Luke 14-24: On the Road to Jerusalem (Focus on the Bible)

Great

Great perspective; good writing; helpful thoughts. Just good stuff.

I used to do book reviews for a small firm in Austin, Texas. They would do publicity for self-published works or manuscripts put out by “micro-publishers.” Needless to say, the quality of the books varied greatly. I still remember one novel that was trucking along beautifully, drawing in my attention. Then, about three-fourths of the way through, at the crucial moment, there were ten blank pages with the remainder of the leaves only showing every other line. I was terribly disappointed. Therefore, I’m glad that Dale Ralph Davis, pastor, writer, and seminary professor, has completed his commentary on Luke. The first volume handled Luke 1-13, and now the second has arrived, “Luke 14-24: On the Road to Jerusalem”. This 256-page paperback follows the same approach as the first book, right through to the resurrection and ascension of our Lord. Packed with illustrative stories, and thoughtful observations, it makes for skillful sermon prep, beneficial Bible study groundwork, and deliberate devotional reading. Davis continues to approach the gospel account in a scholarly way (Greek words, textual criticism, etc.) without turning them into a dry and weary land where there is no water. Rather, he stays on task and keeps on target, never straying out into the marshlands to get bogged down in the mire and muck. Further, his approach is not academic and abstract but gets uncomfortably down into our business, while exhibiting grace and generosity. It’s almost as if the writer wants to assure Christians that even in their tears or triumphs Jesus is a worthy Savior and wonderful Lord. And to gently challenge those who are not Christians to be skeptical of their skepticism and consider Jesus seriously. “Luke 14-24: On the Road to Jerusalem” is a right and proper concluding work on Luke. Though one may notice the author occasionally putting forth positions they don’t completely agree with, nevertheless, they will find him thoughtfully amiable in his presentation, and they won’t mind it a bit. For example, I would call myself a postmillennialist and would take our Lord’s words 20:1-18 as almost completely worked out in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But Davis kindly presents a different take, exhibiting his historical premillennialism. But it’s okay because he’s Dale Ralph Davis and writes friendly and forthrightly, and I was given a thing or two to ponder. If you get volume one – and you must – then you necessarily have to obtain this second volume. And I highly recommend you do! My thanks to Christian Focus Publications for graciously answering my request and sending me the copy of the book used for this review. They made no demands on me, offered no bribes, and took no hostages. Therefore, my analysis is freely made and freely given.

Solid commentary. I wish they would have just put the whole gospel in one volume though. Makes no sense to split it up into two books, so four stars for that. What I like about it is that it's not overly academic, but it's not fluff either. Solid theologically but the writing style is done very well for a commentary. I would enjoy simply reading it for devotional purposes, but at the same time there's solid information here if you're prepping for a class or a sermon.

I purchased three pastoral commentaries on Luke to supplement my exegetical ones, including this one, Bock's NIVAC and Hughes's. This was the one I returned out of the bunch. It had dated illustrations and, on the whole, little applicational insight. Both volumes are thin, comparative to the others which have quite a bit of content. I have other commentaries by this author that I found useful, but not this one.