Deep Dive 3.
A Commentary on the Bible Books of Mark and Luke.
In the last days of 2025, I studied the Bible books of Mark and Luke for twenty days, and I shared my thoughts on each chapter in the notes section of Substack. Here’s a compiled version of each day. I decided to split it into five days each to reduce its length. So, you’d get to read about four newsletters on my commentary. I genuinely hope that everything shared here points you back to God, encourages you to study the Bible, and that you understand the gospel of Christ better.
If you choose to read this while studying these bible books, I’d really love to read what resonated the most with you. Read Day 1-5 here, Day 6-10 here.
Day 11- Luke Chapters 5 and 6.
Luke 5- I really love Luke’s narration of the gospel. It’s so detailed. In Luke 5:16, Jesus often slipped away to the wilderness to pray. We see the same happening in Luke 4:24, if he wasn’t waking up extra early, he was spending the night with God. Sometimes we get so engrossed in God’s work that we forget that God cares more about our relationship with him than what we can do for him. He wants our hearts and Jesus realized that as he prioritized intimacy with God.
In Luke 5:20, Christ was healing a leper and said to him, “ Your sins are forgiven.” I often wondered why he didn’t just say “you’re healed.” I realize it was to highlight his authority and ability to forgive sins. I think saying “ your sins are forgiven” also set the leper free. The leper didn’t just get better physically, but his heart was transformed.
Luke 6- Christ speaks about the beatitudes. I’ve read and heard of the beatitudes, I was even taught to memorize them in primary school, but the next verse after the beatitudes was new to me. I had breezed through it sometime last year, but it felt very different today. Christ was calling out the wrongs that people do. Verse 25 says, “What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.”
He was referring to those who found satisfaction and security in material abundance, telling them to recognize the temporary nature of earthly things and the importance of spiritual hunger because if you prioritize earthly satisfaction, you’d eventually face spiritual emptiness. It’s a call to fix our gaze on the things that matter most.
For those who laugh, he was referring to people who laugh in mockery or scorn at others. They’d eventually become sorrowful since they lack empathy and compassion.
Luke 6:26 says, “What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.” This scripture refers to those who seek the approval of men, just like the false prophets in the Old Testament have prophesies that only pleased men. It echoes Paul’s statement in Galatians 1;10 when he said, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
This chapter is weighty. Jesus said so many things, calling us to live a life that pleases God. In Verses 46-49, Jesus says that anyone who obeys his precepts is like a person building a house and lays the foundation on a solid rock. When a storm comes, the house stands firm, unshaken.
It’s my prayer that our faith remains unshaken, that our lives would be rooted in Christ, our solid rock. I pray that our gaze remains fixed on the lord. May we seek to please him daily. Amen.🤍
Day 12- Luke Chapters 7 and 8.
Luke 7 and 8 dwell solely on Christ’s miracles and parables during his course on earth.
In Luke 7:18-20, John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Christ if he is the true messiah or not. This verse confused me a bit. I was surprised John asked such a question when he was clearly the one who prophesied to people about Christ.
I wonder what changed in his perspective, and as I studied deeper, I realized most people, including John, considered the Messiah as someone who’d be some sort of political savior, who’d overthrow the Roman Empire, and because Christ acted differently from a political leader, it was confusing on their end.
In response to John’s question, Jesus performed some miracles and told John’s disciples to tell John what they saw. Christ’s actions proved that he was indeed the messiah, it emphasized his authority and reflected his purpose here on earth.
In Luke 8, I like that the first three verses were about women. I’m a highly patriarchal society, Jesus associating with women shows their inclusion in his ministry. It echoes and what was said in Galatians 3:28 where there’s neither male nor female in Christ.
Luke 8: 4-15 talks about the parable of the farmer scattering seeds. It’s my prayer that unlike the seeds that fell into bad soil, our hearts would be a fertile ground for God’s word.
Luke 8:16, Christ narrates the parable of the lamp, saying, “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.”
The word light in this parable refers to the gospel. The purpose of placing the lamp on a stand is so that those who step into the house can benefit from its light; the gospel is for everyone, for all to benefit from.
Day 13- Luke Chapters 9 and 10.
Chapter 9: In verse 46, the disciples argued about greatness since they thought it was about power, authority, and charisma, but Christ, using the example of a child, proved to them that greatness was about humility. It was about having a meek heart and servanthood.
In Verses 59-62 Two individuals wanted to be disciples, but they requested to go home and say goodbye, while another requested to go bury his mum. Jesus’s response to them might have seemed harsh, but his response was so that they could understand what was at stake. It was to emphasize the weight of the assignment and the cost of following him.
Chapter 10- I often wondered why Jesus told the disciples to take nothing for their journey as they went to preach. He did that so they could learn to rely on God’s divine provision and so they could learn to fully depend on God.
Luke 10:21 says, “At that same time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”
I love this prayer of thanksgiving Christ uttered. He’s grateful that God revealed Himself to those who are childlike, those who are humble and open to learning from God, compared to those who feel they know all and are blinded to see God.
In Verse 25, someone asked what he could do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus mentions a very important commandment. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The man went ahead to ask who a neighbor is, and Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which shows that a neighbor is anyone deserving of mercy and compassion.
Day 14- Luke Chapters 11 and 12.
In Verses 5- 13, Christ speaks about the parable of persistence. He uses an example of a man knocking on his friend’s door for bread in the night. The friend doesn’t want to answer initially because he’s asleep but with persistence on the man’s end, he’d wake up and attend to him. Christ goes on to say, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
He emphasized the importance of persistence by letting them know that if human beings with their sinful nature can give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the holy spirit to those who ask him. As I read this, I recalled Psalms 84:11b, which says, “The lord would withhold no good thing from those who trust him.” It’s essential to stay persistent in prayer, knowing that the lord God gives good gifts.
In verses 14 and 15, Jesus cast out a demon, and the Pharisees claimed that he was only able to do so because the power that works in him is that of Beelzebul (Satan), the Ruler of demons. I love that Christ, knowing the intents of their hearts, gave a befitting response, letting them know that any kingdom divided against itself is doomed for destruction. If you claim he’s from Satan, why would he be casting out demons? Isn’t that the opposite of what Satan would do?
While they claimed Jesus was from Satan, they also asked for a sign, and Christ responded in verse 29, saying the only sign they’d get would be that of Jonah, which would signify his burial, death, and resurrection for three days. By the way, if Christ had given more signs, they still wouldn’t have believed because their hearts were hardened.
In Verses 37 and 38, we see how religious the Pharisees are. They cared more about the outward than the inward.
Chapter 12- The first few chapters were more of an encouragement from Christ. Verses 6 and 7 were such great reminders that God sees, he hears, he knows, and you’re not forgotten. It says, “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
In Verse 16. Christ speaks about the parable of the wealthy fool. The parable was about a rich man who kept storing earthly riches for himself for years, yet he lacked greatly in his relationship with God. This parable echoes that there is more to life than food, clothes, and material things; besides, God already knows what you need. Christ encourages us in verse 31 to seek God’s kingdom first, and these things would be given unto us.
In Verses 42- 48, Christ speaks about being a faithful steward. In Verse 48b, he said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” If you’ve been entrusted with an assignment, you’re required to do it to the best of your ability, no complacency, no eye service, just put in the work.
In the last verses of this chapter, Christ speaks about his coming on earth, which is to cause division rather than peace. At first, his statement in verse 51 sounded a bit contradictory to his person, but I got to understand that he said that statement to highlight the reality of things; the reality of the human response. I’ll explain.
The gospel isn’t a subject people necessarily agree with. We see this in the Bible and in present times, yet Christ went about preaching the truth, not bothering too much about the discord it would cause, because people needed to hear it. So, the division he referred to was a result of the truth that confronts sin and the world’s values. It’s a kind of division that distinguishes true believers and unbelievers, and the peace he brings isn’t a societal or political one, as they expected; it’s internal.
Day 15- Luke Chapters 13 and 14.
The first five chapters in Luke 13 were a call to repentance. The people believed that suffering was a punishment for sin and that some people were more deserving of tragedy than others. Jesus called them out and told them to turn away from such a way of thinking.
The parable of the fig tree mirrors believers whose lives do not bear fruit. In the parable, the fig tree was given one more year to bear fruits and if it didn’t, it would be cut down. This reflects the principle that while God is patient, there is an eventual accountability. He cuts down every part that doesn’t bear fruit. The patience shown by the vineyard owner mirrors God’s patience with humanity, giving time for repentance and transformation.
In verse 23, someone asked if only a few people would be saved, and Christ responded by saying that they should strive to enter the narrow door, which meant that they should be intentional about their salvation and their faith because many would attempt half-heartedly and wouldn’t make it.
In chapter 14. Jesus heals on the sabbath although the Pharisees were against it, it didn’t stop him because healing was something he did out of mercy and compassion compared to their legalistic actions.
In the parable of the dinner, the host invited some guests who didn’t come, so he had to invite the poor and people on the streets for his banquet, so his house would be filled with guests. This parable is about the Jewish people to whom the gospel was first brought, but they refused, and now the invitation has been opened to the Gentiles who were willing to receive the gift of salvation.
That’d be all for now.
❤️❤️❤️