Presenting the Truth About Jesus and the Apostles by the Author of the Gospel of Luke - Essay Example

? The extent to which the of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles was successful in presenting the truth about Jesus and the apostles. Name Professor Date If there are two books in the Holy Bible that best presented the Truth about Jesus and the Apostles, it would be the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. These two Books from the Holy Bible introduced the coming of Jesus Christ, the Truths He manifested as a Son of God, His Apostles and the subsequent establishment of His Church beginning with the Apostle Peter. These accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostle was indeed successful in presenting the Truth about Jesus that He is the Son of God and the Savior and that the Apostles were His chosen ones to continue His work. The Gospel of Luke's success in presenting the Truth about Jesus divinity first begun with the anunciation of Jesus birth. In particular, Luke foretold the coming of Jesus as a Messiah and His Immaculate Concepcion through the Angel Gabriel which can be found in Luke 1:30-31 that says the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Also in the same gospel, Jesus lineage was revealed that traces back to the first man Adam, to the Kings David to Abraham attesting that He came directly from the line of David through this passage in the Bible And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in  the city of David  a Savior, who is  Christ  the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby  wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-13).   Jesus Christ birth was also celebrated by the angels where they even came to visit attesting Jesus Christ status as a Son of God with this passage in Luke 2:14-16  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. Jesus acts as Son of God and His Truths were also manifested in the Gospel of Luke whereby He performed many miracles that includes healing paralyzed men (5:18-25, 6:6-10) to raising the dead (7:11-15; 8:41-42, 49-56) which contributed to the Gospel of Luke's success in presenting of Jesus Christ's Truths. Finally, the Truth that Jesus was indeed the Son of God was evidenced with His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name. Luke 24:46-. Without Jesus resurrection and ascension, Jesus would not have been elevated as a God but rather a man who may be godly but nevertheless mortal. There are also passages in the Gospel of Luke that directly ascribed Jesus Christ as the Son of God particularly in Luke 3:22 where it unequivocally addressed Jesus as Son of God saying "and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven,  “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus Christ purpose was also stated in the Gospel of Luke For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). To validate this further, Jesus Christ addressed God as Father in Luke 23:46 when he was crucified and His mortal soul about to die only to resurrect and ascend into Heaven. This account made itt unmistakable that indeed Jesus Christ is a Son of God with the words "then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I  commit my spirit!”. And as if this is not enough to substantiate that Jesus Christ is indeed the Truth, Luke 24:46 further narrated "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead" predicting that Jesus Christ will rise from the dead which He did making Jesus Christ as an unassailable Truth being indeed the Son of God. The Acts of Apostle on the other hand continued the narrative of the Gospel of Luke because the two books being written by the same author who was believed to be St. Luke. In this Book, the establishment and rise of the Church of Jesus Christ was narrated and is considered as an account of the early history of the Church of Christ. More than an account of the Church's formation and early history however, The Acts of the Apostles validated the Truths of Jesus as the Savior and Messiah as evidence with the growth of the Church with the inauguration of the gentiles mission led by Peter that Jesus will be living in the Church. The Apostles may not have performed divine miracle such as raising people from the dead or resurrecting themselves from the dead but the accounts in the Acts of Apostles manifest that they are personally ordained by God to continue the works of Jesus Christ. There were several accounts to this. First is the rare privilege to personally witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ which cements their role as the bearer of Truth about Jesus Christ. This was evident in Acts 1:33-37 which said “with great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all". Second, the attestation that the Apostles were indeed blessed by God that their house and wherever they may congregate is watched by God evident with this passage "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting"(Acts of the Apostles, 2:2). In sum, the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostle served as the basis of Jesus Christ's divinity and provided the validity of His teachings as Truths that lived on even after his ascension (he rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven) to Heaven. Through these books, Jesus Christ divinity is supported by the circumstances of His birth where it was preordained to come from the line of Kings beginning from Adam to David and announced by the Angel Gabriel (The Anunciation). He lived on the perform miracles such as raising people from the dead to evidence that His claim to be the Son of God is Truth. His Truth was tested and He was persecuted and was eventually crucified. He died only to be resurrected and later ascended to Heaven (The Ascension). This account is very important because without resurrection and ascencion in the Gospel of Luke, the claim of Jesus Christ that he is the Messiah and Savior will not be held as Truth. But then again, even if Jesus Christ divinity is established as Truth, the Truth that he proclaimed would be pointless if none accepted it. Thus in the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus Christ continued to live on where His teachings are indeed the Truth. From being unknown and persecuted, Christianity spread like wildfire and became one of the most dominant if not the most dominant religion until today as foretold successfully by the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. References New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2013. BibleGateway.com.  Web. 21 July 2013. "LUKE CHAPTER 1." KING JAMES BIBLE ONLINE - OFFICIAL KING JAMES VERSION (KJV) OF THE BIBLE. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2013. . Read More