Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St LukeBurton, Henry
Religion
Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St Luke
Burton, Henry
Bible. Luke -- Commentaries
And it is exactly this--its "gentility," if we may be allowed to give a
new accent and a new meaning to an old word--that is a prominent feature
of the third Gospel. Not, however, that St. Luke decries Judaism, or
that he denies the "advantage" the Jews have; he cannot do this without
erasing Scripture and silencing history; but what he does is to lift up
the Son of man in front of their tabernacle of witness. He does not
level down Judaism; he levels up Christianity, letting humanity absorb
nationality. And so the Gospel of St. Luke is the Gospel of the world,
greeting "all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues" with its
"peace on earth." St. Matthew traces the genealogy of Christ back to
Abraham; St. Luke goes farther back, to the fountain-head, where all the
divergent streams meet and mingle, as he traces the descent to Adam, the
Son of God. Matthew shows us the "wise men," lost in Jerusalem, and
inquiring, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" But St. Luke
gives, instead, the "good tidings" to "all people;" and then he repeats
the angel song, which is the key-note of his Gospel, "Glory to God in
the highest, ... goodwill toward men." It is St. Luke only who records
the first discourse at Nazareth, showing how in ancient times, even, the
mercy of God flowed out towards a Gentile widow and a Gentile leper. St.
Luke alone mentions the mission of the Seventy, whose very number was a
prophecy of a world-wide Gospel, seventy being the recognized symbol of
the Gentile world, as twelve stood for the Hebrew people. St. Luke alone
gives us the parable of the Good Samaritan, showing that all the virtues
did not reside in Israel, but that there was more of humanity, and so
more of Divinity, in the compassionate Samaritan than in their priest
and Levite. St. Luke alone records the call of Zacchæus, the Gentile
publican, telling how Jesus cancelled their laws of heredity, passing
him up among the sons of Abraham. St. Luke alone gives us the twin
parables of the lost coin and the lost man, showing how Jesus had come
to seek and to save that which was lost, which was humanity, here, and
there, and everywhere. And so there breathes all through this Gospel a
catholic spirit, more pronounced than in the rest, a spirit whose rhythm
and deep meaning have been caught in the lines--
"There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account