The Bible OverBrew - Bible in a YearSample

Week 42. Day 1. Luke 1-2.

Introduction to Luke's Gospel.

‘The Gospel according to Luke bears a striking resemblance to the narratives in Samuel (…) Like Samuel, Luke-Acts is a story of reversals, with the small and weak exalted while the proud and strong are brought low.’ (Hamilton, 392)

Just as Hannah’s song introduced the main themes of Samuel, so also Mary’s song will introduce the similar main themes of Luke.

One other distinctive of Luke is the emphasis on the Spirit empowering Jesus’ ministry. This will be matched in Acts by the Spirit now being poured out on the disciples as they continue his ministry.

Luke 1-2. Infancy narratives

1:1-4 Prologue. What does Luke tell us about his method and purpose?

1:5-25 What do we learn of John’s mission?

How does Mal 4:5-6 inform how we are to view John and his mission?

As you read the rest of chapters 1-2, note down all that is said about who Jesus is and what he will do (there of course may be overlap between these two)

• Who Jesus is
• What Jesus came to do

1:46-56 Mary’s song. (c.f. Hannah’s song in 1 Sam) What are the main emphases of Mary’s song?

2:25-26 Simeon is longing for the ‘consolation’ of Israel, which is the same word as the Greek version of Isaiah 40:1 ‘comfort’. I’m persuaded that Simeon is longing for Isaiah’s prophecies of hope to come true.

If you have time, flick back to Isaiah 40-55 and remind yourself of some of these glorious promises.

NOTE: Days 1-5 of each week contain the scripture reading for that week. Day 6 has just the 'key chapters'. If you want a briefer version of this plan that still takes you through the whole Bible, you could just read the key chapters featured on day 6. Day 7 has the podcast video where we discuss the week's reading.