Five Contextual Insights engaging the discourse of Gospel of Luke to enhance the

ministry.

It is no surprise that Luke’s Gospel has wide application to work. Luke pays deep attention to
work related topics such as social justice, rejections, conflictions, wealth, power and
leadership. Out of the four canonical Gospel’s, the Gospel of Luke perhaps shows the most
concern of the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. As Craig Evans writes, “Luke’s Gospel is
in a very real sense the Gospel of the Good News to the poor.” Howard Marshall states,
“Luke particularly stresses how…salvation is for all who are poor and needy and the total
impact of the Gospel is to show the ‘wideness in God’s mercy.” Thus, engaging the
discourses in the Gospel of Luke let us see the five contextual insights that can enhance
ministry.

1. Social Justice (Luke 17: 11-19):

The ministry of Jesus in Luke 17: 11-19, the healing of the ten lepers serves as an example
for the church today that is how to treat issues of social justice. By breaking down the barriers
which lead to injustice, the church can follow in the steps of Jesus and be a light to the
nations. As the biblical scholars Steve Corbett and Brian Finkkert claim, “Jesus particularly
delighted in spreading the good news among the hurting, the weak, and the poor. Hence it is
not surprising that throughout history God’s people have been commanded to follow their
King’s footsteps into places of brokenness.” It was among the broken that Jesus most
preferred to operate. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are
sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17). 1 As we move forward,
new opportunities and challenges arises within the church and outside the church to help the
marginalized, oppressed, and alienated. Showing the love and compassion Jesus did in Luke
17:11-19, will be an excellent example and place to begin in being bearers of social justice
and in being the “light of the world” in the midst of unjust social structure.

2. Rejection (Luke 4:16-30):

In the gospel of Luke, the Nazareth synagogue scene represents the oldest known record of a
synagogue service. In the words of Craddock, the synagogue services were rather informal.
Consisting primarily of prayers, reading of Scripture, comments, and alms for the poor. It is
not only for worship but also school, a community centre, and a place for administering
justice.2 However for to Frank Stagg, Jesus concerns was with people, not with the
institutions of religion like the Sabbath, purification rites, and fasting.3

According to Razouselie Lasetso, this passage Luke 4: 16-30, the Nazareth Manifesto is one
of the significant passages in the work of Luke. It narrates the unsuccessful visit of Jesus to
his hometown. The people of his hometown Nazareth rejected him, because he preached
Isaiah 61 contrary to their interpretation and expectation. Thus, it became an unsuccessful
visit because it did not evoke a positive response. Yet, Luke places the incident of rejection as
the starting point of Jesus ministry. Thus, more often in the ministry field it is not easy for the
1
Nathan. B, Social Justice in Luke, https://www.academia.edu/30463480/Social_Justice_in_Luke. pdf.
(accessed April 12th, 2019).
2
Razouselie Lasetso, The Nazareth Manifesto: The Theology of Jubilee and its Trajectories in Luke-Acts (New
Delhi: ISPCK, 2005), 107.
3
Frank Stagg, Studies in Luke’s Gospel (Nashville: Convention Press, 1967), 43.
leaders to work within own place, own community and own family like in Luke 4: 16-30.
Many a times people often try to identify the background of one’s individual who is speaking
instead of accepting what they are preaching. Locating this experience in ministerial life
many churches leader struggles to overcome such obstacles especially the rejection from own
people and society. In fact, it will be a challenge for them to begin with that facet in order to
build strong relationship with God.

3. Concerns for the poor:

Michael Prior in his book ‘Jesus the Liberator’ says that the gospel of Luke is commonly
regarded as the ‘Gospel of the poor’. The claim of Richard Cassidy reflects a common view:
‘An unmistakable feature of the Jesus described in Luke’s account is that he displays a
specific and consistent concern for the sick and the poor’. In addition, he highlights Luke’s
references to Jesus’ concern for less regarded groups, such as Samaritans, Gentiles, women
and Tax collectors.4

For Tannehill, the dominant concern of Luke 16 reappears as the issue of responsibility of
wealthy people for the poor. This parable shows what will happen to those who do not make
friends among the poor through their wealth. Here, Jesus is trying to address the Pharisees
who are “lovers of money” and who ridicule his teaching about wealth. This parable is a
warning to them and to all the Jews with wealth. Thus, God’s persistent concern for the poor
and powerless is inherent starts from Luke 1:46-56 and the Luke 6:17-26, and indeed
throughout Luke’s Gospel. But Jesus brings it to a point in the parable of Lazarus and the rich
man in Luke 16:19-31.5

According to Aaron Kuecker, this rich man dresses in grand clothes and lives in luxury, while
he does nothing to help relieve Lazarus, who is dying of hunger and disease. Lazarus dies,
but so, of course, does the rich man, which reminds us that wealth has no great power after
all. The angels carry Lazarus to heaven, apparently for no reason other than his poverty (Luke
16:22), unless perhaps for a love of God that was never displaced by wealth. The rich man
goes to Hell, apparently for no reason other than his wealth (Luke 16:23), unless perhaps for
a love of wealth that drove out any room for God or other people. The implication is strong
that the rich man’s duty was to care for Lazarus’ needs when he was able ( Luke 16:25).
Perhaps by doing so, he could have found room again in himself for a right relationship with
God and avoided his miserable end. Further, like many of the rich, he cared for his family,
wanting to warn them of the judgment to come, but his care for God’s wider family as
revealed in the law and prophets was sadly lacking, and not even one returning from the dead
could remedy that.6 Within the church today, we can encounter poor people being ignored
and marginalised by the rich people as well as by the leaders. This system leads the marginal
people to become inferior and voiceless in the society and also in the church. In such a
context, the story of the rich man and Lazarus could become a very strong word of warning to
Christians who ignored the poor so that they could build and have a solidarity life.

4. Power and Leadership:

4
Michael Prior, Jesus the Liberator: Nazareth Liberation theology (Wiltshire: Sheffield Academic Press,
1995), 163.
5
Robert C. Tannehill, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Luke, ed. Victor Paul Furnish (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1996), 251.
6
Aaron Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.),
2014. www.theologyofwork.org (accessed April 12th, 2019).
Jesus’ leadership extends to every aspect of life. The Gospel of Luke recorded that Jesus as
king is the leader of God’s realm. He employs his power in many ways. Yet, Christians are
often reluctant to exercise leadership or power, as if the two were inherently evil. Jesus
teaches otherwise. Christians are called to lead and to exercise power, but unlike the powers
of the fallen world, they are to use it for God’s purposes rather than for their own self-
interest. We can see the two examples from the gospel of Luke concerning leadership and
power.

4.1. Persistence: The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)

For Tannehill, this parable presented a widow who was poor and powerless as an example for
persistence in nagging a corrupt, powerful person to do justice for her. She was not only
persistent but also bold even brash, she keeps demanding justice even though the situation
seems grim. The parable assumes John the Baptist’s teaching that holding a position of power
and leadership obligates to work justly, especially on behalf of the poor and weak. But Jesus
focuses the parable on a different point, that we are “to pray always and to not lose heart”
(Luke 18:1) which was translated as persistence, and also boldness or courage. 7 Indeed, the
purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians who is standing for the justice to persevere
in their faith against all odds, like a persistent widow especially in an unjust structure of
society.

Aaron Kuecker contributed two applications for those who work in positions of leadership.
First, the juxtaposition of a corrupt judge with a just God implies that God’s will is at work
even in a corrupt world. The judge’s job is to do justice, and by God, he will do justice by the
time the widow is finished with him. Elsewhere, the Bible teaches that the civil authorities
serve by God’s authorization, whether they acknowledge it or not.8 Hence, there is a hope
that even in the midst of systemic injustice, justice maybe done. A Christian leader’s or a
church leader’s job is to work toward that hope at all times. We cannot be right in every
wrong in our lifetimes. But we must never give up hope, and never stop working for the
greater good in the midst of the imperfect systems where our work occurs.

The second point is God can bring justice in a corrupt world. God can bring miraculous
healing in a sick world.9 At the same time, God has given each and every individual a
freedom of wisdom to choose what is right and wrong and therefore we should not give up in
our work but should be persistence. In the parable of the persistent widow, God does not
intervene. The widow’s persistence alone leads the judge to act justly. But Jesus indicates that
God is the unseen actor (Luke 18:7).

4.2. Humble Service (Luke 14:7-11, 22:24-30):

Today, we can see many wrong motives for service in the church as well as in the society.
For instance, like when they were given a task or a position in office or in church instead of
being responsible in their work and being humble, they take it as a pride/prestige not thinking
really of those they serve but thinking of themselves. They serve for their own beneficial
purpose. Indeed, Luke clearly pointed out relating to this issue as we see in three passages,
Jesus declares that leadership requires humble service to others.
7
Tannehill, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Luke, 263.
8
Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.), 2014.
www.theologyofwork.org (accessed April 12th, 2019).
9
Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.), 2014.
www.theologyofwork.org (accessed April 12th, 2019).
In the first (Luke 9:46-50), Venerable Bede suggested that Jesus’ disciples begin arguing who
among them was the greatest because Jesus had taken Peter, John and James up into the
mountain top with him and the others were jealous. Jesus knew what was going on in their
hearts. He took child and placed him beside himself; that would be the seat of highest honour.
He went on to say that whoever receive a little child, received him and whoever received him,
received God.10 Certainly, the greatest is the one who welcomes a child in his name. Notice
that the model is not the child, but the person who welcomes a child. Serving those whom
everyone else considers not worth their time is what makes a leader great.

The second passage (Luke 14:7-11), Jesus’ response to the social posturing he sees at a
banquet. Not only is it a waste of time, Jesus says, it is actually counterproductive. “All who
exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Barclay stated that Humility has always been one of the characteristics of great men. 11 As
applied this verse to leadership, this means that if you try to take credit for everything, people
will want to stop following you, or get distracted from their work by trying to make you look
bad. But if you give credit to others, people will want to follow you and that will lead to true
recognition. This is the greatest lesson that we need to adapt as a leader.

The third passage (Luke 22:24-30) returns to the question of who is the greatest among the
disciples. This time Jesus makes himself the model of leadership through service. “I am
among you as one who serves.” G. B. Caird stated, the only greatest who is acknowledged in
the kingdom is humble service and this greatness Jesus has displayed throughout his ministry
and will display to the end.12 Thus, in all above three stories, the concepts of service and
humility are tied together. Effective leadership requires service. Service requires acting as if
you are less important than you think you are.

5. The Ethics of Conflicts:

5.1. Do Good to Those Who Hate You (Luke 6: 27-36)

Everywhere we experience conflicts. In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus addresses situations of conflict.

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). Luke leaves no doubt that this is a teaching for the
economic world, for he specifically relates it to lending money. “Lend [to your enemies],
expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35). This does not seem like a viable commercial
lending strategy, but perhaps we can understand it at a more abstract level. Christians must
not use their power to crush people with whom they are in conflict. 13 Instead, they must
actively work for their good. This can apply to the workplace at two levels.

a. At the individual level, it means that we must work for the good of those with whom
we are in conflict and our opponent. This does not mean avoiding conflict or
withdrawing from competition. But it does mean, for example, that if you are
competing with a co-worker for promotion, you must help your co-worker/opponent
do their work as well as they can, while trying to do yours even better.
10
William Barclay, The Daily Studies Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press,
1975), 127.
11
Barclay, The Daily Studies Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke, 189.
12
G. B. Caird, The Pelican New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel of Saint Luke (England: Penguin Books,
1963), 239.
13
Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.), 2014.
www.theologyofwork.org (accessed April 12th, 2019).
 b. At the cooperate level, it means not crushing your companion, friends, your society,
especially with unfair or unproductive actions such as frivolous lawsuits,
monopolization, false rumours, manipulation, and the like. Every employment has its
own circumstances, and it would be foolish to draw a one size fits all application from
this passage in Luke. Therefore, an essential element of believers’ participation in an
occupation is to try to work out what the proper modes of conflict and competition are
in light of Jesus’ teaching.

5.2. Rebuke, repent and forgive (Luke 17: 3-4):

Later, Jesus again addresses interpersonal conflict. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if
he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17: 3). It is good organizational behaviour to confront people
directly and to restore good relationships when the conflict is resolved. But the next verse
breaks the bounds of common sense. “If the same person sins against you seven times a day
and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive” (Luke 17:4). In fact,
Jesus not only commands forgiveness, but the absence of judgment in the first place which
we can find in Luke 6:37, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and
you will not be condemned”. And in Luke 6:41, “Why do you see the speck of sawdust in
your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”14

Today’s context, the problem we notice within our community or society was we often judge
one another without being examining our own self. So, in such a context, with the above
teaching of Jesus on judgmental we can comprehend in this way by questioning, would it be
wise to be so nonjudgmental at work? Isn’t it sound judgment a requirement for good
organizational governance and performance? Perhaps Jesus is talking about giving up the
judgmentalism and condemnation not good judgment, the hypocritical attitude that the
problems around us are entirely someone else’s fault. Perhaps Jesus does not mean, “Ignore
repeated moral lapses or incompetence,” or “Ask yourself how your actions may have
contributed to the problem.” Perhaps he does not mean, “Don’t assess others’ performance,”
or, “Figure out what you can do to help those around you succeed.” Perhaps Jesus’ point is
about mercy. “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).

6. Conclusion:

The Gospel of Luke is the story of the emergence of the kingdom of God on earth in the
person of Jesus Christ. As the true king of the world, Christ is both the ruler to whom we owe
our allegiance and the model for how we are to exercise whatever authority we are given in
life. As our model, Jesus teaches us these purposes and ways. He calls us to work at tasks
such as healing, proclamation, justice, power, leadership, productivity and provision,
investment, government, generosity, and hospitality. He sends God’s spirit to give us
everything we need to fulfil our specific callings. He promises to provide for us. 15 As we
have discussed above, he teaches us to provide for others, love one another and thereby
suggests that his provision for us will generally come in the form of other people working on
our behalf. He warns us of the trap of seeking self-sufficiency through wealth, and he teaches
us that the best way to avoid the trap is to use our wealth in furtherance of relationships with
God and with other people. When conflicts arise in our relationships, he teaches us how to
resolve them so that it could lead to justice and reconciliation. Above all, he teaches that
14
Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.), 2014.
www.theologyofwork.org (accessed April 12th, 2019).
15
Kuecker, Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary (Cambridge: Theology of Work Project, Inc.), 2014.
www.theologyofwork.org. (accessed April 12th, 2019).
citizenship in God’s kingdom means working humbly as a servant of God and of people
without marginalizing anyone. His self-sacrifice on the cross serves as the ultimate example
and a model of servant leadership. His resurrection to the throne of God’s kingdom confirms
and establishes forever the active love of our neighbour as the way of eternal life.

Bibliography:

Books and Commentaries:

Barclay, William. The Daily Studies Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke. Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1975.

Caird, G. B. The Pelican New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel of Saint Luke. England:
Penguin Books, 1963.

Lasetso, Razouselie. The Nazareth Manifesto: The Theology of Jubilee and its Trajectories in
Luke-Acts. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2005.

Prior, Michael. Jesus the Liberator: Nazareth Liberation theology. Wiltshire: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1995.

Stagg, Frank. Studies in Luke’s Gospel. Nashville: Convention Press, 1967.

Tannehill, Robert C. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Luke. Edited by Victor Paul
Furnish. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

Wijngaards, J. N. M. Background of Gospels. Bangalore: Theological Publication in India,

2014.

Online sources:

B, Nathan. Social Justice in Luke,

https://www.academia.edu/30463480/Social_Justice_in_Luke. pdf. (accessed April
12th, 2019).

Kuecker, Aaron. Theology of Work Project Bible Commentary. Cambridge: Theology of

Work Project, Inc. 2014. www.theologyofwork.org. (accessed April 12th, 2019).