For some years now I have been studying the composite work of Luke–his Gospel and his “history,” or more accurately “narrative discourse” of the early church, that is, Acts. It’s a double-edged work. With Luke-Acts we have a two-volume ethical narrative.

“…[W]e have already discovered at the center of Luke’s portrait of Jesus a universal mission, concerned for everyone, especially the marginalized” (Burridge 274).

“One of the most distinctive aspects of the Lukan Jesus is the company he keeps” (Burridge quoting Matera). Luke’s “Christology” allows us to “explore the universal significance of Jesus for all times and places” (231).

Burridge presents Luke as the writer who offers a picture of Jesus who holds apparent opposites in creative tension: Luke offers a much more positive characterization of the Twelve apostles and yet has an amazingly counter-cultural presentation of women in the life and ministry of Jesus and the church. Jesus has an intentional mission to the socially marginalized, yet he does not denigrate the rich. Luke unfolds the deep Jewish roots of the life and mission of Jesus, yet presents Jesus’ and the church’s most inclusive ministry to Gentiles. Luke is a both/and kind of guy, not an either/or one.

For Burridge (and Luke), the perjorative statement that Jesus is “the friend of sinners” is turned to a positive declaration of Jesus’ life and mission, “embracing all who respond to him, regardless of their social standing, ethnic or religious background, but always being especially concerned for the outcast and marginalized” (281). We tend to forget that those who first said “friend of sinners” did so with disgust if not hate for Jesus. Jesus’ opponents would not embroider “Jesus: Friend of Sinners”on a cloth and hang it on their wall nor would they sing about Jesus as such from their hymnbook.

As with Matthew and Mark, Burridge unpacks Jesus’ life and deeds as presented by Luke as they shape family, law and love, money and possessions, women’s place in the kingdom of God, love and acceptance of other marginalized groups, even non-Jews, and redefining power and authority. Unlike Matthew, however, Luke does not present collections of Jesus’ teachings bundled in segments (except perhaps the ’sermon on the plain’), but weaves Jesus’ teachings into his biographical, “journey” narrative. The overriding distinctive of Luke is his presentation of Jesus as radically inclusive. The spin-off of intentional inclusivity is the creation and impact of a new kind of community, that is, a people directed toward and following ”the Way,” the way of Jesus.

Luke’s two volumes–Gospel and Acts–demonstrate this idea: what Jesus said and did in his first, earthy, human body, he continues “to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1) in his second, communal and diverse “body”–the church (Burridge 228). The church is a continuing expression of the life of Jesus and, therefore, a continuing expression of Jesus’ ethic of radical love. Jesus did not offer a code of conduct, a list of rules on how to be godly or how to be a good disciple. Jesus offers himself and his way of life as the way of life for his people, a way out of the mess the world has gotten into.

Jesus expects his followers to think their way through life rather than robotically engage life from a checklist of commands or an ethical list of rules. What does it mean to “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful”? What does it mean to become “a friend of sinners,” to have them at our table, to treat them with deep respect and high value? Luke lets us follow Jesus on his “way” to Jerusalem and teaches us through his presentation of Jesus, and through the disciples (both men and women) how we can walk the Jesus Way. Once again, Luke’s Gospel is a profound biographical narrative that presents a profound Person, Jesus, as the shape of kingdom ethics. With Acts, Luke continues his narrative and shows us that Jesus and his Way is the Way of the church as well.

Jesus was a Spirit-anointed man (see Luke 3-4), the church is a Spirit-anointed community (Acts 2). Jesus lived and offered the kingdom of God; so does the church. In Luke, Jesus ends up in Jerusalem and Luke offers a more favorable view of the Pharisees than do Mark and Matthew; for Luke, Jesus’ real opponents are the Sadducees, who are rich and powerful. In Acts, Paul ends up in Jerusalem and flees for Rome. Gentiles, the poor, the marginalized, and women are prominent in Jesus’ life. These same groups of people are prominent in the life of the church.

God is incarnate in Jesus; God is incarnate in the church. Because Jesus said, “This is my body,” so we can declare, “We are his body.”

Take up Luke-Acts and read!

Popularity: 5% [?]