Archangelysses
Senior Member
Advent is right, Luke was only on the level of a padawan when he first fought Vader and was not as skilled as Obi Wan Kenobi in TPM. When he went to Jabba's Palace he was not even a full Jedi Knight.
Luke only won the fight at the end because he followed his father and fell for a brief second to the dark. He used the force to attack fueled by anger/hatred.
However, it was when he stopped the fight and threw away his saber, that he had accomplished his version of the Jedi Trial as set by Yoda.
"Vader, you must face Vader. Then and only then, a Jedi will you be".
The throwing away of the saber marked the end of their fight. Making his words to the Emperor "You've failed your highness. I am a JEDI, like my father before me." So much more appropriate and meaningful.
So to summarise. Luke, for the entire OT was barely a fledgling, and only in ROTJ did we start to see evidence of the Jedi that he could become. But unfortunately, by the time the credits rolled, he had only really just finished his training.