The Gospel of Luke
Third and LONGEST of the Synoptic Gospels
Background Information
Date of writing: 80-85 AD
Audience: Gentile (Greek) Christians
INTRODUCTION
The Gospel of Luke focuses on the importance of prayer and emphasizes God’s love and salvation. In this Gospel, salvation is viewed as an anticipated gift. The importance and meaning of salvation is seen through the overarching theme of the universality of God’s love. This theme and many others are conveyed through the characters’ actions and images of celebration and rejoicing. Luke also gives his audience perfect examples to follow when it comes to achieving salvation and living a Christ-filled life. One of these examples is Mary and how she responds to God. Mary is seen as the epitome of faithfulness because she hears the word of God and then carries it out. Another is, of course, Jesus. Luke uses him as the ultimate example by emphasizing his virtues of peace, love, and compassion. Through these virtues, Jesus reaches out to everyone, even if they have no apparent chance of salvation.
Luke 1:26-39
Church's "animal" depiction of the Gospel of Luke
Luke 10:25-37
OVERVIEW
Theme- God’s love for all
especially the poor or marginalized
Synoptic Gospel
Seeks to proclaim good news to Greek speaking Gentiles
Written around AD 80-85
Worship is a central point
This is the gospel of the poor and of social justice
- Consists of 18 unique parables
AUTHOR
Gentile Christian names Luke, originally believed to be one of Paul’s disciples
The author of Luke is believed to have had received a literary education
This means they probably came from a wealthy urban family
Wrote Acts as well
Called work “diegesis” or a “narrative account”
- Only non-Jewish writer in New Testament
Mary's Journey
Luke 15: 11-22
Luke 2:41-52
CHRISTOLOGY
Jesus comes across as a liberator
Jesus comes off as a philosophic teacher
The Jesus of Luke is an enormously powerful figure
Jesus is seen as merciful, compassionate, with a special concern for poor people, women, and non- Jews
Eschatological meal
- The eucharist, which anticipates the heavenly banquet that Jesus will share with the faithful when the Kingdom of God is fully realized at the end of time
MODEL DISCIPLE DEFINITION
He considers prayer to be among the more important elements of discipleship
The concepts of discipleship and mission in Luke are conveyed through the verbs “I send out” and “I follow”
To be sent by God means to execute a prophetic mission
Discipleship in Luke often takes the form of a journey
Luke 17:11-19
Women as disciples
Luke 15:11-32
CHARACTERS
Solomon
David’s son, a king of Israel renowned for his wisdom
Faithful leper
only leper that thanked and followed Jesus for healing him
MARY
Gospel in which we fully meet Mary
Mary is seen as the epitome of faithfulness
This is because she hears and does the word of God
Mary’s fiat was “May it be done unto me”
- “Fiat” is Latin for “Let it be done”
UNIQUE TO LUKE
In Luke, Jesus emerges primarily as a teacher, a teacher of ethical wisdom, someone who's confident and serene in that ethical teaching. Someone who is very much interested in inculcating the virtues of compassion and forgiveness among his followers
The ox, recalls the beginning of the Gospel, Zechariah is offering a sacrifice in the Temple
Luke's vision is of a unified humanity in the church that brings all of God's children back together.
The climax of Luke's narrative Gospel occurs in Luke 24:44-49, where Luke gives a Messianic sense to Isaiah's suffering servant, as Jesus comments that the "Christ must suffer," and then commissions the Apostles to preach the Word to all nations, and promises the gift of the Holy Spirit
Luke shows that prayer is the means by which God has guided his people throughout history.
Only Gospel with the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37)
Story of ten lepers being cured and cleansed, but only the Samaritan leper returning to Jesus to thank him (17:11-19)
Longest Gospel
It is the only Gospel to describe in great detail the conception and childhood of Jesus
- The only time that Jesus speaks as a child in the New Testament is recorded in Luke's Gospel (2:49)
SOURCES
The New Testament: The Good News of Jesus Christ (our textbook) pages 112-130