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Book Review: From the Manger to the Throne: A Theology of Luke (NTT), Benjamin Gladd

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The New Testament Theology series aims to treat the main themes of each book of the New Testament through the lens of biblical theology. In this volume on Luke’s Gospel, Benjamin Gladd, associate professor of New Testament at RTS, sketches Luke’s main ideas and shows how they intersect in order to get to Luke’s main message. He reveals how the Old Testament stands behind these major themes, which flourish in Jesus of Nazareth.

Gladd’s book is set up in seven chapters. In his introduction he both provides an overview of Luke’s Gospel and explores the significant Old Testament quotations and allusions throughout Luke. He notes, “There are more than thirty explicit Old Testament quotations and several hundred allusions. The result of this investigation should give us a better grasp of Luke’s narrative and a deeper appreciation for how the Third Gospel appropriates the Old Testament in the life of Christ” (20).

  1. The Great Reversal—
    1. This chapter shows Luke’s concern for the “exaltation of the humble and the humiliation of the proud,” specifically how the humiliation of Christ’s life and cross “qualifies him to be exalted to the Father’s right hand” (39). Gladd writes that Luke’s Gospel highlights upward movement (using terms like “high” and “highest” more than any other NT book) and downward movement.
      1. Mary praises that God has “brought down the mighty” (1:52);
      2. Jesus states that Capernaum will be “brought down to Hades” (10:15);
      3. soon after he says he saw Satan “fall like lightning from heaven” (10:18).
    2. Gladd observes that this vertical theme is central to Mary’s Magnificat.
  2. Peace on Earth as in Heaven—
    1. Likewise, more than half of the occurrences of “peace” in the New Testament occur in Luke’s Gospel (14 out of 25x). Following Luke 2:14 and 19:38, peace is to be found both on earth and in heaven. It is Jesus who will bring cosmic unity. Here Gladd offers a biblical theology of cosmic unity where Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection unify the cosmos (something the Pax Romana couldn’t do) so that we may enjoy God’s glory forever. The gospel has torn down the dividing wall separating Jews and Gentiles, and Jesus has defeated the rebellious angels behind the idolatrous nations (see Heiser on this too).
  3. Israel, the Gentiles, and Isaiah’s Servant—
    1. Simeon’s prophecy over Jesus is programmatic for Luke-Acts. When Simeon prophesies that Jesus will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32), he alludes to Isaiah 49:6. Following Isaiah 49:1–7, this servant figure is (1) “true Israel who restores the remnant of Israelites” and is (2) charged with converting the nations (cf. Acts 1:8; 13:47; p. 79).
    2. Gladd shows how Jesus fulfills both of these aspects of Isaiah’s servant, as well as what “Israel” means (cf. Ps 87) and what it means for both Jews and Gentiles to participate in the covenant community in Christ—all who are in Christ make up true Israel. It is Luke who develops the theme of the Gentiles’ inclusion into the people of God more fully than the other three Gospel writers.
  4. The Way of Life—
    1. Gladd shows how the first exodus prophetically anticipated the “future, eschatological second exodus” (99). Gladd shows the OT promises and expectation for a second exodus and its fulfillment in Luke. This fulfillment is seen through exodus scenes (9:30–31) and in Luke’s larger outline.
    2. According to Gladd, Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–19:27) is marked by unbelief and confusion with those who follow him. This aligns with OT Israel’s rebellious journey in the wilderness. However, on the road to Emmaus (24:13–35), belief and enlightenment define this journey.
    3. Gladd’s insights into the Emmaus Road scene are illuminating. Jesus reverses the language of Isaiah 6:9–10—a foundational text found in all the Gospels and Acts. Just as Israel was unable to perceive God’s works in the exodus (Ps 106:7), these disciples can’t understand God’s work either. Here Jesus divinely opens their minds to understand.
  5. The Success of the Last Adam—
    1. The Synoptics relay Jesus’ wilderness temptation, and according to Gladd “nearly every aspect of Jesus’s earthly ministry can find its point of origin in the temptation” (124). Gladd explores the OT reference points behind the temptation and illuminates how it it fits within Jesus’ ministry and Luke’s Gospel. He is especially sensitive to showing how “the wilderness temptation is organically connected to Jesus’s death and resurrection” (125). What Jesus accomplished here, he achieved at the cross and in his resurrection as the last Adam.
  6. The Son of Man’s Rule and the Ancient of Days—
    1. Jesus’s favorite self-title is “Son of Man,” occurring roughly eighty one times in the Gospels. But what does this term mean? Even when it is connected to Daniel, what does it mean there? Gladd highlights six specific uses of this title in Luke connected to Daniel 7, “suggesting that Jesus performs the drama of Daniel 7” (166). This was a fascinating chapter, although some mysteries remain (like how both Satan and Israel were the fourth beast). 
  7. The Year of Jubilee—
    1. In this final chapter Gladd focuses on Jesus’ first words to his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:16). He observes, “The first words out of his mouth in 4:18–19 are a quotation of Isaiah 61:1–2” (167). Gladd takes you through purification in the Pentateuch (e.g., Lev 25) and Isaiah 61, pulling together many of the themes highlighted in this book. As Gladd writes, “God atones for the sins of his people and cleanses his tabernacle so that he may dwell with humanity and the created order” (167).

Gladd concludes that Luke wrote to Theophilus and Gentiles to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and is both the Son of God and Son of David. Jesus redeems Israel through a second exodus as Son of God, keeping the covenant perfectly while also bearing God’s curse on behalf of the covenant community. As well, he establishes God’s kingdom as Son of David. In fact, Jesus can’t be understood apart from the Old Testament because he fulfills the entirety of it. He believes that we should read the Old Testament like Jesus and the apostles did. Jesus rules over the new creation which he has inaugurated through his death and resurrection.

Gladd provides ten tables throughout his book. For example, in his chapter “The Great Reversal,” he compares Mary’s prayer with that of Hannah’s in 1 Sam 2 and the rich man with that of Lazarus (from Luke 16). He compares Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus Raising a Dead Son. Just as how Elijah and Elisha’s own people rejected them, but foreigners accepted them, the same happens to Jesus. Gladd compares Daniel 7:14 with Luke 4:6 and Satan’s tempting offer to give Jesus all the authority and glory of the world’s kingdoms. Gladd offers a wide-lens look at both Daniel 7 and 11 to better understand how Satan was reversing what we read in Dan 7:13–14. This is the kind of biblical theology and use of the OT that I long to see.

Gladd also compares the meals shared by Jesus and the Pharisees. There are three, which are found in Luke 7:36–50; 11:37–54; and 14:1–24. Each time, the Pharisees “see” Jesus with their eyes, they watch him touch an unclean person or heal on the Sabbath, and, as a result, we see that they are in fact that ones who are lacking. They lack love, purity, and true understanding. They fulfill Isaiah 6:9–10; they see but they do not understand.

Recommended?

This is a fantastic volume on Luke. Even if you own Gladd’s Handbook on the Gospels, this is an awesome book to own as well because of Gladd’s thematic approach. In HotG, Gladd surveys Luke passage-by-passage while pointing us to how Jesus fulfills OT types and shadows. Here Gladd ties together Luke’s Gospel through his seven themes. I think it is great that Gladd focused on Luke (and Schreiner on Acts), instead of keeping them together. While it would be great to see a similar-styled NTT book done on Luke and Acts together (one shorter than Bock’s BTNT), it is good to have such a handy little book on Luke. This is another great volume.

Buy it from Amazon or Crossway!

Lagniappe

Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Crossway. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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