To say that Luke-Acts is a story means, at the least, that it cannot be read as a systematic treatise filled with theological propositions. To use rhetorical terms as old as Aristotle (cf. Poet. 6: 19–22), for the reader to grasp Luke’s dianoia (“theme” or “meaning”), it must be done in and through his mythos (“story line,” “plot”), for it is found only there (cf. Frye 1969: 52–79). The meaning is fitted to the narrative form. Consequently, it is of the most obvious importance to locate where something occurs in Luke’s story. The connections between individual vignettes are often as significant as their respective contents. The sequence itself provides the larger meaning.
“LUKE-ACTS, BOOK OF,” Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 4:404.
