Luke And Acts Essay

Luke and Acts are two books that are known in the New Testament to be companions as they were both written by Luke, a Gentile believer. He only authored these two books, however, they make up over twenty-five percent of the New Testament. Without Luke’s two-volume work, we would have no record of the creation and development of the early church. Acts provides us the historical background of our faith and how God’s word moved from Jerusalem to Rome. It also provides more details about the letters of the apostles so that we can better understand when they said what they said and why they said it. Luke shows us how God’s plan as foretold in the Old Testament was fulfilled in Jesus and continued to unfold throughout the history of the early church. He goes on to show us in Acts how the gospel continues to move during the shift from predominantly Jewish to primarily Gentiles and the changes that occur as a result.

The correlation between the two books can be seen where Luke ends and Acts begins. Luke ends with the Lord being resurrected into heaven after commissioning his disciples to spread the message of the kingdom and commanding them to wait in Jerusalem for their father’s promise. Acts begins by summarizing this ending and mentions the same message

about the disciples waiting for the promise of the father, connecting the two books perfectly. It also reiterates Jesus’ resurrection followed by his ascension into heaven. This correlation is also noted because both books are addressed to Theophilus and designed for the purpose of painting a clear picture of the early church.
Some have found it difficult to pinpoint a theme in Luke because of his interest in those who were not notable.

Such as, women, the poor and the disreputable. He was also interested in humbling the rich, prayer and the Holy Spirit. Luke came to be known as the Apostle to the Gentiles and a companion of Paul. I believe that the overall theme of Luke is God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ was meant for everyone, no matter the socio economic status. It was also about spreading the message among the Jewish people to include the Gentiles. Some of Luke’s structure is also geographical beginning with Jesus ministering in Galilee and ending with his focus turning to Jerusalem and God’s redemption plan at the

temple.
Just as the Gospel of Luke was geographical because of Jesus’ movement to Jerusalem, Acts has geographical importance attached to Rome. Acts holds heavy focus on the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem, which was the capital of the Jewish people, to Rome, the capital of the Gentile people. Throughout Acts, Luke was very aware of the attacks on Christianity. However, he chose to present the best side of the developments of the church. It was quite difficult to create a timeline with every event from the movement, so he selected the most important events that characterized the movement as a whole.
Luke was close to another leader in the Christian movement named Paul. He looked up to Paul and his work in bringing the gospel to various cities and realized the significance of spreading the word of God. Instead of conceiving Christianity as a separate movement, Jewish Christians believed it to be an extended development of Judaism. He wanted to emphasize the agreements rather than focus on the differences among the groups. Some call him the trouble-shooter for the early Christian movement.
Although there are two separate books, there is one central message. Both describe the background and foundation of our faith through the acts and teachings of Jesus Christ and the continuation of his passion through his holy spirit filled apostles and believers who deliver the message of salvation through Jesus.