Christology and Discipleship in the Gospels and Acts, Part 4
Luke-Acts and “What Is Mine Is Yours”
(avg. read time: 3–7 mins.)
Luke and Acts are two parts of one large work, and they belong together in any analysis like this. The continuity between Jesus’s identity and his disciples’ charge is more explicit here than elsewhere precisely because Luke’s intention is to demonstrate the overarching links between them as well as between them and the OT story that preceded them (hence the many scriptural fulfillments cited in both works, as in Matthew). As in Mark, most of Jesus’s discipleship teaching in Luke takes place on the way to Jerusalem, though in Luke’s case the journey and the accompanying teaching extend over the end of ch. 9 to the middle of ch. 19. Still, the connection between Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem, the revelation of his identity, and the teaching of discipleship demonstrates that discipleship attains its shape from the identity of Jesus. Once again, it is necessary to begin with Luke’s articulation of who Jesus is.
Jesus’s coming is identified with the coming of the Lord for which the Jews had hoped for many years to deliver them from the deep, dark problems of the world (Luke 1:16–17, 1:43, 76–79; 2:38; 3:4–6). An extension of this identity is in his designation as the Son of God and Messianic king who comes to establish the everlasting dominion of God (1:32–35, 69–71; 2:10–11, 26–32; 3:15–17, 22, 38; 4:3–4, 9–12). In these ways and others, Jesus brings to fulfillment the long story of God and his creation (1:54–55, 68–75; 2:10–14, 29–35; 3:4–6, 23–38; 4:18–21, 24–27; 7:11–30; 8:9–10; 10:23–24; 11:49–52; 13:32–35; 16:16–17; 18:31; 19:41–44; 22:37; 24:26–27, 44–45; Acts 2:14–36; 3:17–26; 4:24–28; 7:2–52; 8:29–35; 10:43; 13:16–47; 17:2–3; 18:28; 26:22–23; 28:23–27). He has such a role because he is himself the Lord, and thus it makes sense that the Jubilee, the kingdom of God, and the presence of God in the Holy Spirit come through him (Luke 1:15–17, 35, 41, 67–79; 2:25–35, 36–38; 3:16–17, 22; 4:1, 14, 18; 5:17; 6:19; 9:1; 10:21; 11:13; 24:49; Acts 1:2, 5, 8; 2:23–36; 3:21–22; 10:38). Thus, response to him reveals salvation to some and condemning judgment to others (Luke 2:29–35; Acts 4:12). Jesus is, properly speaking, the performer and proclaimer of the gospel who is himself the content of the gospel (Luke 4:19, 43; 7:22; 8:1; 9:11; 20:1). Ultimately, Jesus is both source and agent of the liberating and transformative salvation that comes with the kingdom of God. In his provision of this salvation to his disciples to share with each other and with others—especially the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed—as their community grows, he is essentially communicating “what is mine is yours” (Luke 1:52–53; 6:20–23; 7:21–22; 14:13, 21; 16:20, 22; 18:22, 35; 21:3).
As such, disciples learn from Jesus what it means to be a child of God (6:35; 7:35; 8:21; 9:35; 11:13; 20:36) and what it means to implement Jesus’s place in the long story of God and his creation. The deepest source of continuity between Jesus and his disciples then and now is the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit who shapes disciples according to the image of Jesus (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1–4, 14–21, 33, 38; 4:8, 31; 5:3, 9, 32; 6:3, 5, 10; 7:51, 55; 8:15–17, 29, 39; 9:17, 31; 10:19, 44–47; 11:24, 28; 13:2, 4, 9, 52; 15:8, 28; 16:6; 19:6, 21; 20:22–23, 28; 21:4, 11; 28:25). Indeed, this continuity is the most powerful demonstration of the message that “what is mine is yours.” Of course, there is another side to this sharing in Jesus demonstrated in the cross. One cannot share in the resurrection and power of Jesus without also sharing in his rejection and suffering (Luke 6:22–23; 9:24–26; 10:3, 6, 12–16; 12:4–12, 49–53; 21:12–19; Acts 4:1–31; 5:17–32; 6:8–8:3; 9:16, 23–25, 28; 12:1–19; 13:50; 14:3, 5, 19–20, 22–26; 16:16–40; 17:5–9; 18:12–17; 19:8–10, 23–41; 20:3, 18–24; 21:10–14, 27–36; 22:4–5, 22; 23:12–15; 24:5–9; 25:3, 7).1 Dietrich Bonhoeffer captures this point well:
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. Jesus’ summons to the rich young man was calling him to die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ…. The call to discipleship, the baptism in the name of Jesus Christ means both death and life.2
There are two other important paradigms for Luke’s emphases on discipleship that bear mentioning. First, disciples are people who hear the word of God and do it, producing fruit for Jesus’s sake, fruit that includes the proclamation of that same word (Luke 6:43–49; 8:11–15, 21; 9:2, 6, 26; 10:8–16, 39; 11:28; Acts 2:41; 4:4, 29, 31; 5:29, 32; 6:2, 4, 7; 8:4, 14, 21, 25; 10:36–48; 11:1, 19; 12:24; 13:5, 7, 26, 44, 48–49; 14:25; 15:35–36; 16:32; 17:11; 18:5, 11; 19:10, 20; 20:24, 32). In this way, the “word of God” is for Luke what the “will of God” is for Matthew. The former term bears a more direct link to the proclamation of the gospel in Luke-Acts, hence its use. Repentance is necessary for proper response to the word; in other words, it requires a response that involves both an eschatological awareness of the times, an awareness of sin, and bearing fruit in keeping with that double awareness (Luke 4:43; 5:32; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1, 10; 9:2, 11, 27, 60, 62; 10:9–13; 11:2, 20, 32; 12:31–32, 35–48; 13:1–9, 18–21; 15; 16:1–18, 30–31; 17:3–4, 20–37; 18:9–17, 24–25; 19:11–27; 21:34–36; 22:29; 24:47; Acts 2:38–41; 3:19; 5:31; 8:12, 22; 11:18; 17:30; 19:8; 20:21, 25; 26:20; 28:23, 31). Repentance is fundamentally the reorientation of one’s life according to the rule of Jesus, and it is not simply a one-time action at conversion. As the response to the gospel shapes the entirety of Christian existence, repentance—the proper response to the gospel—shapes the whole Christian life. This dedication of life is the disciple’s way of acknowledging to Jesus, “what is mine is yours.”
Second, disciples share life together, especially providing for each other’s needs with possessions (Luke 8:1–3; 9:1–6; 10:1–37; 12:16–34; 14:12–14, 25–33; 16:19–31; 18:18–30; 19:1–10; Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–5:11; 9:36; 10:2, 4; 11:1–18, 27–30; 14:21–28; 15; 16:11–15, 25–34, 40; 18:22–23; 20:35; 21:17–26). Luke especially emphasizes this sharing of possessions among the community of disciples as the way of demonstrating their togetherness, which he describes with the words κοινωνία (often translated as “fellowship”) and ὁμοθυμαδόν (often translated as simply “together,” though it has more of the sense of “in/with one desire/passion;” Acts 1:14; 2:44–46; 4:24; 5:12; 8:6, 8; 15:25).3 This life of sharing in possessions is deeper than the rich giving some to the poor and keeping the rest for themselves. It is the commitment to place all that one has and is at the service of the needs of the body of Christ, as Christ himself came to serve.4 Furthermore, they share in the apostle’s teaching, which was at least about the community’s shared story with roots in the OT, the story of Jesus, and the apostles’ interpretations of it all. They share their time together, share their meals together (including especially the Eucharistic meal in which they share in the body and blood of Jesus), and praise the same God together. This togetherness is an extension of God’s love and similarly takes the shape that one could summarize in the statement “what is mine is yours.”
Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship, 45.
Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship, 89–90.
Peterson, Jesus Way, 261–63.
Witherington, Indelible Image, 1:720–21.