Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

Required Reading

Blomberg, chapter 8.

Recommended Reading

Darrell L. Bock, “Luke, Gospel of,” in J.B. Green (et al., eds.), Dictionary of Jesus and the
Gospels (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1992), 485-510.
Richard A. Burridge, Four Gospels, One Jesus? (London 1994), 99-129.
Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 81-
101.
Mark L. Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus: An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 259-296.
David A. deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity,
2004), 298-347.
D.A. Carson, D. Moo and L. Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1992), 111-134.

Luke uses sources for his Gospel (Luke 1:1)

The rough stats on Luke’s Gospel (here I follow Darrell Bock), are:

Mark – just under 40%

Q – 20%
L – just over 40%

Luke uses Mark in slabs:

o Luke 3:1 – 4:15 = Mark 1:1 – 15

o Luke 4:31 – 6:19 = Mark 1:21 – 3:19
o Luke 8:4 – 9:50 = Mark 4:1 – 9:40 (minus Mark 6:45 – 8:20)
o Luke 18:15 – 43 = Mark 10:13 – 52 (without Mark 9:41 – 10:12)
o Luke 19:29 – 22:12 = Mark 11:1 – 14:16
o Luke 22:13 – 24:12 = Mark 14:17 – 16:8

Remember, Luke redacts Mark

1
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

2
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke is volume 1 of Luke-Acts

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and
servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from
the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent
Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke
1:1-4)

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts
1:1)

N.B. Theophilus is likely the literary patron of the work, a rich Christian who provided Luke
with the means to complete the work.

The story of Jesus and the story of the early church as a unified story of Jesus’ activity.

Narrative Analysis - The Plot of Luke

In broad terms, the Gospel of Luke has a geographical structure, in that it moves from
Galilee to Jerusalem, with the key text of Lk 9:51 marking the change in direction (Lk
9:53; 13:22, 33-34; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11, 28.).

Similarly, Acts progresses from Jerusalem, to Samaria and then to the ends of the earth
(Acts 1:8).

A basic structure for Luke is set out below:

(1) Preface: Lk 1:1-4.

(2) Birth and infancy stories: Lk 1:5-2:52.

(3) Preparation for ministry: Lk 3:1-4:13.

3
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

(4) Ministry at Galilee: Lk 4:14-9:50.

(5) Journey to Jerusalem: Lk 9:51-19:28 (= Mk 10:32-52).

. Note: Lk 9:53; 13:22, 33-34; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11, 28.

(6) Ministry in Jerusalem: Lk 19:28-21:39.

(7) Passion and Resurrection in Jerusalem: Lk 22:1-24:53.

. Lk 24:49, 52-53 anticipates Acts.

The Unique Features of Luke’s Narrative (as compared with Mark)

1. The Preface (1:1-4)

 Bears close resemblances with the writings of other Greco-Roman literature

(histories, scientific treatises).

o Cf. Josephus, Against Apion 2.1

In the former book, most honored Epaphroditus, I have demonstrated our antiquity, and
confirmed the truth of what I have said…I shall now therefore begin a confutation of the
remaining authors who have written anything against us.

 Not purely historical concerns (“orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled
among us”), but history through the lens of theology.

 The notion of fulfillment - see, in particular, Luke 1-2; but also 4:21; 9:31; 21:22;
24:44-47

 What does in order mean?

4
 Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

2. The Birth Narrative

3. Jesus’ preparation for ministry (3:1-4:13)

Compare and contrast Matthew and Luke’s account.

4. The Galilean Ministry (4:14-9:50)

This takes up the first third of Luke’s Gospel – but it is roughly equivalent to the first half of
Mark.

The programmatic significance of the Nazareth sermon (4:16-30)

18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The same as Mark 6:1-6?

5
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

“The sermon is significant, because it plays out in miniature the story which will
unfold in the Gospel. Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth foreshadows his coming rejection
by his own people Israel” (Mark Strauss)

Good news to the poor (7:11-17)

Good news to sinners (7:36-50)

Freeing people from the clutches of Satan (4:31-36)

Heals the sick (4:38-44)

Begins to bring blessing to Gentiles (7:1-10; note the way the Nazareth sermon ends).

Jesus as teacher in Luke – chapter 6

The universal offer of the Gospel – chapter 7

Lot of episodes and themes shared with Mark:

 Who is Jesus? (7:19; 8:25; 9:9)

 Peter’s confession

6
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

5. The big turning point (9:51-19:28

“Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem”.

A travel narrative?

Focusing himself and his teaching on what it will mean for him to go to Jerusalem, in
particular, what it will means for him to fulfill the role of a suffering Messiah.

Chapters 9-18 filled with distinctively Lukan teaching.

 Twenty eight of the forty passages most commonly classified as parables

occur in Luke, and he has at least fourteen unique parables (including some of
the most famous).

 9-18 has some of the most famous parables – The Good Samaritan (10:25-37);
The Rich fool (12:13-21); The Great Banquet (14:16-24); The Lost Series
(Sheep, Coin, Son – chapter 15); The Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31); The
Persistent Widow (18:1-8); The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14).

The upside-down kingdom expressed through upside-down parables.

The climax comes with Zaccheaus (19:1-10)

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

5. Jerusalem and the Passion Narrative (19:45-24:53):

Here of course, there is much that Luke shares with Mark in terms of content, but
there is strong evidence that Luke has access to another Passion account:

 significant material not found in Mark

o Jesus’ warning to Jerusalem in 23:27–31

7
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

o Jesus’ intercessory prayer from the cross in 23:34a,

o Jesus’ interaction with the crucified criminals in 23:39–43
o Luke’s description of the repentance of the multitudes in 23:48.

Perhaps the most important distinctive feature of Luke’s narrative of the Passion is the
way he makes explicit that Jesus was innocent of all guilt.

Luke alone reports three tribunals (the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate).

The centurion’s comment at 23:47

47
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a
righteous (dikaios) man.”.

Theological Themes of Luke

To exalt Jesus as Saviour and Lord

 Jesus as ‘Saviour’. See Lk 2:11 (1:47 re God); 19:9-10; Acts 5:21 and 13:23.
Luke also underscores the saving role of faith (Lk 7:50; 17:19; 18:42). The term Saviour is
unique to Luke in the Synoptics (it does appear in John – see John 4:42). Many (such as
Craig Blomberg and I. Howard Marshall, argue that salvation is the key concept of Luke’s
gospel).

 Jesus as ‘Lord’. This term is used 14 times of God and 14 times of Jesus (7:13,
19; 10:1, 39., 41; 11:39; 12:42; 13:15; 17:5, 6; 18:6; 19:8; 22:61; 24:3). Authority
implications and divine implications.

To exalt Jesus Jesus as a Prophet like Moses (see Deut 18:15),

mighty in Word and Deed

(4:24; 7:16; 11:47-52; 13:33; 24:19; cf. also Acts 3:22-23; 7:37)

8
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

 Performs miracles and proclaims God’s word

 Will suffer for his faithfulness

 If Israel does not heed his warning, judgement will come

The Gospel of the kingdom is for All People, in particular the

outsiders

 The choice of barren Elizabeth (“taken away my disgrace”; 1:25)

 Mary’s birth hymn

The poor and oppressed

 The target of Jesus’ inaugural sermon (4:16-22)

 his beatitudes focus more explicitly on issues of riches and poverty (6:24-
25)

 Exhorts his followers to invite the poor and handicapped to their parties
(14:12-13)

 See also 4:16-30; 14:7-24; 16:19-31; 19:1-10.

Sinners and Tax Collectors

 Only Luke has:

9
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

o the anointing by the sinful woman (7:36-50)

o the story of Zaccheaus (19:1-10)

o the repentant criminal (23:39-43)

o the prodigal son (15:11-32)

o the tax collector who went home justified (18:9-14)

Samaritans

 Can be heroes (10:25-37)

 It is not about vengeance on the Samaritans (9:51-56)

 The one leper who returns to thank Jesus is a Samaritan (17:11-19)

Gentiles

 The prophecy of Simeon (2:32)

 The Lukan geneaology and quotation Isaiah 40:5 (Luke 3:6)

 The end of the Nazareth sermon (4:25-27)

 The Roman centurion (7:9)

 The knowledge of what happens in Acts

Women

 Luke emphasises the value placed on them as disciples and partners in ministry.

 He refers to thirteen women not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels.

10
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

 It is women who are at the centre of the birth narratives (unlike Matthew’s focus on
Joseph), then there is the widow at Nain (7:12-15), the sinful woman (7:36-50), the women
who financially supported Jesus (8:1-3); the woman with the blood disease (8:43-48), the
story of Mary and Martha (10:38-42); the poor widow (21:1-4).

The Fulfilment of God’s Promises to Israel

The mission of Jesus (which will eventually spread to the Gentiles) is in accord with
Israel’s Scriptures.

The death of Jesus is in accord with the OT.

27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (24:27)

Fulfilment particularly prevalent in opening and closing portions of the work

to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us (1:1)

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful
55
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers (Luke 1:54-55; see also 1:72-75; 2:29-32)

And then the Emmaus episode in chapter 24

The Gospel Brings Joy

“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for
joy” (1:44). See also 1:47; 1:58; 2:10 (“I bring you news of great joy”), and this joy floods
the whole work of Luke in a unique way:

Luke 10:17 - The seventy-two returned with joy

Luke 15:4-5 - 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of
them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost
sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders”

11
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

Luke 19:37 - When he came near the place where the road goes down the
Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud
voices for all the miracles they had seen:

Luke 24:52 - 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy.

The Songs of the Gospel

Magnificat (1:46-55); The Benedictus (1:68-79); The Gloria in Excelsius (2:14); The Nunc
Dimittis (2:29-32).

The Gospel brings the Holy Spirit

Spirit as the sign of eschatological salvation (Joel 2:28-32; Ezekiel 36:27).

 The presence of the Holy Spirit, bringing joy and blessing throughout the birth
narrative (1:35; 41; 67; 2:26-27).

 The Holy Spirit as part of the package in John’s foreshadowing (3:15-18)

 The fullness of the spirit in Jesus’ ministry in Luke 4.

 Remember Acts

The Gospel brings a new heart for justice

 John’s announcement to Israel 3:7-20

 Giving generously - 11:41; 12:33

 The example of Zaccheaus – 19:1-10

12
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

Historical Analysis

Who is Luke's implied audience?

• Luke starts his gospel with a traditional Graeco-Roman literary preface (Luke 1:1-
4)

• Theophilus – a Gentile Christian literary patron.

• Emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Lk 2:31-32; 4:25-27; 13:29; 21:24 plus what
happens in Acts)

• Luke changes Palestinian features in Mark's.

o For example, the Jewish roof construction of Mk 2:4 becomes the Gentile
roof of ‘tiles’ in Lk 5:19;
o ‘Master’ or ‘Lord’ replaces the Aramaic ‘Rabbi/Rabbouni’.
o ‘Lawyer’ replaces Matthew and Mark’s ‘Scribe’ (Luke 7:30; 11:45-46, 50).
o He removes references to Aramaic words like Ephphatha, Talitha cumi)

This combined data suggests a majority Gentile readership, although not without some
Jewish Christian elements.

The Purpose of Luke

The importance of the preface:

“
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

• Luke writes to confirm the commitment made by Gentile Christians like

Theophilus

• The reliability of the tradition you have received – integrity and

trustworthiness.

• The fulfilment motif suggests the question - How do we know that we have
got the OT promises right?

o Did God’s promises to Israel fail?

13
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

 Was the Gentile mission on God’s mind from the beginning?

o Luke’s continuous use of the “fulfilment” motif testifies to a desire to

establish continuity between Judaism and early Christianity (1:20, 57; 2:6, 21, 22;
4:21;9:31; 21:22, 24; 24:44; Acts 1:16; 3:18), as opposed to its total replacement by the
new faith..

• How do we stand in relation to the Roman Empire?

o Jesus was innocent We are not rebels

o “Luke presents Christians as a group of noble people committed to

virtue and orderly living, not to political subversion and the
disturbance of the public order (D.A. deSilva)

Who wrote Luke's Gospel & when?

Luke … a companion of Paul set forth in a book the gospel as preached by him.
Irenaeus, Adv. Her. 3.1.1.

Luke, however, was not an apostle, but only a man of apostolic times; not a master,
but a disciple, inferior indeed to a master - and at least as much later (than they) as
the Apostle whom he followed, undoubtedly Paul (was later than the others).
Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem 4.2.2.

See also the ancient (II cent. AD) extra-textual Prologue to the Gospel

Luke was a Syrian of Antioch, by profession a physician, the disciple of the apostles,
and later a follower of Paul until his martyrdom, as cited in J.A. Fitzmyer, The
Gospel According to Luke I-IX (New York 1981), pp.38-39.

• Luke is well known in the New Testament. He is the co-worker of Paul, a doctor by
profession (Philemon 24; Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11).

• The we passages of Acts (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16)

• Arguments against Luke’s authorship tend to coalesce around the idea that his
portrait of Paul and the early church is too divergent from what we know in Paul. On this
question, see Stanley Porter, Paul in Acts.

14
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

Dating

• There are two options for the dating of Luke-Acts: either (a) early 60's or (b) 70's
-90's. Arguments for an early 60's date for Luke’s Gospel (that is, before Nero's persecution
of 64 AD) are as follows:

 Acts does not mention Paul's death, only his imprisonment (c. AD
61-63: Acts 28:30).

 Acts does not mention Nero's persecution of Christians (64 AD).

 Acts does not mention the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem.

Arguments for a post 70's date (c. AD 80-85) are as follows:

• The Gospel alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD). Cf. Lk 13:35; 19:43;
21:5-6; Lk 21:20-24.

• There are verses that clearly refect post-70 AD hindsight. Both Lk 19:43 and 21:20
agree with Josephus' description of the army of Titus besieging Jerusalem (Jewish War
6:150, 156).

• Luke may well have known about Paul's death.

Discipleship Reflections

 Following Jesus means accepting all who are outside – the greedy rich, the
socially and economically poor, the disgraced sinner.

 Following Jesus means proving your repentance by deeds (Acts 26:20)

 A community filled with prayer (5:16; 6:12; 11:1; 22:32, 41; 23:34) and joy
(2:10; 24:53; Acts 2:46-47).

15
Lecture 7 — The Gospel of Luke

 A Christian community focussed on witness (cf. Acts).

16