The Gospel of Luke was probably written for a Christian community or a cluster of house churches in an Eastern Mediterranean city. Thus, when Luke speaks of the poor, he refers primarily to the urban poor of his time. This makes his gospel especially relevant to the urban poor of today"s Third World. The Third Gospel for the Third World, a series of commentaries on the Gospel of Luke, focuses on the gospel"s pastoral implications for a Third World setting. This volume covers the first part of the Travel Narrative, Luke 9:51-13:21. Subsequent volumes will cover Luke 13:22-17:10 and Luke 17:11-19:44. While primarily using the historical-critical method, Father Hendrickx considers questions raised by sociological, anthropological, cultural, feminist, and other recent approaches to the gospels; he also considers recent findings of literary criticism. Highlighted topics include family, tribe, clan, the conditions of peasant life, honor, and shame. The Third Gospel for the Third World makes available to committed Christians from all over the world a biblical commentary that ties the third gospel to current Third World situations.