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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model

Luke’s Missionary Model: The Great Commission According to

the Gospel of Luke

Tesfaye Endale Chenchelo

Biblical and Historical Perspectives (MS501)

International Leadership University- Ethiopia

January 20/2023
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
Abstract

This essay aims to provide a deeper exploration of Luke’s missionary model and Great

Commission theology. To carry out the survey, mainly the books of Luke and similar studies

from this study were used as data sources. The results of the essay show that Luke’s missionary

model and Great Commission theology is an exemplary for the contemporary church to ensure

universal evangelism, all-inclusive mission, Holy Spirit-led evangelicalism, cross-cultural

mission, and a competent apostolic movement of the time.

Keywords: Luke’s Theology, Luke’s Mission, Church, Holy Spirit

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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model

Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4

Critical Review on Luke’s Missionary Model and The Great Commission.................................................4

The Mission of Universalism...................................................................................................................4

The Mission of Ethnology.......................................................................................................................5

Missional Pneumonology........................................................................................................................7

Luke’s Great Commission.......................................................................................................................9

Calling and Commissioning the Twelve................................................................................................11

God’s Kingdom and the Church Mission..............................................................................................13

Discussion and Conclusion........................................................................................................................14

Reference...................................................................................................................................................16
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model

Introduction

Luke’s theological perspective continues to receive much attention today. A deep

understanding of Luke’s mission theology will be useful, especially in this age where diversity

and pluralism in various areas becoming challenging and the world needs the Holy Spirit to work

in power and authority. In his books, Luke gives an orderly account of the life and ministry of

Jesus and how the apostles spread the gospel of the kingdom from Jerusalem to all the nations of

the world. This is meticulously about him and his gospel. Luke presents Jesus as a Savior and

Lord who fulfills God’s plan by bringing salvation to those in need. As you travel through

Luke’s story, you will notice the idea of salvation and how God brings His plan to fruition. The

recipients of God’s grace are not proud and educated, but outcasts of society.

Missionary approach in the past years in Western mission, Mathew 28:16018 has been used as

the main biblical basis for mission. However, Luke’s mission and Great Commission model has

recently been gaining attention among evangelical mission theology scholars in the West and

developing countries (Oberman, 1983; Bosch, 2011). This essay will take a closer look at Luke’s

missionary model and Great Commission. 

Critical Review on Luke’s Missionary Model and The Great Commission

This section is presented as in depth-survey of selected topics based on the two books of

Luke and based on previous studies of Luke’s missionary model and Great Commission

theology.
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
The Mission of Universalism

Luke’s universal mission has shown a difference from the modality. In particular, he

carefully and sequentially explained the geographical movement, all-inclusive, and the tried and

tested cross-cultural mission movement.  In Acts 1:8, he made the geographical movement of the

mission clear when he said, “You will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria

and to the ends of the earth”. This universal missionary was seen by the early apostles as a

missionary movement that was always flowing from Jerusalem to the rest of the world. The

evidence for this is the assembly held in Jerusalem to settle the objection raised by Peter against

Paul’s teaching, as reported by Luke in Act 15. Maybe there are two reasons why Luke describes

the geographic missionary movement. One is because the disciples were instructed to stay in

Jerusalem until they received power as recorded in Luke 24:49, and the other is because the

disciples were not only the first believers of Jesus but were appointed by Jesus as missionaries. 

Meanwhile, Luke did not see Jerusalem as a sacrament place as in the Old Testament. In

supporting this, Muthuraj (1997, pp. 58) said that, “by 'universalism', Luke does not mean that

'particularism' of one group, namely the apostles, is to carry out the mission all by themselves to

the ends of the earth”. Besides, Tan (2015), a well-known lecturer at the Singapore Graduate

School of Theology, cited the internal evidence of Luke’s global message of salivation.

According to him, Luke described the situation of the birth of Jesus as great news and joy for all

the people, the genealogy of Jesus was recorded from Adam, which showed that Jesus was sent

not only to the Jews but to all the people of the world.  And he explained the importance of

Jesus’s salvation to the poor and the rich, to men and women, to the afflicted and circumcised,

Jews and Gentiles, etc. equality. He asserted that the recipients of God’s grace would not be

proud and educated, but would be outcasts in society.  

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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
The Mission of Ethnology

Ethnology started in the eighteenth century that coined as a derivation of the Greek word

‘ethnos,’ meaning ‘a people,’ the term ‘ethnology’ in its most general meaning indicates a

scholarly interest in how aggregations of human beings are distinct from each other in terms of

material culture, language, religion, moral ideas, or social institutions (Welz, 2001). In another

word, ethnology is the description, interpretation, and analysis of similarities and differences in

human culture. 

There are much different internal and external evidences that Luke wanted to highlight to

his audience that diversity of identity, culture, language, living status, and other things that can

exist in different societies with the importance of the mission. He, in Luke 4:17-19, shows that

Jesus’s missionary targets include the marginalized, the oppressed, the enslaved, the blind and

the unenlightened, and also the brokenhearted.  Indeed, we can understand that the missionary is

responsible for evangelism and ensuring social justice (Kgathey, 2019). Luke clearly writes that

God does not divide people based on their ethnology; instead, He entails a union based on their

willingness to serve God, regardless of ethnology. The best evidence for this is the words of

Jesus recorded in Luke 4:25-34.  Although there were many widows in the time of the prophet

Elijah, Elijah did not go to any of them. Rather he left and went to a widow who lived in the

country of Sidon. During the time of Prophet Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel, but none

of them was free except Nemar the Syrian. According to Jesus, the relationship between Jews

and Gentiles with God depends on whether they are subject to God’s will, not whether they are

Jews or Gentiles. Another point is the story mentioned in Acts 2. Luke seems to have purposely

related the descent of the Holy Spirit to the Jews' day of Pentecost, gathering people from

different languages and cultures around the world. According to Luke 4:49, the apostles were
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem that day when the Holy Spirit came upon

them. And the people were listening to them in different languages. When Peter raised his voice

and preached the gospel among them, many repented and believed in Jesus. And they received

the Holy Spirit. What does this teach? Luke clearly indicated that salvation is not determined by

the language and other aspects of identity, but by the response of people to the proclamation of

God’s kingdom. Another point that Luke records in Acts 10 and 11 are the story of a man named

Cornelius.  In this passage, Luke clearly shows the apostle Peter’s views of the Gentile.

According to Luke, there is no one who is profane or holy among people. Rather, God decided

that all people should hear the message of God’s kingdom, regardless of race, religion, etc., so

that they can find salvation. Therefore, a lesson can be learned from Luke’s mission to be

inclusive. In support of this, as Luke wrote, he explained the change in attitude that Peter brought

after understanding God’s intention, “You know that it is not permissible for a Jew to associate

with or be close to another; but for me, God showed me not to call anyone unclean and

abominable” (Acts 10:28). 

Missional Pneumonology

Luke emphasizes the activity of the Holy Spirit more than any of the other Gospels.

Especially since the work of the apostles teaches extensively and deeply about the personality,

presence and the work of the Holy Spirit, some writers understand that and thinking the title of

the book should have been called the work of the Holy Spirit instead of the Acts of the

Apostles. Thus, in order to understand the relationship between Luke’s missionary and the Holy

Spirit, I will survey the main points recorded about the Holy Spirit in the books of Luke-Acts. In

parallel with this study, Blackburn (1997) is useful in his survey of the work of the Holy Spirit in

Luke and Acts. The writer explained the basis of Luke-Acts by dividing the work of the Holy
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
Spirit into three stages. That is the work of the Holy Spirit before the birth of Jesus after Jesus

was born and in His ministry on earth and after Jesus rose from the dead, especially in relation to

the mission of the Church.  According to Luke’s report, before the birth of Jesus, preparatory

works by the Holy Spirit through various people, especially the prophets, were performed.

Among these, by anointing and preparing John the Baptist who is called the sweeper of the

Lord’s way. Luke also wrote that the Holy Spirit was working by explaining the status of

Prophet John’s mission to his family and disciples and explaining the distinctiveness of Jesus to

Mary and Joseph and by making her conceive Jesus (Luke 1:13-17, 1:35, 67-79). As John was

sent in the transition of the Old Testament and the New Testament, he is a sweeper of the way

for the beginning of the New Testament announced by the birth of Jesus, and as it is written that

everyone who is clothed in the flesh will see the salvation of God, the baptism of forgiveness and

repentance for sins and the one who comes next (Jesus) will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Luke

also reported the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' earthly ministry. Among them, Jesus was

anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit for His messianic ministry (Luke 3:22, 4:18, Acts

10:38), He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, tested and overcome the temptation

and returned to Galilee by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1-14). Further, he reported that

the Holy Spirit was working with Jesus so that He could proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of

God with power and authority, perform miracles and signs, and free people from the bondage of

demons (Luke 4:14, 18; Acts 1:2, 10:38). Jesus taught that the gospel of the kingdom of God is

powerful and even though the disciples of Jesus began to do miracles and signs in His name, they

needed to be baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:11-12). He said this because he

already knew that His disciples needed the help of the Holy Spirit to withstand the severe

suffering that would come as a result of being the witness of Jesus. Further, Luke explains that
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
the resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of the Prophet's prophecy in the Old Testament (Joel

2:28-32; Acts 2:16-21). After Jesus' ascension, His 120 disciples, who were praying and waiting

for the coming of the Holy Spirit, were baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 8:2-4).

Just like Jesus, His disciples continued to preach the kingdom of God with authority and power,

and perform healings and exorcism. Luke reports that the Holy Spirit was working with the

disciples (For instance Peter in Acts 5:1-11, Paul in Acts 13:1-12 and Philip in Acts 8:39-40). In

addition, Luke reported that when the disciples were baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit, the

people heard them prophecy and speaking in new and different tongues spoken around the world

heard the message of God’s kingdom in their own language. This clearly showed the mission of

the Church after Pentecost (Blackburn, 1997). The ministry of prophecy is the gospel of God’s

kingdom that is preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and all over the world so that all people

can repent and find forgiveness for their sins. 

Luke’s Great Commission

Looking at the details of Luke’s theology of the Great Commission, one point that should

be noted is that looking at only one of the Gospel is perhaps important for a deeper

understanding of the writer, but it makes it difficult to fully understand the broad and deep

understanding of the Great Commission contained in all Gospel books. Therefore, let us briefly

survey the four gospel books and understanding of the Great Commission. Su (2000) who wrote

various articles on Christian Theology and he is a doctor of philosophy in systematic, looked at

the Great Commission from the point view of the four gospels and gave brief explanations about

the Great Commission in his article. According to his description, Matthew viewed the Great

Commission as making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), Mark relied on the divinity of the gospel,

which meant the gospel not only for human beings but for all creation (Mark 16:15-18), Luke
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
views focused on being the witnesses for the death and resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24:44-48;

Acts 1:8) and also, John’s view focused on the statement of that God sent Jesus, so Jesus sent us

(John 20:21-22).  

One of the ways Luke’s understandings of the Great Commission is uniquely from that of

the other Gospel writers and Luke’s understanding of his own mission theology is to be the

witness to Jesus’s death and resurrection. Su (2000) agrees with this idea and explains Luke

users the word witnesses repeatedly in both books. In the Scriptures written by Luke, the use of

the word witness as Jesus’s last words when he finished His earthly ministry and was about to go

to the Father can be considered an important point for Luke’s missionary understanding.  On the

other hand, Luke, in his scriptures, asserts that the disciples and the Church were sent to be

Jesus’s witness (Luke 24:44; Acts 1:8).  The disciples and the Church know who Jesus is, why

he came to this world, why he suffered at the hands of men, why died and rose again and

ascended to the Father after appearing to many, and finally that they have the responsibility to

testify about why He came again. He explained that the witnesses of Jesus should be witnesses

not only in words but also in their lives. In support of this, Bosch (2011, pp. 94) states that one of

the ways in which Luke understands missionaries is the point of witnesses. According to Luke’s

mission, the message of repentance and forgiveness started by Jesus' ministry will be preached

and spread to all the nations of the world by the power and authority of the Holy

Spirit. Furthermore, it shows that Luke’s missionary understanding relies on universalism and

cross-cultural. However, the mission approach being implemented by the Catholic Church of the

Western world, which is not all-inclusive and does not accept the diversity of culture, language,

religion, and other things, is getting various criticisms (Oberman, 1983). Against the classical

western view of missional theology and based on Luke’s vision of mission, Bosch (2011)
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
described the mission as, “Mission is a multifaceted ministry, in respect of witness, service,

justice, healing, reconciliation, liberation, peace, evangelism, fellowship, church planting,

contextualization, and much more”. On the other hand, based on Luke’s mission perspective,

Bosch asserts that the classical mission perspective needs to be fundamentally changed.  Bosch

(2011, pp. 88) cites two reasons why Luke’s mission theology is a better alternative. One reason

is Luke 4:16-21. In this part of the passage, he presents the mission of Jesus in a clear way and

explains that the church has the responsibility to play an important practical role in the field of

social justice in addition to the gospel.  He raises as a second reason the centrality of mission in

Luke's writings. Further, LaVeriere and Thompson (1976) added that Luke’s appearance has had

in view many communities rather than one single community, as did Matthew so that he has a

better theological perspective than others to present the Great Commission to a world full of

diversity in culture, languages, etc.  

Calling and Commissioning the Twelve

During my study of the book of Luke and Acts, I understood that Jesus seems to have

applied five basic processes step by step to call and commission the twelve apostles. They are 1)

praying, 2) calling, 3) Training or empowering 4) Authorizing, and 5) Practicing Missions. 

Let’s have a brief explanation of each of them. It was Jesus’s first act to commission the

twelve in righteous prayer. Luke 6:12 recorded that Jesus prayed a deep and long prayer before

calling the twelve. Of course, one of the ways Jesus was known for his earthly ministry is

through His amazing prayer life. This prayer life shows that Jesus was always in the habit of

receiving the will and leadership of God for the decision He made in His ministry. The prayer

that Jesus prayed here was about the disciples that He was going to call and choose the next day.

During the prayer, He seems to have a good understanding of the twelve, their possible
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
participation in the mission, their weakness and strength. It seems that Jesus knew the people He

wanted for His ministry in this place of prayer. In Luke 6:13, three important words are placed in

turn. Calling, choosing, and naming.  Knowing comes before calling, choosing, and naming. But,

Luke explains that because Jesus knew beforehand, He directly called them, chose them, and

named them apostles. What Jesus did next was to teach, train and empower the twelve. The

crucial point here is that Jesus had already named the twelve apostles. The twelve were despised

by people, uneducated and most of them had a low standard of living.  Why Jesus did choose

these? Although it is difficult to give perfect answers to this, the explanation given by Strauss

(1860) said that “it was to show to the whole world that the maintenance and spread of the

Church and her doctrine were not due to human wisdom and learning, but solely to His grace and

protection. Jesus was focused on training and empowering His disciples until His death on the

cross. What Jesus did before He went to the cross is recorded in Luke 9:1. The chapter says that,

“Then He called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils,

and to cure diseases”.  Why did Jesus give them this power and authority? Luke explains in the

next verse. This is to preach the gospel of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. Luke sees the

apostle’s authority as directly connected to Jesus’s ministry. We will see what teaches the church

in the next section. Although the apostles are called apostles of Jesus and even though they are

full of power and authority, Luke continued awakening them since they lack something basic for

Jesus’s ministry. It is to be baptized and filled in the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49).   Luke asserts this

situation again and again in Acts 1:3-9. From Luke’s missional theology, we understand how

important the Holy Spirit is in Jesus’s ministry. It was after Acts 2 that Jesus completed the

process of commissioning lying the apostles. Acts 2 is the place where the apostles were sent.

Although Jesus, whom they followed as Lord and Teacher, was not with them, they continued to
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and heal the sick.  By doing so, they allow themselves to

suffer. This is what was involved in Jesus’s commissioning according to Luke's theology. As a

great leader, Jesus made His disciples see his vision, inspired and empowered them with the

ability to fulfill what they visioned, and finally, they paid the cost of death for the vision Jesus

revealed to them.

God’s Kingdom and the Church Mission

According to Luke’s teaching, the Kingdom of God is revealed to the whole world and it

is good news that is preached with authority and power, and its authority and power are

expressed through the preaching, teaching, and miracles, especially by healing people and

freeing them from the bondage of demons (Luke 4:43; 8:1:9:11). Kuhn (2018) compared it with

the Roman government of the time to explain the situation in which Luke described the Kingdom

of God as good news or Evangelia. Kuhn explains in detail the operation, abuse, suffering, and

violence inflicted on the majority of society by the elite of the Roman Empire. On the other

hand, because of the oppression and suffering of the Jewish community, raises the situation

where they had to wait for the revelation of the Messiah they hoped for. It was during this

situation that Luke describes the reign of God as a message, which is the Gospel, sent to all

mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, who were oppressed and inflicted. Luke 4:17-19 asserts this,

by saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the

poor and to preach to the captives, and recovery of the sight to the blind, and to set the oppressed

free, and He has sent me to preach the beloved year of the Lord’s”.

On the other hand, Luke explained that the kingdom of God was first fulfilled by the

birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which was announced by God through the law and the
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
prophets (Luke 16:16). In particular, Acts 2:22-36 explains that God restored and raised David’s

kingdom. At this time, it was necessary to connect the messianic kingdom with the rise of

David’s kingdom because the Israelites had the understanding that a Messiah from David’s

descendants would rise and save Israel from oppression and suffering (Iorjaah, 2016). It is for

this purpose that Luke connects the Kingdom of God with the fulfillment of the prophecies of the

prophets of Israel. Because it shows that the mission of the Messianic kingdom embraces the

Jews and the rest of the world. The prohibitions against the Gentiles in the previous covenant

were abolished by the revelation of the Messianic kingdom (Luke 4:43). God wants to spread His

kingdom rule over the whole world. For this reason, He brought a new Kingdom that is not

fenced off by its fence like the Jewish community. Even if Israel refuses to accept this, the

gospel of the kingdom will inevitably be preached all over the world. In Luke 13:18-20, Luke

described the kingdom of God by comparing it to a grain of mustard seed and yeast. What Luke

calls the Kingdom of God is the Messianic kingdom, and this is the Jewish and Gentile people

who believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke calls these calls out of the world or the

church (Acts 5:11; 8:1).

Discussion and Conclusion

In the previous section, we have explored Luke’s missionary model in depth based on the

Gospel of Luke and the Acts of Apostles, written by Luke himself, and scholarly writings on the

same subject. In this section, after briefly exploring the implication of Luke’s missionary model

for the contemporary church mission, a concluding thought is offered.

As we have seen above, we have a clear understanding of the universality of the church

from Luke’s missional theology. He clearly wrote that the apostles of Jesus were sent to preach

the gospel to all nations the world, to heal the sick, and set free the demon-possessed. Luke’s
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
missionary model explains that this apostolic service can be reached through the church. The

crucial point here is the question of how the modern church can fulfill this mission. In reply to

this, Luke emphasizes that the church should be inclusive of all sections of society. Jew and

Gentile, male and female, poor and rich, etc. all classes of society are important to God’s

kingdom. On the other hand, when justice is distorted, when the poor are oppressed and abused,

the church should not sit idly by, instead, the church should be the advocate of the poor and the

voice of the oppressed. Further, He has linked the church to the mission of Jesus so that social

justice can prevail in the area where the church is located. Furthermore, according to Luke, the

church should be cross-cultural in its approach. Since the church delivers the gospel of the

kingdom to people of different languages, cultures, religions, etc., around the world, he suggests

that its approach be based on this. However, although Luke stated that the church should have a

cross-cultural service, he did not indicate a uniform approach to how the gospel of the kingdom,

which has the same message content for the whole world, should be presented to people who

have various understandings according to their culture and language. Therefore, many scholars

agree that the church should present the gospel of the kingdom in a contextual approach,

according to the language, culture, and understanding of the society in which the church exists.

In addition, what Luke mentions shows how the church must work together with the Holy Spirit.

Especially in the modern world, where evil and rebellion have developed, preaching the gospel

of the Kingdom with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, healing the sick, and setting free

bound by the demons will be very important. 

From the in-depth analysis we have seen above, it can be concluded that Luke’s

missional theology is very crucial to bring about a fundamental change in the mission movement

of the modern church. It can be understood from this study that the mission, which has been
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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model
guided by Western protestant theology for the past years, that is, the biblical basis given to

mission, should be redefined, and the whole mission movement should follow the model of

Luke’s theology of mission. 

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An Essay on Luke’s Missionary Model

Reference

Blackburn, B. L. (1997). "The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts: A Survey," Leaven: Vol. 5: Iss. 2, Article

4. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol5/iss2/4

Bosch, D. J. (2011). Transforming mission: Paradigm shifts in theology of mission. New York:
Orbis Books, Maryknoll

Iorjaah, I. (2016). Journal of Religious Studies: The Messianic Kingdom Theology in Luke-Acts.

Vol.6 No.2, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.

Kgathey, S. M. (2019). Missiology as Social Justice. A Contextual Reading of Mission of Christ

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Kuhn, K. A. (2018). The Kingdom According to Luke and Acts: A Social, Literary, and

Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic ISBN 9780801048876.

LaVerdiere, E. A. and THOMPSON, W. G. (1976.) “New Testament Communities in Transition,

Theological Studies”. vol 37, pp 567–597.

Muthuraj, J. G. (1997). Mission and Universalism in Luke-Acts: Mission and NT Studies. Indian

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https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/ijt/39-1_056.pdf

OBERMAN, H. (1983). Luther: Mensch zwischen Gott und Teufel. Berlin: Severin & Siedler.

Strauss, D. F. (1860, pp. 340). The Life of Jesus. Published by Calvin Blanchard.

Su, J. Y. J. (2000). Article on, “The Great Commission in the 4 Gospels”. Theology, Biblical

Studies, and Christian Studies.

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https://www.academia.edu/44680068/The_Great_Commission_in_the_4_Gospels

Tan, A. T. (2015). Theology of Salvation in Luke: Concepts and Contemporary Application.

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Wright, J.H.C (2010). The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s
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