Endnote 11 – O Little Town of…Nazareth?

Once again, we have reason to be suspicious. Just as in Matthew, certain elements of Luke’s birth account do not appear to be straight reporting but reflections of the author’s own habits of thought, as expressed in the rest of the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles (which was written by the author of Luke). The birth account displays the author’s ongoing interest in John the Baptist, whose work he will describe in detail (Luke 3:1–20, 7:18–35; Acts 1:5, 22, 10:37, 11:16, 13:24–25, 18:25, 19:3–4); his pronounced theme of reversal (Luke 1:53; cf. 6:21–25); his preservation of a classic Jewish messianic hope, according to which Jesus will ultimately restore the throne to Israel (Luke 1:33, 74; cf. Acts 1:6); and his unique connection of Christian origins with external political events (cf. Luke 3:1).