Lukan Delights: First Testament Motifs in Luke's Infancy Narrative (original) (raw)
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The infancy narratives of the canonical Gospels, found only in Matthew and Luke, relate the stories of Jesus' birth (Luke also narrates the birth of John the Baptist). With regard to Jesus' birth, Matthew and Luke's renderings differ from each other on nearly every detail, save for a few points of agreement. These points are: Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the virginal conception, the identity of Jesus' parents as Mary and Joseph, and the place of Jesus' rearing/home town as Nazareth. 1 The narratives present more of a theological interpretation than they do historical information. 2 They function as prologues to the main Gospels of Matthew and Luke. 3 The main theological point that both evangelists present in their infancy narratives -as relates to Jesus since he is the focus -run throughout the rest of their Gospels: Jesus was divine, and, the purpose of his life was to offer salvation to Israel and all humanity. 4 It is estimated that Matthew's Gospel was written sometime between AD 80 and 90 (plus or minus a decade in either direction), and Luke's Gospel was written circa AD 85, with a five to ten year window in both directions. 5
Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny , 2022
The article focuses on the four canticles in Luke's Infancy Narrative (Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria and Nunc dimittis) and puts a question about why there is a passage from prose to poetry. The studies of the so-called inset psalms and the research on the Psalter as a book led to a backward and a forward approach. The former is that of intertextuality, showing how Luke's canticles evoke texts of the Old Testament. Alluding to Scripture, whose status as inspired and canonical text is a truth that concerns the protagonists, the evangelist and also the recipients of the work, the narrator invites the reader to accept that hymn as the Word of God for today. The latter highlights "melodic lines" introduced by the canticles in the works of Luke (Gospel and Acts). The four canticles are closely concatenated so as to become privileged hermeneutical places for understanding the sense of the whole narrative. Why, then, does Luke introduce his canticles? They underline their strongly anthropological value and represent a response to the salvific event. This response participates in the event itself because only through it is communicated the fullness of what the Lord has performed, is performing and will perform in the future.
Empire and the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke
Christmas is the most popular of all feast days. Theologically, however, Easter is more important than Christmas, the Resurrection more significant than the Incarnation. For most Christians, however, Christmas is the most joyous, the most anticipated, and the most celebrated holy day and holiday. In fact, to a certain extent, Christmas has lost most, if not all, of its religious meaning. It is simply a period of buying and giving gifts, of coming together and having a good time, of enjoying good food and drink and merrymaking, a season especially of tremendous commercial success. The Christmas story of the child Jesus and his parents, especially Mary, of shepherds and angels and magi, narrated to the tune of Christmas carols has become an uplifting narrative, comparable perhaps to the other fables of childhood. Add to that is an environment festooned with Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, and Christmas indeed is a wonderful season to be alive and well.
Luke’s parables and the purpose of Luke’s Gospel
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2002
Do the parables of Luke hold the key to an understanding of the overall purpose of Luke’s Gospel? This question is pursued by Greg W Forbes (2000) in a book entitled The God of Old: The role of the Lukan parables in the purpose of Luke’s Gospel. Although the Lukan parables address a variety of subjects of a diverse nature, there is one unifying factor that runs like a golden thread through all the parables: a new vision of God. This vision seems new in-so-far as it presents a challenge to conventional Israelite perceptions regarding God at the time when the parables were written, but in fact, it is not new at all. It is a vision of the God of Old as witnessed in the Hebrew Scriptures. This article presents an overview of Forbes’ book.
The Role of Mary in the Infancy Narrative of Luke
Only in the infancy narrative of Luke, Mary emerges in the canonical writings of the New Testament with a literary voice of her own and an extensive role to play. The Pauline corpus does not even mention her by her name and Mark, being first to provide her name, does not speak of her much more. 1 Even though Matthew's gospel contains its own infancy narrative, the mother of Jesus plays there only a role of the virginal fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy and is more of an object than an actor. 2 In comparison with that, the first two chapters of Luke provide us with an abundance of material for study. Approaching this richness, I would like to focus on the specific question of the role which Mary plays in the infancy story in the context of the overall narrative of Luke-Acts and on how this bears upon the shaping of the early tradition regarding Mary.
Narrative Soteriology of Luke: The Social Reconfiguration of the Lukan Community
Narrative Soteriology of Luke, 2018
Th.M. thesis on the social soteriology of Luke-Acts, completed under the supervision of C. Kavin Rowe, Duke University. In this thesis, I argue that Luke's soteriological paradigm is focused more on the communal/collective transformation and the reconfiguration of his envisioned society than on the individualistic change. Luke is concerned with the reordering of the social values of his community, especially when it comes to women. The story of the hemorrhaging woman is a good example of this "social soteriology" which I investigate in this thesis, after I examine the socio-political motifs in the infancy narratives and the Galilean ministry of Jesus.
The Delineation of the Lukan Travel Narrative within the Overall Structure of the Gospel of Luke.
In the sixties I had the opportunity of preparing my doctoral dissertation under the competent and stimulating guidance of Professor Frans Neirynck, who trained me thoroughly in the "Louvain" exegetical methods. My research focused on Lk 13,22-35, an important section of the Lukan travel narrative 1 . One of the questions treated there was the delineation of the Lukan travel narrative: where does it begin and end? Like most scholars, I marked the beginning at Lk 9,51. This verse marks in the most solemn way the moment when Jesus resolves to go up to Jerusalem. But against the majority opinion of that time, I considered verse 19,44 rather than 19,27 or 19,28 as the end-mark of the travel narrative. In a Flemish periodical, bearing the melodious Latin name Collationes Brugenses et Gandavenses, in which Frans Neirynck also started publishing the first fruits of his long exegetical career, I published (in 1968-69) the results of my study of the Lukan travel narrative 2 . The Flemish language being much less known than Flemish painting, my article and the arguments adduced there in support of 19,44 as the end of Luke"s travel narrative remained unnoticed, with a mere handful of exceptions, one of them being Frans Neirynck, from whose all-seeing eye nothing published in the field of Synoptic research can escape 3 ! Structure of Luke"s Gospel, in JETS 25 (1982) 33-39; J. LEAL, El plan literaria del III Evangelio y la geografia, in Estudios Eclesiásticos 29 (1955) 197-215; ID., La geografia y el plan literario del III