Luke has referred to Jesus teaching a number of time. Now he gives us his teaching. There are three sections: the beatitudes and woes, the commands on love and mercy, the teaching on the two ways. The beatitudes (blessings) and the woes are given in parallel — blessed are the poor, woe to the rich. Like the Magnificat this shows the values of the world turned upside down.

Whenever bread is mentioned it is possible to make a connection with the Eucharist. Here the verbs to eat and to give are linked with the Last Supper. But this passage is also about who Jesus is. Again there is the connection with David the king but also Jesus is the priest who can eat the bread and give to others. Finally in this passage he refers to himself, once again, as the Son of Man, who here has divine authority.

This is the first of the meals or banquets in Luke’s Gospel. Each meal is a foretaste of the Last Supper. In this passage this is apparent in the second half with the reference to bridegroom being taken away and then the new wine which echoes the new covenant Jesus will make (this is also the first parable in Luke’s Gospel).

Luke’s storytelling can have vivid touches: the boat pushed away from the shore, the removal of a roof. As vivid is Jesus’ calling of Simon Peter: the invitation to put out into the deep, the catch of fish. Peter follows because of what he has seen and heard; he is the first to recognise him as ‘Lord’.

Jesus, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, is led into the wilderness. Luke has just made a connection between Jesus and Adam who was also tempted but failed and was cast out of paradise. The other connection is with the people of Israel who wandered 40 years in the desert and again succumbed to the temptations on route.

In the previous passage Jesus proclaimed the kingdom in words here it is proclaimed through his actions. As often in Luke there is a parallel between the synagogue in Nazareth and Capernaum. Here they receive Jesus’s word and actions and ecognize that his teaching has authority. At the end instead of rejecting him they do not want him to leave. Whatever people’s reaction Jesus’ mission leads him onwards.

Jesus prays throughout Luke’s Gospel. Here, following his baptism, his prayer is answered by the heavens opening, the appearance of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven proclaiming that Jesus is the beloved Son of God who is also the servant of the Lord.

Just as at the beginning of his Gospel, Luke gives the historical context for this new stage in the story. John the Baptist is portrayed as an Old Testament prophet to whom the word of God is given when the time is right. He is described in the words of Isaiah as someone who prepares the way of the Lord.

Luke’s story of the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus began in the temple and here returns to the temple in Jerusalem.

Just as in Chapter 1, Luke compared Jesus with John the Baptist, in Chapter 2 he compares Jesus with Caesar Augustus. What sort of king is Jesus?