Delano V Palmer
Abstract
The Gospel of Luke, in particular, the longest book in the New Testament, has been long since recognized as the Gospel of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the marginalized-themes which resonate with the theological objectives of Majority World theologians. Both Matthew and Luke shaped the Jesus tradition handed down to themto meet the needs of their Jewish and gentile constituents, with the latter providing a sequel with a universalizing literary format with no less persuasive rhetoric. Luke, of course, has been approached by many with a hermeneutic of suspicion because "one of the curious features of the Third Gospel is that, having been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor (4:18), Jesus is found, repeatedly, frequenting the homes of the wealthy (e.g. 5:29; 7:36; 14:1; 19:5).. . .Indeed, one searches Luke's Gospel in vain for any narration of Jesus' preaching good news to the poor". 2 Also, the extent to which Luke is seen to be a reliable historian is still hotly debated. 3 These perceived weaknesses notwithstanding, we find the evangelists' historiographical strategy attractive because they wrote not just to theologize and inform but to subvert the worst features of Empire. Although Contextual Theology is for the most part postcolonial, its potential as a tool to ensure that the Lucan corpora of the poor and the marginalized permeate every stratum of the society is yet to be fully realized. Like the nations of the majority world, Luke, we believe, was a Gentile. He along with the other gospel writers also saw quite clearly the power of storytelling (with a focus on bios) as a way to effect meaningful cultural change. Writing the only Gentile Gospel treatise then (Luke-Acts), one can discern efforts of excellence in his work. Minority status can be a motivating factor in this regard. While this may explain the quality of his work, the anxiety to outdo himself could be an explanation for the quantity of his output (cf. the following: of the 7, 947 verses found in the New Testament, the Gospel of John accounts for 1407; Paul's epistles, 2032; and Luke-Acts, 2157, over 25 percent of the New Testament). 4 Luke has shown keen interest in Gentile conversions and 2
