Gospel of Luke

==Theology==
[[File:Representation of the Sower's parable.JPEG|thumb|left|Parable of the Sower (Biserica Ortodoxă din Deal, Cluj-Napoca), [[Romania]])]]

===Luke's "salvation history"===
Luke's theology is expressed primarily through his overarching plot, the way scenes, themes and characters combine to construct his specific worldview.{{sfn|Allen|2009|p=326}} His "salvation history" stretches from the Creation to the present time of his readers, in three ages: first, the time of "the Law and the Prophets", the period beginning with Genesis and ending with the appearance of John the Baptist;<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|1:5–3:1}}</ref> second, the epoch of Jesus, in which the [[Kingdom of God]] was preached;<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|3:2–24:51}}</ref> and finally the period of the Church, which began when the risen Christ was taken into Heaven, and would end with his [[second coming of Christ|second coming]].{{sfn|Evans|2011|p=no page numbers}}

===Christology===
Luke's understanding of Jesus – his [[Christology]] – is central to his theology. One approach to this is through the titles Luke gives to Jesus: these include, but are not limited to, Christ ([[Messiah]]), [[Jesus is Lord|Lord]], [[Son of God]], and [[Son of Man]].{{sfn|Powell|1989|p=60}} Another is by reading Luke in the context of similar Greco-Roman divine saviour figures (Roman emperors are an example), references which would have made clear to Luke's readers that Jesus was the greatest of all saviours.{{sfn|Powell|1989|pp=63–65}} A third is to approach Luke through his use of the Old Testament, those passages from Jewish scripture which he cites to establish that Jesus is the promised Messiah.{{sfn|Powell|1989|p=66}} While much of this is familiar, much also is missing: for example, Luke makes no clear reference to Christ's pre-existence or to the Christian's union with Christ, and makes relatively little reference to the concept of atonement: perhaps he felt no need to mention these ideas, or disagreed with them, or possibly he was simply unaware of them.{{sfn|Buckwalter|1996|p=4}}

[[File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 023.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Annunciation'' ([[Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo|Murillo]])]]
Even what Luke does say about Christ is ambiguous or even contradictory.{{sfn|Buckwalter|1996|p=4}} For example, according to [[Luke 2:11]] Jesus was the Christ at his birth, but in Acts 2:36 he becomes Christ at the resurrection, while in Acts 3:20 it seems his messiahship is active only at the [[parousia]], the "[[second coming of Christ|second coming]]"; similarly, in Luke 2:11 he is the [[Redeemer (Christianity)|Saviour]] from birth, but in Acts 5:31<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|5:31}}</ref> he is made Saviour at the resurrection; and he is born the [[Son of God]] in Luke 1:32–35,<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|1:32–35}}</ref> but becomes the Son of God at the resurrection according to Acts 13:33.<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|13:33}}</ref>{{sfn|Ehrman|1996|p=65}} Many of these differences may be due to scribal error, but others are argued to be deliberate alterations to doctrinally unacceptable passages, or the introduction by scribes of "proofs" for their favourite theological tenets.{{sfn|Miller|2011|p=63}}

===The Holy Spirit, the Christian community, and the Kingdom of God===
The Holy Spirit plays a more important role in Luke–Acts than in the other gospels. Some scholars have argued that the Spirit's involvement in the career of Jesus is paradigmatic of the universal Christian experience, others that Luke's intention was to stress Jesus' uniqueness as the Prophet of the final age.{{sfn|Powell|1989|pp=108–11}} It is clear, however, that Luke understands the enabling power of the Spirit, expressed through non-discriminatory fellowship ("All who believed were together and had all things in common"), to be the basis of the Christian community.{{sfn|Powell|1989|p=111}} This community can also be understood as the [[Kingdom of God]], although the kingdom's final consummation will not be seen till the [[Son of Man]] comes "on a cloud" at the end-time.{{sfn|Holladay|2011|p=no page number}}

===Christians vs. Rome and the Jews===
{{see also|History of the Jews in the Roman Empire}}
Luke needed to define the position of Christians in relation to two political and social entities, the Roman Empire and Judaism. Regarding the Empire, Luke makes clear that, while Christians are not a threat to the established order, the rulers of this world hold their power from Satan, and the essential loyalty of Christ's followers is to God and this world will be the kingdom of God, ruled by Christ the King.{{sfn|Boring|2012|p=562}} Regarding the Jews, Luke emphasises the fact that Jesus and all his earliest followers were Jews, although by his time the majority of Christ-followers were [[gentiles]]; nevertheless, the Jews had rejected and killed the Messiah, and the Christian mission now lay with the gentiles.{{sfn|Boring|2012|p=563}}