Luke’s
Gospel originates approximately around 80 CE and 90 CE, the same time in which Matthew’s
gospel was written. After The Jewish War of 66-70 CE, Christians spread
throughout the Roman Empire. Luke finds himself writing to these highly
diversified communities that had survived the war and had gone into exile.
Among these groups, Luke addresses a particular group called ‘God-Fearers’ who
followed Jewish beliefs and practices. (Ludwig, 164) Luke, like Matthew,
addresses the Hellenistic Jewish Christian mission to the Gentile world, but is
particularly concerned with Gentile Christians. (Ludwig, 184) Throughout his
gospel, Luke offers numerous passages on discipleship. As with all gospel
writers, the context in which the writer finds himself in shapes his writing
and therefore the meaning he tries to convey. For instance, Mark finds himself
writing after the destruction of the Temple in 60 CE to a community in
distress. Because of this, he stresses the helplessness of disciples to remind
his readers of the hidden glory of God. Mark’s eschatological revelation is
concealed from the disciples. Instead, Luke writes for Hellenistic Christians
spread throughout the Roman Empire who are no longer concerned with the parousia,
or second coming. Luke’s community is not primarily concerned with
eschatological purposes. Because of this, there is a theological shift for
Luke’s community. Instead, Luke’s community is concerned with the semeron (this day or daily affairs). (Plessis,
62) Due to the context in which Luke finds himself and the present condition
his community faces, discipleship is more of a daily commitment, an existential
decision for Luke. (Plessis, 58)
The
structure of Luke’s gospel is also particular. Luke uses three sources to write his gospel. The first,
also found in Matthew’s gospel, is material borrowed from Mark’s gospel. (Ludwig,
183) The second source can be seen when Luke, like Matthew, uses an independent
source of Jesus’ sayings called ‘Q’. In the text Luke also provides his own
independent, and third, source, ‘L’ not found in Mark or Matthew. (Ludwig, 183)
It is essential to point out here that the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the
Apostles are to be considered two volumes of a single literary project.
(Johnson, 187) The author wrote both volumes with the intention of it to be
part of one single message: Salvation History. The outline of Luke’s gospel can
be divided into the following: Prologue (Lk.1: 1-4); Infancy Narratives
(1:5—2:52); Preparation of Jesus’ ministry (3:1—4:13); Jesus’ ministry in
Galilee (4:14—9:50); Journey to Jerusalem (9:51—19:27); Jesus’ ministry in
Jerusalem (19:28—21:38); Passion of Jesus (22:1—23:56); and the Resurrection of
Jesus (23:56b—24:53). (Perkins, 215)
As with any literary analysis of a
text, a term must be seen through the lens of a major theme or motif. For
instance, Luke’s gospel has Jerusalem as one theme. This theme serves as a
geographical structure for the entire gospel. The center of the story is the
city of Jerusalem, the infancy narratives lead to the presentation of Jesus at
the temple (2:22); the climax of the temptation narrative is reached at
Jerusalem (4:9); the transfiguration and end of the Galilean ministry prepare
Jesus to go to Jerusalem, and even the resurrection appearances take place in
the environs of Jerusalem. (Johnson, 194) Naturally, this theme affects how
Luke perceives discipleship. As an example, Jesus’ sayings on discipleship in Luke
9:23-27; 9:57-62; 14:25-35 (under consideration later) are substantially shaped
by this theme. We now turn to these
passages.
The
Meaning of Discipleship in the Text
Luke
9:23-27; 9:57-62; 14:25-35
Luke touches on the theme of
discipleship explicitly in Luke: 9:23-27; 9:57-62; 14:25-35. From these three passages
it is clear Luke intends to communicate the hardship of discipleship. In all
three passages Luke highlights nuances in the conditions and demands for
discipleship not found in the other synoptic gospels, indicating the emphasis
he places in the difficulty of the demands of this world. In the following
section these passages will be
carefully studied to further develop the notion of discipleship in Luke’s
gospel—and how it can be considered radical.
Luke
9:23-27 is the first passage in his gospel to address the conditions of
discipleship. The pericope is borrowed from Mark and it also appears in
Matthew. In Luke’s version however, there is an addition in v23 not found in
Mark or Matthew: ‘daily.’ This first
pericope that outlines the radical dedication to follow Jesus to the point of
‘denying oneself’ is shaped by Luke’s meaning of discipleship, a daily and existential commitment. (Plessis, 58) The stipulation clarifies
that Jesus is not referring to how one is ‘born-again’ or justified before God
(as it is with some Pauline-theology) but instead, discipleship requires one to
‘deny oneself’ and to ‘take up his cross’ in a commitment one undergoes daily.
(Tanker, 48) This understanding of discipleship as a daily-commitment is echoed
in Acts, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
(Acts 14:22)
The
word ‘deny’ in v23 asserts Luke’s
radical notion of discipleship. The Hebrew (άπαρνέομαι) can be interpreted in
two ways: first as ‘to refuse to recognize or to acknowledge someone’ and
second, as ‘to act in a wholly selfless manner.’ (Tanker, 48) The word first
used in Mark, and then copied in Matthew and Luke, is used to express the
latter. In the passage, deny oneself becomes a way-of-being, it is a demand to
place God’s will first, and one’s own second. For Luke, a disciple is someone
who constantly (daily) is seeking to
place God’s will as his or her priority, above one’s own.
The
verse continues to provide the most radical condition of discipleship in the words
that follow, ‘take up your cross and follow me,’(v23) which imply a commitment
not only to deny one’s will daily, but to do so willing to face even death. This
verse found in Mark and Matthew is deliberately placed in all synoptic gospels
for the same purpose. The writers are speaking to a group of early Christians
and, or, Jews, that had a clear notion and understanding of a death by cross.
By placing these words in Jesus’ mouth and equating it to a condition of
discipleship, the authors are conveying the message of suffering, and even
death, as a result of being a disciple. Luke intentionally places this pericope
in the journey narrative. (Luke 9:51—19:44) Jesus gives these requirements for
discipleship on his journey to Jerusalem with his own death in mind. While the disciples are clueless on the
literal meaning of this command, (although Jesus reminds them several times in
Lk. 9:51; 13:22; 17:11; 19:11, 28) the community Luke addresses is very mindful
of the meaning of Jesus’ words. Luke Johnson sums up the intentionality of
Luke, ‘this travel motif gives the entire section a dynamic quality and renders
more dramatic the calls to discipleship.’ (Johnson, 204) In other words, Jesus
invites his disciples to be willing to model what he is about to do, to die on
a cross as a means to be a disciple.
The
second pericope under consideration is found in Luke 9:57-62. This pericope
outlines three conditions to become a ‘follower’
or disciple of Jesus. In Luke 9:23-27 Jesus address his disciples in monologue
but in 9:57-62 we find a dialogue between Jesus and three followers-to-be. In
the dialogue Jesus harshly rejects the three followers-to-be for different
reasons. The afore-mentioned passage serves to reinforce Luke’s radical notion
of discipleship yet again.
Also
found in Matthew 8:20, as in Luke 9:57-62, the first
follower-to-be precipitately announces his wish to follow Jesus, to which Jesus
replies with an extreme call to renouncement of security and well-being as a
fundamental requirement of discipleship. In other words, the first condition is
the willingness to let go of security as the price of discipleship. (v58) (Plessis,
63) This verse speaks of detachment; to follow Jesus means to not only to
embrace the hardship of discipleship, but to renounce our own false sense of
security. Then, Jesus invites the next follower-to-be who accepts but places a
provision: He needs to bury his father first. Jesus rejects this provision severely
by saying ‘let the dead bury their dead, but you go proclaim the Kingdom of
God.’ (v60) It was part of Jewish custom to bury the dead, a sign of piety and
responsibility. To neglect the dead was an exceptional disgrace at the time.
Therefore Jesus’ response was a strong threat to Jewish sentiments. (Hays, 50)
This second condition demands both the sacrifice of cultural demands to be a
disciple of Jesus, and the willingness to face opposition for it. (Plessis, 63)
But the third and last demand is perhaps the most challenging of all three. The
third condition found in v63 speaks of a man who declares his wish to become a
disciple but then quickly finds a priority over the call—a simple goodbye to
his loved ones. Jesus again rejects any excuse, for loved ones come second when one is committed to being
a disciple. (Plessis, 63) For Luke’s understanding of discipleship, this is not
an excuse. This last verse (v62) also highlights the supremacy of Jesus over
Elijah. The verse is reference to a passage found in Elijah 19:20—where Elijah
allows his disciple Elisha to kiss his parents goodbye, whereas Jesus sets
harder conditions and a more radical degree of commitment for his disciples.
(Hays, 53)
Luke
continues to develop his radical understanding of discipleship in Luke 14:
25-35. The opening of the passages tells us that Jesus addresses a large crowd
and delivers a devastating one-liner. In v26 Jesus claims that a measure of
discipleship is to hate family
members and even one’s own life. The verse is also found in Matthew 10:47 with
nuances in Luke. Perhaps the major difference being that Luke uses hate whereas Matthew expresses it as ‘if
you love (them) more than me’ you are not worthy to be a disciple. Another
difference is that in Matthew’s version, the condition is given only to the
twelve (Matthew 10:1-42), whereas Luke addresses a ‘large crowd’ (v25) that was
following him. The passage in Luke is placed strategically after Jesus
announces several times his passion and death (Luke 9: 22, 44) serving again as
a demand on discipleship. Luke’s notion of discipleship is radical not because
it uses hate to delineate the
intricacies of an unbearable demand, but because it maximizes the choice on the
commitment and allegiance that being a disciple requires. Matthew’s version ‘love
more than me’ softens the radical commitment to follow Jesus. While Luke’s word
choice of hate dramatically indicates
that the decision to follow Jesus places everything at opposition. It is
necessary here to explain that Jesus does not intend for his disciples to hate
loved-ones, but uses the word to emphasize two things: the choice, and its
priority. Brisson states, ‘Hate may be understood, then, as the
call "to choose between" or "to have one's life prioritized
accordingly to" that which must be privileged above all other
things.’(Brisson, 312) He explains further, “Much of the term is used in the
Wisdom tradition, when choosing the "fear" of God necessarily
requires its antithesis, the "hatred" of evil, not as a destructive
response to evil but as a refusal to offer to evil one's allegiance. (312)
Luke’s
Concern for the Poor
There is a clear theme on the concern for the poor in Luke’s gospel. (Luke 4:18; 6:20-23; 7:36-50; 14:12-14; 15:1-32; 16:19-31; 18:9-14; 19:1-10; 21:1-4) And by the same token condemning those who place their material wealth above God. (Luke 6:24-26; 12:13-21; 16:13-15; 19-31; 18:9-14; 15-25) The calling of disciples includes a verse that Luke uses repeatedly: ‘leave everything.’ Luke’s account to call Peter, John and James as a disciple ends with, ‘so they pulled up their boats to the shore, left everything and followed him.’ (Luke 5, 11) Levi ‘left everything’ (5:28) and rose and followed him. These passages highlight this requirement of discipleship. In Luke 9:23-27, Jesus once again assigns possessions as a detriment to discipleship. In v24 He uses the word profit to associate it with wealth and money. Then, He compares the gaining of wealth to a man who would ‘lose or forfeit himself’ in the world. In the followers-to-be pericope, the first condition is associated with the renouncement of security, and therefore possessions. (Luke 9: 58) Similarly Luke 13:25-35 ends with ‘every one of you
who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.’(v33) Luke places parables after the sayings on discipleship, implying that these are for all disciples to hear. Among them he places Luke 16:9-13, tying wealth with dishonesty and the final premonition in (v13); ‘You cannot serve God and money. But perhaps, the most straightforward tie of the condition to denounce possession to discipleship is found in Luke 18:23, where Jesus meets a wealthy man and invites him to follow him. The condition is simple, ‘sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor.’ (v22).
Not
only is leaving everything, leaving all, or renouncing all possessions
condition of discipleship but it is also the nature of the mission. In Luke
9:1-6, Jesus sends the Twelve in mission, and in v3 he sets a condition for the
work, ‘take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food,
or money.’ Again, emphasizing the renouncement of possessions, even daily
needs! This pericope is mirrored in the sending of the seventy-two in chapter
10. In Luke 10:1-12 Jesus commissions seventy two disciples to go proclaim the
Kingdom of God. Yet again, the condition is to ‘carry no money bag, no sack, no
sandals.’ (v4)
The
disciple and the disciple’s work
require a renouncement of possessions. And for Luke the Kingdom of God
itself is for those who are poor. (Luke
6:20) In this verse, Luke departs from Matthew’s ‘poor in spirit,’ (Matthew
5:1) to simple ‘blessed be the poor.’(v20)
It is essential here to clarify that Luke’s Greek has two words for
poor: πενής and πτωχός. The former Greek term included the masses who were
involved in subsistence living as small peasants, tenant farmers, craftsmen, small traders, and
day laborers. The latter Greek term is used to describe the destitute and
beggars. Luke always uses the latter as a condition of discipleship, the nature
of the mission, and for those who will inherit the Kingdom. (Kraybill,
232)
For
Luke, being a disciple is not an easy thing to do, far from it. It is a radical
lifestyle. Luke’s attention to discipleship is centered on the commitment that
requires you to renounce everything and the existential decision it takes to be
able to make this choice daily. The choice is such that it antagonizes loved
ones, comfort and security, cultural norms, and even one’s own life. The
commitment is such that it embraces persecution and death. Luke’s understanding
of discipleship also includes a total dependency on God. An attachment to any other
sort of security measure is a threat to this relationship. Hence, Luke places
wealth and possessions at an opposition not only to being a disciple, but also
as an opposition to the Kingdom itself.
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