With St. Paul, Luke traveled to several different destinations including Samothrace and Philippi -- where he appears to have lingered to guide the Church. The duo then reunite in Troas and Luke is with St. Paul during the latter's stay in a Roman jail. As Paul says: "Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11).
Exactly what Luke did with Paul during this time is debated: "St. Jerome thinks it is most likely that St. Luke is 'the brother, whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches' (2 Corinthians 8:18), and that he was one of the bearers of the letter to Corinth" (Knight, 2011).
Luke also brings special awareness to the importance of mercy and forgiveness, with the parable of the Prodigal Son and the tale of the woman whose sins were forgiven because she bathed Christ's feet in her tears.
But this special awareness is also seen in Acts 25:30, when Paul reminds the Ephesian Elders that it is the duty of the Christian to help support the weak, just like (a fuller reading of Acts reveals) Christ helps and supports sinners through His sufferings and death on the cross.
Finally, according to Kevin Knight (2011), "St. Luke had a great knowledge of the Septuagint and of things Jewish, which he acquired either as a Jewish proselyte (St. Jerome) or after he became a Christian, through his intercourse with the Apostles and disciples." Thus, the overall picture of St. Luke is one of a scholar, a doctor, an artist, a philosopher, a teacher, a kindred spirit, a traveling companion, and a writer. It is not outlandish, therefore, to imagine that Luke would have wanted a reader of Acts to look at its verses within the fuller context of the whole work, illuminated by Jesus Christ Himself.
Understanding Christ and the Christian Mission in Acts 25:30
As the title of the book indicates, Acts is about the actions of the early missionaries. In other words, it is a narrative of what it means to act as a Christian -- or, to act like Christ. It is a guide for human beings, as Paul states in Acts 25:30: "I have shown you in every way…" Paul, according to Luke, is emphasizing that through his actions one may perceive the spirit of Christ. That is to say, through Paul, Christ resonates. Indeed, the Biblical basis for Christ's humanity is illustrated throughout Scripture. There is the story of the Incarnation, the birth, the Passion. Jesus walks, eats, drinks, fasts, prays, sweats, dies, and comes back to life. None of this would be possible if He were not a man. Christ Himself points to his human soul when He says, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matthew 26:38) and "Now is my soul troubled" (John 12:27). In Acts 25:30, this principle is also implied when Paul states to the Ephesian Elders that they should learn from him, a man like them -- but a follower of Christ and a doer of His teachings. The Communicative Approach makes this reading possible. But there are other approaches that are less helpful.
Certainly there are complaints against modern exegesis and Christology. For example, J.A. Sanders (1969) states that "of the first eleven verses of Philippians 2 a.B. Bruce once said, 'The diversity of opinion prevailing among interpreters is enough to fill the student with despair, and to afflict him with intellectual paralysis" (Sanders, p. 279). This despair should be avoided because it primarily stems from modern skepticism and an emphasis on subjectivity. One should bear in mind the objective reality of Christ's existence. Indeed, we have the history of Christ in the form of the Bible
Keeping this fact in mind, one can realize that Christ's humanity contains many lessons for us. Christ gave us the example of how to resist temptation -- by fasting and praying and refusing to enter into dialogue with Satan. Holding onto the truth is important, for the devil will always try to distort reality. Christ also gives a good example of how to have humility and why humility is important. Only when one is humble can he really see his true relation to God.
Again, this idea may be viewed in Acts 25:30, as well as in Christianity as a whole. The crux of what Paul says to the Ephesian Elders is that charity is the highest good. Charity has always been a part of Catholicism -- in both its teachings and its practices. Indeed, as Benedict XVI (2009) shows in Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), charity is that "to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection…caritas…is...
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