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LUKE - ACTS
THE EXALTED LORD AND THE
EMPOWERED CHURCH
For the ministry of Jesus and his church the resurrection was a major
event. It is the eschatological event upon which the their ministries
pivot. The teaching of Jesus anticipated it - the preaching of the
early church included it as a vital truth. The resurrection was part of
the apostolic kerygma (see 1
Cor.15:14). The one who said, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to
save what was lost" (Lk.19:10), [1] is the same person who sent his
disciples into the world with the directive: "But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses"
(Acts 1:8). The resurrection and ascension form a bridge in more ways
than one between Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. [2]
1. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
The greatest miracle in the four Gospels is the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The Lord's resurrection compares with the raisings he
had performed: Jairus's daughter and the widow of Nain's son were
restored to their former life only to die later. Christ was raised, as
the writer to the Hebrews says, to an indestructible life (Heb.7:16).
The miraculous resurrection
To the person of faith, who believes in the creation ex nihilo,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not hard to believe. The two events
make miracles philosophically credible and theologically meaningful.
[3] Vice versa, belief in the miracles should lead to faith in the
resurrection. A literal, physical resurrection is represented by Luke.
[4] At the onset of his two-volume work the Evangelist sets out to give
historical credence to the Christian gospel - and centrality to the
Person who died and rose again. Without a risen Lord, the church in
Acts has no reason to exist - and no message. [5]
The defeat of Satan
J.Kallas, as we have noted, sees Jesus attacking Satan and his
authority - in Jesus, the kingdom of God comes against the kingdom of
darkness. Through his miraculous ministry Jesus sets people at liberty
from the shackles of the devil. The resurrection is viewed as a final
miraculous event which is a death-thrust to Satan:
The climax of this destruction of Satan's rule is... the cross
and the resurrection, but already during his ministry, Jesus makes an
organic tie between his cross and his miracles of exorcism and healing.
In Lk.13:31-32 Jesus says to inform Herod: "Go and tell that fox,
behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the
third day I finish my course". The allusion to the third day is
unmistakable - it is to the resurrection. In other words, for Jesus
there is a definite tie between his acts of healing and his
resurrection. They are both windows opening on to the same central
truth. In his battle with Satan, begun in cures and exorcisms, the
climax shall come on the cross, and in the empty tomb. [6]
2. THE ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST
But further, the ascension is an important event to Luke as a
theologian – and a significant motif which links his two works
together. [7] The ascension of Jesus is narrated at the close of the
Gospel (Lk.24:50-53), and again in the opening of Acts (1:9-11). [8] By
this means, as C.K.Barrett notes, Luke seeks to bridge two periods of
history, [9] and to explain the relationship of the "Jesus of history"
to the church. [10] It is the resurrected Jesus who commissions his
church; it is the ascended and glorified Lord who empowers his church
with the Holy Spirit. As R.Maddox indicates:
The ascension is the major bridge from volume one to volume
two: it is the necessary climax of the one and starting point of the
other... The ascension of Jesus is far more important to Luke that to
any other New Testament writer. To put the matter in terms of
theological doctrines, the ascension is for Luke the point of
intersection of Christology, eschatology and ecclesiology. [11]
3. THE COMMISSION OF THE CHURCH
The Lucan equivalent of the passages containing the Great
Commission located in Mt.28:16-20 and Mk.16:14-20 is found in
Lk.24:36-53 and Acts 1:4-11, where the resurrected Lord commissions his
church to witness to "all nations" (Lk.24:47; cf. Acts 1:8). [12]
The mission of the disciples in
Luke 9 and 10
The worldwide mission of the church is prefigured in the mission of the
Twelve and Seventy (or Seventy-two) in Luke chapters nine and ten. The
two missions spearheaded by Jesus represent outreaches to Jews and
Gentiles. [13] At that time Jesus told his disciples to proclaim the
kingdom of God, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and
cleanse the lepers (Lk.9:1-10; 10:1-21).
The Lucan world commission may be seen to contain Matthew's stress on
teaching, and the Marcan emphasis on sēmeia
in that the word dunamis
intimates a miraculous ministry. However, to Luke Jesus himself was to
be the central message of the church (Acts 1:8), and the main aim of
mission was to bring people into the kingdom, as the story of the
miraculous catch of fish teaches (Lk.5:1-11). [14]
R.Maddox supports the importance of the resurrection and ascension to
the Lucan purpose when he says that the chief destiny of the earthly
Jesus is to ascend to the right hand of the Father (Lk.9:51; 22:69),
the ascension being a preparation for the promise of the parousia of
the Son of Man (Lk.21:27; cf. Dan.7:13). It is the ascended Jesus who
gives the Holy Spirit to his disciples (Acts 2:33), and through the
Spirit encourages and guides the church (e.g., Acts 4:29-31; 7:55f.;
13:21; 16:6f.). [15] Likewise, in his detailed article entitled
"Activity of the Risen Jesus in Luke-Acts", R.F.O'Toole says:
That the risen Jesus acts among Christians is an essential
feature of Luke's portrayal of him. Luke can write of Jesus as the
risen Lord who is present in his church and in his word. In both books
Luke predicates repeated activity of the risen Jesus in a number of
areas: the Eucharist (Lk.24:31,35), the Holy Spirit (Lk.24:49; Acts
1:2,8; 2:33,38; 16:6-7), in the preaching of his witnesses (Acts
3:22-23; 18:5-11; 26:23), in his name (Acts 2:21,38; 3:6,16; 4:12;
10:43; 16:18), salvation in the present (Acts 4:12), which embraces
repentance, forgiveness of sins, grace, and resurrection, visions (Acts
7:55-56; 22:17-21), and, finally, signs and wonders (Acts 4:29-30). [16]
4. IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
The day of Pentecost is preceded by Jesus' post-resurrection
ministry, during which time the Lord gave his apostles special
instructions "through the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:1-11). The command to
wait for the Father's promise, the Holy Spirit, forms another link with
the end of the Gospel and the prologue to the Acts (1:45; Lk.24:49).
The day of Pentecost (2:1-41)
Some 120 disciples, including the apostles, are pictured by Luke
waiting in prayer for "the promise of the Father" in an upper room in
Jerusalem in obedience to the command of Jesus (Acts 1:13,14; 2:1). The
communal experience of the Holy Spirit is portrayed in supernatural
terms (2:24). The fireball, which extended into 120 tongues of flame
and lightened on the heads of the praying disciples, compares with the
"form of a dove" which rested upon Jesus, who was also praying at the
time of his Spirit-baptism (Acts 2:3; cf. 3:21,22). [17] The
manifestation of the glossolalia
(Gk. glōssolalia,
speaking in different languages) assembled a crowd and gave Peter, as a
representative of the apostles, the opportunity to preach the good news
with power and success (2:14-41). [18]
The power of Pentecost
The meaning of the day of Pentecost must be found in the context of
Acts 2, and of Acts 1:8 (cf. Lk.24:49), which may well intimate the
outline of the whole book. Acts 1:8 is worth writing out in full:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Jesus promised his church the ability to carry on his work in the world
through the presence and power of the Spirit. The same Spirit who
empowered Jesus as the Christ would empower his church. [19]
Peter is pictured applying the oracle of Joel, which speaks of signs
both in the sky and on earth in the "last days", as being fulfilled on
the day of Pentecost. The terms "wonders" and "signs" are used in Acts
for the miracles performed by the apostles in the course of their
mission (Acts 2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:3; 15:12). M.Goulder comments:
"Paul mentions that healings and miracles took place in the church and
he attributes this to the church's being the body of Christ (1
Cor.12:27f.), that is, an extension of Jesus' work in his lifetime".
[20]
Luke may be comparing the church's baptism with the Spirit with the
anointing of Jesus at his baptism. As Jesus commenced his public
ministry after his anointing, so the church would continue the Lord's
mission once the disciples were filled with the Spirit. The command to
the disciples was: "Stay in the city until you have been clothed with
power from on high" (Lk.24:49).
5. THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS
Luke is conscious of the Lordship of Jesus. This is evident by
his early use of kurios (Lk.7:13). He now sees the young church made
aware of the risen Lord by the resurrection (Lk.24:34) and by the
experience of the Spirit. Peter announces, "God has made this Jesus
whom you crucified both Lord and Christ" (2:36). C.K.Barrett observes:
The church now, in this world, lives under the rule of Jesus
Christ the Lord, who works through the Spirit. It seems better to
express the matter in this way than in terms of the Spirit only, for
not only is the Lord said to have poured forth the Spirit (Acts 2:33),
he is himself directly operative in the work of his people. [21]
Notice the reference of Psa.110:1 and its application to Jesus in Acts
2:32-35. Jesus applied this scripture to himself (Mt.22:41-45;
Mk.12:35-40; Lk.20:41-44). [22]
6. THE SPIRIT'S ACTIVITY IN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
After Pentecost the presence and power of the Spirit
characterised the life of the early Christian community. As J.D.G.Dunn
says:
It is quite clear that Luke intends us to see the early
community as living in an atmosphere of the miraculous. The terata and sēmeia
("wonders and signs") prophesied by Joel (Acts 2:19) characterise the
life of the Jerusalem community and the subsequent missionary outreach
(2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:3; 15:12; sēmeia
- 4:16,22; 8:6; sēmeia kai dunameis
- 8:13). [23]
The relationship of the Spirit
with believers
Luke sees the New Covenant as being actualised by the Spirit, in that
the Spirit relates to individual believers as well as to the community
as a whole. [24] The Spirit baptises (Acts 1:5; 11:15,16), empowers for
witness (1:8; 4:31; 5:32; 9:11-20); [25] governs (13:2-4), led in
mission (8:26-30; 10:19; 11:19; 16:7; 20:23; 21:4,11) and inspired
(11:28; 21:4). The Spirit promotes the person and work of Christ.
The Spirit and the Scriptures
Luke sees Scripture as important to the life of the church. As
Scripture is seen defining the ministry of Jesus (Lk.4:18f.) so it
defines the ministry of the church (Acts 2:17ff.). Further to this, the
Spirit is seen speaking by the Scriptures (Acts 1:16; 28:25) as well as
by the charismatic gifts of the Spirit (Acts 13:2; 21:11).
The preached word is of great importance, for "the prime agency by
which the Spirit extends the sovereignty of Christ is the Word of God".
[26] The apostles and preachers preached or proclaimed (euangelizesthai) the word (4:33;
6:2-4; 8:4; 11:19). [27]
The Spirit and the charismata
The charismata, or gifts of the Spirit, which are named in 1
Cor.12:8-10 (cf. Rom.12:6f.) feature in the life and ministry of the
church, which is truly a charismatic community. [28]
The direction of the Spirit
Major innovations are prompted by the Spirit in the Acts. Philip,
guided by an angel to witness to a court official, was then transported
by the Spirit to embark on an itinerant ministry (Acts 8:26-40). The
slowness of the church at Jerusalem to launch a Gentile mission
underscores the Spirit's work. The repeated vision and the prompting of
the Spirit encouraged Peter to preach to the household of Cornelius
(Acts 10). M.A.Seifrid refers to Acts 10 as the "centrepiece" of Luke's
defence of the Gentile mission. He argues for the prominence of the
Spirit in the story, and shows how Peter is given a subordinate role to
the Spirit. [29] The commencement of Paul's Gentile mission bears the
hallmark of the Spirit of God (13:1-4).
The guidance of the Spirit
The involvement of the Spirit in mission in terms of direction and
power is further illustrated by the ministry of Paul. The story of the
Macedonian vision is well known, in which the apostle was "kept by the
Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia", and was
forbidden by "the Spirit of Jesus" to enter Bithynia (16:6-10). [30]
The formulation of Acts 19:21 is of interest, where the Greek word dei (must) of divine direction in
mission reflects that of Jesus in the
Gospel (23:11; 27:24; cf. Lk.4:43; Jn.4:4).
The Pentecostal and charismatic
interpretation of Acts 1:8
Classical Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals generally associate the
baptism of the Spirit with mission. Acts 1:8 is taken to be a key
verse, which, it is believed, plainly states this. Against this
awareness we need to be aware of the controversy reflected in the
writings of J.D.G.Dunn, R.Menzies, D.Petts, R.Stronstad and M.Turner.
Note these textbooks that are especially applicable to
Pentecostal-Charismatic studies:
Barrett, C.K., The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition, revised,
London, SPCK, 1966.
Dollar, H., St.Luke's Missiology: A Cross-cultural Challenge,
Pasadena, William Carey, 1996.
Dunn, J.D.G., Baptism in the Holy Spirit, London, SCM, 1970.
Dunn, J.D.G., Jesus and the Spirit, London, SCM, 1975.
Dunn, J.D.G., The Christ and the Spirit, Edinburgh, T.&
T.Clark, 1998.
Fee, G.D., God's empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the
Letters of Paul, Peabody, Hendrickson, 1994.
Menzies, R.P., Empowered for Witness: The Spirit in Luke -
Acts, Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.
Petts, D., The Holy Spirit - An Introduction, Mattersey,
Mattersey Hall, 1998.
Stronstad, R., The Charismatic Theology of St.Luke, Peabody,
Hendrickson, 1984.
Turner, M., The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts - Then and
Now, Carlisle, Paternoster, 1996.
Turner, M., Power from on High: The Spirit in Israel's
Restoration and Witness in Luke-Acts, Sheffield, Sheffield University
Press, 1996.
These notes do not consider the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in any
detail. Subjects such as this are often studied in theological colleges
under the heading of Pneumatology.
7. QUESTIONS
1. Can you account for the presence and power of the Holy
Spirit in the life and ministry of the Jerusalem church in the Acts?
2. Is it doctrinally correct to state that the baptism with
the Holy Spirit is to enable the church to witness for the Lord and the
gospel? Remember Acts 1:8 in your discussion.
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