The Nature of the Kingdom as it is Presented in Luke's Gospel

Matthew is the first of four gospels in the New Testament. Matthew presents his story of Jesus, the demands of Christian discipline, and shares the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are many questions in Matthew that can not be answered.The book of Matthew is a gospel that contains narrative history, genealogy, parables, sermons, and some prophetic oracles. The gospel of Matthew was originally written for a Jewish audience by a Jewish perspective. This is why Matthew is often referred to as "The Gospel for the Jews". Although Matthew was written for Jews, it does not include very much of the Jewish culture and tradition. Throughout the entire gospel of Matthew, it is very clear that the entire book is mainly incorporated with Jews. The book of Matthew ties in with the Old Testament several times, such as when they refer to Jesus as Messiah or King. The key word used in Matthew is "kingdom" and it is used 28 times. The reason Matthew was written was to reveal that Jesus was the messiah, the long of the Jews, and to conceive the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long awaited messiah. The author of Matthew

They wanted a conqueror king to unite their tribes once again and reestablish their greatness from the early Scriptures. Their expectations of the Messiah was someone who would usher in politically the kingdom of God on earth. However, Jesus was none of these things. Jesus subverted the worldly understanding of kingship and represented a kingship of a different order. The coming of Christ was described by the prophets Zechariah, “Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior, Humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt” (Zech. 9:9). When Christ appeared in his glory is was not at a “warrior-king” but as a “savior king.” It is in his meekness, and mercy that he shall recapitulate Israel. “Zechariah’s prophecy of the meek king who would ride not on a war horse but on a donkey was expressed in poetic parallelism picturing the animal as “a donkey, a donkey’s colt.” Donkey’s and mules were a common transportation, horses were seldom used. If Jesus was sent as a “warrior-king” he would have probably ridden a horse instead of a donkey. Matthew “place all the emphasis on Jesus as the “humble” or “gentle” king who redefines the nature of

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

The Gospel of Luke is one of the four gospels as part of the new testament. Luke’s Gospel is dependent on other earlier writings, especially the Gospel according to Mark. The purpose of the Gospel is to communicate the life of God and promote the universal significance of Jesus Christ's’ story. Luke makes an effort to make his readings relatable to readers from different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds. The reason Luke makes an effort to create an easily relatable story is to create a point of identity and entry into the story of Jesus Christ.

The gospel describes Jesus as a great teacher who astounded the crowds who gathered to hear him. Though he engaged in debates with Pharisees and Sadducees, he took great interest in ordinary people. He often taught them in parables, stories that used vivid images from everyday life to illustrate spiritual truths (Invitation to World Religions, pg.416). The central theme in Jesus’ teachings was the Kingdom of God. For Jesus, the kingdom of God was not an ordinary kingdom, but that exists when human beings recognize God’s sovereignty over the world and respond in love and in

“A kingdom is a human political reality”, which is both earthly and physical. (pg 176) People see it as a negative impersonal political institution but rather it should positively flipped into community based. This includes individuals under one common influence. The power that kingdom has over politics transformed the power God has on earth through the churches until the day when He finally makes all things new (Rev 21:5). Together, the term kingdom politics is metaphor to what we should be basing our lives onto, the kingdom above under the political allegiance of God. As Christians, we must build this kingdom before God within the community of those living for the

He is mentioned to by Paul as "Luke the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14). Luke fixed forth the humanity of the Son of Man and cites it in chronological order the life of Christ. Being a physician, he is more precise when using language. For example, when he indicates a leper he uses the identical medical term to describe the circumstance, for example "full of leprosy" (Luke 5:12). Luke’s gospel is particularly focused towards an individual named Theophilus and is focused on the complete story and past events of Jesus Christ from his birth and ministry to his crucifixion and resurrection. A major theme in Luke’s gospel shows how important the poor were to Jesus and how we should not neglect the poor. Examples of this are seen when the book talks about the distinctive beatitudes “blessed you are poor…hunger now...weep now...” and the distinctive woes “woes to you that are rich...that are full...that laugh now…” which overall say, money and power will tend to bring judgement upon you. In addition, the gospel of Luke refers to certain parables like the Rich man and Lazarus. This sends a message to warn the rich who tend to trust in their riches more than in God, wealth tends to pull us away from God and that if we neglect the poor and prioritize our riches more we will go to hell. Asking oneself- is your existence a blessing for the

Jesus was talking about the way things should be instead of how they were. He disclosed some of the principles and requirements of approaching the Kingdom of God. The idea of an upside-down kingdom wasn’t suitable for all because those who had many worldly possessions had much to lose. For this reason, Jesus was accepted by many, and rejected by others. Jesus only glimpse of what their eternities could appear to be.

In the Gospel of John there are eight miracle signs that are recorded that are performed by Jesus in this Gospel. In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) the Prince of Life doesn’t show or give any miraculous signs to prove his authority. In the Abramic religions, these eight signs are actual events from the beginning of His ministry with the turning of water into wine to the final miracle of a miraculous catch of fish after the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in the book But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Son

Jesus is of the same substance as God, and in His nature and essence is equal in power and majesty to God. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, who never slept with a man, and maintained her virginity until the time of Jesus’ birth. Jesus perfectly fulfilled all of the OT prophecies about the Messiah, and in the fullness of time came down to earth as the seed of Abraham and David, a rightful heir to Israel’s throne. Jesus did not sin, as He was “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). “The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, has fully satisfied the justice of His Father” (HC). Jesus suffered an excruciatingly painful death, and died after accepting the full wrath of God, and laid in Joseph’s tomb for three days before rising on Easter Sunday. Jesus presented himself to the disciples and many to great crowds before ascending into heaven. He commanded His disciples to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20). His kingdom is already here, yet is not yet fully realized, as it will come when Jesus returns to judge the world (1 Peter

Throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus is established as the Messiah and the most prominent holy figure of the faith - the Son of God. Yet Jesus started out as a regular boy who practiced the Jewish faith much the same as every other Jew around him and admired the priests as righteous men that would help the Jews follow the word of Yahweh and the Laws of Moses. One such man is John the Baptist, a priest and prophet that had a significant following, and prophesized the coming of a Messiah figure. In this paper I will argue that John the Baptist is a prominent and necessary figure in the Synoptic gospels, a precursor to Jesus who proceeded to establish Jesus as

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 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 Matthew was written with the intention of communicating certain Christian ideals and themes. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew places great emphasis on salvation and the promise the Kingdom of Heaven has to offer through the proper practice of Christianity under the teachings of Jesus. This, to the writer, is the ultimate goal of Christianity and the main point of the text – that there is indeed a promise to following the Christian teachings of Jesus. However, in substantiating the prospects behind following Christianity through teachings of Jesus, the writer had to establish Jesus’ authority and divine identity as the son of God; the Messiah. Through a series of parables and anecdotes,

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.