Mike Bird posts a good summary of the mixed motives of Luke-Acts. One bit I would like to query is the continuing repetition of the phrase “salvation history”. It’s not so much that it’s inaccurate, but I am beginning to think it’s misleading. As normally used it continues to carry overtones of Conzelmann’s idea that Luke locates Jesus in “Die Mitte der Zeit” — the midpoint of time. In my view, Luke does not have this kind of temporal continuum in mind. His thought is more apocalyptic than that.
Whereas a heavenly journey towards understanding is a common motif, Luke brackets the earthly journey of Jesus (which is a journey towards his disciples’ understanding, and the consummation of his task) with the conversation on the mount of transfiguration at its start (Luke 9:31) and the acclamation of heavenly peace at its end (Luke 19:38). Luke is the only evangelist to specify that Jesus’ journey and “exodus” are the topic of conversation with the heavenly guides, Moses and Elijah. He equally edits the triumphal entry conversation to include the “Peace in heaven” echo of the angels’ song at Jesus’ birth. Within the narrative of the journey, when the disciples (a wider circle of them too) take up the mission successfully, Jesus in apocalyptic vision sees Satan fall from heaven.
Now yes, this is in part Luke’s recasting of things to dampen expectations of an imminent parousia, but it seems to me that what Luke is doing is not creating a theology of time, but locating the beginnings of the new creation within the history of the old one. Luke is turning the Pauline “now and not yet” into historical narrative.
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