12/10/2025
Literary artistry in Luke’s gospel:
Sometimes we can read the gospel accounts as though they were random collections of stories. This may be because we’re looking too closely.
Certain paintings, if you look too closely, with your face just an inch or so from the canvas, appear to be random splotches of paint. But when you take a few steps back and look at the whole canvas, you see a pattern emerge. You can see the face, the bird in the flight, or whatever else the artist was portraying with all of those splotches of paint that looked so random from close range.
So it is with these stories in the gospel of Luke. When we read a larger section, bearing in mind repeated words, themes, and ideas, we begin to see the literary artistry of our author. The big picture begins to emerge from the seemingly random splotches—the seemingly random stories.
In the middle of Luke, there are a series of miracle stories, intermixed with Jesus’s interactions with different sorts of people, intermixed with parables and teaching. But as we take a step back, a pattern emerges. At least of the the “big picture” things Luke portrays has to do with the identity of Jesus.
In Luke 7:48-49, Jesus declares a woman’s sins are forgiven. “Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
If one has been reading through Luke, this story and question ought to ring a bell. There is a similar declaration and similar response earlier, in chapter 5. Luke 5:20-26:
“17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
So, we see a pattern emerging. Jesus is declaring sins to be forgiven. Since sins are, first and foremost, committed against God, the people were rightly surprised at this. The question is a good one, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus’s response to this question reveals something about who He sees Himself to be—and who He is proclaiming Himself to be (God in the flesh). In Luke 5, He doesn’t try to disabuse the scribes and Pharisees of this notion. He doesn’t back down and say, “Hold on guys! I don’t mean for you to take it THAT way! I’m not making myself out to be God!” Rather, he demonstrates his authority to forgive (something they couldn’t see) by demonstrating his authority to heal (something they could see).
Later, back to our first text, in Luke 7, we again find Jesus declaring someone’s sins to be forgiven. Again, the observers ask, “Who is this…?”
As the narrator of this story, Luke could have interposed himself into the story and commented and answered their question himself. But instead he wants the reader to answer this question. He wants you to come to the conclusion by an examination of the evidence, rather than to reach the conclusion FOR you. He wants you to look at the big picture and then recognize what it is. And so, without pausing to answer that question himself, Luke continues painting.
As we move on from Luke 7, Luke 8 contains the account of Jesus teaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. He tells a parable of a sower sowing seed on different kinds of soil, which he then interprets as the different ways people hear and receive his message. This is followed by another parable/illustration of a lamp being hidden under a cover, versus being placed on a stand. The lesson is (Luke 8:18) “Take care how you hear…”
This is followed by a story of Jesus’s mother and brothers trying to reach him, but being unable to do so because of the great crowds. Jesus takes this opportunity to make yet another point about hearing “But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21).
Hearing is obviously a major theme in Luke 8. Some hear—and DO. Others merely hear. “Take care how you hear.” And those who hear and do the word of God are considered by Christ his “mother and brothers.”
Luke 8 has shifted slightly, focusing more on Jesus’s message and the importance of hearing correctly.
But as the narrative continues, attention again shifts back to Jesus’s identity. This time, the question “Who is this..?” comes up after Jesus calms a windstorm with his words.
Luke 8:22-25: “One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
One interesting thing about this story is that the winds and water are said to “obey” Jesus. He speaks. They hear. They do. This, coming right after all of this exhortation to people to take care how they hear—and not only to hear, but to DO (to obey). Is Luke trying to make a point? I think so.
Perhaps he is making a subtle argument for why we ought to listen to Jesus. Even nature listens to and obeys the words of this figure! Yes…Who is this? This question hangs in the air once again, without Luke answering it for us directly. But the implication is, “Shouldn’t we listen to someone who is so powerful that even the weather listens to and obeys him?”
The narrative continues. Starting in Luke 8:26, Jesus goes from commanding the natural to commanding the supernatural. He goes from commanding the weather, the wind and water, to commanding spirits. He encounters a demon-possessed man on the for shore of the lake. The account details just how evident it was to the surrounding community how supernaturally empowered this man was, and how it was clearly a malignant supernatural power. We also read Jesus’s conversation with the spirits indwelling this man. He speaks to the man, but it is obvious from the story that Jesus is really talking THROUGH the man to the spirits who are controlling him. When the man first sees him, we read, “When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”
Jesus then sends the demons out of the man, and he is eventually seen by those in the community “clothed and in his right mind” (Luke 8:35). Interestingly, the people of the community are so awe-struck and afraid, that they ask Jesus to leave. Perhaps being so close to such great power was a bit unsettling. We read of a similar response from Jesus’s own disciples after He calmed the storm, just a few verses earlier. They too were afraid—even though the sea was now calm and the wind had stopped. Being so close to such incredible power is unsettling.
But the man who was freed from the demons wanted to be with Jesus. This shows us that though Jesus possessed such great power, he was also approachable. Many people flocked to him, like a magnet, from all over the region. And those who were helped and healed by him wanted to be friends with him and follow him. Only when he displayed such tremendous power, it made even his friends a bit nervous.
Again… “Who is this?” who has such power? By external appearances, he looked like a normal man. But then, when he did things like this, it made people wonder, “Who is this? Who is this really?”
Luke, with literary artistry, finally makes a strong hint at the answer to this question. But like a good artist, he does it with style and suggestion rather than overly bold lines.
Luke 8:38-39: “The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”
Notice the parallel language in these sentences. Behold Luke’s literary artistry!
“…declare how much God has done for you.”
“…he went away, proclaiming…how much Jesus had done for him.”
Who is this Jesus? Can you see the picture Luke has painted?
