Luke (6:27) Love of Enemies Reflection Essay

The issue between the Gospel of Matthew and Judaism is a convoluted one. The picture that emerges when talking about whether Jesus’s teaching is anti-Semitic or not becomes ambivalent and it is not easy to interpret, as Coogan has pointed out, “Matthew functions as a bridge between the two Testaments . . .”(Coogan, 1746). In the context of Jewish-Christian dialogue, the fundamental question is how much of Judaism’s principles and practices ascribed to Jesus are preserved from traditional Judaism? As much as Matthew’s Gospel has been considered to be an extremely anti-Semitic, especially in the Christian realm, there remains substantial evidence indicating how Jesus, as presented by Matthew, had preserved the quintessence of Judaism.

The Gospel of Luke was written by a Greek- speaking Christian. It was not written to replace the Gospel of Mark, but as a new account written for an audience under different circumstances than Mark’s community. The church was becoming more Gentiles than Jews. Most people in Luke’s community were not familiar with the Jewish traditions that were referred to by many preachers. Many members of the community were well off as well. This community struggled to follow a church that had a Hebrew core. These issues are what influenced Luke’s writing. Luke wanted his community to know that they were all included in God’s plan for salvation even though in history the Jews would have been the first to know. A few of the major themes of Luke’s Gospel were: salvation for all, mercy and forgiveness, and modern

Before looking at how the Gospel of Luke justifies a specific form of self-defensive violence, it is important to examine the text’s general attitude towards violence so as to emphasize the significance of its justification of any violence at all. As one would expect from the Holy Book of

Luke’s Gospel is a portrayal of Jesus as a model of social justice. Hence, the reader is empowered and influenced by the Gospel to be actively involved in social justice issues. The Catholic Church has sought to reach out to those in need, and Luke’s Gospel demonstrates this through injustices that Jesus challenged. In addition, mental illness, which is a current social justice issue reflects and appeals to problems that Jesus faced and reacted to in his time.

Longenecker’s The Lost Letters of Pergamum encapsulates the socio-historical, cultural, and political atmosphere of the first-century setting in which Mark’s Gospel would have been experienced. Understanding Jesus in context of this background alters the way I understand the Gospel of Mark. Specific passages in Mark can be reflected upon based on the socio-historical, cultural, and political aspects of the setting described in Longenecker’s book. In The Lost Letters of Pergamum, readers see Euphemos and Antipas admonishing Luke against associating himself with Christians for they worship and follow a different lord than the emperor as well as endorse an empire other than Rome.

“In fact, one of the primary purpose of this Gospel may have been attempt to link the story of Jesus with the history of Israel. Any reader of Matthew who wants to go deeply into this Gospel must be alert to its Jewish background.”

The passage that was chosen was Luke 5:27-32, or the calling of Levi. This passage presents Jesus telling Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Levi does follow Jesus, and soon after they are having a banquet dinner with other tax collectors. Jesus is asked why he chooses to eat with them, and he simply responds with “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

important and who are wondering how Jesus fits into history of the Jewish people. This problems means that Matthew’s community was largely Jewish Christian and needed to be reassured that being a Christian did not separate then from the Jewish heritage.

The Gospel of Luke is the most descriptive account for Jesus Christ’s life. Through this Gospel it gives its readers a foretaste into the birth and early life of Jesus and his disciples. Luke described who Jesus was as a person and what Jesus had accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. This Gospel has various themes. Some themes are the parables, the role of the Holy Spirit, and the joy and rejoicing.

Luke and Acts tells the story of what Jesus did and taught during his ministry, first in his earthly life and then as the exalted Christ and Lord through 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 who 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 main Christological themes that appear in Luke-Acts highlighted and emphasised on the concept of the “Lord 's Christ”, meaning the coming ruler of God 's people, who will serve as their Savior and performing prophetic work [2 pg. 123-143]. Moreover, Jesus’s role was not assumed on his own initiative, but rather it was the work of God. Thus we can say that God’s work and plans were at the center of the Book of Acts and Luke’s gospel [1 pg 22].

In this article Harold Attridge examines Luke’s background, the scriptures Luke wrote, Jesus’s values, the context and purpose of Luke’s gospel and the treatment of Christians at the time of Luke’s writings. The article expresses that Luke’s Gospel was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and at a time when Christians were being persecuted for practicing their faith so consequently the purpose of his Gospel was to show an ethical example and imply that Christians could be good citizens. This source is relevant to the topic as it suggests the purpose of Luke's Gospel and the treatment of Christians before the fall of Jerusalem. A limitation of the website is that it has not been recently published, it’s publish date is April 1998 so it may not be up to date with the latest, accurate information. Nonetheless, this source is very beneficial and appropriate to the task as it provides facts and research on the chosen sacred text. This source will not be the cornerstone of my research but will add a good understanding to the purpose of the sacred text.

In the Bible, the four Gospels push different ideologies, views, lessons and different stories that center around the central figure of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke main themes center on Universalism, social justice, compassion for outcasts, the role of woman and the Holy Spirit.(Hauer and Young) These parables are able to connect to the context of when Luke was able bring these stories together in 85 CE. The Gospel was most likely written in Greek speaking area located in the Roman empire.(Coogan et al.) This time of stability allowed for the proliferation of Christianity and Gospels such as Luke. The passages that will be discussed will mainly focus on compassion for outcast seen in Luke 16:19–31 and warning against greed in Luke 12:13-34. Luke 13:6-9 focuses on a fig tree talks of the opportunities people and if they use them properly. Finally, the last parable is 7:11-17, which focuses on holy spirit and the possibilities for miracles and the importance of life. These parables in Luke are able to give a social justice commentary that can make a person feel compassionate for the poor and the reckoning they would receive in the afterlife if they didn’t follow Jesus’s teachings. As, well the story is able to push across a message that will everlasting importance to people. This has led to the Gospels of Luke becoming one of the main 4 Gospels and one of the most highly regarded of the Gospels. (Hauer and Young)

Jesus is portrayed as a compassionate healer and teacher in Luke's gospel. Luke also portrays Jesus as a saviour in the image of a divine man. Like was a well educated jew that was struggling with the christians new faith. Luke is one of the synoptic gospels in the New Testament whose audience appears to be gentiles. Luke portrays Jesus as a person who reaches out to the poor and brings Justice to all. In Luke 10:38-42 Jesus visited Martha and Mary. Martha was disrespectful to Jesus as she put cleaning before Jesus, where as Mary sat down at Jesus’ foot and stayed with him. Jesus then says “Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things” Jesus is showing compassion and love even though Martha was showing disrespect towards Jesus. Overall,

Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.

The theme of the gospel of Luke talks about the journey of the life of Jesus, Christ. His death, burial, and resurrection. Moreover, his ministry, teachings and parables. As a historian, and physician, Luke was not only eloquent in his writing about Jesus; he also took interest in his early life. The Gospel of Luke also depict Jesus as compassionate, caring, and loving. Likewise, Luke not only put Jesus at the heart of the Jewish world during the first century, but also at the heart of the Roman world, where with the Christian gospel exploded.