Luke 2:15

2:15 When ¹  the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem ²  and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord ³  has made known to us.”

Luke 4:18

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ⁴  me to proclaim good news ⁵  to the poor. ⁶ 

He has sent me ⁷  to proclaim release ⁸  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ⁹  to the blind,

to set free ¹⁰  those who are oppressed, ¹¹ 

Luke 10:40

10:40 But Martha was distracted ¹²  with all the preparations she had to make, ¹³  so ¹⁴  she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care ¹⁵  that my sister has left me to do all the work ¹⁶  alone? Tell ¹⁷  her to help me.”

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¹ tn Grk “And it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

³ sn Note how although angels delivered the message, it was the Lord whose message is made known, coming through them.

⁴ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

⁵ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

⁶ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

⁷ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

⁸ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

⁹ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

¹⁰ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

¹¹ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

¹² sn The term distracted means “to be pulled away” by something (L&N 25.238). It is a narrative comment that makes clear who is right in the account.

¹³ tn Grk “with much serving.”

¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the following was a result of Martha’s distraction.

¹⁵ tn The negative οὐ (ou) used with the verb expects a positive reply. Martha expected Jesus to respond and rebuke Mary.

¹⁶ tn Grk “has left me to serve alone.”

¹⁷ tn The conjunction οὖν (oun, “then, therefore”) has not been translated here.