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Major themes of Luke's Gospel
1. Jesus as the Saviour
Luke is the only gospel writer to describe Jesus as the Saviour (Soter). Mary was told to name him Jesus, meaning saviour (1:31), and in the Magnificat proclaims, "My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour" (1:47). Zechariah said that God has raised up a mighty Saviour for us (1:69), and the shepherds were told, "To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour" (2:11). In the Roman world, the title 'Soter' was an official designation for political leaders, particularly the emperor, who established peace, meaning saviour or benefactor, so this was a politically loaded word.
Jesus was the one who brought Salvation. John was to give knowledge of salvation to his people (1:77), and Simeon declared: "my eyes have seen your salvation" (2:30). When John the Baptist quoted Isaiah, he said, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (3:6). Jesus himself declared to Zachaeus, "Today, salvation has come to this house" (19:9). There is a strong emphasis on 'today', and 'now'. Jesus is the saviour and his salvation has come now, today, so don’t miss out. The story of Zacchaeus is especially significant, salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus, a greedy and corrupt tax-collector, but failed to come to Jerusalem. The key verse summarises the message of the book: "For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost" (19:10).
2. Jesus as the saviour of all
All men are regarded as sinners, and Jesus is the saviour of them all. According to Luke, Jesus is not only the Messiah of the Old Testament, but the Redeemer of the whole world. The gospel of Christ is for the whole world, both Jew and Gentile. The angels sang, “God's peace and goodwill are to be among men” (2:14), and Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles (2:32), so all flesh is to see the salvation of God (3:6). The Samaritans are not despised, and his disciples are rebuked for wanting to call fire down on them (9:54). In the famous parable, it was a despised Samaritan who had compassion (10:33), and only a Samaritan leper returned to give thanks after being cleansed from leprosy (17:16).
Luke shows that the coming of Jesus is not merely an event in Jewish history, but a world-changing event. This would explain why he connects the coming of Jesus with wider historical events, including the dates of rule of Roman emperors.
3. The Holy Spirit
In both Luke and Acts, Luke gives a distinctive emphasis to the role of the Holy Spirit, who had not been active since the last of the OT prophets, during the so-called 'silent years'. One of Luke's most important recurring expressions is the description of people 'being filled with the Spirit'. In the birth narratives, Luke shows that the Spirit which has been quenched since the last of the OT prophets, had now returned. The people who were open to the Spirit of God were those who recognised Jesus as the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel for the Messiah. All of the family of John the Baptist were filled with the Holy Spirit: John (1:15), Elizabeth (1:41) and Zechariah (1:67). The Holy Spirit came upon Simeon (2:25-27), and will come upon Mary (1:35). The Holy Spirit descended like at dove at Jesus’ baptism (3:22), so he was full of the Holy Spirit when be went to be tempted (4:1-2), and when he returned (4:14). At the start of his ministry he quoted Isaiah, saying that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him (4:18).
4. Prayer
At each of the great moments of his life, Jesus was at prayer. Eight of these ten accounts is unique to Luke: At his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended while he was praying (3:21), after a day of miracles he withdrew into wilderness to pray (5:15,16). After praying all night on mountain he chose the 12 (6:12). He also prayed before predicting his death, at Peter's confession (9:18), and at his transfiguration (9:29). He was praying after the seventy returned (10:17,21), and before teaching the disciples to pray in Lord's Prayer (11:1). He also prayed for Peter (22:31-32), in Gethsemane (22:39-46), and on the cross (23:34,46).
Luke also records the prayers of other people, including that John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray (11:1, 5:33), the angel appeared to Zechariah while the people were praying, and was in answer to Zechariah's prayer (1:10,13). Anna, who witnessed the dedication of Jesus, spent her time praying in the temple (2:36-38), and Jesus told his disciples to pray in Gethsemane (22:40:46).
Luke includes several parables to illustrate the need of prayer, including the friend at midnight (11:5-13), the widow and the unjust judge (18:1-8), and the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14). Jesus also exhorted the people to prayer, for those who abuse you (6:28), for labourers (10:2), and when you have need - ask, seek and knock (11:9-13). He also told them to pray and not to loose heart (18:1-6), and to be delivered from temptation (22:40,46).
5. Praise
Unique to Luke's gospel are the well-known prayers used in worship by the church for many centuries: The Ave Maria, addressed to Mary by the angel (1:28-31), the Magnificat by Mary (1:46-55), the Benedictus by Zechariah (1:68-79), the Gloria in Excelsis from the angels to shepherds (2:14), and the Nunc Dimittis by Simeon (2:29-32). There are also themes of glorifying God (2:20, 5:25, 7:16. 13:13, 17:15, 18:43), praising God (2:13,20, 19:37), and blessing God (1:64, 2:28, 24:53).
6. The theme of amazement
Like the other gospel writers, Luke uses a group of different words to describe the responses of the people to the ministry of Jesus. These include, to marvel (1:21,63, 2:18,33, 4:22, 8:25, 9:43, 11:14,38, 20:26, 24:12,41), to be overwhelmed (2:48, 4:32, 9:43), to be astounded (2:47, 8:56, 24:22), as well as bewilderment (5:26), astonishment (4:36, 5:9), fear (1:12, 65, 2:9, 5:26, 7:16, 8:25,35, 37, 9:34,45), and being perplexed (24:4). He also notes the popularity of Jesus (5:26, 7:16-17. 11:14, 13:17, 14:25)
7. Prophecy against Jerusalem
Luke shows that Jesus came to redeem Jerusalem, fulfilling all Jewish expectations. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel (2:25), and Anna spoke to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel (2:38). The two on the road to Emmaus said, "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" (24:21).
Luke also seems to have a strong theme of judgement against Jerusalem, because of the rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders. Simeon also predicted that the child will be set for the fall and rising of many in Israel (2:34). In his message to Herod, Jesus said that his house is forsaken (13:35).Jesus wept over Jerusalem (19:41), and predicted its judgement in the parable of vineyard (20:9), later saying that Jerusalem will be trodden down by Gentiles (21:20), and told the women to weep for themselves, on the way to the cross (23:28).
The judgement theme also is shown by the use of the phrase 'this generation', which refers to the generation of people living at the time of Jesus, who failed to respond to him or the Kingdom he brought (7:31, 11:29-32,50-51, 17:25, 21:32).
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