the gospel according to Luke

Luke, one of the authors of the Gospel accounts of Jesus, wrote his testimony primarily to a non-Jewish audience so that they could further understand the life of Jesus, who he was and what he taught. Luke wrote this in about A.D. 70.

There are two areas of interest for me this time that I read through the Gospel of Luke…one is the issue of fear/afraid and the other is the personal ways in which Luke includes names in his account. So I will take it from the beginning and introduce us to each person for the first time that they appear in action (I will not list here names of those from the past or names of people who are off-stage but the main actors.) Then I’ll list the passages where fear comes into play. Here we go…

Theophilus (this is who Luke wrote the book for)
Zechariah- a priest
Elizabeth- wife of Zechariah
Gabriel- angel of the Lord
Mary- virgin pledge to be married to Joseph
The Holy Spirit- he over-shadowed Mary so she conceived a son
John- the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth
Joseph- pledged to be married to Mary, hometown Bethlehem
Jesus- Christ the Lord
Simeon- righteous and devout man in the temple
Anna- prophetess in the temple
Herod- locked up John in prison
God- in a voice from heaven said to Jesus at his baptism, you are my Son whom I love…
the devil, later in the book called Satan- tempting Jesus in the desert
Simon- also called Simon-Peter, a fisherman …Jesus went to his house and healed Simon’s mother-in-law
James and John- the son’s of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Levi- tax collector who followed Jesus
Jesus’ 12 apostles (some have been listed already):
Simon
Andrew- Simon’s brother
James
John
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
James-the son of Alphaeus
Simon the Zealot
Judas the son of James
Judas Iscariot-became a traitor
Simon- a Pharisee that invited Jesus to dinner the night expensive perfume was poured on Jesus’ feet
3 women who helped to support Jesus:
Mary- called Magdalene had 7 demons come out of her
Joanna-the wife of Cruz, the manager of Herod’s household
Susanna
Legion- the name of a powerful demon that Jesus cast into a herd of pigs
Jairus- ruler of the synagogue whose 12 year old girl was dying
Moses and Elijah- met up with Jesus to talk about his departure
Martha- she opened her home to Jesus
Mary- Martha’s sister (she chose what was better)
Zacchaeus—a rich tax collector that now has salvation
Pilate- finally gave Jesus to the people for crucifixion, even tho he tried 3 times not to
Barabbas- a criminal that was released rather than Jesus
Joseph of Arimathea- a member of the Council that was waiting for the King of God and he wrapped Jesus’ body and lay him in a tomb.
Mary the mother of James-she was wth the other women at the empty tomb of Jesus.
Cleopas—one on the road to Emmaus and Jesus met with him


Fear and afraid in Luke
1:12-13 Zechariah was gripped with fear but the angel said, “do not be afraid”…
1:30 the angel said, “do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God.”
2:10 angel said to the shepherds “do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy…
5:10 Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”
8:25 when the boat was about to go down and Jesus speaks to the storm and it is calm the disciples “in fear and amazement ask each other, “who is this?”
8:50 someone came from the house of Jairus saying his daughter had died. Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
9:44-45 Jesus was telling his 12 about his betrayal …and they were afraid to ask him about it.
19:21 “I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man.” Part of a parable that Jesus told of a king and some minas.
20:19 “The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.” After Jesus told the parable of the vineyard and the owner sending his son who he loved and the tenants killed him.
21:9 Jesus told his disciples “when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened.
21:11… there will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
21:26 …Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
22:2..it was Passover time “and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.
23:40…but the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God, “ he said…
24:5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “ why do you look for the living among the dead?
24:37… the disciples were in a room talking together saying Jesus had risen when he stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” They were started and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

The Gospel According to Luke
Author: Luke (who later wrote Acts)
46 page in large leather Bible