8.21

Jesus as Son and Servant in Luke

Jesus Is the Son of God in Luke

The angel tells Mary that her child “will be called holy—the Son of God” (1:35 ESV).

God speaks from heaven at Jesus’s baptism, addressing Jesus as “Son” (3:22).

God speaks from heaven at Jesus’s transfiguration, identifying Jesus as “Son” (9:35).

The high priest asks Jesus, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” and Jesus responds, “You say that I am” (22:70).

In the Gospel of Luke, the title “Son of God” emphasizes Jesus’s uniqueness and oneness with God, but in this Gospel the essential ingredient of divine sonship seems to be Jesus’s absolute obedience to the will of his Father.

Satan tempts Jesus as the Son of God, but Jesus refuses to go against God’s will (4:1–13).

Luke replaces the “cry of dereliction” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) in Mark’s Gospel (15:34) with this: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (23:46).

Jesus as Son and Servant

Jesus, the obedient pais (2:43), says, “I must be in my Father’s house” (2:49). The Greek word pais used in this passage can mean either “son” or “servant.” English Bibles regularly translate the term as “son,” but the ambiguity in Greek may be intentional (2:49).

Jesus describes his mission as the fulfillment of Isaianic prophecy: he has been anointed with the Spirit to do what Isaiah says the “Servant of the Lord” will do (4:16–22; cf. Isa. 61:2). People respond by wondering if he is the “son of Joseph.” Of course, the reader knows that he is only “the son (as was thought) of Joseph” (3:23), and that actually he is the Son of God (1:35).