The bull of St Luke

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Chapter 2: Overview

The Birth and Childhood of Jesus

We have seen how scenes alternated in chapter 1 between those concerning John the Baptist and those concerning Jesus.
Chapter 2 therefore completes chapter 1 by telling us about the birth of Jesus which follows the birth of John the Baptist. Note how the evangelist has separated the two scenes at the beginning of chapter 2; compare 1,5 with 2,1.

In other ways chapter 2 is quite different to chapter 1, especially as it goes on to present us with stories about Jesus as a child. We need therefore to read chapter 2 on its own as it tells of the birth and childhood of Jesus. We will become aware of the "similar yet different" tones of the first two chapters.

Read through chapter 2 and consider the various scenes and the links between them. Changes of time, place and characters are as always the clues. Which verses describe Jesus as a child? Look for the brackets around the second and third scenes. As a clue, one of them is often obscured by translations.
Then consider how we can best divide the chapter for our reading.

Then have a look at my Response

We can now read Luke's account of the birth of Jesus, Lk 2,1-21.