Jesus as Savior in Luke’s Gospel

First of all, the gospel of Luke is the only Synoptic Gospel to directly attribute the term ‘Savior’ to Jesus. A comparative overview of the Synoptics is of vital importance at this point because of what this Lukan ascription actually reveals about the Gospel literarily. Luke presents a Jesus who is “Savior” during his lifetime; Mark and Matthew present a Jesus who saves humanity through his death. Reasonable deduction based upon these literary-critical allusions can lead to various conclusions, such as: 1.) Attributing the term “Savior” to Jesus and his entire lifetime never occurred to the authors of Mark and Matthew; 2.) Attributing the term “Savior” to Jesus and his entire lifetime did occur to the authors of Mark and Matthew but they instead chose to completely and willfully abandon the term; 3.) Luke derived the term and its specific attribution to the life of Jesus from a personal need to publicly deal with an overarching Lukan theme concerning an undeniable delay of Jesus’ promised return, a literary act Mark and Mathew never would have needed to consider given their earlier dates of authorship. It is difficult to fathom Mark and Matthew willfully discarding the attribution of the term “Savior” to Jesus’ lifetime if they had indeed been cognitive of it. If, however, the attribution of the term ‘Savior’ never occurred to Mark and/or Matthew then a subsequent issue involving the historical authenticity of Luke’s particular implementation of ‘Savior’ must be properly addressed. If the attribution of the term wasn’t important enough to be attested to by Mark and Matthew then where did Luke get it? Why did Luke find the attribution necessary while Mark and Matthew are completely void of it? Luke’s authorial purpose must be rooted in later issues concerning the Christian community, namely the delay of the return of Jesus and the ultimate culmination of God’s salvific plan for his people.

The Lukan attribution of the term ‘Savior’ to Jesus as Savior in Luke’s Gospel during his lifetime is also accompanied by a distinctive concept of ‘immediate salvation.’ In fact, “Luke is distinctive in that he never links salvation definitively to Jesus’ death on the cross” (Powell 104). Salvation, rather, is linked to the present and is often alluded to by the author through his repeated use of the word “today” (2.11; 4.21; 5.26; 19.5; 19.9; 23.43). “Right at the start of Luke’s narrative, then, Jesus does what Matthew only sees happening at the end, and then only from the risen Christ; Jesus opens the doors of kingdom participation to people of all nations” (Blount 85). This living ‘Savior,’ therefore, finds the crux of his salvific mission in ‘real-time’ proclamation rather than Jesus’ death alone. He, consequently, proclaims the availability of salvation even during Jesus’ lifetime.

Secondly, the overarching Lukan concern with the delay of the second coming of Jesus of Nazareth is the literary catalyst of much of the Gospel’s eschatological material. The Lukan concept of salvation is distinctive from Mark and Matthew (i.e., Jesus as ‘Savior,’ salvation now!) because it has been reinterpreted through the lens of the author’s eschatological adjustments. “In Luke, the influence of the kingdom’s coming is not as great because the kingdom is not thought to be coming quite as soon” (Blount 82). Luke is, if nothing else, pragmatic. A salvation completely tied to the return of Jesus may never be realizable. Jesus and this kingdom of God must be much more than chance or a disappointed expectation of a beleaguered constituency. The author of Luke seems to think so and works hard to adjust his sources where necessary. “Operating carefully on his Markan source (Mark 9.1) at Luke 9.27, his Jesus, while still prophesying that there are some standing with him who would not die before seeing the kingdom of God, stops short of echoing the Markan claim that they will see the kingdom come with power” (Blount 82). Luke also adds a specific clause to his kingdom/end of the age scenario which would have been to future oriented for the earlier Christian community who believed the end was near. Matthew 24′s apocalypse is imminent and the length of these days will also be shortened so at least some – the elect – will be saved (Matthew 24.22). Luke, however, adjusts Matthew’s apocalypse to fit the community’s obligatory delay by couching the scenario within the “fulfillment of the time of the Gentiles (Luke 21.24). “In Luke, Jesus does not envisage the end of the age happening immediately. How could he? First the Christian church had to be spread among the Gentiles, and this would take time” (Ehrman 128). The delay of Jesus’ return and the kingdom of God is a priority Luke and his community had to face. Mathew and Mark, obviously, had the luxury of blurry hindsight.

Concluding Thoughts Concerning Luke’s Use of the Term

It can, therefore, be concluded that Lukan Christology is more of a direct product of the Gospel’s corrective – or evolving – eschatology than it is Gospel centered Christology. Jesus being deemed ‘Savior’ during his lifetime, rather than after his death and even beyond, is Luke’s priority but it is not found in earlier Gospels or work attributed to Paul. The attribution of the term ‘Savior’ to Jesus, and the expansion of the term’s connotations to the Life of Jesus (salvation now!), are both products of Luke’s need to adjust the eschatological schematics of the maturing Christian community. The end of the age was no where in site; adaptation was required to save the entire faith from imploding into its own misplaced expectation and emphasis. Luke’s emphasis was centered upon diligence, ethical living, and patient waiting for something that they may never actually be experienced in the lifetime of the immediate community. The attribution of “Jesus as Savior” was a spiritual and pragmatic move on the author’s part.

Works Cited

Blount, Brian K. Then the Whisper Put on Flesh : New Testament Ethics in an African American Context. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.

Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament : A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. 3rd ed. New York Oxford University Press, 2004., 2004.

Powell, Mark Allan. Fortress Introduction to the Gospels. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998.’, ‘Luke’s Pragmatic Attribution of the Term Savior