the attitude of the majority, where a passion to accumulate wealth and the desire for more possessions, not only gives birth to greed and selfishness, but causes us to worry about things we need, strive for things we desire, crave things we want and fight to gain more 'things' in the roundabout of life.
However, the read more...
Luke 12:32
The Messiah was SENT by God to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was their true and faithful Shepherd, and they were the sheep of His pasture. He came in fulfilment of prophecy and authenticated His Messianic claims with many signs and wonders. But Israel as a nation rejected their promised Messiah, and those who recognised their Saviour proved to be a very insignificant little flock.
It was not to the religious read more...
Luke 13:6
For many centuries, God was long suffering towards His people, Israel, who refused to listen to His voice and turn from their wicked ways. At the appointed time, He sent the Lord Jesus to His people, as He promised, Who for three years called them to repent of their sins and turn to Him for salvation.
Jesus was Israel's Good Shepherd of the sheep. He was the Bread of Life upon Whom they were to feed by faith with thanksgiving. He read more...
Luke 13:7
God knows the end from the beginning. He knew Israel would treat John the Baptist's call to repentance with disdain and reject Christ's Messianic claims. He knew Jesus would be despised by the Jews and crucified on a Roman cross. He knew He would come to His own people to claim His rightful position as King but would not be received. BUT God had to fulfil His promises to the patriarchs, which is why much of Christ's early teaching was only to the lost sheep of read more...
Luke 13:8
The Jews incorrectly considered that personal sin was the only reason for accidents and tragedies. They told Jesus about a terrible incident when Pilate mixed the blood of certain Galileans with their religious sacrifices. They considered these men must have been terrible sinners for this to happen to them. However, Jesus rejected their supposition and used the parable of the fig tree to explain that although sin is the root of all tragedies, it is not necessarily read more...
Luke 13:19
Christ's messianic credentials were authenticated through the mighty signs and miracles He performed in Israel, causing the crowds to wonder if He was going to set up His Messianic Kingdom there and then and free them from the tyrannical rule of their Roman overlords. Although He had many critics who did their best to discredit His claim, their baseless accusations were silenced and the common people of Israel rejoiced because of the wonderful miracles Jesus did in read more...
Luke 13:34
I think this must be one of the most grievous things that the Lord Jesus had to go through in His ministry, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They had been chosen as God's people, through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. They were given the holy Scriptures and the promises of God Who pledged to send a Messiah Who would save His people from their sins.
They were unique among the nations, for they were read more...
Luke 14:27
God in the Person of Jesus Christ came to earth and was born into His own creation so that all who believe in His finished work on Calvary's Cross for the forgiveness of sin, might be forgiven and have eternal life.
The Father's offer of salvation is open to whosoever will come as a free gift of grace. But discipleship sets out some very rigorous requirements, for when it comes to true discipleship, the Lord Jesus is more read more...
Luke 15:11
Jesus came to die for the sin of everyman, because all have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God and no one reaches the perfect standard that He demands. Jesus came to call all men to repentance, to turn from their sins and to turn back to God, for there are none righteous, not even one.
All men need forgiveness of sins in order to be brought back into a right relationship with God if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven, read more...
Luke 15:21
The parable of the prodigal son is connected to a section that contrasts the rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that cries out to God for the forgiveness of sin, with the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of Christ's day who trusted in their own righteousness and were blinded to the reality of their sins. Both the prodigals and the Pharisees grieved their Heavenly Father, and both were in need of His gracious forgiveness.
In read more...
Luke 16:13
Elijah once challenged Israel: "How long will you hesitate between two opinions?" And James warned Christians that an indecisive and double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
It was Christ Himself Who taught: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other."
Conflict of interest read more...
Luke 16:31
There are many that deny the existence of the fires of hell and refuse to believe that eternal separation from God awaits those who refuse to trust in Christ for their salvation, and yet there are many passages that warn of this terrible place of torment, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Jesus, Himself, tells us he who believes is not condemned, but he that does not believe is condemned already - because he has not believed in the only read more...
Luke 17:26
As His ministry progressed, Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God would come. They liked the idea of a time of peace and prosperity when the wolf would lie down with the lamb and each of them would sit under their own fig tree in the kingdom of God. But the carpenter from Nazareth Who had become a controversial, itinerant teacher, did not present Himself as the conquering King Who would sit on David's throne.
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Luke 18:1
So much of the Lord's teachings were demonstrated through stories and parables, but familiarity with the text and a less than perfect translation has often reduced the urgency of a message or conceals the significant truth that lies within.
In his Gospel, Luke was seeking to convey the absolute necessity and the imperative demand for men to pray at all times, to remain in constant communion with the Lord, and not to lose hope or read more...
Luke 18:7
Christ uses the parable of the widow woman and the unjust judge to encourage us to be continually in prayer, to pray without ceasing, and to remain in constant communion with the Lord as we petition Him for the blessings we need from His gracious hand, especially when those blessings seem to be delayed.
This is not a teaching that describes a God as a worldly judge Who is reluctant to bestow His blessings, but rather a generous read more...
Luke 18:27
Jesus told His disciples: "The things that are impossible with men are possible with God." He told them this just after He had been approached by a rich young ruler who asked the Lord Jesus this important question: "Good teacher, what must I DO to inherit the kingdom of God?" The young man knew the Scriptures and recognised that Jesus was a good man.
This young Jewish man evidently considered that his own life read more...
Luke 18:41
Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of spiritually blind Israel during His First Coming. He was sent to heal them, to open their eyes, and to remove them from their former spiritual darkness. He was sent to bring them into His glorious light so that they might fulfil the ministry that had been entrusted to them so many centuries before, to tell the nations of the good news of God. And when the Lord Jesus read more...
Luke 19:10
I am sure when he got up that morning, Zacchaeus did not expect that before long he would be entertaining the Son of God in his own home.
As a rich, important, and chief tax-collector, he was an individual who was hated by the Jews, despised by the Romans, and was quite possibly a man who had been a swindler or a thief. But Jesus took time to come to him, to call to him, and to open up for him the path of salvation, for Jesus read more...
Luke 19:26
So much of the Word of God is written to the believer, and this verse is no exception - and although this parable was directed at the Jews who were about to reject their King and crucify their Messiah, it also has beautiful application to Church age believers. Just days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus visited the city of Jericho. He knew He was about to be rejected and crucified, but His plea continued to be towards the lost sheep of the house of Israel whom read more...
Luke 20:17
In the final week of Christ's ministry, the religious leaders became increasingly hostile towards Him. They challenged His authority and made many attempts to find fault in His person, His teaching, His miracles, and His Messianic claims. Many months if not years earlier, these pious people had blasphemed the Holy Spirit by accusing the Lord Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, and from that time forward He only taught in parables, for Jesus knew read more...
Luke 20:19
Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem caused the leaders of the Jews to become increasingly hostile towards Jesus. They furiously challenged His authority when he overturned the tables of the money changers in the Temple court. They refused to admit that John the Baptist was a prophet from God, for to do so would cause them to acknowledge - by default, that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel.
These religious leaders knew exactly read more...
Luke 21:37
Jesus was born to be the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world, and every step He took in life brought Him closer to the Cross. Jesus knew from the beginning that His Messianic claims would be rebuffed by Israel, even though the people enjoyed listening to His teaching and were fascinated by His miracles.
He came to earth at God's appointed time to bring Israel to repentance and return them back to true faith in God. Jesus read more...
Luke 22:19
The Lamb Who was slain from the foundation of the world, meekly stood before His disciples on this unique Passover of all Passovers, to proclaim: "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." Year after year, ever since the miraculous exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel had taken a little innocent, spotless lamb and slain it on the altar of sacrifice before the God of Israel, as a picture of the promised Messiah read more...
Luke 22:27
The Lord Jesus was sent by God to be the suffering Servant for the sin of mankind, and throughout His earthly life He became the perfect example of dignity, greatness, humility, and gracious service.
Imagine the scene: Jesus knew that the hour of His death had arrived when He would be despised and rejected of men, betrayed, denied, and deserted by His closest friends. He was about to be slain on a cross as Israel's Passover Lamb read more...
Luke 22:31
There is so much comfort in these words for all believers and much to learn as well. Job, Paul, and Simon Peter are all examples of men that Satan sought to sift as wheat, but the enemy does not have carte blanche authority to 'sift' or harm any believer he wants to whenever he wants to.
Satan must seek permission from God if he is going to try your faith or mine, or indeed the faith or any particular believer by inflicting read more...
Luke 22:32
The enemy is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and seeks to sift all God's children like wheat. However, he has to ask God's permission, and God is faithful and will not let any one of us be tempted beyond what we can bear. But what is so special is that the Lord Jesus as a Man understands our weaknesses, but as God He is both omniscient and omnipotent and He intercedes for us in the heavenly places so that our faith will not fail. We see Christ's read more...
Luke 22:42
In the final moments before being handed over to be crucified, the Lord Jesus was found earnestly praying to His Father about His forthcoming betrayal and crucifixion. Jesus had called His weary disciples to be earnest in prayer so that they would not fall into temptation. And as the appointed time for the work of redemption drew ever closer, the Lord Jesus is found on His face beseeching the Father: "If you are willing, remove this cup from read more...
Luke 22:53
During the hours before Christ's arrest, many things took place with great rapidity. After Jesus and His disciples had partaken of the Last Supper, Judas, who had been indwelled by Satan, left the Upper Room and returned to the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus into their hands. Jesus was not the Saviour he had expected and earlier in the day he had agreed to betray his Master into the hands of the Jews for 30 pieces of read more...
Luke 23:2
Jesus was looking forward to eating the feast of Passover with His disciples. He knew victory over sin, Satan, death, and hell, would be gained following His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, but first He had to face the terrors of the Cross when He would bear the sin of the world on His shoulders.
As the time for His exodus drew closer, we read of the terrible plot to kill Him, the treachery of Judas who betrayed Him, read more...
Luke 23:3
As recorded in the Law, the Passover lamb was to be examined for blemishes for four consecutive days. Only an unblemished animal could be used for this purpose. Jesus Himself fulfilled this legal requirement for He was God's Passover Lamb, and for four days before He was crucified on Calvary's Cross, He was examined. Jesus was questioned, tested, and scrutinised unrelentingly, by Jewish leaders, scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, but He was found to be read more...
Luke 23:26
The Jewish Passover lamb had to be inspected for four days before being slaughtered on the alter of sacrifice, because only a lamb that was unblemished could be offered to Jehovah. In the same way, Christ was scrutinised for four days prior to the Passover, by the scribes, Pharisees, Saducees, and leaders of the people, in a fruitless attempt to trip Him up so that they could accuse Him of blasphemy.
False witnesses were read more...
Luke 23:34
In the midst of the most shocking miscarriage of justice, when hatred against God and His Christ reach the pinnacle of humanities evil, we have a glimpse into the Father-heart of God and the infinite passion and love of the Son with these eternal words: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Despised, rejected, and dying on the Cross with outstretched arms of love to redeem mankind from their sins, the first thought on the mind read more...
Luke 23:43
The one and only Saviour of the world hung on a cruel wooden cross, with His arms of forgiveness wide open to all who would trust His name. The armies of heaven were at His disposal, but He could never respond to the jeering crowd that taunted, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and save Yourself," for to do so would have shut the door to paradise for everyone and slammed closed the gates of heaven forever, with no hope for mankind in the read more...
Luke 23:46
The precious beauty of this bloody scene is multiplied by the significance of the many wonders and beautiful words that accompany this amazing moment in the centre of time, space, and eternity. Heaven was hushed, and time stood still as the only begotten Son of God, as the perfect Son of Man, paid the price for the sin of the world.
Gracious forgiveness had been extended to whosoever would trust in His saving sacrifice, and a precious promise of read more...
Luke 24:2
To watch the Son of God suffer so cruelly on the Cross, must have broken the heart of so many people who loved this holy Lamb of God Who had come to seek and to save that which was lost.
We are told in Mark, that Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council who was also awaiting the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus, which he wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb. He had been a secret read more...
Luke 24:6
We are so familiar with the glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, through which we who believe have received His resurrected life, that we often lose the poignancy of the event. The grief-stricken women who loved their Lord so deeply and had witnessed Christ's excruciating punishment and death, had been prevented from anointing His body due to religious restrictions.
Many tears must have flowed after His death, as the annual read more...
Luke 24:21
The touching account of the two disheartened disciples walking the seven-mile journey to Emmaus is unique to the book of Luke, and gives a beautiful glimpse into the tender heart of our God.
Having just read of Christ's glorious Resurrection, been introduced to the women who sped to tell the apostles that Jesus is risen from the dead, and having read how Peter immediately rushed to the tomb and was amazed to see nothing but the read more...
Luke 24:26
Sometimes we can be so distressed or disappointed; so angry or worried; so hurt or fearful that we miss the incredible blessing that God has organised in our very midst. This is what happened to Christ's disciples following His cruel crucifixion. They were so deeply affected by the great travesty they had just witnessed, that they almost missed the incredible blessings that it brought in its wake.
Mary lingered such a long time read more...
Luke 24:27
For three days and nights, the Lord Jesus was buried in the securely guarded tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, but on that astonishing resurrection morning, long nights of weeping turned to joy and laughter as, first the women and then various individuals and groups of disciples, were visited by the risen Lord Jesus Christ - Who revealed Himself to those He loved and to those that loved Him.
One of the most beautiful meetings must have read more...
Luke 24:45
What an amazing Bible study those two disciples received from the Lord Jesus on the road to Emmaus that day, when He opened their hearts to understand the Scriptures - truths to which their minds had previously been blinded. It is possible that some of the passages to which the Lord referred were verses they themselves knew by heart, and most likely would have recognised from the weekly synagogue reading, they heard each Sabbath day in the local synagogue?
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