Gospel of Luke Lecture

Connects to Tanakh - Abraham and Sarah are equal to Elizabeth and Zachariah
Elizabeth and Zachariah - Descendants of Aaron (Moses’ brother); elite Jews
Mary & Elizabeth are Cousins - John the Baptist and Jesus are blood relatives

Cana (rural area in Galilee) - Grew up in
Betrothed to Joseph - Joseph is prominent in Mary’s pregnancy and Jesus’ early years but not really anywhere else
Mark is Negative toward Mary - Mary is clueless to Jesus’ messiahship
Luke’s Positive Portrayal - Very positive, special woman, chosen woman
Pseudepigraphal Works - Followed Luke’s positive portrayal of Mary
- Gospel of James - Written by Jesus’ brother
- Gospel of Thomas - about the boyhood of Jesus

Mary & Gabriel - Gabriel (one of two angels in the New Testament) warns Mary about Jesus
Holy Spirit “Overshadows” Mary - Holy Spirit impregnates Mary

John Represents Judaism - Elizabeth is carrying him miraculously just as women in the Old Testament had
Jesus Presented as Something New - Mary is the first and only virgin birth

Late Tradition - mid 80s
Only mentioned in Luke and Matthew - Why not mentioned in other and earlier places?
Virgin Births in Other Cultures - Not the first time because other cultures; may have been gotten from other sources
Theotokos - Barer of God, Mother of God
- Perpetual Virginity - She never has sex with Joseph; brothers and sisters are actually cousins or children from Joseph’s previous marriage (Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran)
- Sinlessness - Mary must be untainted for Jesus to be; Seen in pseudepigraphal texts (Gospel of James)
- Immaculate Conception - Mary’s mother Ann was also overshadowed by the Holy Spirit
- Ascension - Mary didn’t die, she ascended into Heaven

Census - No record of this at this time; Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem (because David was born there so the Messiah would be too)
Shepherds - outcasts and poor people in that society; Angel tells shepherds that Jesus (the Savior) has been born
Contrast with Augustus - Caesar Augustus’ birth was sometimes connected to miracles so Luke uses it as a device showing the similarities but foiled

Eight days - resurrection
- Seven days - creation; so eight is recreation
Inner Circle - Peter, John, James
“glory of God shined through his person” - Dazzling white robes
Moses - Personification of the Law
Elijah - Represents Prophets (because he was a standout prophet)
Meaning of Transfiguration - Foreshadow of the resurrection

Context: Jesus and the Lawyer - What gives me eternal life?; shows legalism
Loophole? - lawyer looks for one to get by the easiest way possible
Reversal of roles - Samaritans typically bad, so Jesus shows them as good
Spirit and Letter of the Law - the saved do not look for loopholes or a minimum, it’s a transformation

Martha and Mary - Sisters of Lazarus
Traditional Roles for Women in Culture vs. the Kingdom - Martha portrays traditional women working, Mary represents women in the kingdom sitting at the feet of Jesus
- Women were not allowed to sit at the feet of rabbi at that time

Context - parables are meant to speak to all groups of people, the poor, tax collectors, and pharisees
Lost Sheep - religious leaders (99), the sinners and tax collectors (1), shepherd does the illogical thing (a message of affirmation for the sinners and tax collectors having a place in Heaven)
Lost Coin - God is portrayed as a woman finding the lost coin
Lost (Prodigal) Son - goes against the practice of violently forcing your children to respect you; pigs were unclean so it was the lowest of low; Jewish leaders should not run, but the father did; No public affection, but the father kisses his son; older brother is the religious leaders; we’re called to be more like the father (accepting and joyful)
- When you cover someone in the Bible - it means taking them in and caring for them
- Placing a ring on their finger symbolizes - familial inheritance
- Without shoes is without dignity, so - putting shoes on someone is restoring the dignity
- Calves are meant for big meals, so - they mean a party

Luke’s Negativity Toward the Wealthy - Rich man is not named (minor character), Lazarus is named (major character)
Roles Reversed - Poor person is in Heaven and the rich man is in Hades
Illustration of Beatitudes and Woes - those in misery on the world is bless in the afterlife; those in joy (rich) on the world will weep in the afterlife
Difficulty for the Wealthy to Enter the Kingdom - “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”; wealthy man did not notice Lazarus (did not sacrifice for the kingdom of God)

Similar to Mark - though chronology is different and Jesus speaks on the cross
Sayings on the Cross - Speaks to the men on crosses with him
- Paradise - Luke 23:43
- Forgiveness - Jesus practiced what he preached by forgiving the criminal (Luke 23:34)
Soldier - changes line from Matthew and Mark
- “Surely this man was innocent” - statement of injustice not Messiahship
- Jesus as role model - Soldier did not view Jesus as the savior
- Injustice - Soldier did not proclaim belief that Jesus was the savior

Women - A lot of women at the tomb and immediately report to the disciples
Peter - runs back to find the tomb empty too
Emmaus - where disciples are going and they did not recognize him when they saw him on the road, not until they did communion together
Jerusalem - Luke’s disciples go here so the Jesus movement can begin with the Jews and spread throughout the rest of the world
Ascension - End of Luke and Beginning of Acts and all the disciples worshipped (but in Matthew some doubted)