Luke's Prophetic Christology
Lk strongly emphasizes Jesus' role as a prophet.A prophet is a person who speaks on God's behalf. Jesus certainly acts prophetically in the other canonical gospels, but Lk is more explicit about Jesus' prophetic role than the other evangelists are. For example, after his resurrection, Jesus appears to two of his followers as they are walking to Emmaus, "but their eyes were kept from recognizing him" (24.16). In 24.17.-19 we read:
And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…."
In Acts 3.12-26, Peter speaks to a group of Jews, proclaiming his message about Jesus to them. In the course of his address he states,
Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people." And the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days (3.22-24).
Lk also repetitively asserts that the Jews have a history of killing their prophets. We should keep in mind while reading Lk-Acts that, while there are OT prophets who are killed, such actions are not so widespread as one might come to believe from reading Lk's account. Nevertheless, the theme of the Jews' killing their prophets is important for Lk's understanding of Jesus' death. In Lk 13.33-34, Jesus laments,
Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem; the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!
In Stephen's speech in Acts, he addresses a group of Jews, saying,
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers (7.51-52).
Unlike other prophets, however, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and resurrected from the dead. After his resurrection, he appeared to some of his followers and ascended into heaven. The resurrection is the crucial element in terms of Jesus' distinctiveness vis-ŕ-vis other prophets. In Acts, the apostles, who are charged with spreading the news about Jesus, are required not only to have known Jesus when he was alive, but to be witnesses to his resurrection (1.22).