Luke And Acts Essay

Discuss Luke’s portrayal of Jesus in Luke and Acts

Luke and Acts tells the story of what Jesus did and taught during his ministry, first in his early life and then as the exalted Christ and Lord through his prophetic activities of his disciples. This essay will outline the various titles Luke used to portray or described Jesus in his two-volume narrative, in doing this we hope to get a better understanding and a complete picture of whom Jesus was. Luke in his two volume work described Jesus in numerous ways and I am only going to be discussing four which referred to him as Christ, Lord, Prophet and Savior. The key Christological ideas that appear in Luke-Acts, highlight and emphasised on the concept of the “Lord's Christ”, meaning the coming

The prophetic factor in Jesus role was strongly highlighted in Luke, and through comparisons with the prophets Moses, Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:25-27). There was much attention to how Luke showed Jesus' disciples as prophets. Describing a prophet as someone who was filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8; 6:3; 11:24), was valiant in proclaiming (4:13; 28:31) the good news (5:42; 8:4, 12, 40; 11:20; 14:7) or God’s word (4:29; 13:5). Moreover, someone who was a witness (2:32; 13:31) and performed miracles (4:30; 14:3) among the people (3:12; 6:8). These characteristics together belonged to the prophets. Even though Luke does not utilise the title prophet a great amount, he does use it more actively in comparison to the other Gospels in the bible (Luke 4:24; 7:16, 39; 19; 13:33-34; Acts 3:22;

[10] Marshall, The Christology of Luke’s Gospel and Acts, 134

[11] Randal A. Wiedermann, Help from Heaven: Opening the Windows In Preconditions, (Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2016).

[12] Marshall, The Christology of Luke’s Gospel and Acts, 137

[13] Bock, A Theology of Luke and

In addition to that, it was a title that Jesus used on himself (Luke 4:24; 13:33). It was also used by his opponents when referring to him (7:39). Furthermore, it was used by the people receiving him (7: 16) and his followers (24: 19; Acts 3:22). The prophetic meaning was readily understood in the prediction by Simeon that Jesus was a symbol that would be opposed by many and would lead to the falling and rising of the people of Israel (Luke 2:34) [14]. Jesus himself was the agent through whom God utilised to carry out his word. Jesus, like the prophets who came before him, saw people for who they were and what kind of character they had [15]. We see this clearly in the story of ‘A sinful woman” who anointed Jesus’ feet and was saved because of the attitude revealed by her actions (Luke 7:36-50). This showed Jesus as a friend to outcasts and sinners, for he did not come for the morally good, but for the sinners (Luke 5:32) [16]. Moses in his teachings talked about a prophet who would be raised up by God and would bring a New Way to the people, this was Jesus (Acts 3:22-23 and 7:37). Moreover, Luke 9:35 indicated that Jesus was a “prophet like Moses” by referring to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Jesus’ followers needed to hear what Jesus said since He was the deliverer of a New Era, same as Moses. He was a prophet like Moses, which meant Jesus not only brought the word of God, but also presented a new age [17]. As mentioned before Jesus was the prophet whom God raised up in