The Gospel of Luke  

One way to appreciate the writings of Luke would be to consider what we would miss without it: Christmas without shepherds or a baby in a manger.  We would not have stories like the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Pharisee and Publican.  We would not have known about Zaccchaeus scampering up a tree to see Jesus.  There would be no travelers on the road to Emmaus or the words to the two thieves on the cross.   Pentecost would be lost as would Jesus’ ascension.  Indeed, w would be poorer for not having the Gospel of Luke/Acts.

Luke/Acts?  That’s right the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are a two-volume work written by the same author.  When the early Christians compiled the first New Testament, they wanted to put first all of the gospels. For that reason, John’s gospel artificially separates the two-volume work of Luke/Acts.  This evening we are only going to talk about the gospel of Luke.  In two weeks, we will turn our attention to Luke’s other book—the Acts of the Apostles.

Luke wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else.   He like Matthew used Mark to give structure to his Gospel.  He as much admits this in the very opening passages of scriture.  However, unlike Matthew he did not leave most of it unchanged but rather reworked Mark for the benefit of his community.   Scholars have also discovered that Matthew and Luke must have had yet another book at their disposal because when we compare Matthew and Luke and eliminate their use of Mark, we find stories and sayings common to both Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark.  Some scholars have nicknamed this unknown book, the “Sayings of Jesus.”  In addition to these two books Luke like Matthew apparently had additional information about Jesus that was know only to himself such as the Prodigal Son and the Christmas shepherds.  While Mark was the most influential of the gospel writers, Luke was the most prolific.  Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts occupy more than a fourth of the New Testament.

Luke is perhaps the best storyteller in the Bible.  His two books are full of anecdotal information about people and places, all told with interesting twists and turns.   Luke is the most personable of the gospel writers. 

As you read Luke and Acts, you will notice these very distinctive characteristics:

1)                  Luke’s writings emphasize worship and prayer as very important.  Its first two chapters, for example, contain several songs including Mary’s Song at learning she is to give birth to the Son of God (also known as the Magnificat, P. 147 LBW) and old Simeon’s Song after he first encounters the baby Jesus (also known as the Nunc Dimittis, P. 73 LBW).  Jesus is caught over and over again praying, teaching about praying, encouraging people to pray.

2)                  Luke emphasizes more than any other gospel the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is mentioned more times in Luke’s gospel than in Matthew and Mark combined.  We will hear more about that when we look at the book of Acts.

3)                  Luke is very interested in history.   Luke takes great pains place events in their historical context.  When we get to Acts it becomes even more evident.

4)                  Luke is a people person.  We are often told the names of the people who encounter Jesus in the gospel.  They are more than just anonymous persons who enter and exit the spiritual drams.  Colorful details are added in Luke regarding the lives of the average person on the street that is missing in the other gospels.

5)                  Special attention is given to the poor and disadvantaged.  Slaves, lepers, shepherds, prostitutes, Samaritans, Gentiles, children, the elderly and especially women all get special attention.  The average Joe and Jane are most prominent in Luke.

6)                  Repentance and salvation are significant themes.  Both Jesus and the apostles understand their mission as calling people to repentance.  Jesus is the one who was “born” to be the savior, as the one who was to come “to seek out and save the lost.”

Now what can we say about Luke’s community?  First, the community that produced the finished gospel of Luke and the book of Acts included not only Jewish converts to Christianity but also most probably a great many non-Jewish converts as well.  In fact, Luke was more interested in reaching non-Jews than he was the Jews.  We know, for example, that Luke did not quote nearly the amount of Old Testament, as did Matthew.  He also took pains to explain Jewish customs when they were encountered.

We also know Luke’s community appears to have been more urban than rural and included both rich and poor.  Luke’s community seems to have been very well organized with various church offices and positions of leadership.  We will see this most prominently in Acts.  A principal concern in these writings is how the rich should relate to the poor. 

When it comes to salvation Mark and Matthew emphasizes a future event.  Luke, however, emphasizes a salvation in the here and now.  The word today is a very important word in Luke’s gospel.  Of course, salvation does mean eternal life with God but for Luke, his concern is more about salvation in the here and now.  For example, the angels say to the shepherds, “To you is born today…a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord.”  Jesus says to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled.”  Jesus says to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus says to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.”  Jesus saves people by setting them free to live NOW the life God wants them to have.

Let’s take the last example as an illustration.  Jesus is talking to a man who is about to die.  For this man, salvation means going to heaven to live in paradise.  But when Jesus tells Zacchaeus that salvation has come to his house, he does not mean that Zacchaeus is about to die and go to heaven.  Zacchaeus is a rich man, despised by his community for collaborating with the Romans in the collection of the taxes.  His money isolates him from others in a way that makes him an example of people who Jesus says are slaves of wealth.  This is not the life God wants him to have.  Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus leads him to adopt a radical new policy of stewardship, one based on integrity and on generosity to the poor.  Jesus changes Zacchaeus’ life, and this change is called “salvation.”

Salvation happens NOW in the gospel of Luke.  Jesus does not tell Zacchaeus that, because he has changed his ways, he will go to heaven when he dies.  Nor does he assure the homeless woman in Luke 7, probably a woman forced into prostitution because of poverty, that life would be better for her only in the great beyond.  Rather than offer predictions about some salvation to be realized in the future, Jesus tells these people that salvation HAS come, that faith HAS saved them.  While salvation has a future, eternal dimension, both Luke and Acts emphasizes that God’s salvation can happen now.

Now what about Luke’s unique contribution of the ascension of Jesus?  Does Jesus leave us to fend for ourselves as best we can until he returns?  Not a chance.

At the end of Luke’s gospel, when Jesus ascends into heaven, he does not really leave.  The ascension is not so much a departure as it is an exaltation or enthronement.  Jesus goes “to the right hand of God” where he remains present and accessible.  When we come to the book of Acts, we will see that Jesus continues to save people by answering their prayers and intervening on their behalf.  He continues to change people’s lives in and through his church.

The purpose of the church is about transformation—helping unchurched people know Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior and become responsible members of his body, the church.  That is a transformation process.  To do that Luke did not feel we in the church could wait out those who did not know Jesus to come to us.  Instead, he felt we in the church would have to go to them and that meant meeting them more than half way.  And so he wrote the book of Acts to illustrate that is how the church grows.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  We will get to that in two weeks. 

Next week: the Gospel of John.