Biblical Theology XXXVIII: Luke

Luke is written to an individual known as Theophilus, which means “Loved of God.” We know it is an individual name because of the second person singular and the vocative address. The word kratiste indicates that it is an official in government, and the exhortations in Luke to persevere in the teachings of Scripture indicate that Theophilus is likely a believer. Luke is likely written after the events of A.D. 70 due to his precision of describing the event in contrast to the Gospel of Mark. He may also utilize Josephus’ histories which are written after the Jewish wars. The Gospel is the first volume in a two part work known as Luke-Acts, both of which relate the same theology, namely, that God is restoring Israel (Luke 2:25, 38; 22:28-30; 24:21; Acts 1) through the merciful work of Jesus Christ applied now through His people, the church. The kingdom blessings of the eschatological age are manifest in the good news announced to the poor and oppressed, and in the mercies Christians have upon one another, specifically to other Christians in need.

Theology: God has made His people up from many of the poor and marginalized of this world, and therefore, demands that the commandments of the Law and Prophets concerning them be fulfilled by Christians who are more well-to-do. God is the vengeful Judge who will pour out His wrath upon His professed covenant community for not repenting and obeying Him in the area. Luke communicates God’s concern for His marginalized people throughout his Gospel, but begins by presenting, not the noble Gentile Magi as coming to Christ later (as in Matthew), but the shepherds who lived out in the field, as those who are called to be witnesses of Christ’s birth. Likewise, it is the barren Elizabeth (1:25) who is given the blessings of a miracle child in her old age, and the poor virgin Mary who is giving the blessings of carrying the Messiah (v. 48). The Magnificat, unique to Luke, also relates God’s favor upon the powerless who seek Him and judgment upon the powerful who are arrogant and oppress the poor (vv. 46-55). The prayers of Zechariah (concerning God’s oppressed Israel), Simeon (2:34), and Anna (v. 38) relate the same ideas that God exalts and redeems the humbled/oppressed among His people, but humbles the lofty person who oppresses God’s lowly people (vv. 67-79).  Chapter 17 relates that the kingdom is being restored and not yet restored completely. This is consistent with Luke’s literary point of view in Acts.

Ethics: Luke wants to be very clear that those who claim to be followers of Christ must take care of the poor and marginalized within the covenant community. Lots of oppression of the poor and abuse of authority in the religious community is taking place: the Pharisees devour widows’ houses, Jewish tax collectors rob from their fellow covenant people, the merchants in the temple use religion to get money from the people, believers in the army are extorting money, etc. In fact, nothing is mentioned of pagans doing this to the covenant community, even though it is understood that this is occurring, because Luke’s emphasis is that believers are not to be like the pagans. They are not to oppress and marginalize other believers, and those who are being oppressed and marginalized by these believers are not to return curses upon them, but rather seek their repentance and reconciliation to God and the community. The suffering of Christ itself is the example that the means to exaltation is humility, and hence, repentance is preached to all. The scene in Luke 16 relates a covenant member who did not obey the Scripture when it came to the poor fellow covenant member in his midst (i.e., Eliezer), and is now in punishment rather than with his father Abraham. The poor and marginalized to whom Luke refers are clearly those who fear God and humble themselves before Him (1:50; 14:7-11; 18:9-14). Luke is not arguing that the poor and marginalized in general have God’s favor and blessings. Hence, he is not using how one treats the general poor as testimony to one’s genuine membership in God’s kingdom, but rather whether one cares for poor and marginalized Christians, since this is what God is now doing for His people through Christ. One confirms that he is a true neighbor/member of the covenant community by how he treats those in need within the covenant community. This is a theme that runs throughout Luke-Acts. True belief is confirmed by receiving and taking care of other Christians, and false belief is confirmed by the absence of this care for them. Luke records the rebuke of the Pharisees coming to be baptized, but then adds unique material that contains John’s instructions for anyone who would have the fruit that is consistent with true repentance: ““The one who has two tunics must share with the one who has none, and the one who has food must do likewise” (3:11).  Those believers who have government power are told to not abuse it, but to only collect the taxes that are required (v. 12) and to not oppress God’s people under them by extorting money, bearing false witness, and being content with what the government pays them (vv. 12-14). The wheat and chaff imagery in vv. 16-17 are in the context of true and false believers, relating that those who are saved do what God does with His people, i.e., seek to care for and preserve them rather than to abuse them for personal gain as the unsaved among the professed community do. Luke records Jesus’ mission statement as given to the Jews in the synagogue. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (4:18-19). Rather than do miracles in His hometown, Jesus stirs them up by pointing out that in the days of Elijah and Elisha, only those Gentile outcasts who had faith were healed. No one in Israel was, as they were in apostasy at the time, and God only gives a taste of the kingdom to come to those who have faith/fear and humble themselves before Him. Even Peter’s call is uniquely presented in Luke as Peter humbling himself and admitting that he is a sinner (5:8). It is when Jesus sees faith (v. 20) that the restoration of Israel is granted to the individual. Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners is clearly in the context of the head of household, Levi, following Jesus as His disciple (vv. 27-32; see also the woman who is called a “sinner” in 7:36-50, as well as 15:1). In fact, Luke is the only one to mention the repentant thief on the cross in an effort to display this (23:39-43). Hence, this is a repentant household that is exercising faith, even though the tax collector was seen as a traitor to Israel and hated by the larger covenant community (also see Luke’s unique story of Zachaeus in 19:1-10). Luke indicates that the Jewish leaders have no room for repentance in their theology (Chapter 15—the story of the Prodigal Son speaks to this) because they have no room for mercy. Luke then quotes Jesus as dismissing the Jewish purity laws that are being used to marginalize the sick and ritually unclean (5:33-6:11), instead of washing the outside of the cup, repentance means that they wash the inside by setting their minds on those in need (11:41). It is in the context of all of this that Luke relates the Sermon on the Plain (6:17-49—notice that he makes the mount a plain probably for symbolic literary reasons). The poor who are blessed are clearly the Christian poor, since he argues that the kingdom of God belongs to them (v. 20). Likewise, it says “you,” referring to the poor among the covenant community listening to Him. Those who are not oppressed among the community due to their compromise with false believers like the Jewish leaders (the prime example of abusive/selfish power among God’s people in the Gospel—11:39-54; 13:33-35) receive the woes that belong to the curse, again, something unique to Luke. The blessing and woe configuration is that of the Deuteronomic law code that displays whether one is true Israel and therefore has a right to the blessings of the kingdom or should be cursed and cast out into the darkness of death/the world. The sermon relates the idea that oppression by others who claim to be Christians does not grant the right to oppress them in return. Rather than seeking vengeance and marginalizing those Christians who mistreat others, the true Christian is to love and seek their repentance by doing good to them (examples of retaliation of marginalized people might be the Samaritans who reject Christ because He want to go to Jerusalem in 9:51-56, even though they would be received as covenant members otherwise 17:11-19). In fact, the contrast in the context may indicate that the visible covenant members under the blessing are being persecuted by the visible covenant members who are under the woes. Hence, their Christian riches are at the cost of their fellow covenant members’ poverty, their full bellies are at the cost of their fellow covenant members’ hunger, their laughter is at the cost of their fellow covenant members’ sorrow, and their good reputation is at the cost of their slandering their fellow covenant members who are following Christ.  Certainly, the ones persecuting/slandering Christ are professed covenant community members, not pagans (11:14-23). Verses 6:37-42, again, indicate that the context is the covenant community, how a Christian treats his fellow covenant member. Hence, the entire context, immediate and from the larger literary units, indicates that Luke is referring to how Christians treat one another, not how Christians treat pagans (see 17:1-4). He continues throughout the Gospel to restore everyone in the covenant community on the basis of their own faith or the faith of those with whom they are united. Chapter 10 relates the idea that those within the covenant community who receive the disciples and the teachings of Christ will be granted blessings of healing and forgiveness, but those who do not will be cursed down to the very dust that exists in the village. The parable of the Good Samaritan is in this context. The only true covenant member is the one who takes care of a covenant member who is in need. The rest are not neighbors/covenant members. Thus, Jesus focuses on evaluating oneself as to whether he is a true covenant member, rather than evaluating other covenant members as to whether they are genuine. This is similar to Matthew’s use of judging Christians in Chapter 6 of his Gospel, where judging other believers is being used as an excuse not to care for them financially. Chapter 12 is warning against greed and finding security in one’s physical resources rather than in an obedient relationship with God. Concluding that His disciples should be willing to sell their possessions and give to the poor, so that their treasure is in heaven, since one’s treasure displays where his heart is (vv. 32-34). Being ready when Christ returns is about a believer taking care of fellow believers rather than oppressing them (vv. 41-46). Hence, inviting the marginalized rather than family and rich friends to a party is to look toward the eschatological reward in the resurrection rather than an earthly reward (14:12-14). Jesus’ parables in Luke largely center on who is a true covenant member. He tells them numerous parables where those who think they are a part of the covenant community find out in the judgment that they are not because they did not prepare themselves by obeying Christ’s teaching (14:15-24). Good stewardship with the money that belongs to God means that one uses it to worship God rather than the self, and those who hoard it for themselves will go to hell (Chapters 15 and 16).  Healing on the Sabbath is brought up three times in Luke, as Luke argues that the ritual law is being used to marginalize other members of the covenant community in need rather than to help/restore them with the blessings of the kingdom (6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6), and as such, is being misunderstood as to its purpose.

                

It is interesting to note that the babies of believers, in this context, are also viewed as marginalized members of the covenant community who should not be hindered from partaking in the blessings of Christ (18:15-17). Gentiles, Samaritans, women, children/babies, the disabled and sick, demon possessed, repentant sinners, repentant tax collectors, repentant prostitutes, etc. all make up the group of those who are being marginalized by those within the covenant community who are rich or in power. Luke argues that if one is to see himself as a true disciple of Christ’s kingdom, then he must use his riches and power to help the marginalized rather than oppress them further. This may be an encouragement to Theophilus, a brother in government, to use his influence, riches, and power to help rather than oppress fellow Christians.