Jim Stephens' Gracenotes from Resource Ministries International

Epilogue to Luke’s Gospel

ByJim Stephens

Scripture: Luke 4:14-21

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:14-21 NLT)

The Gospels: I’ve done an in-depth run through Matthew’s and John’s Gospels in 2023 and now we’ve done Luke’s Gospel in the first half of 2026. I don’t think I’ll do an in-depth of Mark’s Gospel because virtually everything in Mark is given in more detail in Matthew and Luke and it seems to me it would be the same stories we’ve already looked at twice in the past few years.

Here are some things that stand out to me from my devotional reading of the Gospels:

  • Matthew emphasizes how Jesus fulfills the prophecies related to the Messiah. Lots of Jesus’ teachings.
  • Mark cuts to the chase. He gives us lots of stories and action. Less teaching.
  • John gives us relationship: Jesus to his Father, Jesus to his disciples, God as our Father. Remember that on the cross, Jesus gave John the care of Mary, his mother.
  • Luke aims his Gospel at us, because Luke was a Greek, writing for the Gentile world.
  • The verses above from Luke 4 quoting Isaiah 61 represent to me the theme and key emphasis of Luke’s Gospel story.

I’m looking forward to exploring Luke’s other letter, The Acts of the Apostles, starting tomorrow. It’s twenty-eight chapters filled with exciting stories. Not a lot of teaching. Really a lot of action! Let’s dig into it together!

Before we leave Luke’s Gospel, I’d really love to hear from you about anything that has particularly stood out to you this past few months in Luke. Anything that was a new and fresh insight, anything you found especially helpful or challenging. Reply to the email to comment. I’d Really Love To Hear From You!

Prayer:

Father, Thank you for your Book! We love you and we love your book! Amen!