By Jack Wilkie
This will be the fifteenth and final article of the “Digging Deeper” study starters, so we’ll discuss two (lengthy) New Testament books this month to finish off the series. While they are separated by John in the order of the New Testament, Luke and Acts really should be seen together if we are to gain a proper understanding of the author’s intentions. It’s generally believed that both were written within a few years of each other (60 A.D. for Luke, as early as 63-65 A.D. for Acts). Acts picks up right where Luke’s Gospel leaves off (with a little overlap), and many of the themes carry over as well.
Key Themes
Luke really builds his writing around two prophecies, one from Isaiah and one from Joel. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 (in Luke 4), telling how He was sent to preach to the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed. Joel 2:28-32, quoted by Peter in Acts 2, prophesied a time that God would pour forth His Spirit on all mankind––young, old, men, women, slaves, free. Luke, a Gentile, wrote his account to document Jesus’ ministry and the spread of the church and show how it united all kinds of people. Luke shows this in his Gospel by the people to whom Jesus ministered and in Acts by the spread of the church to people of all cultures and places. So, the work of the Spirit is a prominent theme, along with the importance of the different people involved in the work of the Gospel. The work (and signs) done through the Son of Man and the rest of God’s people and their devotion to prayer are well documented throughout the fifty-two chapters of Luke’s account.
Key Verses
In a block of text this long, there will naturally be many important verses. However, some verses always stand out because of their statements of purpose and relation to the major themes. Of course, the prophecies mentioned above are essential for understanding Luke’s writing as a whole. Jesus came to a culture where Jews were better than Gentiles, the Pharisees were better than the average Jew, the tax collectors (among others) were socially unacceptable, etc. As one of the Gentiles that the Jews would typically exclude, Luke writes from a point of view that shows how Jesus came to reach out to all people, not just those that society held up as holy. This is what separates Luke’s Gospel from the others. In addition, Luke began each with a statement of purpose: he was writing to Theophilus to record the history of Jesus’ ministry and the Apostles’ work after His departure. While Luke’s purpose was to record the actions of Jesus and the Apostles, the purpose statements for their work were given in Luke 19:10 (along with 5:31) and Acts 1:8 (along with Luke 24:46-47). Acts 4:19-20 displays the attitude of the early church in that they wouldn’t be deterred by any threats in their efforts to take the Word to all. Acts 11:17 shows Peter’s thoughts on the conversion of the Gentiles: “Who was I that I could withstand God?”
Key Words
Again, there are many words that stand out in terms of importance and clarification of the text. Above all, thanks to Joel 2:28, Luke talks about the Spirit extensively throughout both books. Both Christ and the Apostles worked in the power of the Spirit throughout, and so the Holy Spirit is discussed frequently in both volumes. Working in the Spirit, they all performed signs as predicted by Joel 2:28ff. So, this is another word that is key in both books. And, of course, they performed those signs in the Holy Spirit’s power, another key word in both Luke and Acts. Prayer was also central in the lives of Jesus and His disciples in the early church. We can really learn a lot from their example by doing a keyword study of pray or prayer in these two books. Also in keeping with the theme that all can be saved, the term sinner shows up all over Luke.