New Testament
Luke
Luke, a doctor and careful historian, writes his Gospel with an eye for the overlooked: the poor, women, outsiders, the lost. His pages are full of joy and song, and of a Saviour who came to seek and to save what was lost.
Luke 5
Don't Be Afraid: From Now You Will Fish For People
“Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.”
Luke 5:31-32Never Too Lost To Be Saved
“Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.””
More about Luke
Luke begins, unusually, by telling us how he went about his work. He says he has carefully looked into everything from the beginning so that his reader, a man named Theophilus, might know the truth of what he had been taught. That care shows. Luke writes like someone trained to observe, with an eye for detail and a deep respect for the people at the edges of the story. Tradition remembers him as a doctor and a travelling companion of Paul, and whether or not we can prove every part of that, the Gospel reads as the work of a thoughtful, tender-hearted man who wanted to get things right.
What sets Luke apart is who he keeps noticing. The poor, the sick, women, foreigners, the disreputable: these are not background figures here but the very people Jesus seeks out. When Jesus calls his first followers after a great catch of fish, he tells Simon Peter not to be afraid, for from now on he will be catching people (5:1-11). When the religious folk grumble about the company he keeps, Jesus answers that it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick, and that he came for the very ones written off as lost (5:31-32). Luke clearly loved that about him, and it comes through on every page.
There is also a great deal of joy in this Gospel, and a surprising amount of song. The opening chapters ring with the words of Mary, of Zechariah, of old Simeon in the temple, ordinary people breaking into praise because God has remembered them. Luke wants us to feel the gladness of rescue, not just to understand it. So when ten lepers are healed and only one comes back to give thanks, the foreigner among them, Jesus tells him to rise and go, his faith has made him well (17:11-19). Gratitude, in Luke, is not a nicety. It is the natural sound of a person who knows they have been found.
If you have ever felt overlooked, or too far gone, or simply unimportant, Luke is a good place to sit for a while. The whole Gospel turns on the idea that the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost, and he goes looking in the places polite society would rather not visit. You do not have to clean yourself up first or prove your worth. Start with the story of the great catch, or the one grateful leper, and notice how often Jesus moves towards the very person everyone else has given up on. He has not given up on you either.
Questions about Luke
- Who wrote Luke's Gospel?
- The Gospel is traditionally attributed to Luke, remembered in the New Testament as a physician and a companion of Paul on some of his journeys. He also wrote the book of Acts as a second volume, addressed to the same reader, Theophilus. Luke himself was probably not an eyewitness to Jesus' life, and he says as much: he tells us he carefully investigated everything and drew on those who had seen it from the beginning. That openness about his method is one reason the Gospel has been so trusted. He wrote as a careful historian who wanted his reader to be sure of the truth.
- What makes Luke different from the other Gospels?
- Luke stands out for its tenderness towards the overlooked. More than the others, it dwells on the poor, on women, on outsiders and on people the respectable world had written off, and it shows Jesus deliberately seeking them out. It is also the most joyful Gospel, full of song in its opening chapters and full of parties and homecomings later on. The famous parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son are found here. If one phrase captures it, it is that the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost, and Luke means everyone the world had forgotten.
- What is the point of the ten lepers in Luke 17?
- In Luke 17:11-19 Jesus heals ten men of leprosy, but only one returns to thank him, and that one is a Samaritan, a foreigner the Jewish hearers would have despised. To him Jesus says, rise and go, your faith has made you well. The story is partly about gratitude, since nine simply walked away with their healing. But it is also about who truly sees what has happened. The outsider is the one who recognises the gift and comes back, and Luke loves that reversal. It is a quiet reminder that thankfulness is one of the surest signs of real faith.
Topics in Luke
The themes these verses speak to. Follow one to find related verses from right across the Bible.