Luke 4:18,19, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath

anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal

the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and

recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are

bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord'.

Here once again each evangelist is true to the purpose of his Gospel;

Matthew consistently speaks of the kingdom from Israel's standpoint, Luke of

the gospel from the standpoint of the Gentile.  The Lord continued His

discourse and drew attention to the fact that in the days of Elijah there

were many widows in Israel during the great famine, but unto none of them was

he sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of

them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.  Just as with the supplement in

the second chapter, so here, the Gentile not the Jew is pre-eminent, both the

widow of Sarepta and Naaman being Gentiles.  One further illustration will

The Second Coming

Matthew 24:19, 'And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that

give suck in those days!'

Luke 21:23, 'But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that

give suck, in those days!'

As above, these two passages are quoted to establish the fact that both

record the same prophecy.

Matthew 24:21, 'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not

since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be'.

Luke 21:23,24, 'For there shall be great distress in the land, and

wrath upon this people.  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword,

and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be

trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be

Here, therefore, is a demonstration of the distinctive point of view of

each Gospel.  Matthew traces the Saviour's descent back through David and

Abraham and stays there; Luke however pursues it back to Adam.  Matthew

speaks of the quest of the wise men and their question concerning the King of

the Jews; Luke tells of the angels and the shepherds, and that the Child born

in the city of David is a Saviour.  Old Simeon supplements by putting the

Gentile first.  The opening ministry of Christ as recorded by Matthew speaks

of the Kingdom as does that of John the Baptist, whereas in Luke the opening

ministry of the Lord stresses the gospel of mercy and deliverance; while

instead of announcing the kingdom, John preaches the remission of sins.

We all know what a prominent position is given by Matthew to the

parables of the mysteries of the kingdom; in no lesser prominence the

distinctive parables of Luke set forth his peculiar teaching.  Who but Luke