Resurrection and Spirit

Brian W. Lidbeck

Description

The preachers in Acts are Spirit-filled people who have one message to proclaim: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The themes of resurrection and Spirit converge at Pentecost when Peter boldly announces that the risen Christ has poured out the Holy Spirit. A new stage in redemptive history has arrived, but is it entirely new?
As it turns out, the concept of resurrection is not new at all--it goes back much farther than many people realize and has its roots in the Pentateuch. At the same time, the Holy Spirit has advanced God's agenda from the very beginning. When these two eschatological themes meet on the lips of Peter at Pentecost, thousands suddenly realize who Jesus is. They acknowledge Luke's central teaching: Jesus is Lord and Christ. Resurrection and Spirit traces these two Lukan themes from the Pentateuch to Luke-Acts and invites the reader to discover a new depth of appreciation for Jesus, the Lord and Christ.

Sujets

• Jesus
• Jesús de Nazaret
• Jésus de Nazareth
• Pentecôtisme
• Résurrection (homonymie)
• Christianity
• Christology
• Eschatology
• Pentecostalism
• Resurrection
• Theology
• Pneumatology
• Biblical theology
• Pentecostalismo
• Biblical Studies
• Christian Theology

Informations

• Publié par: Wipf and Stock Publishers
• Date de parution: 09 novembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781725267039
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Resurrection and Spirit
From the Pentateuch to Luke-Acts
Brian W. Lidbeck


Resurrection and Spirit
From the Pentateuch to Luke-Acts
Copyright © 2020 Brian W. Lidbeck. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8 th Ave., Suite 3 , Eugene, OR 97401 .
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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-6701-5
hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-6702-2
ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-6703-9
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 11/10/20
All translations are the author’s, unless otherwise stated.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, copyright © 1973 , 1978 , 1984 , 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
To Diane
With gratitude, love, and affection
Table of Contents Title Page Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Spirit, Creation, and Luke-Acts Chapter 3: The Spirit, Prophecy, and Luke-Acts Chapter 4: From Death and Barrenness to the Resurrected King Chapter 5: Beyond Grave Expectations Chapter 6: The Center of Luke-Acts Chapter 7: The Resurrection and the Spirit as Identifiers of the Lord Jesus Christ Chapter 8: Resurrection and Spirit Chapter 9: Conclusion Bibliography
Preface
S tudents of Luke’s two volumes have benefited from the publication of a plethora of monographs on the Holy Spirit and related Lukan emphases in recent decades. For many years now, scholars have debated the nature of Luke’s doctrine of the Spirit (pneumatology). Is his pneumatology focused on conversion and initiation into Christ, charismatic empowerment, or a combination of the two? Attempts to answer this question have certainly shed light on Luke’s two volumes. At the same time, some other important themes in Luke’s volumes have not received adequate attention. Only in recent years was the first significant monograph on Luke’s doctrine of the resurrection released. In addition, Luke’s pneumatology has often been studied somewhat independently of his other important themes. This work attempts to examine two of Luke’s most important emphases, resurrection and Spirit, in tandem and in relation to his Christology. The biblical-theological approach employed here also recognizes Luke’s emphasis on eschatological fulfillment and works to avoid isolating these Lukan themes from the Hebrew Scriptures. Consequently, this study traces the development of the two themes from the Pentateuch, through other key Old Testament passages, and to Luke-Acts. The discussion ultimately focuses on the Pentecostal narrative and examines how resurrection and Spirit converge there in identifying Jesus as Lord and Christ.
Acknowledgments
T his project began as a doctoral dissertation at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. I would like to express my gratitude to the faculty and staff of the Seminary for their instruction, guidance, and encouragement. Special thanks go to Dr. James Railey and Dr. James Hernando, who served on my dissertation committee and provided valuable commentary on the dissertation. I must also thank my esteemed project supervisor, Dr. Douglas Oss, for opening up for me a whole new world of understanding in biblical theology and for providing direction and oversight throughout the writing process.
Those who engage in a project of this magnitude realize how crucial it is to have a team of supporters. I have benefited from the enthusiastic support of many friends at Fountain of Grace Church and Grand Rapids First Church. The staff and students at Northpoint Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, have continually expressed love and support for me and enthusiasm for this project. They are an inspiration!
The author’s name appears on this book, but the intangible contributions of others are everywhere contained within it. My wife, Diane, in particular, has provided incalculable amounts of prayer, sacrifice, grace, and encouragement. Christ accompanies me through her love.


1
Introduction
T he purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between two of Luke’s most prominent themes in his gospel and Acts: the resurrection and the Spirit. By studying the two themes together and drawing heavily from the Hebrew Scriptures that Luke uses as his foundational source, one sees Luke’s theology more holistically, gains fresh insights into his pneumatological interests, and better understands his perspective on the resurrection of Christ. This approach can then serve as a basis for additional study and comparison with Paul’s complementary teaching on these subjects.
The thesis of the following study is that ( 1 ) Luke frames his two volumes in an eschatological context in keeping with the perspective of the Hebrew Scriptures, and this context provides a point of intersection for resurrection and Spirit; ( 2 ) he views the Spirit as the divine agent who advances God’s plan through creative and charismatic acts, but especially by anointing a Messiah in fulfillment of an Old Testament leadership and Davidic pattern; ( 3 ) the concept of resurrection has roots in the Pentateuch, and the resurrection of the anointed one is a fulfillment of Scripture, a reversal, and a royal exaltation; ( 4 ) the Spirit anoints Messiah’s followers to proclaim the message of his resurrection and reign to all nations; ( 5 ) the themes of resurrection and Spirit intersect in identifying Jesus in accordance with Luke’s central point that Jesus is Lord and Christ (Acts 2 : 36 ); and ( 6 ) the themes of resurrection and Spirit converge in the Pentecostal narrative, for it is through the resurrection as part of the complex of exaltation events that Christ’s divine status becomes evident and that he exercises the divine prerogative of pouring out the Spirit.
The primary notion that Christ’s resurrection and the Spirit both serve Luke’s purpose in glorifying Jesus as Lord and Christ relativizes other significant themes. Thus, important emphases such as prophetic inspiration receive attention as the means by which the Spirit advances God’s plan, but prophetic inspiration and charismatic events are viewed as means to an end and not as ends in themselves. Likewise, this study acknowledges Luke’s use of cultic images in relation to Pentecost but emphasizes how Luke uses such images to focus on Christ. Luke employs temple and priestly images in order to point to the exalted status of Christ and does not necessarily use them in the same way that Paul does.
The Reason for Resurrection and Spirit
Even the mention of the Holy Spirit in a study on Luke-Acts could immediately call into question the need for yet another journey on this well-trodden path. The Spirit in Luke-Acts has received an outpouring of scholarly attention for several decades and is recognized by all as a major theme in Acts. The abundance of references to the Spirit (there are about seventeen direct references to the “Spirit” [ πνεῦμα ] in Luke’s gospel and fifty-seven in Acts) demonstrates Luke’s obvious interest in the topic. 1 Martin Mittelstadt has chronicled much of the history of the debate over Lukan pneumatology in his work Reading Luke-Acts in the Pentecostal Tradition . He notes the surprise of François Bovon that not only have Lukan studies not ceased, but that Lukan theology has advanced, in part due to the arrival of Pentecostal theologians. 2 Yet, while the breadth of Lukan studies has expanded tremendously, the debate over a proper Lukan pneumatology still rages, and the existence of that continued debate is evidence that there is still room for greater clarity and more work. 3
One might assume that a subject as prominent as the resurrection would have been studied exhaustively in Luke-Acts by now. After all, Luke directly mentions the subject with his typical resurrection terminology sixty-two times. 4 References to resurrection in general include four resuscitations apart from Easter (Luke 7 : 11–17 ; 8 : 49–56 ; Acts 9 : 40 –41 ; 20 : 9–10 ), discussions with the Sadducees (Luke 20 : 27–37 ; Acts 23 : 8 ), mention of the final resurrection (Luke 14 : 14 ; Acts 24 : 15 ), and a figurative resurrection (Luke 15 : 32 ). Jesus’s resurrection is foreshadowed in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16 : 31 ) and is reflected via a double entendre in the raising up of a paralyzed man (Acts 3 : 6–7 ). Use of “the Name” of Jesus implies his resurrection (e.g., Acts 3 : 6 , 16 ; 4 : 7 , 10 , 12 , 30 ; 5 : 29 , 40 ), and the title “Lord” implies his resurrection and exaltation (Acts 2 : 36 ; 4 : 33 ). Also, the “word” of the Lord became closely associated with Christ’s resurrection and the complex of saving events early in Acts ( 2 : 22 , 4 0 , 41 ; 4 : 29 , 33 ). Not only the pr