Communication In Luke's Gospel And The Book Of Acts

The ultimate goal of any form of communication is understanding. If the audience is unable to grasp the message of the speaker, the speaker has failed his purpose. In gospel ministry, effective communication becomes all the more necessary. In his Gospel and the book of Acts, Luke made it clear that Jesus and the Early-Christian proclaimers of the gospel would use common life experiences, known cultural facts, and previously known religious information to present the gospel message and its truths. Luke accomplished this in several different ways. In his Gospel, he included several parables in which Jesus used common life experiences and cultural situations to explain different truths of his gospel message. Luke presented these parables in a style which both Jewish and Gentile readers could understand. In Acts, Luke emphasized the speech of Stephen, who utilized Old Testament history to prove how Jesus is the true Messiah. He later recounted the Areopagus speech of Paul, which showed how even heathen religious information can be a bridge to the gospel. In all these ways, the writings of Luke show the importance of presenting the gospel so all may

In the well-known “Parable of the Good Samaritan”, Jesus used the societal conditions of his day to further his followers’ understanding of who their neighbor is. Luke set the stage for the story, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.” (Luke 10:30) It is no coincidence that Jesus chose this road to be the setting for his parable. St. Jerome said this road was called the “Red” or “Bloody way” even in his day. The path was so notoriously dangerous that a Roman garrison had to be constructed nearby to protect travelers. So as Jesus described the mugging and robbing of the man, this would come as no surprise to his listeners because they knew this area to be exceedingly