A resource for The Big Read are these devotional notes covering the whole of Luke’s Gospel adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Download Daily Read – Luke as a pdf

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 24

Luke 24

v1-12: If the women had believed and taken notice of what Jesus had said, specifically, that He would be raised, the news of His resurrection “might not seem so surprising to them.” Notice that the angels did not tell the women anything new, but reminded them of what Christ had said. “Many things that are puzzling and perplexing to us would be both clear and useful if we only rightly understood the words of Christ and had them standing by us.”

v13-35: How does Christ by His Spirit make Himself known to His people? “He opens the Scriptures to them, because they testify about him to those who search them, and search for him in them.” He also meets His people at His table. “In the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper…often he makes further revelations of himself to them… he is known to them in the breaking of bread.” But there also needs to be an “opening of the eyes of their mind and the causing of the scales to fall from them.” If Jesus “who gives revelation does not also give understanding, we remain in the dark.”

v36-49: “By a direct and immediate work on their minds, which they themselves must have been aware of, he enabled them to grasp the true meaning and intention of the Old Testament prophecies of Christ and to see them all fulfilled in him.” We need to have our eyes opened, to be given understanding, to learn more, because even if we know much of Christ, there are still many things we are still in the dark about. “Christ’s students never learn beyond their Bibles in this world, but they need to learn more and more from their Bibles, and to grow more ready and mighty in the Scriptures. We need nothing more than to understand the Scriptures in order to have right thoughts of Christ and have our mistakes about him put right.”

v50-53: Like the high priest did when he blessed the people, Jesus lifted up his hands, and blessed the apostles, as Jacob blessed his sons. The apostles were “representatives of the twelve tribes, so that in blessing them he blessed all his spiritual Israel and put his Father’s name on them.” The blessing Jesus gave to them did not end when He ascended into heaven, because “the intercession that he went to heaven to make for all his people is a continuation of the blessing.” If we have receive Christ’s blessing, it is right that we adore Him and worship Him with grateful hearts.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 22-23

Luke 22

v1-6: Why did Christ choose someone who He knew was going to betray Him to be part of His group?  How could one, who knew Christ as those in his band of disciples did, be so evil to betray Him?  The answer to the first question is that “Christ had wise and holy purposes in taking Judas a disciple,” and as for the second, “it was the work of the Devil, who thought he would ruin Christ’s undertaking, that he would crush his head, but it proved only to be the bruising of his heel.”  If someone betrays Christ, or His truth or ways, “it is Satan who puts them up to it.”

v7-20: The bread we eat is given to us by Christ as food for our souls, “because nothing can be more nourishing and satisfying to our souls than the message of Christ’s atonement for sin and the assurance of our share in that atonement.” The blood shed, by which atonement was made, is represented by the cup and symbolises the new covenant made with us.  When we take the bread and the cup, we do so as those who needed Christ’s body to be broken and blood to be shed for us, and we trust that it has – that the Son of God love us and gave Himself for us.

v21-38: “Although there may be many weaknesses in the faith of true believers, their faith will not fail totally and finally” when drawn into sin.  This is because of the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ.  “If they were left to themselves, they would fail, but they are kept by the power of God and the prayer of Christ.” Jesus’ prayers for both the individual believer and all who believe, shows that we should also pray for both ourselves and for others too.

v39-46: “When we find ourselves—either by our outward circumstances or by our inward inclinations—entering temptation, we should rise and pray , “Lord, help me in this time of need.”

v47-53: The hour had come.  This was the hour that “Satan, the ruler of the darkness of this world, is allowed to do his worst, to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman.” It was only an hour.  A short time.  A limited time which had been appointed for them.  It was an hour that Jesus accepted would happen to Him.

v54-62: The look that Christ gave Peter was “a convicting look… a rebuking look… a pleading look… a compassionate look… a significant look.”  The look of Christ, accompanied by the grace of God, brought about a godly sorrow for sin in Peter’s heart which led to repentance.  This convicting, rebuking, pleading, compassionate and significant look is how Christ looks on us when we have sinned.

v63-71: For those who are determined not to believe, it does not matter how many convincing proofs they are given.  The Jewish leaders were expecting the Messiah, and though Jesus gave many amazing proofs that He was He, they still would not believe in Him.

Luke 23

v1-12: Jesus was accused of disloyalty to the Roman government and stirring up this disloyalty in his followers.  Yet the truth is that those who are Christ’s faithful followers will be good subjects of the civil government.

v13-25: Pilate knew that Christ was innocent and had done nothing to deserve either chains or death.  But fear stopped him from releasing Him and doing the right thing.

v26-31: We should weep for everyone who do not believe in Jesus, for they are facing ruin and destruction.  We do not need to weep for those in Christ for they are safe, and in death will enter perfect rest and joy.

v32-43: In Christ’s prayer for His enemies, we see the reason for His death.  He was suffering and dying so that sinners could be forgiven and pardoned.  Christ is now interceding for all who repent and believe in Him, “Father, forgive… all who will repent and believe the gospel.”  Forgiveness of sins for ourselves and others is “the great thing we must beg from God,” and wonderfully, “the greatest sinners may, through Christ, upon their repentance, hope to find mercy.”

v44-49: By committing Himself into His Father’s hand, Christ was doing two things. First, He was offering Himself up as the sacrifice for sinners, to be accepted instead of them.  Second, He was showing “his dependence on his Father for raising him from the dead by reuniting his soul and body. He commended his spirit into his Father’s hand to be received into Paradise and returned the third day.”

v50-56: “There are many who are sincere in their support of Christ’s interests who, though they do not make a show of their outward profession of faith, will be more ready to do him an act of real service when need be than others who appear more significant and make a louder noise.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 21

Luke 21

v1-4: Jesus Christ sees what we give to the work of the gospel and the relief of the poor.  “He notices whether we give much and generously, in proportion to what we have, or whether we are mean and give as little as possible. In fact, he looks even further: he watches to see whether we give charitably and with a willing mind, or grudgingly and with reluctance.”

v5-19: The disciples ask, ‘When?’ and Christ’s response is, ‘Watch out that you are not deceived.’  This reminds us that “those who are most inquisitive about the things of God—though it is very good to be so—are in most danger of being deceived and need most to stand on their guard.”  When we are convinced that Jesus is the Christ and that the gospel saves, “we must be deaf to all suggestions of another Christ and another gospel.”

v20-28: The destruction of Jerusalem was a kind of appearing of Christ and an act of His judgment.  It previews the terror and destruction that is coming to all unbelievers when Jesus returns.  On that day, those who refused in this life to see that He came first to save them, will be made to see Him coming to destroy them, as the unfaithful Jews did.

v29-38: We must watch and pray always.  Both to keep guard on ourselves and to maintain fellowship with God.  Knowing that the Lord is coming again, we need to “watch against sin, and watch [ourselves] to make sure you do every duty and make the most of every opportunity to do good” so that we will be counted worthy “to lead a life of praise in the next world.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 20

Luke 20

v1-8: Christ “not only purchased salvation for us but also proclaimed it to us.”  But often when He was preaching the gospel to people, he was interrupted.  “This shows us that Satan and his agents do all they can to hinder the preaching of the gospel to the people, because nothing weakens the influence of Satan’s kingdom more.”  We should not be surprised when this happen as we try to speak the good news to others.

v9-19: When people are called to do their duty to God, those who have decided not to “cannot bear to be called on to do it.”  Even when recognise that the punishment for such a sin is “just, fair, and predictable,” they “proceed and persevere in their sinful ways even though at the same time they have a foresight and a dread of the destruction that those ways are leading to.”

v20-26: In civil matters we should submit to civil powers, but in spiritual or sacred things, only God is our King.  “We must worship and adore God in such ways as he appointed, and not according to Caesar’s inventions.”

v27-38: In the world to come, saints cannot die any more, and this is given as a reason why they do not marry.  In the present world where there is death, “there must be marriage in order to fill up the empty spaces left by death, but where there are no burials there is no need for weddings…[as death] is forever excluded from heaven.”

v39-47: We can know why the Christ can be both David’s Son and David’s Lord.  “Christ, as God, was David’s Lord, but Christ, as man, was David’s Son… By his human nature he was the offspring of David, a branch of his family; by his divine nature he was the root of David, from whom David had his being and life and all the supplies of grace.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 19

Luke 19

v1-10: Christ came from heaven to earth to seek what was lost. He came into this lost world to seek and save it. “He seeks those who were not worth seeking; he seeks those who did not seek him, or ask for him.” Even though it is hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God, if Christ is seeking after one who is rich, they will be found and saved, like Zacchaeus was.

v11-27: All Christians have been given a great work to do now. They have been given the power and the abilities to make disciples – to catch fish in the gospel net or persuade guests to come to the wedding feast – and Christ expects those he gives power to, to serve Him in this way. We must continue to do this work till our Master comes, “whatever difficulties or oppositions we may face in it.”

v28-40: When we are tempted to draw back from serving Christ in anyway, consider how eager and willing Jesus Christ was to suffer and die for us. “He went forward, bound in the spirit, to Jerusalem; he knew very well the things that would happen to him there, and yet he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. He led the way, as if he longed to be on the spot, longed to engage, to take to the field, and to see action.”

v41-48: Our Lord Jesus looks on the “sin and foolishness of those who persist in showing contempt for [the gospel]” with great grief. His eyes weep over lost souls heading for destruction and so should ours. Our desire, like His, should be that they turn and live, because we don’t want anyone to perish.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 18

Luke 18

v1-8: God’s people are praying people.  We are to “communicate with him both continually and on particular occasions… both according to discipline and in emergencies,” and we must never become tired of praying.  This parable teaches us to persevere in prayer for both ourselves and for the church.

v9-14: We can be sure that if we pray, like this tax collector, through Jesus Christ, “God, be merciful to me a sinner”;  if we acknowledge that we are sinners “by nature and by practice, and guilty before God” and depend “on nothing except the mercy of God,” God will forgive our sin and be reconciled to us.

v15-17: “Children are so welcome to Christ that those adults who have within them the clearest disposition and attitude of children are the most welcome to him.”

v18-30: If this rich young ruler really knew what it meant to keep the law and what he was truly like, he would have said the complete opposite to what he did, “All these have I broken from my youth up, in thought, word, and deed.” 

v31-34: Christ’s sufferings and death fulfil the Scriptures.  They are proof that the Scriptures are God’s Word, because what they foretold about the Messiah, were fulfilled in Him.

v35-43: Here we have a “picture of the human race that Christ came to heal and save… they are both poor and blind.” Those who turn to Christ and cry out for mercy, will find Him to be a merciful king who will have mercy on them.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 16-17

Luke 16

v1-18: We are to notice the shrewd way the man made the most of the present opportunity to provide for his future needs rather than his dishonesty toward his master. “The wisdom of worldly people in the concerns of this world is to be imitated by us in spiritual matters: they are motivated to make the most of every opportunity, to do first what is most necessary, to prepare for winter in summer and harvest, to grab hold of a good bargain when it is offered them, to trust the faithful and not the false. Oh that we were so wise in our spiritual lives!”

v19-31: Within the parable we have a warning about the torment of hell for those who will not accept the offers made of eternal life. “As soon as the soul leaves the body, it goes immediately to either heaven or hell, to comfort or torment… In heaven, there is eternal comfort. On the other hand, hell will truly be hell to those who go there from the midst of enjoying all worldly delights and pleasures.”

Luke 17

v1-10: Stumbling blocks will come to God’s people. Persecutors who “cause injury.” Deceivers who “corrupt Christ’s truths and ordinances and so trouble the minds of the disciples.” Professing Christians who “lead disgraceful lives and so weaken the hands and sadden the hearts of God’s people.” Jesus pronounces a woe on those who harm His followers in this way.

v11-19: The blood of Christ is powerful to cleanse everyone and anyone with spiritual leprosy who cry out for mercy. If we have received this cleansing, we “should make it known to others, so that they too may praise God and may be encouraged to trust in him.”

v20-37: The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. It does not have “external show as other kingdoms have”. Christ says that when it comes we may not be aware of it, this is because rather than changing people’s outward condition, it changes their hearts and lives. “We must not think that Christ’s church and cause are lost because they are not always equally visible and effective.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 15

Luke 15

v1-7: God’s concern for lost sheep, “for poor wandering sinners,” is such that He sent His own Son, the great and good Shepherd, who will find what He seeks. Even though He has a considerable flock, God will not lose one of His sheep and goes after the one who is lost to the rest of the flock and to themselves.

v8-10: God has a variety of bringing lost souls home to Himself, as seen by the woman who lights a candle to look behind the door, under the table, in every nook and cranny in the house, and who sweeps the house and seeks diligently till she finds the lost coin. God “has lighted the candle of the Gospel not to show himself the way to us but to show us the way to him, to reveal ourselves to us. He has swept the house by the convictions of the word. He seeks diligently; his heart is set on bringing lost souls back to himself.”

v11-32: “The conversion of sinners is greatly pleasing to the God of heaven, and all who belong to his family should rejoice in it; those in heaven do, and those on earth should. It was the father who began the joy and set all the others rejoicing. We should be glad at the repentance of sinners, because it fulfils God’s purpose; it is the bringing to Christ of those whom the Father had given him and in whom he will be forever glorified.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 13-14

Luke 13

v1-5: The sufferings in this world are loud calls to us from God to repent. “The same Jesus who calls us to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand tells us to repent because otherwise we will perish.”

v6-9: God sees what people do with the gospel. It is sad that so many people are given the opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus, but do not. The Jewish people and nation were offered pardon in Christ’s name if they repented, but they did nothing with this privilege.

v10-17: “In his gospel, Christ calls and invites those who are burdened by spiritual infirmities to come to him for healing, and if he calls us, he will undoubtedly help us when we come to him.”

v18-22: One reason why people do not respond to the gospel is because it is seemingly small and insignificant. Christ reminds us “that although its beginning was small, its latter end would greatly increase, so that many people would come” into His kingdom.

v23-30: “Many people are more inquisitive about who will be saved and who will not than about what they need to do to be saved themselves.” It is good that we can be saved without knowing whether such and such a person can be saved, and it is vital that we strive to be through faith in Jesus who is the narrow door.

v31-35: Jesus is willing to receive anyone who comes to Him for protection. “The reason why sinners are not protected and provided for by the Lord Jesus… is that they do not want to be.”

Luke 14

v1-6: See the kindness of God that like He did for Christ on the Sabbath, He gives us time for physical refreshment. Let us be careful that we do “not abuse that liberty or to be lax in how we spend it”.

v7-14: The works of love for those in need which we do in this life may not “be rewarded in this world” but “they will be rewarded at the resurrection.”

v15-24: Christ’s house will be full. This will take place when all who God has chosen and who He has given to His Son, are brought to Him.

v25-35: “Satan shows the best but hides the worst, because his best will not balance out his worst, but the best Christ has to offer will far outweigh the worst we can suffer for him.” We need to count the cost of following Him. We must consider what it will cost us to trust in Jesus in terms of both duties expected of us and dangers and difficulties that are to be faced.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)