Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, September 6, 2013 Some concluding remarks about the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts There are a few other things that we have noticed as we have listened to Luke – the centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple to the story (Luke moves the resurrection appearances and the ascension to Jerusalem from Galilee); the authenticating role of the 12 Apostles; the understanding that Jesus’ death should be viewed more as a travesty of justice than a sacrificial death since Jesus dies as an innocent man (Jesus dies as the righteous one); the way in which Luke has written the story of Stephen’s death and Paul’s journey to Jerusalem and Rome as parallel stories to the journey and death of Jesus; among others. One last thing that we need to recognize is that Luke has written a story in which the Holy Spirit is clearly the main actor. Though Luke likely never conceived of the Trinity in the way the church would later define the godhead, Luke does lean toward that understanding. Jesus is viewed by Luke as being at the right hand of God. God’s presence in the world is enacted through the Holy Spirit. The Father of Jesus is also viewed by Luke to be in the place of power where Jesus has ascended. Luke is well on the way to the Trinitarian formula of the church. Because tradition has believed that the author of Luke and Acts was the Gentile physician, Luke of Troas, the books of Luke and Acts have often been thought to be written by a Gentile for a Gentile audience. As it turns out under closer observation these two books may be more “Jewish” than any others. Luke is certainly at least sympathetic to “Jews, zealous for the law” and may well have been one of them. This may be a case where tradition can lead us astray. Luke must remain an “unknown” author. While we can’t give this author a name we can marvel in the skill of his writing and the genius of his work. Thanks be to God for Luke!