About This Book

Luke writes so that believers may have settled certainty about what they have been taught, and so that the church may see with clarity the person and work of Jesus. The Gospel is attentive to historical detail and careful sequencing, yet its aim is pastoral, to strengthen faith by showing that God’s promises are being fulfilled in real places, among real people, through the mercy and authority of Christ. Luke is especially rich for preachers because it constantly joins doctrine to lived discipleship, and it shows the gospel moving outward, from Israel’s hopes to the blessing of the nations.

The story begins with God’s long awaited visitation, praise rises as the promised salvation draws near (chs.1 to 2). Jesus is then introduced as Spirit anointed and Scripture fulfilling, proclaiming good news that brings both comfort and controversy (chs.3 to 4). From there Luke displays the Son of Man calling sinners, bringing salvation, and revealing his glory in word and deed (chs.5 to 9), before the narrative turns on the decisive moment when Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, walking the road that will lead through rejection to victory (chs.9 to 19). The final section slows down in Jerusalem, teaching in the temple, interpreting suffering, and accomplishing the atonement that secures forgiveness, before the risen Christ opens the Scriptures and sends witnesses in the power of God (chs.19 to 24). Luke’s burden is to show that salvation is God’s planned mercy, accomplished by Christ, received by faith, and displayed in a life reshaped by grace.

Luke trains the church to trust God’s fulfilled promises in Jesus, and to follow the Son of Man with grateful, obedient faith.

Preach Luke with an eye for the book’s turning points, especially ch.4, ch.9, and the Jerusalem section, and keep pressing how assurance in God’s plan produces humble discipleship and joyful worship.

Structure of the Book

This outline is intentionally high level. It is designed to keep sermon planning tethered to the flow of the book.

1. Promises arrive and praise erupts
   Birth narratives, prophecy fulfilled, and early glimpses of the Messiah’s identity and mission, chs.1 to 2
2. The Son of Man is introduced and commissioned
   Preparation, testing, and the Spirit anointed proclamation that fulfils Scripture, chs.3 to 4
3. Calling sinners and forming disciples
   Authority in word and deed, the gathering of disciples, and the shaping of kingdom life, chs.5 to 7
4. Salvation displayed and the question of identity sharpened
   Compassion, deliverance, and growing revelation of who Jesus is, chs.7 to 9
5. The great journey to Jerusalem
   Jesus sets his face toward his “taking up” and teaches disciples on the way, reordering priorities and exposing hearts, chs.9 to 19
6. Jerusalem, the temple, and the King’s rejection
   Conflict with leaders, searching questions, warnings, and preparation for the climactic sacrifice, chs.19 to 21
7. The passion, resurrection, and the opening of the Scriptures
   Passover, the cross, the empty tomb, and the risen Christ commissioning witnesses, chs.22 to 24

Key Themes

• Fulfilment and divine direction, Luke repeatedly shows that events unfold according to God’s promise and purpose, not human momentum.
• The Son of Man, Jesus is both identified with us and uniquely authorised by God, moving toward suffering and vindication.
• Salvation in its full breadth, rescue from sin and death, forgiveness, restoration, and a new way of life that reaches the poor and the outsider.
• Joy, praise, and worship, salvation produces doxology, and Luke often answers revelation with songs, blessing, and glad obedience.
• The Holy Spirit, the Spirit empowers Jesus’s ministry, brings prophetic clarity, and prepares the church for witness.
• Reversal and grace, God lifts the lowly, humbles the proud, and welcomes the repentant through undeserved mercy.
• Prayer and dependence, Jesus prays at key moments and teaches his disciples to ask, seek, and trust the Father.
• Discipleship on the road, following Jesus means reordered loves, costly allegiance, and perseverance toward the kingdom.
• The mission horizon, Luke moves toward a widened people of God, anticipating the worldward witness that continues in Acts.

Recommended Commentaries

Recommendations are grouped to help you build a working shelf. A top choice aims to serve as your primary companion for preaching and teaching. A strong recommendation provides a second trusted voice that complements your main volume. A useful supplement helps with structure, background, or a particular angle, without demanding more time than it is worth.

• Lukeby R.C. Sproul, Score: 9.4

  A warm, Christ-exalting, pastorally rich exposition of Luke that serves both preacher and believer with clarity and depth.

• The Message of Lukeby Michael Wilcock, Score: 8.6

  A clear, Christ-centred guide to Luke that serves pastors and teachers with real clarity.

• The Gospel Of Lukeby J. Norval Geldenhuys, Score: 8.5

  A reverent and theologically steady evangelical exposition of Luke that continues to serve the church.

Browse all Luke reviews

Extra help is often most valuable in chs.1 to 2 for Luke’s fulfilment patterns, ch.4 for Jesus’s programmatic announcement, chs.9 to 19 for the travel section’s shape, and chs.22 to 24 where Luke’s theology of the cross and resurrection is tightly woven into the narrative.

Preaching and Teaching Helps

Luke is richly rewarding, but it benefits from deliberate planning, especially because the Gospel alternates between scene driven narrative and longer teaching that shapes disciples over time.

• Preach the turning points clearly, mark ch.4 as the mission manifesto, and ch.9 as the major pivot toward Jerusalem, so hearers feel the book’s forward pull.
• Handle the travel section with wise pacing, chs.9 to 19 contains sustained discipleship formation, consider shorter units that still preserve the road motif.
• Keep repentance and assurance together, Luke offers strong comfort for the penitent and sharp warnings for the self assured, do not mute either.
• Use repeated patterns for clarity, Luke often places scenes side by side to teach contrasts and to deepen impact, let those pairings do their work.
• Preach mercy without sentimentality, Luke’s compassion is holy and purposeful, it confronts sin while welcoming sinners into a changed life.
• Make the cross the interpretive centre, do not treat the passion as merely the ending, it is the meaning of the whole journey and the ground of all Christian confidence.

This Book in the Story of Scripture

Luke stands as a bridge between Israel’s long expectation and the church’s global mission. The Gospel shows God visiting his people in faithfulness to covenant promise, and it presents Jesus as the Spirit anointed Messiah who brings the true jubilee, liberation, forgiveness, and restoration. Luke’s storyline is not a collection of inspiring episodes, it is the unfolding of God’s determined rescue, moving toward Jerusalem where the Lamb is given, and then outward as the risen Lord opens the Scriptures and prepares witnesses for the nations.

Luke shapes the church’s life by grounding assurance in God’s fulfilled plan and in the risen Christ’s continuing reign. It forms holiness that looks like repentance and humble obedience, worship that overflows in praise, and mission that flows from mercy received. It also steadies pastors by showing that real discipleship includes slow learning, repeated correction, and patient grace, and that the Lord remains faithful as he brings his people from fear to joy and from confusion to witness.

Because God has fulfilled his promises in the crucified and risen Christ, the church follows with obedient faith, worships with glad assurance, and speaks the gospel to the world with hope.