THE GOSPEL IN LUKE-ACTS
The books of Luke and Acts bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though Luke does not use the noun “gospel” as does Matthew and Mark, he has much to say about it. Luke prefers the verb “to preach good news” and uses this verb to characterize the preaching of John, the preaching of Jesus, and also the continued preaching of the disciples after the resurrection. Luke notes that the good news is of Jewish origin, yet for all the world, and ushers in the long awaited kingdom of God. Luke’s gospel is a gospel of repentance that starts small but grows until it reaches all nations.
The Language of Luke’s Gospel
Luke uses the verb meaning “preach good news” (εὐαγγελίζω) 25 times in Luke/Acts. εὐαγγελίζω is used 10 times in Luke, and 15 times in Acts. Luke uses the noun gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) only twice, and both times in Acts (Acts 15:7, 20:24). Both are in direct discourse, once Peter and once Paul. Luke prefers the verb εὐαγγελίζω. [1]Matthew uses εὐαγγέλιον 4 times, and Mark uses it 8 times. The noun εὐαγγέλιον is the more common word in the N.T. It is used a total of 76 times, and εὐαγγελίζω is used only 54 times. Matthew uses εὐαγγελίζω only once, and Mark never uses the verb. Luke’s emphasis seems to be on the proclamation of the gospel, not just the facts of the gospel.[2]
Gospel for the Jews
Luke is careful to give the name of the angel who announces the births of John and Jesus (Lk. 1:19, 26). Luke is the only gospel writer to name Gabriel. Gabriel is the first messenger of the gospel. Matthew only mentions “an angel of the Lord” that appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that it was okay to take Mary as his wife (Matt. 1:20). Perhaps Luke knew that by naming Gabriel as the messenger, he would be giving the birth of Jesus, and the arrival of the gospel, the same level of importance as the word of the Lord that came to Daniel by the same angel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21).[3] Naming Gabriel as the divine messenger also sets the events surrounding the births of John and of Jesus in the same type of eschatological milieu as that of Daniels visions.[4] Luke not only names Gabriel, but also has other angels announcing the arrival of Jesus (Lk. 2:10). Luke shows the divine origin of gospel and God’s activity among men as in Old Testament (Gen. 16:11, 22:11, 31:11; Ex. 3:2, 14:19, etc.). By doing so, Luke grabs the attention of the people, letting them know that God is working in their midst.
Luke shows that the arrival of the gospel is the fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy. In Luke 4, Jesus stands up in the synagogue to read a scroll of Isaiah. He opens the scroll to Isaiah 61 and reads the first couple of sentences. He then sits down and says to the people, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:21 ESV). Jesus was declaring that the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled right then, in Jesus himself! This is a part of the teaching of Jesus that his disciples pick up on and preach after the resurrection. The gospel was “promised to the fathers” and “fulfilled” in Jesus (13:32,33 ESV). It is precisely this gospel that was spoken of by the prophets (Acts 10:42-43). On the Day of Pentecost Peter asserts that what was happening was “what was uttered through the prophet Joel” (Acts 2: 16 ESV). Again Peter proclaims that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23 ESV). The disciples preaching in Acts shows what Luke wanted to stress from the beginning of his writing in the book of Luke, namely that Jesus and his gospel is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
Jesus declares that the purpose for which he was sent was to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God (Lk. 4:43). As was stated earlier, Luke never uses the noun εὐαγγέλιον (gospel) in the gospel of Luke. He prefers the verb εὐαγγελίζω (preach the gospel), which is the same word used in Isaiah 52:7 in the LXX. Isaiah declares, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (εὐαγγελίζω), who publishes peace, who brings good news (εὐαγγελίζω) of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’ (Is. 52:7 ESV, emphasis added). Just as Isaiah prophesied by the Spirit that there was coming a day when God’s sovereign rule would break into the world in a special way, bringing blessing to his people, so Jesus announces its arrival (Lk. 8:1; 9:2, 60; 16:16). The sovereign rule of God in Christ on behalf of his people is an essential part of the gospel in Luke.[5] The gospel is “good news” because it declares “Your God reigns.” This is the gospel that Jesus preached. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just good news, i.e. good news that the sins of the world are paid for, but good news that God is reigning sovereignty over all creation in Jesus Christ for the sake of his people and for his glory. It is “the gospel of the kingdom.” Even as Gabriel, the great messenger of the Old Testament is announcing the coming of the Christ he proclaims Jesus’ relationship to Israel. Gabriel says to Mary:
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Lk. 1:31-33 ESV).
Jesus reigns on the throne of David, and brings salvation to his people (Lk. 2:30). So, the gospel is for Israel in that it is the good news that the Messiah has come who sits on the throne of David bringing justice and salvation.
The theme of the “gospel of the kingdom” is continued in the book of Acts. Even though, after the resurrection, Jesus has to correct the disciple’s understanding of the kingdom (Acts 1:6-8), nevertheless they preached the kingdom of God. From the earliest preaching of Phillip to the Samaritans in Acts 8 to the discourses of the apostle Paul in Acts 28, the kingdom of God was preached (Acts 5:42; 8:12; 20:25; 28:31).[6]
Gospel for All Peoples
The good news of the kingdom of God is not only for the Jews in Luke’s writing. Luke is careful to point out that from the beginning it was for all peoples. In Luke 2:32 it is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (ESV). In Luke 24:47 the gospel begins at Jerusalem and goes out to all nations. In Acts 11:18 the disciples finally catch on that God has granted the grace of the good news to the Gentiles. The gospel of Jesus Christ is rooted in Jewish history. Jesus was born a Jew. The Father sent Jesus to the Jews as the heir of the throne of the Jewish king David. By sending Jesus God “has helped his servant Israel” (Lk. 1:54 ESV). The arrival of king Jesus meant glory for the people of Israel. But it also meant salvation and mercy and grace and “a light for revelation” for the Gentiles. It is clear in Luke that the gospel, even though a Jewish gospel, is meant for all the world.
Gospel of Repentance
The gospel is also a gospel of repentance. Why is it good news that mankind is hopelessly lost and in need of repentance? Because repentance is the doorway to the kingdom where all the blessings of salvation are to be found and all the horrors of being outside the kingdom are to be avoided (Lk. 13:3-5). If in Luke’s gospel the good news began with the birth of John who would “prepare the way for the Lord,” then the beginning of the gospel proclamation is the preaching of John.[7] John, from the beginning preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk. 3:3 ESV). Jesus came to call . . . sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:32 ESV), and commanded his disciples that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Lk. 24:47 ESV).
In obedience to Christ, Peter proclaims on the Day of Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 ESV). Again Peter declares, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19 ESV). Paul and Barnabas preached to the idol worshippers in the streets of Lystra, “we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God” (Acts 14:15 ESV, emphasis added). Paul preaches to the crowds gathered at Mars Hill that God “commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness . . . ” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV). Why is the gospel of repentance good news? It is good news because it is how sins get “blotted out.” It is good news because the God who commands this is the “living God,” not the dead gods of the pagans. This God can actually do something for humanity. It is good news because it is the means of escaping God’s righteous judgment on the world. The alternative is not good news.
Gospel that Grows
Luke’s gospel is also a gospel that grows. Luke Jesus’ “kingdom parables,” in which he says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, or leaven; both start out small and then grow over time (Lk. 13:18-21). It is in Luke’s first volume that the reader sees the beginnings of the gospel. In Acts Luke shows the growth of the gospel over time. Luke is fond of referring to the gospel as the “word of God” (Lk. 8:11; 11:28; Acts 4:31; 8:14, etc.). In Acts Luke records that “the word of God continued to increase (Acts 6:7 ESV, also Acts 8:4; 12:24; 13:49; 19:20). Luke repeats this refrain over and over again throughout the books of Acts. Indeed, the gospel began small, with just a handful of disciples in Judea. But it could not be contained. No less than a mustard seed dies in the ground but then becomes a great tree so that the birds nest in its branches, or no less than a small batch of yeast rises and gets larger and larger, so also the gospel of the kingdom, the word of the Lord spreads and grows to every region of the earth.[8]
Summary and Application
Luke’s gospel proclamation is a gospel that is not just mere facts that exist out there to be discovered by the scholarly and religious elite. It is a message to be proclaimed. Luke’s use of the verb εὐαγγελίζω rather than the noun εὐαγγέλιον may suggest that the gospel is more than knowledge to be learned and believed, but a gospel to be participated in. It is true that “the gospel” is the facts about Jesus and his death and resurrection, all of which are found in Luke-Acts, but that does not negate the fact that in Luke the gospel is what the church is about and what the church does. Jesus “preached good news.” The disciples “preached good news.” In Luke, this kind of action-oriented gospel is what characterizes the people of God.[9]
Therefore, the gospel must not only be believed in the church but it must also be proclaimed. It is not enough for the Christian church to believe that Jesus is the King of the ages and the only way of salvation, the church must preach that good news to everyone who will listen. The church must be filled with people who will “bring good news” (εὐαγγελίζω) to the nations, not just with people who believe it in their hearts and rejoice in it among themselves. Luke records this fact about the early believers: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4 ESV). This must be a priority for gospel believing churches today. The good news must be preached.
Luke the historian is careful to show the breaking in of the gospel into the world in its proper historical setting.[10] The gospel came first to the Jews, for the Jews, by the Jews (through the Spirit) and about a Jew, namely Jesus of Nazareth. To separate the gospel from its original Jewish setting is detrimental to its force. If the good news is not connected to the historical events surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, then it is no good news at all; it would be just another religious idea. The fact is that the good news came in the context of Jewish life and history. The promises of God to the Christian church and the Old Testament promises of God to Israel are inseparable. Jesus came to fulfill those promises and establish the sovereign rule of God over his people and all the world. Angels in prophetic fashion announced the arrival of the good news of the kingdom.
Today’s gospel proclamation should be no less founded in the historical events of the 1st century. The church must proclaim to the nations that Jesus came to reveal the God of the Jews to the world in the most real, most clear way imaginable. It is a gospel that proclaims the “God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth . . . (Acts 17:24 ESV). The church’s Jesus must not be a Jesus who is not Jewish in every way. Jesus must not be preached as a 5th century Italian man, or a 16th century German, or a 21st century American. That is not to say that Jesus does not relate to all cultures everywhere. But the gospel must be rooted in the concrete historical facts that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah sent by the God of the Old Testament, the God of Israel to save his people and set up the kingdom which was promised to the Jewish king David long ago. A modern day gospel must be as relevant as possible to the current culture as well as ancient as the God of that gospel.
As was stated earlier, Jesus is relevant for all cultures everywhere, regardless of how far removed they may be from 1st century Judaism. Indeed the gospel is for all peoples in that it was never meant to be for the Jews only. God made sure that the gospel did not stay in Jerusalem, but went out to “all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). What this means for the church today is that the gospel must not be held captive by cultural barriers. It is sin to believe the gospel but not take it to the nations. “Gospel hoarding” is especially prevalent in areas where there is much racial tension, like the Southern part of the U.S., as well as other parts of the country and world. To fail to proclaim the gospel to ones neighbors no matter their race or ethnic grouping is to contradict the gospel itself, which is for all the nations.
Luke’s emphasis on repentance is especially in need of being recovered today. Any gospel proclamation that does not include repentance is no gospel proclamation at all. The gospel is “good news, that [people] should turn from these vain things to a living God” (Acts 14:15 ESV). To take away repentance from the gospel of the kingdom of God is to take away the very door through which people are to enter the kingdom of God. This is not being faithful to the gospel. Repentance must be preached. The church must preach that people should repent and then prove their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20). There must be a turning away from sin in the hearts of all who would believe the gospel, or else they have not believed the gospel.[11] The gospel of repentance from sin must not be watered down for the sake of cultural trends or for fear of offending people and turning them away from the church.[12]
Luke’s stressing of the fact that the gospel starts out small and then grows is meant to be an encouragement for the church that preaches it. Just as the church began with only a few disciples and then exploded into a worldwide and world changing enterprise, so also does the gospel grow in one’s heart, or one’s community, or one’s nation. The good news of the kingdom of God will grow and grow until the Lord returns. Just as one might not see at first the growth of the mustard seed or the rising of the leaven, so also one might not be able to visibly see the growth of the gospel either in a person’s heart or in a nation or tribe. But that does not mean it is not growing. As in the days of the apostles as recorded in the book of Acts the word of the Lord will increase in the world and the gospel will grow until all the church is united in Christ in his day.
Conclusion
In the books of Luke and Acts there is a clear message about the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though Luke never calls it that. Luke uses the verb “to preach good news” when talking about the preaching of Jesus and the disciples rather than the noun “gospel.” Luke shows the gospel in its original context in 1st century Palestine and notes that the good news comes from the Jews to the Jews by a Jew, Jesus. Luke shows this by recording the first announcer of the gospel, the angel Gabriel, who also revealed to word of the Lord to Daniel. There is a great connection in Luke-Acts between the New Covenant gospel and the Old Covenant God of Israel. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah who sits on the throne of David, and establishes the long awaited kingdom of God.
Luke’s gospel is also for the Gentiles too, i.e. the rest of humanity other than the Jews. From the beginning Luke says that the good news is for all peoples. The gospel in Luke-Acts is a gospel of repentance that deals with the problem of human sin and makes a way for sinful people to enter the sinless kingdom of God. This gospel for Luke is also a gospel that grows with time. It may start small, like the smallest of all seeds, but it ends up being a worldwide phenomenon. For Luke, it is this growing, Jewish-Gentile gospel of repentance that must be proclaimed in all the world in order for people gain access into the kingdom of God in Christ.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Geldenhuys, Norval. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988
Kistemaker, Simon J. Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990.
Marshall, I. Howard. The Gospel of Luke. NIGTC.. Exeter: The Paternoster Press/Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.
Nolland, John. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 35A. Dallas: Word Books, Publisher, 1989.
Piper, John. God is the Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005.
Polhill, John B. The New American Commentary. Vol. 26 Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992.
Ringe, Sharon H. Luke. Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.
Stein, Robert H. The New American Commentary. Vol. 24. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992.
Walaskay, Paul W. Acts. Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998.
[1] See Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary, Vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 77.
[2] Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 71.
[3] Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary, Vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 77.
[4] John Nalland, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 35A (Dallas: Word Books, Publisher, 1989), 35-36.
[5] See John Piper, God is the Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 27.
[6] See Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary, Vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 78, for a greater discussion of this theme. Also see John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary, Vol. 26 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 545-548.
[7] See Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary, Vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 77.
[8] I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, NIGTC (Exeter: The Paternoster Press/Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 559-560.
[9] Sharon H. Ringe, Luke, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995), 72.
[10] Paul W. Walaskay, Acts, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 10-12.
[11] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990), 901.
[12]Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary, Vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992). Luke 3.3.
