Luke 1:1-9:50 - Concordia Commentary

In this Volume

Luke wrote his Gospel to provide a trustworthy, historical record of Jesus Christ. Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just wrote this original commentary and translation to provide a faithful, thorough examination of the Gospel. Just develops four central themes in Luke: Christology, sacramentology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. In addition to exploring what Luke’s narrative states, Just also asks how the narrative would have been appropriated by Luke’s first readers, and how it contributes to the church’s faith and worship today.

This commentary’s literary technique is based on a careful examination of the original Greek text. It reveals the intricate structure of Luke’s Gospel and how that structure contributes to its message. The commentary includes outlines of each pericope that facilitate preaching and teaching the text. At appropriate junctures, Just provides extensive discussions of vital themes in the text, such as Baptism in Luke-Acts; Luke’s prophet Christology; Jesus’ table fellowship, the Passover, and the Lord’s Supper; the Lukan Beatitudes; Luke’s travel narrative, in which Christ journeys to the cross and open tomb; and Luke’s use of the Old Testament to witness to Christ.

Features

• Outlines for each pericope
• A historical narrative approach to the Gospel
• A survey of the typical “house-churches” of the early church

Additional Essays

• Baptism in Luke-Acts
• Luke’s Prophet Christology
• The Lukan Beatitudes

About the Author

Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr. is professor of exegetical theology and dean of the chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. He studied at Union College in Schenectady, New York (B.A.), Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana (M.Div.), Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut (S.T.M.), and the University of Durham, England (Ph.D.).

Endorsments

“This commentary is written with parish pastors in mind, those of us whose holy task is feeding the flock week upon week. It may or may not resolve every critical issue you and I bring to or find in a text, but this commentary does assist my translation of the text for the people of God. From the beginning to end Dr. Just’s Luke seems to be about building the homily for the Sunday Eucharist. His introduction is a wonderful declaration of our task as part of the catholic church. As I have been taught to say in the Army­–“bottom line, up front”–this book deserves to be on every parish pastor’s shelf of helpful, much used, books.

This author has not only fulfilled his stated purpose, but he has done so admirably and throughout. He intends the text to be heard by and to nourish a worshiping community. As a regular preacher, one who has wrestled with this, my favorite Gospel, for much more than 25 Christmas Eves’ worth of sermons for such a worshiping community, this commentary has given me new facets for many more. I commend it to you heartily and with very much appreciation."

–Rev. Wayne J. Lehrer in Lutheran Forum (Spring 1998)

“This volume will be a valuable addition to the pastor’s bookshelf, and should find regular use as he administers gospel and sacraments. It would also be an excellent text in the seminary classroom. The commentary is indeed solidly confessional and Christological, and goes beyond the academic in its approach. It bridges the mythical gap between what is theological and what is practical–a false distinction all too often noised about. It is an ecumenical volume in that it seeks the truth that frees, and it will speak to the whole of the church the gospel of Jesus Christ in order that all might know him, die in him, and rise up with him to all eternity.

This is a marvelous volume. We look forward to the second Lukan volume, and even more, we look forward to hearing from Dr. Arthur Just in other arenas."

–Edward K. Wolfe, St. James Lutheran Church of Glen Carbon Illinois in Logia Vol. VII, No. 1

About the series

The Concordia Commentary Series: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture is written to enable pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the Biblical text.

The series will cover all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, with an original translation and meticulous grammatical analysis of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek of each text. The foremost interpretive lens centers on the unified proclamation of the person and work of Christ across every Scriptural book.

The Commentary fully affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture; Each passage bears witness to the confession that God has reconciled the world to Himself through the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ His Son.

Authors expose the rich treasury of language, imagery, and thematic content of the Scripture, while supplementing their work with additional research in archaeology, history, and extrabiblical literature. Throughout, God’s Word emanates from authors careful attention and inculcates the ongoing life of the Church in Word, Sacrament, and daily confession.

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