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Understanding the Gospel of LukeSeeing the Gospel of Luke through a Journey PerspectiveBackgrounder on the gospel of LukeThe gospel of Luke is often referred to by bible scholars as really a two volume book known as, Luke-Acts. Bible scholars tell us that the author of the gospel is also the author of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. We can see the ministry and missionary works of Jesus flowing over into the ministry and missionary works of His disciples in the Acts of the Apostles.Seeing the gospel of Luke from a journey perspectiveTo understand in some way the richness of the gospel of Luke, we can focus on the journey perspective of the presentation of the gospel. Below is an outline of this 'journey perspective':
The Passion and Death of Jesus [Luke 22:1ff] The Resurrection [Luke 24:1ff] The Ascension [Luke 24:50ff] The Pentecost [Acts 2:1ff] note: ff after the number verse, means including following verses The key passage of the gospel of Luke for this missionary programBible scholars always cite [Luke 4:16-30] as the key passage to understand the missionary program of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. These scholars call this key passage the "programmatic text". They term it programmatic text, because it outlines the missionary program of Jesus. Especially to note are the passages which say,:"The Spirit of the Lord has been given to Me, for He has anointed Me. He has sent Me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favour. [Luke 4:18-19] This proclamation made by Jesus at the synagogue of Jerusalem outlines His whole ministry and mission, which if we place within the context of the missionary program outlined above, basically outlines what Jesus taught by word and deed in the gospel of Luke Emphasis of gospel of Luke on the ministry to the poor, to the captives, to the blind, and the downtrodden and the proclamation of blessing and the Lord's favourThe whole of Jesus' ministry in Galilee and Jerusalem was a ministry and mission for those people in society who are poor and marginalized. Especially to note are the sick, the blind, and those captive to evil spirits. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is portrayed as a man who has much compassion for those who are suffering and in distress. We can echo what He says in [Luke 6:36] "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."As Jesus performed his ministry to the poor and the oppressed in Galilee and Jerusalem, he was accepted and loved very much by these people. However, the established religious authority rejected Him and found Him against their leadership of the people. This led to His being arrested and then put to death on the Cross. However, after three days, He rose again by the power of the Spirit. He appeared to His disciples, ascended into heaven, and then at Pentecost, sent His Spirit to commission all His followers to continue His ministry and mission that was started at Galilee and Jerusalem. And before He ascended into heaven, He told His disciples at [Acts 1:8] "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth." It is thus from this key verse that the outline of the book of the Acts of the Apostles can be sourced from - according to the ministry and mission which all the disciples performed: first in Jerusalem, then in Judaea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
March 15, 2005 [revised: August 13, 2006]
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