99 Fun Facts About Gospel of Luke

Which 'most excellent' addressee, named again at the start of Acts, did Luke write his 'orderly account' for?

Theophilus may have been a man of real rank, since Acts gives the same 'most excellent' title to the Roman governors Felix and Festus.

Who passed by before the Good Samaritan stopped for the beaten man, in Luke 10?

A priest and a Levite, both temple men, walked past before the Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds and paid the innkeeper two denarii, promising to cover any extra cost.

In Luke's parable of the prodigal son, what job did the starving younger son take in the 'distant country'?

Feeding pigs, unclean animals to a Jewish audience, was the low point: he 'longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything'.

Which chief tax collector of Jericho, too short to see over the crowd, climbed a sycamore-fig tree in Luke 19?

Zacchaeus came down to host Jesus and promised half his possessions to the poor and fourfold repayment to anyone he had cheated, earning the verdict 'Today salvation has come to this house'.

Whose census decree, recorded only by Luke, brought Mary and her betrothed from Nazareth to Bethlehem?

Caesar Augustus ordered 'a census of the entire Roman world', and the family went to Bethlehem because Mary's husband belonged to the house and line of David.

Who were the first to visit the newborn Jesus in Luke 2, where Matthew's Magi never appear?

Shepherds heard the news from an angel and 'a great company of the heavenly host', then spread the word about the child, and all who heard it were amazed.

What was the risen Jesus doing at the table when the two Emmaus disciples' 'eyes were opened' in Luke 24?

Breaking bread, with thanks given first, is when they knew him, and he vanished at once; only afterwards did they admit their hearts had been 'burning within us' on the road.

By which Latin name is Mary's song in Luke 1, sung at Vespers and Anglican Evensong, known?

Magnificat is the opening word of the Latin 'My soul glorifies the Lord', a song Mary sings on visiting her pregnant relative in the hill country that echoes Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel.

Which profession does Colossians give 'our dear friend Luke', the traditional author of the third Gospel?

A doctor is what Colossians 4:14 calls him, which is why Luke became a patron saint of physicians, and a later tradition made him the first painter of icons of the Virgin.

Where did Jesus promise the repentant criminal crucified beside him they would be together 'today', in Luke 23?

In paradise is a promise only Luke records, made to a man who had just rebuked the other criminal: 'We are punished justly... but this man has done nothing wrong.'

Which saying from the cross, found only in Luke 23, comes as the soldiers divide his clothes by lot?

Father, forgive them is missing from some early manuscripts, and in Acts the dying Stephen echoes it, crying out, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'

What was the twelve-year-old Jesus doing when found in the temple, in Luke 2?

Asking the teachers questions, the boy left everyone 'amazed at his understanding and his answers', yet his own parents 'did not understand' his reply.

Which angel told Mary she would bear a son, 'in the sixth month' of her relative's pregnancy, in Luke 1?

Gabriel, who tells Zechariah he stands 'in the presence of God', delivers both birth announcements in Luke, and Mary's reply is simply 'I am the Lord's servant'.

Whose unborn baby 'leaped for joy' when the pregnant Mary arrived at her home in the hill country, in Luke 1?

Elizabeth, 'a descendant of Aaron' and childless until old age, then cried 'Blessed are you among women', words that found their way into the Hail Mary.

What happened to Zechariah the moment he wrote 'His name is John', months after doubting an angel in the temple?

His speech returned at once, 'his mouth was opened and his tongue set free', and he began 'praising God' with a prophecy over his newborn son.

At which town's gate did Jesus touch a bier and raise 'the only son of his mother', a miracle only Luke tells?

Nain is where the crowd, seeing the dead man sit up and talk, decided 'A great prophet has appeared among us', an echo of Elijah raising a boy at Zarephath.

What is the woman searching for in the parable Luke 15 tells between the lost sheep and the prodigal son?

A coin, one of her ten silver coins, sends her sweeping the house, and when she finds it she calls her friends to rejoice, like heaven's joy over one repentant sinner.

What did Jesus call the one cleansed leper who came back to praise God, in Luke 17?

This foreigner was a Samaritan, the only one of the ten to return, and Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?'

Near which village was the risen Jesus 'taken up into heaven' while blessing the disciples, in Luke 24?

Bethany, on the far slope of the Mount of Olives, is where Luke's Gospel ends; Acts retells the same farewell with a forty-day gap and a cloud, and the disciples went back 'with great joy'.

Which of the two Emmaus disciples, who asked 'Were not our hearts burning within us?', does Luke 24 name?

Cleopas is the one who asks the stranger whether he is 'the only one visiting Jerusalem' who has not heard the news; his companion is never named at all.

Which supporter of Jesus 'out of their own means' in Luke 8 was the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household?

Joanna is named again among the women who found the tomb empty, and the apostles did not believe them because their words 'seemed to them like nonsense'.

What did the tax collector of Luke 18, who 'would not even look up to heaven', do as he prayed for mercy?

Beat his breast as he prayed 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner', and it was he, not the Pharisee boasting of fasting twice a week, who went home justified.

What did the rich farmer in Luke 12 plan to do with his surplus grain before God demanded his life that night?

Build bigger barns, then 'eat, drink and be merry', was his plan, and God's 'You fool!' ends a parable Jesus told after a man asked him to split an inheritance.

What was the third guest's excuse in Luke 14's great banquet, after a new field and new oxen?

I just got married, so I can't come, is the third refusal, and the angry host fills the hall instead with 'the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame' from the streets.

Where does Jesus stand in Luke 6 to bless 'you who are poor', the verses Matthew sets on a mountainside?

On a level place gives the passage its name, the Sermon on the Plain, and Luke's four blessings are followed by four woes, starting 'woe to you who are rich', that Matthew lacks.

How did Jesus send out the seventy-two others he appointed in Luke 10?

Two by two, the seventy-two (seventy in some manuscripts) went ahead of him, and they came back with joy, saying, 'even the demons submit to us in your name'.

To which ancestor does Luke 3 trace the line of Jesus backwards, going further than Matthew's genealogy?

Adam, 'the son of God', closes a list that Luke puts after the baptism rather than at the start of his book, and its chain differs from Matthew's almost from the first generation back.

What did Herod do to Jesus before sending him back to Pilate, in a scene only Luke 23 records?

Put an elegant robe on him is the mockery of a ruler who had 'plied him with many questions' and got no answer, and that day Herod and Pilate, until then enemies, became friends.

What does Luke alone say fell 'like drops of blood' as Jesus prayed in anguish on the Mount of Olives?

His sweat is the detail, paired with an angel who 'appeared to him and strengthened him', in two verses that some early manuscripts omit and that no other Gospel has.

Which Syrian governor's census does Luke 2 link to the birth of Jesus?

Quirinius held a census of Judea in AD 6, after Rome deposed Herod's son Archelaus, yet Luke's story opens 'in the time of Herod king of Judea'.

Which Council member 'who had not consented to their decision' asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, in Luke 23?

Joseph of Arimathea laid the body in 'a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid', and the women who watched went home to prepare spices before the Sabbath.

What did the risen Jesus eat 'in their presence' in Luke 24, to show the startled disciples he was no ghost?

Broiled fish was handed over after he asked 'Do you have anything here to eat?', having first invited them to 'touch me and see' his hands and feet.

Which old man, told he would not die before seeing the Messiah, took the infant Jesus in his arms in Luke 2?

Simeon said 'you may now dismiss your servant in peace', words that became the Nunc dimittis sung at Compline, and he warned Mary that 'a sword will pierce your own soul too'.

Which prophet 'of the tribe of Asher' spoke about the child Jesus in the temple, in Luke 2?

Anna had lost her husband after only seven years of marriage, and she never left the temple but 'worshiped night and day, fasting and praying'.

What did John the Baptist advise the soldiers who came to him in Luke 3?

Be content with your pay came with 'Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely', and soon the crowds were wondering whether John himself might be the Messiah.

What did Simon Peter say after the catch that nearly sank two boats on Lake Gennesaret, in Luke 5?

Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man, drew the reply 'Don't be afraid' and a promise that he would now be catching people instead, making this haul Luke's version of the call of the first disciples.

Through what did friends lower a paralyzed man to Jesus from the roof, in Luke 5?

The tiles let his friends lower him in, and when Jesus forgave his sins and the Pharisees privately called it blasphemy, he healed the man to show his authority.

What did Jesus say would 'cry out' if his disciples fell silent, when Pharisees told him to rebuke them in Luke 19?

The stones would shout, he said, as the crowd on the Mount of Olives road cried 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord', and moments later he wept over the city.

Which collapse did Jesus cite in Luke 13 to urge everyone to repent?

The tower in Siloam fell and killed eighteen, and Jesus refused to call them 'more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem'.

Which animal did Jesus call the ruler who 'wants to kill you', when Pharisees warned him to leave in Luke 13?

A fox is what he called Herod in 'Go tell that fox', adding that he would keep healing 'today and tomorrow' because 'surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem'.

What did the shrewd manager of Luke 16 do to his master's debtors' bills before losing his job?

Cut what they owed, from nine hundred gallons of oil to four hundred and fifty, was the scheme, and the master 'commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly'.

Who wore down the judge 'who neither feared God nor cared what people thought' in Luke 18 by refusing to give up?

A widow demanding 'justice against my adversary' wins because the judge fears she will 'eventually come and attack me', the point being that people 'should always pray and not give up'.

Which Latin title names the Luke 1 canticle sung each morning at Lauds?

Benedictus hails 'the rising sun' that 'will come to us from heaven', an image said to have helped earn the canticle its morning slot.

Which sister did Jesus tell she was 'worried and upset about many things' while her sister sat listening, in Luke 10?

Martha was busy with all the preparations and asked Jesus to make her sister help, but he said Mary had 'chosen what is better'.

What does the preface of Luke's Gospel say its author did before writing his 'orderly account'?

Investigated everything carefully 'from the beginning' is the author's claim, made while admitting that 'many have undertaken' such accounts before him.

What did Moses and Elijah talk with Jesus about at the Transfiguration, a subject only Luke 9 reports?

His departure translates the Greek exodos, the word for Israel's escape from Egypt, and Luke adds that Peter and his companions were 'very sleepy' until they saw his glory.

What did the nobleman in Luke 19 give each of ten servants, with the order 'Put this money to work'?

One mina went to each servant, and the one who hid his 'in a piece of cloth' lost it to the servant whose mina had earned ten more.

What did Nazareth's synagogue crowd try to do to Jesus after he cited Naaman, in Luke 4?

Throw him off a cliff was the plan, at 'the brow of the hill on which the town was built', but 'he walked right through the crowd and went on his way'.

Which seat did Jesus tell wedding guests to pick in Luke 14, rather than the seat of honor that might be reassigned?

The lowest place is the advice, so that the host says 'Friend, move up to a better place' and 'you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests'.

In Luke 18, which animal passes through a needle's eye more easily than a rich man enters God's kingdom?

A camel through a needle's eye left the hearers asking who could possibly be saved. Jesus answered that what is impossible with man is possible with God.

In Luke 7, what did a sinful woman use to wipe Jesus' feet after wetting them with tears at a Pharisee's table?

Her hair did the work of a towel, and she went on to pour perfume from an alabaster jar over his feet. The host, Simon, had offered Jesus no water for his feet at all.

In Luke 23, which prisoner, jailed for insurrection and murder, did the crowd demand Pilate release instead of Jesus?

Barabbas walked free while Jesus was handed over to the crowd's will. Pilate had told them three times that he found nothing in Jesus deserving death.

In Luke 22, which part of a servant's body did Jesus touch and heal after a follower struck him during the arrest?

His right ear had been cut off by one of the disciples. All four Gospels report the blow, but only Luke says Jesus healed the wound, telling his followers, 'No more of this!'

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy-two messengers 'like lambs' among which predators?

Wolves are the danger he names, and he sends the messengers out with no purse, bag or sandals. They are not even to stop and greet anyone along the road.

In Luke 13, Jesus says he longed to gather Jerusalem's children as which bird gathers her young under her wings?

A hen covering her chicks is the picture, and Jesus adds that the city was unwilling. He speaks it as a lament over a Jerusalem that kills the prophets sent to it.

In Luke 12, which birds, sold five for two pennies, does Jesus say are never forgotten by God?

Sparrows are his proof that nobody is overlooked: do not be afraid, he says, you are worth more than many of them. Matthew prices the birds at two for a penny, so Luke's fifth one comes free.

In Luke 22, with what gesture did the betrayer approach Jesus on the Mount of Olives at the head of a crowd?

A kiss was the plan, and Jesus named it aloud, asking whether the Son of Man was to be betrayed that way. Luke's account moves straight on without saying the greeting was ever given.

In Luke 19, what did Jesus do on first seeing Jerusalem, before foretelling that enemies would hem the city in?

He wept over it, saying, 'If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace!' Moments earlier the crowd of disciples had been praising God loudly on the road down the Mount of Olives.

In Luke 19, Jesus drives sellers from the courts in Jerusalem, saying they have made God's house a den of what?

Robbers is a word Jesus borrows from the prophet Jeremiah. He then taught in the same courts every day, and the leaders who wanted him dead could do nothing because the people hung on all he said.

In Luke 4, which prophet's scroll was handed to Jesus to read aloud in the synagogue at Nazareth?

Isaiah supplied the reading, a passage about good news for the poor and liberty for captives. Jesus rolled up the scroll, sat down and said, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'

In Luke 5, what does Jesus say no one pours new wine into, because it would burst and spill?

Old wineskins would be ruined and the wine lost, so new wine belongs in new skins. Luke's telling ends on a wry line: nobody who has drunk old wine wants the new, for he says the old is better.

In Luke 7, in which town did a centurion who had built the local synagogue ask Jesus to heal his servant?

Capernaum's centurion then sent friends to say Jesus need not come under his roof, only say the word. Jesus marveled, saying he had not found such great faith even in Israel.

In Luke 9, what did Jesus tell the Twelve when they urged him to send five thousand hungry people away?

Feed them yourselves was the gist of his reply: 'You give them something to eat.' They had almost nothing to hand, yet everyone ate and twelve basketfuls of broken pieces were left over.

In Luke 9, what did James and John offer to call down on a Samaritan village that refused to welcome Jesus?

Fire from heaven was their offer, to consume the villagers. Jesus turned and reprimanded the two brothers, and the group simply went on to another village.

In Luke 9, no one who looks back after putting a hand to which tool is fit for the kingdom of God?

The plow was his answer to a volunteer who first wanted to say farewell to his family. Luke places the saying on the road, the last of three exchanges with would-be followers.

In Luke 9, what were the disciples arguing about when Jesus stood a little child beside him?

Which of them was greatest was the quarrel, and Jesus settled it by saying the least among them all is the greatest. Welcoming such a child in his name, he added, is welcoming him.

In Luke 10, what does Jesus say he watched Satan fall like when the seventy-two came back rejoicing?

Lightning was the image, spoken as the seventy-two reported that even demons submitted to them. Jesus told them to rejoice instead that their names are written in heaven.

In Luke 10, what does Jesus call plentiful while the workers are few, as he sends seventy-two out ahead of him?

The harvest is plentiful, he says, so they should ask its Lord to send more workers. Towns that welcome the seventy-two are to hear that the kingdom of God is near.

In Luke 12, Jesus says that wherever a person's treasure is, what else of theirs will be found there too?

Their heart follows their treasure, so Jesus tells the disciples to sell possessions and give to the poor. That, he says, buys purses that never wear out, beyond the reach of thief or moth.

In Luke 11's parable, what does a man ask to borrow from a friend at midnight to set before an unexpected guest?

Three loaves is the request, and the neighbor, already in bed with his children, at first refuses. He gets up in the end, Jesus says, because of the man's persistence rather than their friendship.

In Luke 11, Jesus asks which father would hand his son a scorpion if the boy asked for what?

An egg swapped for a scorpion is a pairing Matthew's version of the saying lacks. The point: if flawed parents give good gifts, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 11, which prophet's sign is the only one Jesus says a wicked generation demanding proof will be given?

Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, who repented at his preaching. Jesus says those Ninevites will stand up at the judgment and condemn his own generation.

In Luke 11, by which 'prince of the demons' do some in the crowd say Jesus drives out demons?

Beelzebul was the charge, made after Jesus freed a man who could not speak. He answered that a house at war with itself falls, so Satan could hardly be fighting Satan.

In Luke 11, Jesus promises that whoever seeks finds and that a door opens to the one who does what?

Knocks completes the trio of ask, seek and knock. Jesus says it straight after a parable about a man who gets what he needs from a neighbor only because he keeps on asking.

In Luke 12, which king 'in all his glory' does Jesus say was never dressed as finely as the lilies?

Solomon in all his glory was outdone by flowers that neither labor nor spin. The lesson is about worry: if God so clothes grass that is burned tomorrow, he will clothe his people too.

In Luke 12, Jesus says he came to bring not peace on earth but what, where Matthew's version has 'a sword'?

Division is what he expects, even inside one home: five in a household at odds, three against two, father against son and mother against daughter.

In Luke 12, what does Jesus call 'the leaven of the Pharisees' that his disciples must beware of?

Hypocrisy was the warning, given while a crowd of many thousands was trampling one another to get near. Nothing concealed, Jesus adds, will fail to be disclosed.

In Luke 13, on which holy day did Jesus heal a woman bent over for eighteen years, angering a synagogue leader?

The Sabbath was the sticking point: the leader told the crowd there were six other days to come for healing. Jesus replied that anyone would untie an ox or donkey that day to lead it to water.

In Luke 14, what does Jesus call good until it loses its savor and is fit for neither soil nor manure pile?

Salt that has gone flat cannot be seasoned again, so it is simply thrown out. The saying closes a stern address to large crowds about counting the cost of being a disciple.

In Luke 15's parable of the lost sheep, how many are left in the pasture while the man searches for one?

Ninety-nine stay behind while he hunts for the stray and carries it home rejoicing. Jesus says heaven has more joy over one sinner who repents than over that many who need no repentance.

What title did a blind beggar near Jericho keep shouting at Jesus in Luke 18, though told to be silent?

Son of David was his cry, and he only got louder when those leading the way told him to hush. Asked what he wanted, he said, 'Lord, let me see again,' and at once he could.

In Luke 19, what did Jesus send two disciples into a village to untie, an animal no one had ever sat on?

A colt was waiting just as he said, and the disciples met the one objection with the line he gave them: 'The Lord needs it.' They threw their cloaks over its back and set Jesus on it.

In Luke 20's parable, whom do the vineyard tenants kill, reasoning that the inheritance will then be theirs?

The owner's son is sent last, after three servants are beaten or wounded and driven off. Hearing that the vineyard would be given to others, the crowd answers, 'May such a thing never happen!'

Which group, who say there is no resurrection, asked Jesus about a wife shared in turn by seven brothers in Luke 20?

The Sadducees rested the riddle on a law of Moses and asked whose wife she would be. Jesus replied that those raised to the age to come can no longer die, because they are like the angels.

In Luke 21, what does Jesus say will never pass away, even though heaven and earth will?

My words will never pass away, he says, in a discourse that also warns of Jerusalem surrounded by armies. He tells listeners to keep watch so that day does not spring on them like a snare.

In Luke 4, where does the Spirit lead Jesus for forty days of temptation by the devil, eating nothing?

The wilderness was where it began, and none of the devil's three temptations worked. Luke adds an ominous note: the tempter left him only 'until an opportune time'.

In Luke 22, whom must Peter and John follow to find the room for the Passover meal?

A man carrying water would meet them as they entered the city, Jesus said. The householder he led them to showed them a large upstairs room, already furnished.

In Luke 22, Jesus warns Simon that Satan has asked to sift the disciples like which crop?

Wheat is the image, and Jesus adds that he has prayed for Simon's faith not to fail. Once Simon has turned back, he is to strengthen his brothers.

In Luke 22, what does Jesus do the instant the rooster crows on Peter's third denial?

Turns and looks at him is all Luke reports, with no word spoken. Peter remembered the warning that he would disown Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and went outside in bitter tears.

In Luke 22, what did the men guarding Jesus do to him before demanding he prophesy who had hit him?

Blindfolded him, then told him to name whoever had struck the blow. In Luke this mockery happens during the night among the guards, before the council meets at daybreak.

From which city in what is now Libya came Simon, the man made to carry the cross behind Jesus in Luke 23?

Cyrene was a Greek city, and its Simon was seized by the soldiers as he came in from the country. Behind them walked a great crowd, including women who mourned and wailed for Jesus.

By what grim name does Luke 23 call the place where Jesus was crucified between two criminals?

The Skull is all Luke calls it, while Matthew, Mark and John add the name Golgotha. The familiar 'Calvary' comes from the Latin for the same thing, and the King James Version uses it here.

In Luke 23, what does the centurion at the cross call the dying Jesus, where two other Gospels have 'Son of God'?

A righteous man is the verdict in Luke, spoken as the officer gave glory to God. He had just watched three hours of darkness and heard Jesus commit his spirit to God with a loud cry.

In Luke 24, how did the apostles first take the women's report of the empty tomb, before Peter ran to look?

As nonsense, Luke says bluntly, and the apostles did not believe the women. Peter alone got up, ran to the tomb and saw only the linen cloths, then went away wondering what had happened.

In Luke 10, which two cities does Jesus say would have repented in sackcloth and ashes at Chorazin's miracles?

Tyre and Sidon will find the judgment more bearable than the towns that saw his miracles and shrugged, Jesus says. Bethsaida is named alongside Chorazin in the same woe.

In Luke 11, which garden herbs does Jesus say the Pharisees tithe while neglecting justice and the love of God?

Mint and rue, like every other herb, got their tenth while weightier duties were ignored. Jesus does not scrap the tithe: they should have practiced the one without neglecting the other.

In Luke 11, by what does Jesus say he drives out demons, where Matthew's parallel has 'the Spirit of God'?

The finger of God is a phrase from Exodus, where Egypt's magicians use it of a plague they cannot copy. If that power is at work, Jesus says, the kingdom of God has come upon his hearers.

In Luke 24, what had the women prepared and brought to the tomb very early on the first day of the week?

Spices and perfumes had been made ready beforehand by the women who came with Jesus from Galilee. At the tomb they found the entrance open and no body inside.

In Luke 18, how did the disciples react when people brought babies for Jesus to place his hands on?

They rebuked them, and Jesus overruled it at once: 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.' The kingdom of God, he said, belongs to such as these.