A-Z: Books of the Bible: Luke

The story of the birth of Jesus is perhaps the best known of the gospel stories because of its celebration at Christmas. The story is told in different forms in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. In Matthew's account, the events are seen through the eyes of Joseph, a man who is horrified to discover that Mary, to whom he is engaged, is pregnant before their marriage. In a dream, Joseph is assured that this is God's doing and that he should marry her at once. He does so, but does not sleep with her. After Jesus is born in Joseph's ancestral town of Bethlehem, the family flees from the fury of King Herod, who has had news of the birth of another 'king' from some wise men from the east. These magi have followed a star seeking out Jesus, to present him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Luke tells Mary's side of the story. It is announced to Mary by an angel named Gabriel that she is to become pregnant by the power of God's Holy Spirit, even though she is a virgin. She assents to this. Later, she and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a Roman census and the baby is born in the squalor of a stable. But this is an event of 'great joy' proclaimed by angels to lowly shepherds, who immediately leave their sheep to pay the baby homage. Jesus is no ordinary baby, but God's son who will bring salvation to the world. This story is called the incarnation because God involved himself directly in the messiness of human life by becoming a human being in the person of Jesus.

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Big ideas: Messiah, Christ, Jesus

This is the account of a miraculous feeding of a large crowd in the desert. It recalls God's provision for his people of manna during their forty years wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus which is described in the Old Testament. At the end of a long day, the disciples of Jesus are unprepared when he challenges them to feed the large crowd who have been listening to Jesus. They wrongly assume that they have to buy bread, but Jesus takes charge and miraculously enables the crowd to be fed using only the five loaves and two fish which a young boy makes available. The story has two clear points ' Jesus is shown as being like a new Moses, supplying the needs of his people in the desert ' in John's gospel, Jesus portrays himself as 'the living bread from heaven', which reminds Christians of their celebration of holy communion / the eucharist / the Last Supper, and its reference to the bread of life.

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Big ideas: Miracles

This story, found only in Luke's gospel, was told by Jesus in response to a question posed by a lawyer: 'who is my neighbour?' The lawyer, no doubt expecting to be told that he should be neighbourly towards his fellow Jews would not have found this story at all comfortable. A man attacked by bandits and left for dead on the road to Jericho is ignored by a passing priest, then by a Levite, both of whom would have feared ritual uncleanness. Instead, the one who comes to his aid is a Samaritan, whom the other two would have despised. A sense of outrage is implied that such a figure could be held up by Jesus as a model of neighbourliness to a pious Jew. The point of the story was Jesus' challenging of such artificial barriers.

This story, again found only in Luke is one of three all illustrating the theme of God's mercy: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost/ prodigal son. The story centres on the younger of two sons who demands his inheritance early then squanders it on a life of debauchery, until he finds himself penniless in a famine-stricken land. Eventually, he comes to his senses and returns home to ask his father's forgiveness, hoping to be taken on as a servant. Instead, his father greets him rapturously and throws a huge party to celebrate his homecoming. The elder brother, meanwhile, on hearing the noise of merrymaking is outraged at his father's action and refuses to go in. His father urges him to do so, reminding him that he is equally loved. The story illustrates the joy of God the father at the return of a repentant child from the 'far country' of sin and alienation.

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Big ideas: Forgiveness, mercy and grace