Luke-Acts The Two-Volume Gospel

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Luke-Acts The Two-Volume Gospel
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Luke-Acts

• The Gospel ascribed to Luke is the second of a
  two volume composition conventionally designated
  Luke-Acts.
• The Gospel of Luke (the first volume) tells the
  story of Jesus by using Mark as his main
  narrative source and discourse material from Q
  and L.
• Like Matthew, Luke follows the Markan storyline
  from baptism to burial.
• But Luke follows Mark even more closely than
  Matthew, altering Marks language only for
  literary correctness and clarity.

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Luke-Acts

• Luke omits a substantial portion of Marks middle
  section (Mark 645826). Possibly out of a
  dislike for doublets and a concern for the
  portrayal of Jesus and the disciples.
• Luke adds narrative material at the beginning
  with infancy accounts (chs. 1-2) and at the end
  with several appearance stories and an account of
  the ascension (ch. 24).
• Luke adds a substantial amount of Q material
  (shared with Matthew) and L material, most
  notably, the distinctive Lukan parables.

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Luke-Acts

• Luke exploits a narrative seam in Mark 9-10
  (Jesus journey to Jerusalem) and expands it to
  include the bulk of his discourse material (Luke
  919).
• Luke adds a prologue to each of his volumes (Luke
  11-4 and Acts 11-2).

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Luke-Acts

• The Acts of the Apostles (the second volume)
  tells the story of the early church, with special
  attention to Peter (ch, 112) and Paul (chs. 13
  28).
• Luke appears to be the first to undertake this
  narrative if he had written sources, they are
  undetectable.
• He constructions the narrative similar to
  Hellenistic historians, using journeys, speeches,
  and summaries, to write volume 2.

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Luke-Acts

• Another literary device spanning both volumes is
  Lukes use of prophecy.
• As in the other Gospels, Luke notes the way that
  the events in history stand in fulfillment of
  prophecies written in Torah, although he avoids
  Matthews formula citations and extends such
  fulfillment to the events of Acts, as well.
• More distinctive is the way in which characters
  in the narrative make statements that are
  prophetic and that are fulfilled by the
  subsequent events in the narrative.

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Luke-Acts

• The genre that best fits Luke-Acts as a whole is
  that of Ancient Historiography, but it is
  important to recognize the volumes together form
  Lukes Gospel.
• The literary implication of the two-volume work
  is that Acts represents not only an extension but
  also an interpretation of the first volume.
• The theological implication is that the story of
  the church continues the story of Jesus. Luke
  links them by a variety of means, but most
  importantly by having the same Holy Spirit at
  work in Jesus also at work in his followers.

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Luke-Acts

• Luke uses geography as a way of focusing
  attention on the critical part of his narrative.
• The Gospel narrative lends toward the city of
  Jerusalem (222 241-51 49 931, 511322
  1911, 28).
• The narrative in Acts moves out from Jerusalem
  (18) but constantly circles back to the city.
• Luke thereby makes the reader focus on events in
  Jerusalem that forms the middle of the story
  (Luke 19-Acts 8). Its is in Jerusalem that Jesus
  is rejected, raised, exalted, and here, his
  disciples are empowered to preach and heal in his
  name.

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Luke-Acts

• Sometimes, this is a matter of a self-fulfilling
  prophecy within a single incident Jesus in
  Nazareth (414-19, fulfilled 421, Stephens
  Speech-Prophecy (esp. Acts 751-53, fulfilled
  757 with martyrdom).
• Sometimes, it is a matter of programmatic
  prophecy, in which a statement governs the
  direction of the subsequent narrative
  (Luke2445-49).
• Luke also portrays his major characters as
  prophets in the tradition of Moses.
• In the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as a prophet
  who brings Gods visitation to the people.
• In Acts, all the protagonists are depicted in
  prophetic terms. Or by gentiles, as if they ae
  gods (Acts 1411).

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Luke-Acts

• Each of the Synoptic Gospels engages a distinct
  aspect of the symbolic world of Torah
• Mark uses apocalyptic
• Matthew, rabbinic and
• Luke, prophetic dimensions of contemporary
  Judaism.