Identify the distinctive content of Luke's gospel and discuss what is revealed there about the writer's theological perspectiv

It has been firmly established that both Luke and Matthew used Mark as a source. Therefore the first step I will take is to identify how Luke has changed his Markan source. Most notably Luke adds to Mark by including birth and infancy narratives at the beginning of his gospel and resurrection appearances at the end of the gospel. Analysis of these passages will be significant as they are material distinct to Luke. Also in contrast to Matthew’s five blocks of material Luke adds only two blocks in the middle of his Markan material, they are the small insertion of Lk 6.20-8.3 and the large insertion of 9.51-18.14. Interestingly Luke also omits a large section of Markan work from Mk 6.45- 8.26. These are the obvious large changes Luke has made to his Markan source, he has also rearranged and modified material but I will look at that more closely when examining particular themes of material.

I have identified certain subjects that receive prominence in Luke’s gospel, the most notable of which is the theme of the poor and issues regarding material wealth. I will look at some of the material distinct to Luke to highlight how this seems to be a theological emphasis of Luke’s. There are some phrases in Luke that show his emphasis on the poor for example in Lk 1.52-53 it says “he has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” this is important as not only does it give prominence to the poor but it is openly negative about the rich. There’s further material that is distinct to Luke for example Lk 4.18 it says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor”, and in Lk 7.22 where it says “the poor have the good news brought to them”. There are many parables which are only in Luke which deal with the issue of the poor, for example the lost coin (Lk 15.8-10), the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16.1-9), the rich fool (Lk 12.16-21), and the unjust steward (Lk 16.1-8). There are others which Luke includes which also deal with the poor, I mention these because it is important to remember that it is not just what is unique to Luke that is significant but what he chooses to include as well as there must be a reason for him including such material. The other parables he includes regarding the poor are the two debtors (Lk 7.41-43), the tower builder (Lk 14. 28-33) and the two talents (Lk 19.12-27). Luke’s version of the beatitudes also shows a stress on the plight of the poor as the first beatitude Luke says in 6.20 “Blessed are you who are poor” whereas in Matthew 5.3 it is “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit”. Luke also only has 4 beatitudes in comparison to Matthew’s 9 and in all of Luke’s beatitudes there is an emphasis on real physical concerns in contrast to Matthew’s concerns with the spiritual aspect. Luke has included the woes as a contrast to the beatitudes highlighting the problems of the poor.

Luke has many references to loss of possessions, especially for disciples, for example in Lk 5.11 “when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him” the parallel in Mark had them only leaving their homes. In the call of the Levi Luke adds ‘left everything’ in Lk 5.28, in Lk 18.22 the rich young ruler is told to sell ‘all’ that he owns where in Mk 10.21 there is no ‘all’ and in Lk 14.22 Jesus says “So therefore none of you become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” There are many references to charitable giving in Luke as well, in Lk 3.11 “whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none and whoever has food must do likewise”, in Lk 6.30 it says “Give to everyone who begs from you” whereas in Matthew he does not include the word ‘everyone’ and in Lk 12.33 it says “sell your possessions and give alms” whereas in Matthew there is no mention of alms. The parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10.25-37) and the friend at midnight parable (Lk 11.5-13) both display examples where direct involvement of others to help someone in need. This emphasis on the poor it has been argued by York can be seen as more general attempt by Luke at reversal of the social norms about status. This can be seen by Luke’s other emphases such as women, the disabled, the immoral and gentiles, topics that I will explore.

In Luke women are given a prominent role they are main characters in both the birth and infancy narratives and the resurrection appearances, material which as I identified is unique to Luke, and Luke mentions thirteen women not mentioned in the other gospels. In the birth narratives Mary and Elizabeth play central roles and it is to Mary not to Joseph that the angel appeared to tell about the birth of Jesus, as it is said “It is to Elizabeth and Mary, not Zechariah and Joseph, who are to receive the message of Jesus’ coming, who are praised and blessed by God’s angels, and who are to sing and prophesy about the Christ Child. Luke presents these women as not only witnesses to the events surrounding the birth of John and Jesus, but also as active participants in God’s Messianic message.” In the resurrection narrative the women were the first to find Jesus’ tomb empty in Lk 24.1-3 and the angels appeared to the women Lk 24 4-8 and they were the first to tell the disciples Lk 24.8-11. Women were the first to spread the message of the risen Jesus showing how important Luke thought the women were. The stories of Martha and Mary and the widow of Nain are unique material to Luke; Luke also has many references to widows, for example in Lk 4.26, 7.11, and 20.47. This again shows that Luke seems to have a preoccupation with the role of women. There are also many cases where Luke tries to parallel stories about men and women, in what can be seen as an attempt to raise the status of women. For example in the birth narrative Mary’s Magnificat can be seen as paralleling Zechariah’s Bendictus, the man in the parable of the lost sheep can be seen paralleling the woman in the parable of the lost coin, Luke also describes Jesus as having both the 12 disciples and female followers, and in Lk  17.34-35 the two men who lay together can be seen as paralleling the two women grinding the meal. There are just a couple of examples there are many others that could be mentioned, however it is also important to look at some of the language used with regards women. In Luke 13.16 he refers to a women as a ‘daughter of Abraham’ when he has already used the phrase ‘sons of Abraham’ previously this shows that he sees them as on equal terms. Having noted both the language and content parallels Witherington states that “Luke expresses by his arrangement that man and women stand side by side before God. They are equal in honour and grace; they endowed with the same gifts and have the same responsibilities.”

We have shown how material distinct to Luke can be identified as focusing on the poor and women but another theme that can be established is the concentration of material that is pro-gentiles. Although there is much dispute about whether Luke’s gospel does have a pro-gentile nature there is material from his gospel that is undoubtedly pro-gentile. There any many messages of savior that included the Gentiles for example in Lk 2.14 the angel’s goodwill message is directed to all men, in Lk 2.31-31 Jesus is said to be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles”, and in Lk 3.6 Luke extends Isaiah’s saying to include “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God”. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows the Samaritans, a group usually ostracized by the Jews, in a favorable light. There are other mentions of the Samaritans and they all show them as equal to Jews for example Lk 9.52-55 and Lk 17.16. The large addition starts with the sermon on the plain rather than on the mount which some see as a Jesus putting himself and everyone on a level standing. In the parable of the wedding feast (Lk 14.15-24) the servants are sent out twice in Luke and the last time sent out to all nations, this can be seen as paralleling the disciple’s dual mission to first the Jews then the Gentiles. There are many more references to the Gentiles in Acts, where the focus of the Christian mission seems to turn towards the Gentiles.

The last three themes I have identified can also all be grouped together under the idea that Luke was trying to portray Jesus’ message as being universal. This can also be linked to another prominent theme in Luke the idea of salvation. From the distinct material already identified it seems that Luke is trying to show Jesus’ message and offer of salvation is open for all. Luke has a unique use of the language of salvation, whilst the verb to be saved has been used by other gospel writers but it can be used to mean to heal, so therefore it is Luke’s use of this verb that makes it important. Luke uses the Greek verb ‘to save’ in a spiritual sense and more importantly Luke uses the words ‘Savior’ and ‘salvation’ when Mark and Matthew don’t. Some examples of where Luke uses these words are in Lk 2.30 where he says “For my eyes have seen your salvation,” in Lk 3.6 it says “and all flesh has seen salvation”, in Lk 7.50 “he said to the woman, your faith has saved you go in peace”, in Lk 8.48 it says “he said to her ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you”, in Lk 17:19 “The he said to him ‘Stand up and go your faith has saved you”, and in Lk 19.9 “and Jesus said to him ‘Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendent of Abraham”. As Marshall mentions “It is not the case that Luke is unique in his use of the word group, but that his distinctiveness over against the other Synoptic Gospels stands out.”

Luke also seems to have an emphasis on the role of the spirit, we can see this just by the number of times Luke mentions the Holy Spirit, 17 times, whereas Mark mentions it only 6 times and Matthew only 12. At the baptism of Jesus it is only Luke’s version that includes the phrase ‘in bodily form’ Lk 3.22. This could indicate that Luke sees Jesus as the spirit in bodily form or incarnate and the spirit is present throughout Jesus’ ministry. Luke also adds that Jesus is ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ before he was led into the wilderness, it seems the presence of the Holy Spirit is an aid to Jesus in the wilderness, the spirit is a guide. Mary is told in Lk 14-17 that Jesus “even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit” and “with the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before them”, it is also important to note that it is through the Spirit that Jesus is conceived as we see in Lk 1.35 and Lk 1.41. E, E, Ellis sees the Holy Spirit as central Luke’s vision of the nature of Jesus’ messiahship and mission and I would agree we the spirit also takes on a central role in Acts. The link between the Holy Spirit and Power can be seen in Acts clearly as for Luke when Christ ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit was left with the Christian Church to guide them.

The theme of salvation is one the was picked up on by scholar Hans Conzelmann in his ‘Die Mitte der Zeit’ (The Middle Time) which has been translated simply as “The Theology of Luke”. In his work Conzelmann identifies three distinct stages to Luke’s salvation history or ‘heilsgeschicte’, they were titled the era of the Old Testament which is regarded to be up till and including John the Baptist, the era of Jesus and the era of the church. In Luke 16.16, 24.19-27, and 44-49 the additions that Luke makes here show the importance of the Old Testament and the period of the prophets. It attempts to show this period as one of preparation for the coming of Christ. The modification Luke also makes to the placement of Jesus’ baptism, so that it is after the arrest of John the Baptist can be seen as marking out the end of the first period in Conzelmann’s theory. Conzelmann also argues that this maybe due to Luke’s awareness of the delay of the Parousia. Conzelmann also draws on other evidence such as Luke’s rewording of the Mk 14.62 to support his view that Luke and his community were becoming aware of the fact that the imminent Parousia may not happen and their eschatological views were changing. Luke rewrites this section so that he omits Mark’s phrase ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’ and changes ‘you will see’ to ‘from now on’ thus changing the whole meaning of the piece. So that instead of it being a piece about the imminent Parousia it is now just a statement about Jesus’ role by the side of God. There are further examples that show Luke’s awareness of the delay of the Parousia found in Lk 19.11, 9.27 and 4.16-30. All these changes indicate that Luke and his intended audience thought the Parousia was not an impending event. The historical aspect of Luke’s gospel also indicates this as why would you place the story of Christ in relation to history if you thought that the end of the world was forthcoming. This time of the church however was not to be viewed by Luke as a period of unnecessary waiting like adverts in between a TV program but was to have a positive role as the church was led by God through the Holy Spirit.

From examining Luke and looking at how he developed his sources, the items he added, his editorial work, the modifications he made, the omissions he made and even looking at just his choice of material that he did include has led me to identify certain theological attitudes he presents. Most notably the idea that salvation is universal, its for the poor, the socially outcast and the women and the emphasis on salvation itself. The three fold theory of Conzelmann’s whilst being useful has been subject to criticism, but it’s main influence has been to place the work of Luke in the light of being both a historian and a theologian. What we might be able to determine as Luke’s view on the parousia could be indicative of the early Christian communities views. All of this is just speculation though and the points made only indicate some of the theological perspectives that Luke may have aside from his general theology that is aligned with the other books of the New Testament.