Luke Blog 1

Hear is the basic information about the Gospel According to Luke. Early traditions attribute the authorship of the Gospel of Luke to Luke, friend of the apostle Paul. Luke is thought to have been written before 64 AD by some scholars because Acts “breaks off before Paul’s death” (Keener 320). However, other scholars date Luke to after 70 AD based on chapter 21. Also, because Luke probably used Mark as a source, Luke would have had to be written after 64 AD. Either that or Mark was written earlier than 64 AD.
The purpose of Luke was to spread the gospel of Jesus to all, even to the Gentiles. Setting in Luke is to the Greek readers who were probably upper-class Romans (Keener 185).While the Gospels are all considered ancient biographies, Luke is called a “histography” or “history writing” by the introduction to Gospel of Luke in the NISB. This is because Luke is written in a style closer to Greco-Roman history rather than a biography. (Keener 186). The message of Luke is the ministry of Jesus reaching out to the outcasts of society. During Jesus’ ministry, he reached out especially to those with little or no social status like the religiously unfit, the poor, and the women (Keener 186). Luke has a “theme of salvation” (Green 1847). This salvation is for bringing restoration to Israel and fulfilling God’s promise to save Israel. With that restoration and saving, Israel is also to be a light to all nations.
Last fall I read from Acts to the end of the New Testament. After finishing, I circled back and read Matthew. Then I decided that I wanted to read Acts again. After finishing Acts, I worked again through the New Testament. Unfortunately, I did skip over Mark through John. I have read all four gospels many times and I really like them. At the same time Acts is my favorite book of the New Testament. What does this have to do with the Luke 1 blog? If you follow me a little longer I promise that you will find out.
Last fall I learned about the third part of the Godhead. I had grown up learning about God the Father. The same amount of attention had been given to Jesus, God’s son. However, little attention was given to the Holy Spirit. I decided a long time ago that the Holy Spirit was kind of like a Teddy Bear. Soft. Cuddly. Comforting.
I figured this was the role of the Holy Spirit: So say the little Christian slips and skins her knee. She is sad and probably crying and there is probably a little bit of blood and dirt. Jesus or God the Father takes down the Holy Spirit Teddy Bear and hands it to the little Christian. While the little Christian cries and holds the Teddy, God the Father or Jesus clean up the knee and puts a Band-Aid on it. God the Father or Jesus lets you hold the Teddy Bear until you feel better. Then He will take the Teddy Bear and put it back up onto the shelf where it will stay until the next little Christian skins his elbow.
This however is a very wrong view of the Holy Spirit. I learned that when the Holy Spirit is present big things happen. That is why I love the book of Acts. I had been challenged to read Acts and underline every time I saw the name “Holy Spirit” and underline all the times that the Holy Spirit moves and works in Acts. So I did. Most of my copy of the book of Acts has underlines and notes in the margins that are because I found the Holy Spirit working.
Ever since that read-through of Acts, I have underlined the term “Holy Spirit” whenever I see it regardless of which book of the Bible I am reading. I was surprised at the number of times I saw “Holy Spirit” in the Gospel According to Luke. However, after thinking about it for a moment, I realized that there was no reason to be surprised at all. Luke and Acts go together like a cell phone and its reception.
Another general thing (seen throughout the book of Luke) that I noticed while reading was that Luke continuously points out that Jesus follows God’s Law. Well, the first time that I noticed this obedience was actually done by Mary and Joseph when Jesus is eight days old. As the Jewish law states, males are to be circumcised the eighth day. Mary and Joseph also named him that day according to what the angel had said.
A specific part of Luke caught my eye and that is in chapter seven when the Centurion sends Jewish elders to Jesus. The Jewish elders call the Centurion worthy to have Jesus heal his slave (in verse four). However, in verse six, the Centurion sends some of his friends to Jesus to say “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you under my roof.” All the Centurion wanted was for Jesus to heal the slave. I just found the contrast of worthiness extremely interesting. The Centurion, a person of higher status, understands that Jesus is of even higher status. The Jewish leaders here feel that the Centurion is worthy enough. Jesus’ reaction is fascinating to me. He says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And verse nine also says that Jesus, upon hearing what the Centurion’s message, was amazed. A Gentile once again amazes the King of Kings.

Green, Joel. “The Gospel According to Mark.” Pages 1847-1850 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.

Keener, Craig S. “Mark,” Pages 185-258; 320-323 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.