The word of God: Its
definition
In the Old Testament one of the
ways God spoke to the people of Israel was through the prophets. The word of
the Lord came upon a prophet; and the prophet proclaimed it to the people in
the name of the Lord. Since it was given as a direct saying, the prophet spoke
it in first-person — “I, the Lord” speech. Thus, it is clear that the word of
God given to the prophets was “what God spoke.”
Likewise, in the narrative of
Luke-Acts, the narrator has led the readers to understand the word of God
through Jesus and the apostles/disciples in the sense of “what God speaks.” The
angelic annunciations to Zechariah and Mary are conceived as what God speaks
through angels (Luke 1:19-20, 37, 45, 70) and the angelic announcement of the
birth of Jesus to the shepherds is recognized as the word spoken by the Lord
(Luke 2:15, 20). The OT prophetic word event formula in the case of John the
Baptist and the heavenly voice at the baptism of Jesus also indicate “what God
speaks” for the meaning of the word of God. After these preparations, the
narrator introduces the notion, “the word of God,” through Jesus (5:1). In
Acts, the Jerusalem congregation prays to God that they may speak the word of
God in the sense of “what God speaks” (4:29-31). The narrator has prepared the
readers to accept this view of the word of God by presenting God’s speaking
through the mouths of the OT prophets (Acts 2:16-17; 3:18, 21; 4:25; also see
Luke 1:70, 76; Acts 1:16; 7:42-43, 48-50; 13:40-41, 47; 15:15-18; 28:25).
Jesus the son of God is qualified
and anointed to be the speaker of the word of God par excellence through
the Spirit of the Lord (Luke 4:18). Jesus’ relationship with God as his son
especially qualifies him as the most authoritative and reliable representative
of God (Luke 9:35; 10:22). Thus, in the narrative of Luke-Acts, Jesus claims to
have the authority of God on earth (e.g., Luke 5:24; 6:5) and Jesus and God are
often “confused” without distinction (e.g., Luke 8:39; Acts 2:21). In the cases
of the apostles and other disciples, the role of the Spirit is absolute in
enabling them to speak the word of God (Acts 2:4). Jesus proleptically
appointed apostles and disciples to speak the word of God with authority (Luke
9:1-6; 10:1-16). In Acts, God pours out the Spirit of God upon all flesh/the
disciples to speak the word of God through Jesus (2:17-18, 33). (Yun Lak Chang,
“’The Word of God’ in Luke-Acts: A Study in Lukan Theology” [PhD Dissertation, Graduate
School of Emory University, 1995], 282-83)