Luke-Acts

The book of Acts and the gospel of Luke should be regarded as one unit.  Acts opens with a reference to Luke.  For the modern reader, far removed from the original events, it would have been helpful if Luke would have summarized the gospel of Luke, possibly in this way:  4:18-19 is my summary of the essence of the kingdom of God, i.e., the Spirit, the poor, the oppressed and Jubilee justice.  Implied are the rich in contrast to the poor (see the rest of the gospel), the oppressors (the religio-politico-economic Jewish elite) and shalom (if the church does Jubilee justice).  4:25-30 where I address the religious ethnocentrism of Jews against Gentiles; God loves all ethnic groups, nations, equally.  6:24:  Woe to the rich because most rich people oppress the poor.  11:43:  Your claim to be religious is nullified if you neglect justice and the love of God.  16:13-14:  You [especially religious people] cannot serve both God and [unjust] Money.

Now with this background, Acts 1:1-8 can be better understood.  Acts 1:3 [also 8:12; 28:23 & 31] refers to the kingdom of God, but does not define its content so we have to get the characteristics of the kingdom from the gospel (Luke 4:18-19).  There are two major themes in Acts 1:1-8---the kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit.  Acts assumes that both concepts are closely tied together, but the church often treats these concepts separately.  The Holy Spirit is given to the church to enlighten and empower the church to incarnate the kingdom as is described in Luke 4:18-19 and Acts 4:32-35.  In other words, the Spirit anointed church is called to destroy the gap between the rich and poor, between Jews and Gentiles.


The following quotation is from the British pastor/theologian, Grahm Cray.
This is how he summarizes the maning of Luke 4:18-19:

"The age of the Spirit is to be an age of perpetual Jubilee."

Or in my words, "Today's spirit-filled church is called to be a living, massive, perpetual restorer of justice, a justice that releases the oppressed."