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Luke.

Jesus the Saviour for all peoples — special attention to the poor, women, outsiders, and the marginalised.

Testament

New Testament

Section

Gospels

Chapters

24

Date

~80 AD; companion volume to Acts.

Who wrote Luke?

Luke the physician, Paul's companion.

Who was it written for?

Theophilus and Gentile Christians more broadly.

Structure

  • Birth narratives (1–2): the Magnificat, the shepherds
  • Galilean ministry (3–9)
  • The long journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:27)
  • Passion and resurrection (19:28–24)

Key verses

Why Luke matters

Luke is the most thorough Gospel ("I too decided… to write an orderly account," 1:3), the most concerned with social outsiders, and the source of some of Jesus's most-loved parables (the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the rich fool). The infancy narratives — Mary's Magnificat, the shepherds, Simeon and Anna — exist only in Luke. The Emmaus road conversation (chapter 24) is the great post-resurrection scene of disciples learning to read the whole Old Testament about Jesus.

Related tools

Read the book, then test it.

Kerygma's trivia rounds cover Luke in the Gospels stream — once you've sat with the overview, the questions go deeper into the text. Free for seven days.

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