Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-216) and indexes.

Introduction -- The Old Testament in Luke-Acts -- Luke 13.31-35: the rejected prophet and saviour -- Luke 19.29-46: the rejected messiah and the temple -- Luke 21.20-28: the Son of Man and Jerusalem -- Luke 23.26-31, 44-45: the death of the saviour and the fate of the city -- Acts 7: Stephen and the temple -- Conclusion.

"What was Luke's attitude to the Jerusalem temple? Steve Smith examines the key texts which concern the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in Luke-Acts. Smith proposes that Acts 7 is a fuller discussion of the material contained in the Gospel sayings on this subject, which themselves make frequent allusion to the Old Testament and the interpretation of which thus requires an understanding of Luke's use of the Old Testament. Accordingly, in this work, Steve Smith makes a thorough review of Luke's use of the Old Testament, and proposes that relevance theory is a capable hermeneutical tool to permit the reconstruction of how Luke's readers would have understood references to the Old Testament. Using this approach, the key texts from Luke-Acts are examined sequentially, and Luke's apparent criticism of the temple is examined in a new light." -- Provided by publisher.