I am continuing my push to read my entire Bible in 2016, and now find myself at the tail end of the book of Luke.
Unlike some of the minor prophets, this is a book I read — a lot — as a kid, so I’m not finding new surprises so much as reacquainting myself with old ones.
I am struck, though, by the multiple times Jesus repeats the words of the prophets — and no one seems to get it. This used to bother me as a kid, too. Don’t you people know?
Of course, hindsight is 20-20. And growing up allows you to understand how adults can’t see what is plainly right in front of them. But yeesh.
Dating Jesus 
I think Luke was writing for a more gentile (Greco-Roman) audience that might not have been as familiar with The Old School as other readers.
What interested me most in Luke was the whole citizenship thing. (Yes! You can be a good Christian and a good citizen.) And Luke’s depiction of the death of Jesus. No doubt, (Why have you forsaken me?), as is witnessed in other Gospels, and which is kind of a theme in prior scripture.
That particular description of the crucifixion is pretty tough to read. I’m in John now. It feels like swimming in familiar waters, but I’m hoping not to skim. I love John’s backstory.
There’s a good deal of discrepancy between John and the synoptics. The divinity of Jesus is stressed more forcefully. As his His anti-establishment (Judean?) attitudes. (Gotta love a working class Jesus!) And then there’s the issue of sacramentalism. Or lack of it, depending on who’s doing the talking.
I think a significant portion of John wound up on a cutting room floor somewhere.
I find myself skipping any of the books not included in my childhood Bible. I’m stuck in a rut like that.
John’s in that Bible. Was in mine. I’m not referring to any of the other Johannine literature out there. KJV all the way.