The praying Jesus in the Gospel of Luke : an inspiration to spiritual companionship

Abstract

This thesis dealt with prayer as one of the most important theological themes in the Gospel of Luke. The importance of the topic under investigation came out from the fact that prayer is one of the constituents of spiritual life. It is a means which Jesus Himself exercised in His earthly life to relate with His Father in order to discern His will. In addition Jesus presented prayer as one of the most important elements of discipleship. For this reason prayer was considered as a relevant theme to Spiritual Companionship. The Historical-Critical method, in dialogue with the literary and theological method in our reading of the Gospel of Luke, was used in this thesis. This study was divided into four chapters. The first chapter highlighted the theme of prayer in Luke-Acts in which Luke's theology was considered; what was the purpose of Luke-Acts. Prayer was investigated in contemporary spiritual life and as an aid to Spiritual Companionship. Chapter two studied 'the Praying Jesus': His gestures, night prayers, when and where Jesus prayed, particular instances in Jesus' life, when Jesus prayed and why Jesus prayed. In Chapter three, 'Prayer in contemporary spiritual' life was discussed with reference to three particular parables which were an identifying characteristic of Jesus' teaching and without question they were a powerful teaching tool. These parables are particular as they teach us that in prayer we need to be persistent, humble, and consistent. The last Chapter dealt with Prayer and Spiritual Companionship, where it was highlighted how one may perceive the theme of prayer in Luke as one that helps the reader of the Gospel to enter into a close relationship with the Father whom Jesus came to reveal through Spiritual Companionship of the director wit Jesus is the medium between God and all those who pray to Him and in this way, the praying Jesus and His teaching on prayer may be considered as an example of Spiritual Companionship in spiritual life.