Question 3:
Luke’s Gospel is full of Jesus’ encounters with the outcasts and neglected members of his society. In “And God Said What?”, Ralph mentions that Luke’s Gospel “seems to reach out and embrace all” (Ralph, p.165) in an “all inclusive and universal theme” (Ralph p. 166). The ways that Jesus comforts a widow with a dead son (Luke 7:11-17), that Jesus teaches of forgiveness after a sinful woman humbles herself to wash His feet with oil and her tears (Luke 7:36-50), and that Jesus emphasizes the holiness of a Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) preach the good news that all people are called to holiness through Jesus Christ. Luke’s Gospel wants all people know and believe that every person is a “lost sheep” (Luke 15:1-7) or a “lost coin” (Luke 15:8-10) that Jesus wants to seek out.
Ralph also mentions in “And God Said What?” that “Luke’s Gospel alone includes the genealogy to Adam rather than to Abraham”. This genealogical reference to Adam, a character that represents the start of all humanity, helps emphasize Luke’s theme of a God, a faith, and a salvation for all people. Luke wants people to see that to follow Jesus, “people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at a table in the kingdom of God”, that salvation is not limited to a certain group, profession, or social status.
This combination of stories of Jesus interacting with a variety of people and underlying themes of inclusion, successfully served the Gentiles that Luke wrote his Gospel for. Luke’s Gospel successfully spread the Good News that “the covenant relationship is universal” (Ralph p. 167) to all people.
Monika's Theology Blog 
I agree with all of your points about the universality of Luke’s theme in his Gospel. I also really like how you brought up the point of the genealogy of Adam and how that shows that Jesus’ unlimited love extends to all people, even all the way back to the very beginning of humanity.
I like how you emphasize that Jesus had a special love for the poor. I find today that those who seem farther from Christ are actually the closest. Its those, like the sinful woman, who need Jesus the most, that know him best.
As we’ll see in a few weeks when we talk about the infancy narratives, part of Luke’s challenge in writing his Gospel to a primarily Gentile audience is to show how the Messiah sent by the Jewish God to the Jewish people is really a savior for ALL people, not just the Jews. Luke typically presents the Gospel message being offered first to the Jewish people (who largely reject it) and then radiating outward to the ends of the earth. Jesus in Luke is like a rejected prophet whose message does find a hearing nonetheless, especially among those whom proper Jewish society wouldn’t have considered worthy of receiving it. On the other hand, there are other aspects of Luke’s Gospel, like the genealogy traced all the way back to Adam, that hint at the idea that God’s saving plan, from the very beginning, was ultimately meant to include ALL people.
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