THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (Part II)

One major effect that results form this was he spread of the gospel by the Church was the heightening of the historical perspective of the Gospel of Luke. As he drew attention to God’s continuing activity in and through the apostolic church, Luke intensified the impression that the life of Jesus - his ministry, death and resurrection - was an event that belonged to a past epoch in human history which was unique. By way of comparison, we could hazard to say that Mark related the story of Jesus to clarify and convince his listeners concerning the present claims of the exalted Lord for their faithful, informed commitment. Matthew historicized the Jesus traditions but emphasized their relevance through the his use of the “promise-fulfilment” pattern. Luke conceived of the interval of Jesus’s life as a unique period of time distinct from the time of the Church.

The Purpose

The purpose for this composition appears in Luke 1: 4, “May know what assurance you have for the matters about which you have been instructed”. Luke is defending Christianity against false accusations before a sympathetic audience. The assurance that Luke is talking is the assurance that means knowing the truth about the Christian message. Persons who know this truth will recognize that accusations brought against those who preach the message are false. In this sense Luke-Acts can be said to be an apologetic work. However we have to take into account that the person to whom Luke is writing has already been instructed in the Christian faith and so the writing , though apologetic is something more than just apologetics. Luke wishes to assure the reader that what the Church is preaching goes back to the preaching of Jesus and the earliest disciples.

(to be continued)