Grace Institute: Luke & Acts: Introduction

Introduction Luke & Acts Spring 2008

Luke & Acts in Biblical Context

Contents of the New Testament

The Old Testament contains 39 books which were written by dozens of authors over the course of over one thousand years. In contrast, the New Testament contains 27 which were written by only 9 different authors over maybe 50-60 years. Three of those authors wrote nearly 75% of the total content of the New Testament. Because it was written over a much shorter span, the New Testament is more consistent in its style and its content.

Whereas each Old Testament book can be very lengthy and consist of multiple literary genres all within one book, the New Testament books are much shorter and follow a consistent literary genre. The New Testament contains only three different literary genres 1) Historical Biography; 2) Epistle, and 3) Apocalyptic literature.

Genre: Historical Biographies

The first four books are called the gospels, and they tell of the words and deeds of Jesus. The word “gospel” means “good news,” for they proclaim the good news of Christ's life and death and resurrection. The fifth book, Acts, recounts the history of the early church and especially the words and deeds of the apostle Paul as he spreads the gospel throughout his journeys. While often the gospel and Acts are considered separate literary genres, the style of the gospels and Acts is very similar.

These histories do not just recount their subject events, nor do they pretend to present a detailed history of the life of Christ or the early church. Instead events and sermons are carefully selected by the authors in order to communicate a specific message to the readership.

This is very different than a modern biography or historical book, which seeks to outline all the important happenings of persons life. Ancient biographies were not so concerned with documenting or journaling the details as much as presenting a static view of a person's character through their words and deeds.

Synoptic Gospels

Three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar in content and style. They often are word-for-word copies of one another. For this reason they are called “synoptic gospels' (synoptic from the Greek words meaning “same sight”). This has lead to a many debates regarding which book was written first. Some scholars believe Mark was the first, and Luke and Matthew copied him. Others believe Matthew was first. Still many others believe there was an earlier book (called “Q”) from which all three copied these stories. While certainly there are significant similarities in these books, attempts to determine the sources has led to an inordinate level of attention on the what the books have in common.

Many bible students have gone to great lengths attempting to harmonize all the gospels. However each book stands on its own and each author's selection of events and discourses are carefully crafted to develop a slightly different (although complementary) view of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the best way to study the gospels is one book at a time rather than trying to either synthesize them in to a comprehensive “life of Christ” or a reductionist “historical Jesus” approach.

Gospel of John

The book of John is quite unique, and with 92% of its contents not found in the other three gospels. John is the most theologically developed of the gospels and contains beautiful philosophical language. For this reason, John was probably the final gospel to be written.

Acts of the Apostles

The book of Acts is the sequel to the gospel of Luke. It's style is very consistent with Luke and carries the same themes forward. Acts begins with the ascension of Christ and then follows the development of the early church. For Luke, the ministry and message of Jesus did not end with the ascension, but continued on through the apostles.

It's focus however is very narrow, tracing the spread of the gospel from the perspective of first the apostle Peter and then the apostle Paul. We know very little of the works of the other apostles, nor does Luke provide a global perspective on the spread of Christianity. Luke instead is focused on just one narrow viewpoint in order to communicate a specific message.

Content

The Words of Christ

The words of Christ comprise almost half the total content of the gospels. Jesus' teaching is a major focus of the gospels and are presented in long discourses. In the synoptic gospels, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) are the most note worthy messages of Christ. The synoptics also contain the parables of Christ and a series of debates with the Jewish religious leaders. The book of John contains seven unique discourses along with the longest continuous sermon of Jesus, the Upper Room discourse (John 13-17).

Jesus primary message in the gospels, especially within the synoptics, is “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). Most of his discourses then define the kingdom of God, explaining life within that kingdom, and nature of the future of that kingdom. Jesus unique relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit is the focus of the discourses in the book of John.

The Passion Week

All four of the gospels reach their climax in the last week of Jesus life. There is very little information given about Jesus childhood and his young adult years. The three years of his earthly ministry, likewise, are covered in broad strokes without much detail beyond the content of his sermons. But in all four of the gospels, when we reach the passion week, the pace slows down and the details of the words and deeds of Christ come into sharp focus. As the passion week moves closer to Good Friday and the crucifixion of Christ, the details become more and more important.

In total, the last seven days of the life of Christ comprises more than a third of the total content of the gospels. Clearly to each of the gospel writers, Christ's death and resurrection are the central event in the life of Christ. Everything else in the gospels is pointing towards his death and resurrection, and provide the necessary context to understanding the crucifixion. The sermons, miracles, and ministry of Jesus can not be properly understood except as the back story to the central theme of Christ's sacrificial death upon the cross and his subsequent resurrection.

Luke & Acts in Historical Context

There are four centuries between the close of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament. Often times this period, lasting from 420 BC to 4 BC, is known as the “silent” years, because there were no prophets in Israel at this time, and because none of the books of the bible in our Protestant bible were written during in this four century gap. However, that does not mean that this time was insignificant, nor does it mean that God was not at work in this period. On the contrary, the “inter-testament period” is a very crucial time in the history of Israel, the history of the Christianity, and the history of the world.

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

The arrival of Jesus Christ on the earth in the first century AD was not an accident. God had specifically chosen this time and place to enter into human history. But what was it about this time and place in history that made it “ the fullness of time?” To answer that question, we must look at the political history, the socio-economic conditions and religious climate of the period known as the “inter-testament period.”

Political History of the Inter-Testament Period

Persia (424-331 BC)

The Jewish people had been conquered and carried into exile by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Seventy years later, after the Persians conquered Babylon, the Persian king Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. While very few of the Jews ever left Babylon to return, nonetheless under the Persians the Jews regained a limited amount of self-government and a significant amount of religious freedom. The temple was rebuilt and the daily sacrifices restarted.

Because most Jews remained scattered throughout the Babylonian and Persian empires, it was during this time that Judaism began to shift its focus away from temple worship to the synagogue and from the sacrifices to the practical application of the law. This practical application of the law developed from the Torah to a detailed expansion of the Torah to fit new times and places (Blomberg 1997, 9) .

Greece (331-167 BC)

Alexander the Great (331-323 BC)

Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army by the River Granicus in 334 BC, and subsequently began occupying the whole of the Persian empire. Alexander took control of Palestine in 331 BC. In a few short years, Alexander had conquered an empire which spanned from Greece in the west to India in the west, and from the Caucus mountains in the north to Egypt in the south.

Alexander's design for his empire was to unite all his conquered lands under Greek philosophy, culture and language. The result was a combining of the Greek culture with the local cultures. This combining took place in Judaism as well, as Greek philosophy began to intermix with classic Jewish beliefs. Likewise, it is from this period that the Greek language became the lingua franca or the common worldwide language for commerce and government.

The Ptolemies & Seleucids (323-167 BC)

Alexander died unexpectedly at the age of 33. He left no obvious heir to his empire, so after a great struggle, his four greatest generals entered an agreement to divide the empire into four domains. Cassander would rule Macedonia; Lysimachus would rule Thrace and Bithnyia; Seleucus would rule Babylon and Syria; Ptolemy would rule Egypt and Palestine. These four kingdoms turned into long lasting dynasties.

The Ptolemaic and Seleucid kings continually battled with each other, each trying to recover land they believed was owed to them. Because Palestine was the buffer between Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria, the control of Palestine switched hands several times. However, by 198 BC, the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, finally seized control of Palestine for good. He continued to policy of non interference with the Jews, allowing them to worship freely and maintain a local government.

In 175 BC, Antiochus IV (also known as Antiochus Epiphanies) came to power. During his reign, the relationship between the Seleucids and the Jews changed dramatically. In 176 BC he sacked Jerusalem, this time committing the “abomination of desecration” predicted in Daniel 11: he entered the Holy of Holies, sacrificed a pig on the altar and erected an altar to pagan gods. He, burned copies of the Torah and prohibited circumcision and the observance of the Sabbath.

Jewish Independence (167-63 BC)

The Maccabean Revolt (167-63 BC)

This abomination incited an priestly family which came to be known as the Maccabees. The Maccabees had fled to the Judean wilderness from which they began an guerilla war against Antiochus' army. By 164 BC these rebel troops regained control of the temple and purified the sanctuary. This liberation and purification is celebrated today by the Jews as Hanukkah, or the feast of dedication. By 142 BC the Seleucids granted the Jews total independence. This began a new hereditary succession of priest-kings who ruled the nation in what was to become known as the Hasmonean dynasty.

The Maccabean revolt became an important historical marker for the Jews, who came to believe that foreign domination could be defeated through such tactics. Future insurrection against the Romans would hearken back to the success of Judas Maccabeus.

The Hasidic Movement

The Hasmoneans were political-religious leaders not from the line of Aaron, and were therefore technically unlawful priests. Furthermore, Greek philosophy and thought continued to grow in its influence over Judaism, for most Jews still lived outside of Palestine, mostly in Babylon or Alexandria, where Greek language and culture remained strong.

This led to the rise of the Hasidic Jews. The Hasidim originally had supported the Maccabean revolt, but now began protesting the Greek influence on Judaism and called the people back to a strict adherence to the Torah. Most scholars believe the Pharisees of Jesus day had their roots in the Hasidic movement of this time.

Rome (63BC through the entire NT era)

The Conquest of Pompey (63 BC)

Meanwhile, outside of Palestine, the power of Rome was growing. In 64 BC the Roman general Pompey the Great defeated the Seleucids and annexed the territory into the Roman Empire. Pompey invaded Jerusalem in 63 BC, putting an end to 80 years of Jewish independence. The Jews would not have political independence again until AD 1948. Pompey gave Antipater, a Idumean the title of King. Rome often ruled through vassal kings such as this, allowing Rome to control the territory without the expense of maintaining a full contingent of the army.

Herod the Great (37-4 BC)

After the death of Antipater, Octavian (later to become Caesar Augustus) made Herod the King of the Jews. took on large public works projects, building amphitheaters, coliseums, and fortresses in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine. His most remarkable project was the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. This would be the temple of Jesus day.

Herod, however, was paranoid of losing his kingship. Herod was only a half-Jew, his father Antipater being an Idumean. As such he was never considered a legitimate king by the Jews. To ensure that no Jew could make a claim to the throne, he had his political rivals executed. He even killed his own wife, Mariamne, believing her to be disloyal. Herod slaughtered all newborn boy babies in Bethlehem when he learned from eastern wise men that a new “king” had been born in that town.

Roman Procurators

After the death of Herod, his kingdom was divided among three of his sons. To Archelaus was given Judea and Samaria. Herod Antipas was given Galilee and Perea. Philip was given the provinces to the north and east of the sea of Galilee.

Archelaus rule was more tyrannical than his father, and by AD 6, he had to be removed from office by the Romans because of his incompetence. As a result, Rome took direct control of Judea and Samaria, ruling these regions through governors appointed directly by the Roman emperor. The most famous of these Roman governors was Pontius Pilate, who ordered the execution of Jesus.

Herod Antipas ruled Galilee from the time of his father's death and is the Herod who executed John the Baptist and who presided over one of Jesus' trials.

After his death, his nephew Herod Agrippa became king and was given rule over all of Palestine. Herod Agrippa is the king who killed the apostle James and who later presided over the apostle Paul's trial in the book of Acts.

The Jewish War

Beginning in AD 66, the Jews revolted against Rome. Herod Agrippa remained loyal to Rome and requested assistance in putting down the insurrection. In AD 70 the Roman general Titus laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the temple and to this day the Jews have been without their temple.

The Messiah as Ruler

At the beginning of the New Testament, the Jews had been under the rule of the tyrannical King Herod and the Romans for nearly 60 years. The Romans levied heavy taxes, both to support Herod's building projects and to pay for the cost of keeping Roman troops in the region. The success of the Maccabees in throwing off the yoke of the Seleucids still lingered in the minds of the people.

Increasingly the common Jews were looking for political deliverance from the Romans, and many came to believe that deliverance would come through the long prophesied Messiah. The prophet Isaiah had foretold of one who would come and establish a righteous government and an everlasting kingdom:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

That kingdom would be global in scope, as the Messiah would rule over not just Israel, but the whole world.

"And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

To many, the Messiah was to be a conqueror who would defeat the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom ruling over the entire world. From these expectations arose a Jewish group known as the zealots. These zealots were not a formal group in the time of Jesus, but their philosophy was certainly in the minds of many of the people. It was not until the Jewish wars of the late 60s that the zealots became a formal party with numerous supposed messiahs rising up to lead the people in rebellion against Rome.

Socio-Economic Setting of the Inter-Testament Period

The Social Classes (Rupprecht 1998)

The Jewish Aristocracy

Palestine and the rest of the Roman empire was primarily driven by agriculture. The land was owned by a relatively small number of wealthy land owners. In Palestine, these landowners were wealthy aristocratic Jews and Gentiles. These absentee landowners would hire managers to run the plantations. In Judea, the landowning class included many rabbis and priests who lived in Jerusalem. This agrarian socio-economic culture can be seen in many of Jesus parables, which deal with farming, sheep herding, and the dynamics of absentee landowners and day laborers.

The wealthy aristocracy in Palestine were able to hold onto their power through the abuse of strict purity laws. The ceremonial washings required for participation in the religious and political ceremonies that could not easily be observed by anyone who worked all day in the fields. As a result, the positions of authority were reserved for the aristocracy.

Slavery

There was very little technology involved in farming, and as such landowners required a great deal of human labor in order to work the fields and tend the flocks. In that day, labor came from two sources: slave labor, and free laborers. Slaves were usually the descendents of people conquered by the Romans. In cases of extreme poverty, people could also voluntarily become slaves as a means of economic support. These people could buy there way back out of slavery if they accumulated enough wealth.

Freeborn Poor

In fact, many slaves had higher standards of living than poverty stricken freemen. In Palestine most of the agricultural jobs would have actually been filled by hiring free laborers for a standard wage of one denarius per day. The abundance of slave labor depressed the wages for the working poor and a denarius would not go much beyond meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing. A large number of these freeborn laborers in Palestine would have been able to trace their Jewish lineage. These Jewish freemen would have had the opportunity to rise socially.

Those who could not trace their Jewish heritage were of the lowest classes. Subject to societal bigotry, these “half-breeds” stood no chance of improving their lot and were locked out of any position of authority or respectability in the Jewish culture.

The Messiah as Reformer

Under the Torah, the poor and slaves were afforded certain rights and protections. However under Roman law these same protections were not in place. As such there was wide spread economic and social oppression in first century Palestine. Masters, land owners, and managers exploited the people. The average person was simply trying to survive and had no time to worry about the details of keeping the religious laws or becoming involved in the politics of the day.

For many of these working poor, the only way out was to look to a Messiah who would some day come and reform the corrupt economic system. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the Messiah would bring this sort of social revolution:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners…
Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
But you will be called the priests of the LORD;
You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast. (Isaiah 61:1,5-6)

The Messiah would be one who would bring wealth and prosperity, free the slaves, and eliminate the injustice of the current economic system.

Religion of the Inter-Testament Period

Greek and Roman Religion

The first century was a time of great change in the Greek and Roman religious practices and understanding. Old religions were passing out of favor and people were increasingly willing to hear new religious ideas.

Traditional Pantheism

Classical Greek and Roman pantheism believed in numerous gods and goddesses who each exercised dominion over an aspect of life. The chief of these gods was known as Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Romans). Devotion to the gods was at its apex in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. But by the first century few people truly believed in the pantheon, and the ceremonial worship of the gods was mostly just tradition.

Greek Philosophy

The Greeks are well known for their great philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. These philosophers taught that there is a distinction between matter and spirit. Matter, of which the body was a part, was passive and something to be subdued by the spirit. The spirit was conceived of divine logic or reason, and only through the spirit could one find fulfillment. This had wide spread influence in Judaic and Christian thought in the first and second century.

Mystery Religions & Gnosticism

The mystery religions were secret societies where the few elite would be allowed to enter into secret knowledge and rituals. In combination with this was the belief in magic rites, incantations, spells, and rituals through which one could coerce the gods.

Gnosticism was a belief that deeper knowledge was the key to personal fulfillment. It grew out of the Greek philosophy which stated that the material world was evil while the spiritual world is good. This led to one of two extremes: either an ascetic lifestyle which tried to suppress the evils of the body, or hedonism which indulged the body since only the spirit survived.

Emperor Worship

As the Roman army systematically conquered other nations, belief in the national gods who were to protect them waned. If the Roman emperors could defeat those gods, then the emperor must be a god himself. The first emperor to be deified was Julius Caesar. Augustus was also declared a god, but only after his death.

First Century Judaism

Movement from Sacrificial Rituals to the Law

As a result of the Babylonian exile, a majority of the Jews lived outside of the Holy Land. Because of this, the worship of God through the temple sacrifices became less important. The focal point of worship moved to knowledge of and obedience to the law. The synagogue grew in importance as the center of Jewish communities and worship. This transition made prayer and good works as a replacement for the sacrifices.

With this renewed focus on the law, the profession of scribe became an respected position. Scribes were responsible to copy the text of the Law. But because of their familiarity with the law, soon they came to be regarded as experts on the law. When people had questions regarding an interpretation of the law, the scribes were regularly consulted. The office of scribe then was part photocopy machine, part seminary professor, and part arbitrator.

As Judaism moved from the temple sacrifices to an ethical philosophy, it became more and more attractive to Gentiles. When combined with an environment where people were giving up on the traditional religions, Judaism found itself gaining converts throughout the Roman empire.

First Century Jewish Religious Groups

• The Sadducees were heavily influenced by Greek culture. They believed that only the Torah could be used to determine proper doctrine and they rejected all oral traditions on the Law. The Sadducees were a small group comprised mostly of the wealthy aristocracy. By the time of Jesus they controlled the Jewish Sanhedrin, the local governing body. They didn't protest the Roman occupation as they benefited from the status quo.
• The Pharisees (which means “separatist”) were opposed the Greek cultural influences. They were not part of the priesthood, but were laymen who had great influence in the synagogues. Most of the prominent rabbis came from the Pharisees, and they were very popular with the common folk.

The Pharisees believed in the inerrancy of all the Old Testament scriptures and in the direct application of the scriptures to every day life. These applications of the law developed into a rich oral tradition on how to keep the law.

As opposed to the Sadducees, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, heaven and hell, angels and demons and a combination of predestination and free will. While Jesus opposed the legalism of the Pharisees, his doctrine aligned more with the Pharisees than the Sadducees. The apostle Paul was a devout Pharisee prior to his conversion to Christianity.

The Messiah as Redeemer

The Sadducees did not see a need for the Messiah. They were satisfied with the status quo and their hold on the priestly institutions. The Pharisees believed in a coming Messiah, but they also benefited from the status quo and would have seen the Messiah as more a reformer than a radical revolutionary.

None of these three Jewish groups saw the role of the Messiah as that of a redeemer who would come to take away the sins of the world. For the first century Jew, personal salvation was not as much a concern as political and economic freedom. The rise of Pharisaical traditions made it possible to keep the law through human effort, and therefore personal salvation was possible through obedience to the law. Therefore there was no need for a Messiah to bring salvation.

Because of this, much of Jesus teaching was a direct refutation of the Pharisees teaching on the law. Jesus' teaching instead showed how impossible it was to keep the law and reminded them that the law, while good, was never intended as a means to salvation. Jesus instead tried to reveal the role of the Messiah as a suffering servant who would come to take away the sins of the people. But the prophet Isaiah clearly foretold this:

He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed…
The Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:5, 10-11)

Yet even after Jesus death his closet followers did not understand that the Messiah as a redeemer. It was only after his resurrection did the disciples see Jesus as the Messiah who came to bring personal salvation, not political or social salvation.

Overview of Luke & Acts

Author

Both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are dedicated to Theophilus. Furthermore, in Acts 1:1 the author indicates that he had written a prior volume that was about the life of Christ. It is therefore safe to say that Luke and Acts are written by the same individual.

In the book of Acts, the author uses the term “we” in four separate sections of the book: Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-15, 21:1-18, and 27:1-28:16. From Paul's epistles we know Paul's various companions at each point of his ministry, and Luke is the only person who matches these “we” passages. Therefore we can deduce that Luke is that author of Acts, and is therefore also the author of the gospel bearing his name. The early church fathers confirm this authorship.

Luke is described in Colossians 4:14 as the “beloved physician.” He is the only Gentile author in the New Testament. As a physician he would have been highly educated. His writing style uses the most classical forms of the Greek language of any of the gospels.

Date

The book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome awaiting trial. However, the outcome of the trial is left a mystery, strongly suggesting that the book of Acts was completed prior to Paul's trial in Rome, which took place in the mid 60s. In addition, Acts 28:31 states that the gospel was being preached in Rome “without hindrance.” This would not be the case during the persecution of the church under Nero, which took place around AD 64.

On the other side, Acts is the sequel to the gospel of Luke. This gospel borrowed heavily from Mark and Matthew in its compilation. If we date assume the gospel of Mark was written before the death of Peter, which took place around AD64, this leaves a very narrow window in which Luke could have written these books.

Therefore the best estimate is that Luke and Acts were written in the early-60s.

Purpose

The Gospel of Luke

Both books are written to Theophilus. We do not know who Theophilus was, or even if he was an actual person. The word Theophilus is Greek for “God-lover,” so we can presume that the books was written to a Greek follower of God who wanted to know the truth about the person of Jesus.

Luke seems to be writing primarily to a non-Jewish audience. His language lacks some of the Hebrew and Aramaic terms found in Matthew, and many of his themes would have appealed to more of a Greek than Jewish audience. Between this and the Greek name of Theophilus, we can presume that Luke's primary audience was Greek.

Luke's stated purpose was to provide a thorough, accurate, and orderly look at the life of Christ. Evidently there were many different accounts of the life of Jesus. Luke has set out to investigate all the sources and compile an orderly, certain, complete, chronological picture of Christ. Luke went to great lengths, interviewing as many eyewitnesses as he could, including disciples, friends, and relatives (Jesus' mother and brothers) (Luke 1:29).

But Luke's portrait of Jesus is not just a historical fact. The facts are weaved together to prove that Jesus was the Son of Man who came to be the Savior of the world.

Finally, as a Gentile, Luke uses the gospel to lay the groundwork for his apologetic in for the inclusion of the Gentiles into the church in the book of Acts.

Acts of the Apostles

As shown in Acts 1:1, this book is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. The primary purpose, then, is the same as that gospel: to present an orderly account of the on-going ministry of Jesus. The ministry of Jesus did not end with His ascension into heaven, but continued on through the apostles who were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2). Luke is primarily providing his audience with a detailed history of the expansion of Christ's ministry from a little Jewish sect found only in Jerusalem to a movement that encompassed the entire Roman Empire.

There are a number of secondary purposes to the book of Acts:

• A defense of Paul's apostolic authority . Throughout his epistles, Paul often has to defend his authority as an apostle. The book of Acts systematically compares Paul to Peter, and thus presents Paul on an equal footing with Peter.
• A legal brief prepared to defend Paul in his trial before Caesar . This is certainly not Luke's primary purpose, for such a brief would not include the theological aspects contained in the book. Nonetheless, the book does repeatedly remind its readers that Paul is a Roman citizen, that he is a law-keeper (stayed in prison when he could have escaped), and that he is a hero who rescued a ship that was sinking. In addition, any civil troubles Paul faced were religiously motivated disputes, and not a conflict with the Roman authorities.
• An explanation of how the church fits into the kingdom of God (Toussaint 1988, 350) . The Jews vision of the Messianic kingdom expected that the Messiah would usher in a physical kingdom where he would rule the world from Jerusalem and bring peace and prosperity to all humanity. Yet Jesus ascension into heaven squashed thoughts of that. Luke provides and explanation of how the kingdom of God would continue to expand out of its Jewish roots to the Gentiles, and demonstrate that the kingdom would indeed impact the entire world, but just not in the manner which had been expected.
• A defense of Christianity to a Roman world . F. F. Bruce states that Luke “…addressed secular authorities to establish the law abiding character of Christianity” (Toussaint 1988, 350) . Luke shows repeatedly how the uprisings that came with the growth of the church were either religious in nature or due to threats to idolatrous commerce. To the contrary, the apostles are very respectful of authority, and are portrayed in as civil and peaceful. To an empire that sees Christianity as a “mischievous superstition” at best, and at worst as arsonist troublemakers, Luke's defense of the church is a very important sub-point.

Structure

The Gospel of Luke

The structure of the book of Luke is closely tied with the structure of Acts (Blomberg 1997, 140-145) . Both books are most easily tied to the geography of the book.

Luke begins with a global perspective, dating the birth of Christ to the reign of the Roman emperors in Luke 2:1 and 3:1. From there we see Jesus' ministry in Galilee, an area that had a large Jewish populations, but which was primarily a Gentile region (4:14-9:50).

Beginning in 9:51, we see Jesus focus shift towards Jerusalem. His purpose was to save the world (9:56), and that required that he go up to Jerusalem and suffer on the cross. The next section takes place as Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem, passing through Samaria (9:52-53), traveling through other villages in Judea (10:38, 13:22, 17:11), up to Jericho (19:1), Bethany (19:29) and finally into Jerusalem (19:37-45). Luke places the bulk of Jesus teaching in the setting of this journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

Once in Jerusalem, Jesus presents himself as the Jewish Messiah (19:28-21:38), and then offers himself up the savior of the world (22:1-24:53).

After the resurrection, Luke does not mention Jesus' appearances in Galilee, keeping the action in Jerusalem. This is done to tie in the geographic outline of Acts.

The Acts of the Apostles

The book of Acts follows just the opposite motion, taking the scene from Jerusalem (chapters 1-5), to Judea and Samaria (chapters 6-9), then traveling through Syria, Asia Minor, and Europe towards Rome (chapters 9-28). This “chiastic” structure emphasizes the centrality of the resurrection and ascension to Luke's message, while emphasizing the universal nature of the gospel.

This geographic structure is foreshadowed in Acts 1:8, where Jesus says “you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem (chapters 1-5), and in all Judea and Samaria (chapters 6-9), and even to the remotest part of the earth (chapters 10-28).” The first two sections (chapters 1-9) represent the witness of the apostles to the Jews, while the last section (chapters 10-28) represents the witness of the apostles to the Gentiles.

The book of Acts can also be broken down by the major characters of the book. While the complete title of the book is the Acts of the Apostles, really the book focuses on only two of the apostles: Peter (chapters 1-12) and Paul (chapters 13-28).

Within this structure, sub-points of the book are marked by a series of summary statements, or what one commentary calls a “progress report” (Toussaint 1988) . Just before the geography of the scene shifts to a new location, Luke summarizes how the gospel has impacted that location. The standard for these progress reports is in 2:46-47, where Luke describes the impact of the gospel on the new church in Jerusalem. The remaining progress reports are located:

• 6:7 – Impact of the gospel in Jerusalem.
• 9:31 – Impact of the gospel in Judea and Samaria.
• 12:24 – Impact of the gospel in Syria.
• 16:5 – Impact of the gospel in Asia Minor.
• 19:20 – Impact of the gospel in Europe.
• 28:31 – Impact of the gospel on Rome

This structure can be also seen as a series of concentric circles, where the gospel begins in the center, Jerusalem, and is expanding ever outward to Judea & Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor, Europe, and eventually to Rome.

Ironically, in this day Rome is not the “remotest part of the earth,” but rather the very center of the civilized world. Yet the arrival of the gospel in Rome represents the universal impact of the gospel message. From Rome the gospel would begin to penetrate and impact even to the remotest parts of the world.

Theme

The key theme of both Luke and Acts is the universal nature of the gospel. The salvation offered by the Son of Man is available to all, be they Jews or Gentiles, male or female, rich or poor.

Luke marks time with references to secular events. Jesus genealogy goes back to Adam, not just Abraham. In Simeon's blessing of the infant Jesus, he calls Christ a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In Acts Jesus calls the disciples to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. The rest of the book is the working out of this movement of the gospel from a small Jewish sect to one which would influence the entire world.

But more than just a gospel that transcends the nations, Luke's emphasis of women, both in his gospel and in Acts, demonstrates that the ministry of Jesus is for male and female. Luke's gospel tells the story of Jesus birth from Mary's viewpoint. Luke is the only gospel writer who tells us that women supported Jesus financially (Luke 8:1-3), and that women who watched his crucifixion and were the first witnesses of his resurrection.

The gospel belongs to the rich and the poor. Luke's telling of the beatitudes says “blessed are the poor,” but also tells the story of the rich Zacchaeus coming to Jesus.

In fact, Luke emphasizes Jesus ministry is a proactive outreach to those who normally ignored by society. His ministry is attractive to women and the poor as well as the tax gatherer, the prostitute, the sinner. In Acts, the disciples are at first reluctant to extend their ministry to those outside of their world, but slowly learn to extend the gospel message to all. All of this is summed up in this theme verse: