The ... of St Luke

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
AND THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

As said on the previous page, the best way for us to get an overview of the story told by Luke in his two volumes is to follow its geography. We need to trace on this page the movements from place to place of Jesus and the Apostles.
To do this, I will give a number of references for you to guide you through the story; I will add a few comments. The answers are all factual, no tricks; just write down what you discover and see what emerges. Then you will be ready for the more detailed comments in my response.

The Gospel of Luke

Lk 1,9 and 2,41: the city and place at the centre of the overture.

Lk 4,14: Jesus begins his ministry.

Lk 9,17-18: Note the omission at this point of some of Mark's story (Mk 6,45-8,26). Where does Jesus go in Mark's story (Mk 7,31) but does not go in Luke's account?

Lk 9,51: this is an emphatic statement of departure.

Glance through the following chapters and pick up references to the journey. For example (and there are others): 9,52; 9.57; 10,38; 13,31-35; 17,11; 19,1; 19,28. How many chapters cover this journey?

Lk 19,45: the arrival. See also Lk 21,37

Lk 24,48: what is the command of the now risen Lord to his disciples? Note the contrast with Mk 16,7 and Mt 28,10.

Look now at my response.

The Acts of the Apostles

Acts 1,4: note here the overlap with the Gospel

Acts 1,8: Jesus sets out the programme for the disciples

Acts 2,5.14: beginning in Jerusalem.

Acts 8,1: the first break from Jerusalem - note the cause.

Acts 9,10; 11,19: further spread of the disciples.

Acts 11,22.27; 15,2; 20,16; 21,15 Jerusalem continues as the centre.

Acts 23,11: Final departure from Jerusalem

Acts 28,14: "And so we came to Rome"

Now look again at my response.

With that overall view of Luke's two part story, we have the framework in place for us to begin our reading of the Gospel.
Our next step will be to get an idea of the evangelist's aims and purposes. Luke gives these in the opening verses his Gospel which are a notably formal statement known as his prologue (1,1-4).

While these are the opening verses of the Gospel, they are also the beginning of the first chapter. We will therefore follow what will be our normal practice by first taking an overview of chapter 1, all 80 verses of it.