Interpretations of Jesus' Miracles

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Yet, the question of why he would choose to veil the truth and then reveal it later remains partly unanswered. Given the nature of the letter from Luke to Teophilus with persuasive undertones, it could be the case that Luke wanted to emphasize that the “true” knowledge of Scriptures only is achieved through Jesus Christ. Yet, per the narrative, Jesus ascended to heaven after his resuscitation, so how could the disciples achieve true knowledge now that Jesus was no longer there? Luke, who wrote a second letter to Teophilus titled Acts, details how Jesus claimed that his Spirit will remain with those who believe in him. It is highly likely that Luke is already setting up a persuasive argument in his first letter that in order for Teophilus to “know for certainty of the things [he has] been taught,” (Luke 1:1) he will need the Spirit of Jesus just like Luke himself needed Jesus to reveal his pre-crucifixion prophecies. Luke recounts how Peter made this clear to the disciples when they were arguing whether Gentiles (non-Jews) were entitled to salvation or not. He explained, “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9) This plays in with a long withstanding theme among Christians and their interpretation of Scripture: faith is the only route to salvation and understanding. The theme of faith, trust in someone beyond your understanding, is constant throughout the New Testament after the four gospels. According to Christian doctrine, the true knowledge of Scripture can only be accomplished through Jesus and his Spirit, and the only way to have access to his Spirit is with faith alone. Luke’s gospel of Jesus seems to be tailor-made to convince the reader that Jesus prophesized his death on multiple occasions, but the only way the disciples could understand it was until Jesus “opened their minds.” (Luke 24:45) He clearly implies that for the reader to be able to fully understand the Scriptures, he will need to have faith and receive the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is essential to Christian doctrine because they believe that it has been given to them as a revealer of truth, similarly to Jesus opening the disciples’ minds. Paul, who never met Jesus, continuously preached this idea of the Holy Spirit as a revealer of truth and a “substitute” of Jesus on Earth. He is attributed to have written the majority New Testament, and he has had a tremendous amount of influence in the modern Christian worldview. Paul believed that true understanding was only granted to Christians through the Holy Spirit; he even rejected the notion that other Jewish preachers could fully understand Moses. He explains his point of view in his second letter to the Corinthians as he asserts, “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord [Jesus], the veil is taken away.” (Corinthians 2:13-17) It is certainly interesting that this image of a concealing veil carries on throughout the entire New Testament. From the canonic gospels of Luke and John to the apostle Paul, there is an underlying and constant message that true understanding derives from Jesus Christ. Even the Old Testament, which Paul describes as the “old covenant”, is apparently misunderstood by Jewish scholars if they don’t have faith in Jesus. This is important to note, as Paul does not believe that non-Christians are intentionally incorrect in their interpretations of Scriptures; he believes that they just don’t know any better. In order for the veil to be removed, one must “turn to the Lord,” but he does not give us an insight about how those who have the Holy Spirit can interpret Scripture differently than non-Christians. After all, according to Paul, it is impossible to fully understand the new or the old covenant without the Spirit of Jesus, so even if a Christian attempted to explained to them the true meaning of the Scripture to a pagan, they apparently would be concealed from the complete message. This has been essential to the spread of modern Christianity, as this scenario creates a necessity for an individual to convert before accessing the truth.

Going back to Luke’s letters to Teophilus in Acts, faith comes into play at this moment of “conversion”. After all, placing trust on spirituality rather than logic is a necessary component of faith, and that is what Luke is expecting the reader to do. Even when Jesus blatantly told the disciples that he was going to be crucified, they were not capable of understanding this. Similarly, Luke implies that those with the Holy Spirit are capable of fully interpreting all Scripture as easily as the reader can clearly assume that Jesus was referring to his imminent death. Faith in Jesus alone, through his Spirit, is what ultimately will give Teophilus the ability to fully and correctly interpret Scripture. Luke, in a very persuasive manner, is using a language of concealment to convince readers that the disciples were momentarily concealed from the truth, but Jesus “opened their minds”. Furthermore, he suggests through his narrative that those who have been studying the law have been also concealed from the truth, and for their minds to be “opened” to the truth, they will need to place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Works Cited:

"BibleGateway." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages. The Zondervan Corporation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.