Bernward’s Doors: Presentation in the Temple, 1015
If your congregation follows the Revised Common Lectionary or the newer Narrative Lectionary, you could be hearing regularly from Luke’s Gospel (plus the Wedding at Cana from John 2) between now and Ash Wednesday, March 5. I actually love a long Season after Epiphany (marking the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus) because we keep learning more and more about Jesus, hearing more manifestations. That said, it can be a hard season to hold together thematically. You might consider, as Sundays and Seasons from Augsburg Fortress suggested, singing a gathering hymn like When Jesus Came to Jordan (ELW 305) or Songs of Thankfulness and Praise (ELW 310) for the entire season! Or you could simply keep stars up in the sanctuary for eight weeks. Luke’s Gospel has much to offer us during this church season and all year.
I first grew to appreciate this Gospel my first summer working on a Lutheran camp staff. Our weekly bible study that year was on the liturgical, or church, year and was largely shaped by Luke’s Gospel, for obvious reasons. All the Gospels include Jesus’ death and resurrection, but Luke’s Gospel also includes one of Jesus’ birth narratives and, if you read Luke-Acts as two volumes of one narrative written by the same author, the Pentecost story. That Lutheran camp also offered Morning Prayer (Matins) every morning for anyone who wanted to attend and worshiped using Prayer at the End of the Day (Compline) in the middle of each camp session. Both of those daily offices, along with Evening Prayer (Vespers), are anchored by one of the canticles sung in the first two chapters of Luke. In many ways, the canticles by Jesus’ mother Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon set up the rest of the rest of the Gospel:
the reign of God,
Jesus as Savior (deliverer and rescuer),
Jesus the Son of God and Son of Man,
warnings about wealth’s potential to corrupt,
prayer (which Jesus does often in Luke),
the activity of the Holy Spirit, and
attention to those on the margins of society.
Where might you go for resources on preaching or teaching Luke’s Gospel? About a year ago, I used this space to introduce a commentary on Mark’s Gospel and so I thought I would use this January column to name some of my favorite commentaries on Luke. None of this should prevent any of you readers from bringing your own life experiences and stories to this Gospel; something it sadly took me too long to learn to do. That said, a good commentary can be one of many helpful tools in the preaching and teaching toolbox.
For years I leaned heavily on Alan Culpepper’s Luke commentary in the New Interpreter’s Bible. More recently I have been turning to Joel Green’s older New International Commentary, which weaves together historical and narrative context.
Two new commentaries that could be interesting to read straight through, rather than turning to them for a particular passage, are Justo Gonzalez’ 2010 commentary in the Belief series and Robert Karris’ Eating Your Way Through Luke’s Gospel.
I also love visiting the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s lectionary to see which pieces of art they have paired with the Sunday scripture readings.
What is your favorite commentary or source for preaching and teaching on Luke (podcast, YouTube series, blog)?
Thanks to all of you who will be preaching the gospel and teaching across the Northwest Intermountain Synod in 2025!
Peace,
Bishop Meggan Manlove