Bible Course for the Laity - 2004, DVK, Bangalore

Full Reports on the Bible & Theology Course - 2004

6.4   The Gospel According to Luke

6.4.1 Introduction

The Gospel according to Luke is one of the treasures of biblical literature. It is, in many respects, a masterpiece of all books of the New Testament. It presents the person of Jesus in its own unique manner.

Jesus in the Gospels

• Mark portrays Jesus as the suffering Son of Man, misunderstood and abandoned even by His own disciples.
• Matthew presents Jesus as the Promised Messiah who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies, and also as the New Moses who teaches with the authority of his own words.
• John depicts Jesus as the Word Incarnate, the heavenly revealer who is not of this world but who was sent to reveal the Father.
• Luke presents Jesus as the Compassionate Saviour, a friend of the poor and the oppressed.

Luke, the writer

Luke presents the tender character of Jesus in many episodes. In this Gospel, we witness greater depth of devotion and prayerfulness than the other three Gospels. The author is a gifted writer with a great poetic imagination who paints the scenes very carefully and vividly with powerful word pictures. What the author expects form his readers is total surrender and unconditional following of the divine Master on His "Way". As we go through the Gospel, the author wants us to constantly ask the questions: "What shall we do?" (Lk 3:10, 3:12, 3:14) or "What shall I do?" (Lk 12:17, 16:3, 18:18, 20:13). For he wants us to get into "the Way of the Master" and thus into "the Way of discipleship" with all its challenges.

6.4.2 The Gospel & Acts

The Gospel is a companion volume to the Acts of the Apostles. They form one unified work, and occupy one-fourth space of the entire New Testament books. The language and the structure of the two books indicate that both were written by the same person. Both the books are addressed to the same individual - Theophilus (Lk 1:3, Acts 1:1). In his second volume (Acts of the Apostles), Luke refers to the Gospel as "the first book" (Acts 1:1). The two volumes have one single story - the story of "Christian beginnings". In the two books, Luke tells "the story of Jesus" as well as "the story of the early Church" and considers these as forming together the foundational narrative of the Church. He explains how the good news of salvation had started in the life and ministry of Jesus (Gospel according to Luke) and how it spread from Jerusalem to "the ends of the earth" (Acts of the Apostles).

6.4.3 Lucan Theology

Will God be faithful to the promises made to Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians? Luke answers this question in the affirmative. His answer takes the form of the kerygmatic story (apostolic proclamation of deliverance and salvation through Jesus Christ) called Luke - Acts. In this story, Luke demonstrates that God through Jesus was faithful to the promises made to Israel, but in an unexpected manner to include Gentiles, the unclean, the poor, women, Samaritans (half-Jewish), rich tax collectors, and assorted other outcasts as wells as elect people who are repentant of their initial rejection of Jesus, God's prophet and the Chosen One. This Israel is called reconstituted Israel.

More on Lucan Theology

Continuity with the old: Luke depicts a Jesus who, while at times, laying aside prescriptions of the law, is nevertheless an upholder of the validity of the law (Eg: Lk 16:17). Judaism had a long and fine tradition of prayer. Jesus and the community that follows his way stand in this noble tradition. Judaism is founded on the twelve tribes. In narrating god's establishment of reconstituted Israel, Luke tells how Jesus selected the Twelve (Lk 6:12-16) and how this Twelve was restored after the death of Judas (Lk 6:15-26). The Gospel begins in Jerusalem and in the Temple. Acts chapters 1 to 3 detail the origins of reconstituted Israel. From Jerusalem, God's word goes out to all the nations, to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Internal & external controversies: Luke wages theological battles on two fronts. Internally, he engages in polemic (aggressive attack) against Jewish Christians who seek to apply overly strict entrance requirements to those who want to join reconstituted Israel. These Jewish Christians are the "Pharisees" of the Gospel, who object to Jesus' eating habits and association with sinners and tax collectors. Against them, Luke employs the symposium genre and has them invite Jesus to dinner only to hear him answer their objections. Against them, Luke also develops his view of who are the children of Abraham (Lk 13:10-17, 19:1-10) and therefore heirs of God's promise. Luke further attacks their position by expanding the notion of who belong to "the poor of God", an image used in the Old Testament to describe the elect. Social status, ethnic heritage, and religious self-justification do not qualify for membership in this exclusive group. The lame, blind, and maimed now belong to this elect group (Lk 14:13, 14:21) as well as the well-to-do Gentile Christians who share their possessions with those in need (Lk 6:17-49). Finally, in reconstituted Israel, the outcast class - women - plays a prominent role (Lk 7:36-50).
The main external problems that Luke's communities face are those of harassment, primarily seen in Acts from local Jewish synagogue leaders (Acts 21:11-19).

The Lucan Jesus: Luke's portrayal of Jesus: Jesus, in His compassionate mission to all and by His selection of the Twelve, laid the foundation for the reconstituted Israel. Jesus' mission is an inclusive one as he seeks out the lost and sinners, and restores them to union with God. The people, however, are not as stubborn and blind in their rejection of Jesus as their leaders. Luke's theme of the rejected prophet brings out a further nuance of his portrayal of Jesus. Jesus may have been rejected by the religious leaders, but such rejection does not close the door to God's offer or mercy. There is a final nuance to Luke's portrait of Jesus, and this deals with the fidelity of Jesus' God. Luke begins his Gospel with this theme as he tells how promises have been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus; he ends it with the theme as he tells how God has fulfilled promises in raising Jesus from the dead. This God, who did not allow God's Holy One, Jesus, to see corruption (Acts 2:27) will surely be faithful to promises made to Jesus' followers who journey from all corners of the globe to take up their places at the heavenly banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The fifth and final part of Module-6 explores the non-Synoptic Gospel of John.

Module 6, Part 1   Module 6, Part 2   Module 6, Part 3
Module 6, Part 4   Module 6, Part 5
Bible Course Index   Bible Course Outline

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