Q Themes

Thematic Passages of the Q material(References are to Luke’s Gospel)(Material taken from: Understanding the New Testament, Fifth Edition, by Howard Clark Kee)1. Discipleship: Its Privileges and Trials6:20-26, 37-49The blessedness and obligations of discipleship9:57-58 (62?)Break with home and family for the sake of the kingdom10:2-12, 13-20Participation in proclaiming the kingdom in word and act10:1-24God’s special revelation of God’s purpose11:2-4, 9-13God will sustain God’s people and give them the kingdom12:51-53Jesus the divider of households14:16-23Those included and those excluded from the messianic banquet14:26-27Discipleship shatters ordinary human relations16:13The demands of discipleship17:3-6Forgiveness and faith: essentials for community life.2. The Prophet as God’s Messenger3:7-9, 16-17John the Baptist as forerunner of Jesus and prophet of doom11:49-51The fate of the prophet and of his emissaries12:2-3The promise of revelation of God’s purpose12:4-10, 11-12, 42-46God’s care for the vindication of God’s messengers13:34-35Jerusalem rejection and martyrdom of the prophets16:16-17John the Baptist as boundary of the Old Age; the sureness of God’s word3. Repentance or Judgment11:33-36Warning about darkness and light11:39-40, 42-43, 46-48, 52Woes against the religious leaders12:54-59Prepare for the impending judgment13:24, 25-29Exclusion from God’s rule17:23-27, 33, 35, 37Judgment will be inescapable when it falls19:12-13, 15-26Reward for the faithful, but punishment for those lacking ambition and perseverance4. Jesus the Revealer and Agent of God’s Rule4:2b-12Jesus’ successful struggle with the devil7:18-35Jesus as agent of liberation; greater than John the Baptist10:21-22Jesus as Son of God, agent of revelation11:14-23Jesus as agent of God’s kingdom13:20-21God’s leaven now at work15:4-7God’s joy at reconciliation of a sinner22:28-30God grants a share in the kingdom to those for whom it has been covenanted and who have endured the trials that mark the new age