Good News The Advent of Salvation in the Gospel of Luke

Despite the time and attention given to the annual celebration of Christmas, few people really appreciate its significance for our lives. Darrin Snyder Belousek shows us its importance through his devotional and theological treatment of Christ's nativity. Employing the gospel narrative and meditating on the liturgical drama that runs from the first week of Advent through Epiphany, Belousek engages the Old Testament biblical narratives forming the background to Luke's account of the birth of Christ. The result is a work eschewing sentimentality and formulating a wonderful synthesis of scholarship, Christian tradition, and devotion that informs the reader why and how Christmas is essential not only for this world but also for the next. It is a delightful read.

This is a rich reflection on Luke's theology written in an attractive style.

It is good for Advent reflection and an excellent joining of theology and ethics. Snyder Belousek's concern to show Luke's good news of salvation in evangelism and social action effectively comes through.

Belousek offers seven reflections explicating the stories and songs describing the coming of Jesus the Messiah in Luke's Gospel. They address the following topics: the proclamation of good news by the prophet of the Lord, deliverance from fear and striving for those who receive the good news, healing from sin and sickness for those who pursue the good news, repentance and revival for those who respond to the good news, justice in word and deed by those who are convicted and converted by the good news, praise in songs of peace and freedom by those who put their hope in the good news, and mission in service to the nations by those who heed the good news and commit their lives to God's kingdom.

In this short, accessible volume, Darrin Snyder Belousek aims to show that the good news of salvation in the Gospel of Luke is neither narrowly tied to Jesus' death on the cross nor to life in heaven after death. Rather, Jesus extends salvation to people throughout his life, and this salvation is good news already here and now. Good News will appeal to a broad Christian audience and is suitable for lay readers, students, and pastors. In keeping with the title, it indeed presents salvation in the Gospel of Luke as good news.

The major strength of this book is its cogent illustration of the corporate nature of sin and oppression-in the biblical world and in our own world. Belousek skillfully demonstrates this corporate, social nature of salvation and repentance and makes insightful connections with contemporary issues, thereby identifying arenas in which the twenty-first century church should exercise its own prophetic voice. Congregations interested in this challenging and inspiring message will greatly benefit from study and discussion of this volume.