For generations, metanoia has been translated as "repentance", in this original commentary, Simon Perry argues that Luke employs the concept in a far richer sense. Rather than denoting remorse alone, metanoia describes a radical reorientation of perception, identity and allegiance. It is the thread that connects Luke's narrative from beginning to end, shaping its characters, its theology and its vision of discipleship.

Combining a fresh translation with sustained exegetical analysis, Perry demonstrates how metanoia shapes Luke's portrayal of discipleship, wealth, power, status and belonging. By tracing this theme across the Gospel as a whole, he uncovers a narrative structured around continual reversal and the reconfiguration of established ways of seeing.

A new addition to the renowned Black's New Testament Commentary series, The Gospel According to St Luke draws on literary criticism, hermeneutics and the cultural world of the first century to make a distinctive contribution to Lukan theology and New Testament interpretation. Perry reads Luke as a Gospel shaped by the dynamics of metanoia from beginning to end, revealing a text that not only recounts transformation but seeks to bring it about in its readers.