In the New Testament, the name of Jesus appears with various titles in different understandings and expectations. The purpose of this study is to research Luke's theological intention in the expression of the name of Jesus in Luke-Acts. For this purpose, the Form-Criticism and Redactional-Criticism are used as main tools of interpretation.
In the Gospel of Luke, the name of Jesus is expressed 'in the name of the Lord' and 'in my name'. As a result of studying these expressions, it is revealed that Luke understood Jesus' name as 'the name of Jesus authorizing and empowering' and 'the name of Jesus upon which action is based'. In the name of Jesus, the disciples were able to cast out demons as Jesus did, and were forced to act like Jesus.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus' name serves three functions as the expression 'in the name of Jesus'. First is the salvation in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus was the basis of salvation and revealed God. Second is the healing done in the name of Jesus. Doings in the name of Jesus showed that the disciples was successors of Jesus. Third is the proclamation of the Word in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, the apostles had been able to proclaim boldly with prophetic self-consciousness.
The reason of the Luke's emphasis on the name of Jesus was because of the crisis that early Christians had been suffered from the delay of the Second Coming (parousia). Writing Luke-Acts, Luke urged early Christians, who was experiencing religious confusion, to focus on 'today', not the end. He presented Jesus as an example for the disciples to follow and to live in the same way.