Tax Collectors

In the first century, tax collectors were despised as corrupt collaborators with Rome, yet in the Gospel story they become powerful symbols of repentance and God’s grace reaching even the most outcast.

People, Places, and Things

Tax Collectors

Looks like you don't have a membership. This contnet is limited to members.

Join the conversation and start understanding the Bible.

People, Places, and Things

Levi

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ call of Levi the tax collector reveals His radical mission to welcome society’s outcasts, transforming even the most despised into disciples through mercy and table fellowship.

The Lake of Gennesaret

In the first century AD, the Lake of Gennesaret—also known as the Sea of Galilee—was a fertile, storm-prone freshwater lake that served as the economic and spiritual heart of Galilee, supporting thriving fishing towns like Capernaum and providing the setting for many key events in Jesus’ ministry.

Zechariah

Zechariah, a righteous priest and husband of Elizabeth, is struck mute for doubting the angel’s promise but regains his speech when he faithfully names his son John, proclaiming God’s salvation in the Gospel of Luke.

The Ceremony of Circumcion

Jewish boys were circumcised on the eighth day as a commanded sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, marking their entry into the covenant community through a sacred ceremony where the child was named and blessed.

Leprosy

In the Gospel of Luke, leprosy—once a condition demanding priestly examination, isolation, and ritual cleansing under Mosaic law—becomes a powerful sign of Jesus’ authority to restore both body and community, as he touches the unclean, heals them instantly, and fulfills the law’s promise of true purification.

Lysanias

Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene in the early 1st century AD, was a minor ruler in the Anti-Lebanon region whose mention in the Gospel of Luke, later confirmed by inscriptions, anchors the gospel narrative firmly within Roman-era history.