THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (Part III)

Secondly, the purpose of Luke in his references to the Gentiles, in both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, is not merely to emphasise the kindness of Jesus to all. However, he was concerned to show how God, through Jesus, has been working to lead to the grand climax of a Gospel in which the division between Jew and Gentile is annulled and a salvation for all made available. The mission of the world-wide Gospel is already present in the embryo in the ministry of Jesus. The disciples whom Jesus called, first the twelve and then the Seventy and then, again, the twelve, ( suggesting the elders appointed by Moses and perhaps the number of the nations of the earth), and whom he taught and to whom he entrusted his Kingdom at the Last Supper, were a preparation for the coming great Gentile Church. There can be no question that for Luke the greatest fact of the first century was the Church in which the division between Jew and Gentile had been healed.

Thirdly, bound up with Luke’s understanding of the ministry of Jesus as foreshadowing, preparing for, and part of the world-wide mission of the Church, is his emphasis on the Spirit. The Gospel begins with the outpouring of the Spirit, not only on John the Baptist in the birth story, but also on Jesus at his own baptism.  We are told that Jesus was armed with the poser of the Spirit. (Read 4: 14 -21 ) But this same Spirit was poured out on the Christian Community on the day of Pentecost described in Acts 2. It is to be noted that the Spirit of Jesus and the Spirit on Jesus carries on the life of the Church. And this Spirit is possessed by Jesus as the Messiah; he is also a New Moses, and above all, he is the suffering Servant of the Lord. One of the key motifs of Luke’s Gospel is that it is as a light to the Gentiles, especially, that Jesus is the Servant, not so much as the suffering Servant who makes atonement for the sins of the world. Luke reveals to us Jesus in relation to the whole world. Nevertheless, Luke is very conscious that the separation between the Church and the Jewish people, which the entry of the Gentiles into the Church largely created, was already foreshadowed in the life of Jesus. In the very Synagogue where Jesus Jesus spoke of his call in the Spirit, the people are scandalised by him and reject him.

(to be continued)