The book is pastoral in tone and very accessible; small congregational groups could use it to expand their knowledge of Luke and begin learning how different gospels depict Jesus in particular ways.

"Mark may challenge you, Matthew reassure you and John inspire you, but it is among the real people of Luke's gospel that you will find yourself. And that, I suggest, is the task of our times-to find ourselves, to discover who we are and how it is that we can play our part in shaping a new world. This is a readable, compelling invitation to walk into the story and find yourself, whoever you may be, within its pages. Indeed the outsider, as Patrick so clearly and beautifully demonstrates, becomes the insider through his or her encounter with Jesus."

In post-Christian societies churches need to work much harder to nurture an appreciation of the transformative power of the Bible. These two books, one on Matthew and one on Luke and Acts, by a retired Anglican priest and educator, offer individual Christian learners and local congregations functioning as learning churches fresh insights into how they may be enriched by engagement with Matthew and with Luke. ... The strengths of these two books reside in their accessible style, in the discussion questions set out in the appendices, and in the conversation that is generated between the word of scripture and the life-world of the Christian reader.