Jerome Bollettieri
Literature Humanities
Professor Bengtsson
12/7/14
Luke’s ‘Kingdom of God’ and Its Unlimited Community Attained through Speech The Gospel of Luke serves to provide a model for people to engage in issues that affect communities: such as poverty, health, and exclusion of certain peoples. Luke’s gospel interprets the story of Jesus from apparent eyewitness accounts and conveys a perspective of his own communal ideal in response to these socially and ethically based issues. Luke will represent Jesus’ attempt at building a community of followers that would accompany him in his preparation of the kingdom of God for the Jewish community. The purpose of this essay is to recognize and express the relationship between community
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We will start by obtaining a sense of the word ‘community’ and its context within the bible and the Gospel of Luke. Community, according to the Oxford Dictionary is “the people of a district or country considered collectively, especially in the context of social values and responsibilities; or quite simply, a ‘society’. Generally a community is understood to be a group of people that share the same stories and are held together through a common cause or struggle. However, the Luke’s gospel would easily replace that definition and incorporate in it a biblical meaning of community. A ‘Lucan’ community would encompass the contribution, participation, and communion. It is a partnership that emphasizes involvement with another person and the two-way relationship of giving and receiving.
Some background information on Luke should be discussed before we delve into the relationship between this defined community and speech in the writings of Luke’s gospel. Firstly, the actual author of The Gospel of Luke is said to be unknown, so for intensive purposes, let us refer to the writer henceforth as Luke. Luke states his intention of writing in the preface of his gospel (Luke 1:1), informing the reader that he will deliver fact; fact in the form of eyewitness accounts of the things that have truly happened, so “that [we] may know the truth of concerning the things of which you have been informed”. These accounts come from those who personally knew
Luke was a medical doctor, a missionary, and evangelist, a historian, a researcher, and the writer of the third Gospel. The book of Luke was written in a formal literacy introduction noting his purpose in writing, his methodology, and the attempts others had made in such writing. Luke is the author of the book and it was written in AD 60 in Caesarea. According to Hindson and Elmer Luke’s purpose is to give “an orderly sequence” of the events about Christ’s birth, life, and sacrificial death followed by his resurrection and ascension back to heaven. The occasion calling for Luke to write his Gospel was that Theophilus, and other new believers like him, needed a clear account of the life and ministry of Jesus as an aid to confirm his faith
Luke’s Gospel greatly emphasizes the social justice aspect of Christian living. Throughout the third book in the New Testament, the story and history of Jesus Christ is written, and Luke preserves the many sayings of Jesus warning that those with material possessions have a
“Is this not Joseph’s son?” – The people in the synagogue said this about Jesus to emphasise the fact that Jesus is, they believed, the son of Joseph, who is a carpenter by profession, which links into the core value of embedded identity. According to the culture of the time, one must give preference to one’s own family and village. It is in this very pericope that Luke has Jesus implies that he is the Son of God and that his purpose and mission are a priority over his family and the role he has there.
The book has given special treatment to Christ, who, in this case, is the main determinant of political, legal and the national limits on the value of the human person, both
In the first four verses, Luke gives a short but valuable outline about the nature of the gospel. He says he want to declare those things that are most assuredly believed
Living in Christian community is a necessity for the everyday life of a Christian. Without community, the Christian has no one else to “sharpen” them, no one else to understand the everyday struggle of living in the world, sharing the Gospel, but not partaking in the sinful ways of the world. In “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores Christian community, and presents not only the benefits of Christian community, but also the toxins that can destroy the community. Living in Christian community brings incomparable joy and community in and through Jesus Christ, but can be easily lost due to humanistic ideals, or “dreams”.
Relational. The ministry of Jesus was focused on people and meeting their needs. Spending time with others, both individually and through corporate gatherings, is modeled throughout the Bible. Fellowship with other believers in small groups allows individuals to forge relationships and develop accountability at some level. These deeper bonds demonstrate to others their love for God and others by loving God’s Law, obeying it by God’s grace, and allowing it to lead to Jesus Christ for transformation into His image.
Jesus Christ sought to improve the individual, the component of society, and as result, his teaching ideally aims to advance the well-being of society as a whole. The four Gospels and the book of Acts thoroughly demonstrate the extensive sociological knowledge that was present in Jesus’ teaching. His message facilitates personal reform, rather than change in the social structure alone. Although Jesus establishes the church as a social institution, he does so, only after a number of individuals become his followers.
Reading Luke is always an interesting book to read. I always enjoy reading and studying the Gospel of Luke. Finding throughtout my life that many scholars of the Bible taught that Luke was the author of the Gospel of Luke and a Gentile. I could never agree with them. In unit three we learned that Matthew wrote to the Jews, Mark wrote to the Romans and Luke wrote to the Gentiles. As a rule, people in general are quick to come to an assumption. Therefore, I was on the train of thought, that OK maybe Luke was a Gentile. However, I still can not agree that because he wrote to the Gentiles that made him a Gentile.
Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.
Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Kindle.
The Nature of the Kingdom as it is Presented in Luke's Gospel One of Luke's main interests in Jesus was his preaching on the Kingdom of God. As Luke was arguably a gentile, he wanted to prove to all people that the Kingdom was present and that everyone is welcome to become a member. However what Luke wrote about the kingdom in some areas did contradict the Jews expectations. For example, Jewish understanding of the kingdom was that a divine rule would be the counterpart of the earthly kingship. This goes back to Old Testament when the prophet Samuel first anointed the first Jewish King Saul, as so was King David.
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)
The Gospel of Luke thoroughly illustrates the themes of mercy and compassion in his use of literary devices such as symbols, stories and parables. Luke urges how significant it is to feel and deliver the ready willingness to help anyone in need in our society. The Gospel offers a model to live out these virtues through Jesus’ actions and his parables.
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.