Gospel of Luke, Essay Example

Both Luke and Matthew borrowed from the Gospel of Mark. Luke borrowed from the Gospel of Mark more greatly than Matthew did. Both Gospels borrowed Jesus’ family seizing him, parable of the seed growing in secret, the healing of deaf as well as dumb men, and the healing of the blind man in Bethseida. Luke also omits the sections of Mark known as the “Great Omission” and “Little Omission”

It is surprising to find that the Gospel of Luke has more than one Gospel (it’s followed by the Book of Acts), the Gospel is steeped in historical facts and context (Herod the King, Caesar Augustus), the emphasis on Jerusalem in the Gospel (Jesus’ childhood visits, and it’s where Jesus’ weeps), and Luke’s Gospel emphasizes worship and prayer (which is surprising because it would seem like all of the Gospels would emphasize these two things but they are predominantly found in Luke).

Powell states that the beginning of Luke is a prologue in which chapters 1-2 make great use of exposition on the background of Jesus’ life and context for where he is later, and why he is.

The connection between the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is that Acts serves as a second chapter to the first.

The distinct characters of the Gospel of Luke are: the beginning is a prologue (i.e. it shows a timeline for Jesus and surrounding family, it’s dedicated to Theophilus, etc.), the Gospel has a sequel (The Book of Acts), the Gospel was written with historical context (i.e. Herod the King and Caesar Augustus), Jerusalem receives special attention (i.e. Jesus’ childhood journey there, Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem), the Gospel emphasizes worship and prayer (i.e. Jesus prays at baptism, in the garden, when choosing his disciples), the Holy Spirit is emphasized (i.e. Jesus is anointed by the Holy Spirit, disciples will be cloaked with higher power/Holy Spirit), there’s a lot of references to food (i.e. food for the hungry, table etiquette, banquet parables), salvation is an important theme (i.e. Jesus is Savior, people are saved by faith, a thief finds paradise), and the Gospel shows an over concern with the excluded or pariahs (i.e. Samaritans, Gentiles, women, etc).

Powell suggests that scholars may connect Luke the physician with Luke the scholar because church tradition identifies the author as Luke the physician and this is backed up by Paul’s reference in Colossians.

Powell also argues whether or not the author of Luke was Jewish or a Gentile, It appears from the language used in the Gospel that the author must have been a doctor or a practicer of medicine.

Most scholars think that the Gospel of Luke was written in 70 CE.

Scholars believe that Luke wrote his Gospel for a congregation, with the intent to paint a better picture of Jesus, his disciples and his family. Luke’s intention was also to put focus on pariahs (women, the lame) as previous Gospels ignored Jesus’ work in that regard.

Luke’s theme of Salvation happens now means that a congregation or a person shouldn’t wait to go to heaven (salvation) but rather live their life as if they were there. Meaning that one shouldn’t wait to be a better version of themselves or to do good deeds for other because salvation is attainable in the physical world.