Literary Design in Luke-Acts (Paul Mirrors Jesus)
Tim Davis
Have you ever read the end of Acts?
In chapters 21 and following, Paul returns to Jerusalem where he’s plotted against, arrested, put on trial.
It makes us wonder, why did Luke (the author of Luke and Acts) highlight these details? For starters, he included them because they happened. But a lot of things happened. So why include these details instead of others?
To double-down on this point, consider the last verse of John’s gospel. He writes, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). As you can see, this other gospel writer, too, acknowledged that he carefully selected which details to write about.
So back to the book of Acts. Why these details about Paul?
And here’s what I propose: Luke intentionally recorded those details regarding Jesus’ ministry and Paul’s ministry that parallel one another. By doing this, Luke captured what it means to be the body of Christ, but he did so literarily.
Let’s take a look.
PARALLEL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF JESUS & PAUL
To begin, Matthew, Mark and Luke all call attention to a transition point in Jesus’ ministry—namely, when “he sets his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:51). When Jesus arrives, he’s plotted against, arrested and put on trial. In similar fashion, Paul returns to Jerusalem in Acts 21 and he, too, is plotted against, arrested and put on trial.
So once again, here’s what Luke does: he records those stories where Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem is paralleled by the Apostle Paul’s time in Jerusalem. Here are five examples.[1]
1. Both Jesus and Paul are received positively when they enter Jerusalem.
Jesus is received positively during his triumphal entry in Luke 19:28-40. As for Paul, the brothers receive him gladly in Acts 21:17-20.
2. Both, Jesus and Paul, go to the temple when they arrive in Jerusalem.
In Luke 19:45-48, Jesus cleanses the temple in Jerusalem. In Acts 21:26, Paul purified himself and then went to the temple.
3. Both, Jesus and Paul, were seized by crowds and then arrested.
In Luke 22:54, Jesus is seized and led away after he prayed on the Mount of Olives. In Acts 21:27, Paul is seized by the crowds in the temple.
4. Both, Jesus and Paul, endure four trials.
Jesus stands before the Sanhedrin, Pilot, and Herod before going back to Pilot. Paul stands before the Sanhedrin, Felix, Festus and then Herod.
5. A Roman centurion responds surprisingly to both, Jesus and Paul.
During Jesus crucifixion in Luke 23:47, a Roman centurion says, “Certainly this man was innocent.” Then in Acts 27:1-3, a Roman centurion named Julius treated Paul kindly.
We have to ask again, why did Luke include these details. It appears that Luke wanted to demonstrate that Jesus’ ministry functions as a template for his body—what Jesus started, the church continues. In fact, Luke makes this very point at the beginning of Acts when he writes, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” If Jesus’ earthly ministry is what he began to do and teach, this implies that his work continues in the book of Acts—and it continues through his body, the church.
In other words, this literary feature highlights an important reflection: Jesus’ life functions as a pattern for you and me to follow.
WHAT ABOUT US?
How should we respond?
Well, if you want to know your marching orders, look to the life of Jesus. Look to his sacrificial life; look to his love for the Hebrew Bible; look to his inclusion of outsiders.
Or to take our que from the Apostle Paul, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).