Biblical art in Catholic churches
Category: Gospels
St Luke was the writer of two of the books included in the New Testament – the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. As such, he is known as St Luke the ‘Evangelist’, which means ‘gospel-writer’. According to the start of his gospel, he had not known Christ personally – he was … Continue reading St Luke the Evangelist (Colossians 4:14)
Christ’s personal invitation to four fishermen to become his disciples started a new chapter in both their lives and his. As Pope Benedict XVI explained: “The Gospels agree in mentioning that the call of the Apostles marked the first steps of Jesus' ministry, after the baptism he received from John the Baptist in the waters … Continue reading Christ calls his First Disciples (Matthew 4:18-22)
The gospels include a story about how two of the apostles asked Christ for a personal favour (Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45). The two were St James and St John, the sons of Zebedee. They decided to involve their mother, who had left home to look after Christ and her sons, in the plan. One day, … Continue reading St James & St John’s Request (Matthew 20:20-28)
Another of Christ’s famous ‘I am’ sayings, found in St John’s gospel, is where he spoke of himself as ‘the Good Shepherd’. While teaching the people in Jerusalem, he shared with them a parable about a shepherd who protected his sheep. The shepherd, he said, “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… … Continue reading I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)
The story of the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus comes to us from St Mark’s gospel (Mark 10:46-52). In Luke’s version he is unnamed (18:35-43) and in St Matthew’s account, he is healed along with another blind beggar. Christ was on his final journey to Jerusalem, where he was to suffer and die. A … Continue reading The Healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52)
The story of Christ healing a paralysed man is included in three of the gospels (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26). Each of the accounts include individual details which enable us to build up a bigger picture of what happened. One day, when Christ was teaching the people at a house in Capernaum (probably St … Continue reading The Healing of the Paralysed Man (Luke 5:17-26)
St Luke’s gospel is the only one to include any details of the childhood of Christ. This is probably because he spoke to the Virgin Mary, who shared her memories of the Child Jesus with him. The main story he tells is of Christ’s disappearance during a family trip to Jerusalem – and of being … Continue reading Christ among the Doctors (Luke 2:41-52)
