Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life (Our Sunday Visitor)

There are some days where I feel completely lazy - that I accomplish nothing for the entire day. Then there are other days where I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew. For example, I have volunteered to lead a Bible study on the Gospel of Luke this year, without a DVD to do most of the work for me. Thankfully, there are great Bibles and books on the market that can help me in my preparation. One of the main books I will be using to help lead my study is called Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life by George Martin, and it is available at Our Sunday Visitor.

Bringing the Gospel of Luke to Life is a nearly 700 page tome in which George Martin takes the Gospel of Luke and breaks down its meaning, verse-by-verse. Why 700 pages? Well, Luke wasn't exactly short of words either, as he recorded some of the longest chapters in the Bible. In this book, Mr. Martin uses the NAB translation of Luke and places it in his book prior to the commentary.

In addition to providing commentary in his book, Mr. Martin includes several other useful resources in this book. He provides references to complementary Scripture passages. This is especially helpful when comparing passages across Gospels and seeing how they differ. It is also helpful if you want to flip to the Old Testament passage to which Luke refers. The provided reflection questions are also very useful when studying Luke. There are 32 reflections for the first chapter of Luke alone! This is especially helpful for individual or group Bible study. The last resource I mention is also my favorite, the "Background" sections. These sections provide great information for understanding the culture and history during Jesus' day.

Unlike some commentaries, which can get so deep that you feel like you are drowning in theology, this one is very readable. Even though I have not read every page in this book, I can say without a doubt that it is a 5-star book. I plan on using it as one of the main texts to lead my Bible study this year, and feel free to stop by my blog every other Wednesday for notes from my Bible study. If you don't have time to use this as a group study, make a resolution to read Luke this year, and use this book to help you understand it better. At least pick up a copy for when Year C rolls around. After you work your way through this book, you could also pick up its companion book, Bringing the Gospel of Mark to Life.

This book was provided to me for by Our Sunday Visitor in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click the link and hit Yes!