Luke’s Holy Land and Jesus’ Company
Only in Luke do we find a group of women among Jesus’ followers who parallel the 12 male disciples. If Luke reflects any prejudice, it is against people who are wealthy and comfortable.
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Many churches follow the Common Lectionary. It assigns a reading from the Old Testament, a New Testament Epistle reading and a Gospel reading to each Sunday of the liturgical year, which begins with the first Sunday in Advent, that is, four weeks before Christmas. We are now in the third year of the lectionary’s three-year cycle, with readings from the Gospel of Luke providing the basis for sermons throughout the summer and fall. The Gospel of Luke, one of the three so-called Synoptic Gospels—it can be printed together with Matthew and Mark in parallel columns—has many special features; it’s worthwhile paying attention to these special features.
A grand design underlies Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ ministry. Satan leaves Jesus after the temptation (Luke 4:13) only to return much later in the person of Judas, who will betray Jesus (Luke 22:3–4). Between these two appearances of Satan, Jesus’ ministry is described in three phases:
(1) Preaching and healing in Galilee and Judea (Luke 4:14–9:50). Here Luke follows the account of Mark (chapters 1–9).
(2) The travel narrative, which depicts Jesus on his way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–18:14). These chapters use materials from Luke’s special source and from a source of sayings (known to scholars as Q, from the German Quelle, meaning source) shared with Matthew.
(3) The approach to Jerusalem and Temple ministry (Luke 18:15–21:38). Here Luke again follows Mark (10–13).
Within this grand design, every location has special significance.
While Mark reports Jesus’ rejection in his home town of Nazareth to have taken place at some point in the middle of Jesus’ ministry (Mark 6:1–6), Luke moves this story to the beginning of Jesus’ activities (Luke 4:16–30). After that event, Jesus moves to Capernaum and to other cities (Luke 4:31, 4:43). It is in Capernaum that the first stranger approaches Jesus (Luke 7:1–10). Thus, Luke depicts Jesus’ ministry in a threefold movement: (1) rejection at home; (2) popular acclaim elsewhere; and (3) encounter with strangers. Geographical details here have special significance. Jesus preaches in a field or teaches in a house, never on a mountain; the mountain is reserved for prayer and epiphanies (Luke 6:12, 9:28). Nor does Jesus teach at the lake (the Sea of Galilee) (compare Luke 8:4 with Mark 4:1), because the lake is the place for revelations to the disciples (Luke 5:1–11, 8:22–25).
According to Luke, instead of entering Jerusalem, Jesus goes directly to the Temple for the last segment of his ministry (compare Luke 19:45 with Mark 11:11), teaching there every day, but spending the nights on the Mount of Olives outside the city (Luke 21:37–38). He enters the city itself only after his arrest in order to die there as the first martyr of the Church. All these places, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, constitute the Holy Land, as Luke sees it.
Not only the places, however, but also the people are important in Luke’s narrative. After Pentecost (June 7 this year) and Trinity Sunday (June 14)—celebrated since the late Middle Ages in honor of the triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit—the readings from the Common Lectionary commence with Luke 7, which contains stories introducing the people who surround Jesus. In contrast to the established middle class and its usually male leadership, which formed the backbone of well-organized religion at the time, Jesus’ company includes poor and rich, women and men, outcasts rather than the “righteous.” The stories of the Centurion’s Servant (Luke 7:1–10) and of the Widow’s Son at Nain (Luke 7:11–17) show that Jesus’ sovereign activity (Luke 7:16: “a great prophet has arisen”) reaches out to people who are not only outsiders but a bit problematic: an officer of the not very beloved King Herod—though a benefactor of the Jews still a foreigner; and a widow, a person with no social standing. This theme is continued in the story about the Woman who was a Sinner (Luke 7:36–50). In a long discourse, Jesus contrasts this outcast of society with one of its respected members, a Pharisee.
A bit later, Luke speaks about other women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of a high royal administrator, Susanna and many others who belong to Jesus’ circle as assistants and benefactors (Luke 8:1–3). Only in this Gospel do we find a group of women among Jesus’ followers who parallel the group of 12 male disciples. Among these women, three leading figures (Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna—the first two appear again at the empty tomb in Luke 24:10) are explicitly named, parallel to Peter, James and John, the three leading male disciples. Unfortunately, this report is not included in the readings of the Common Lectionary. But another story about women does appear in the readings, the story of the two sisters Mary (not the Magdalene) and Martha, one of whom, Mary, sits at Jesus’ feet listening to his word. Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen “the better part” (Luke 10:38–42). Interpreters are still debating what is meant by “the better part” that Mary has chosen. The point here, however, is that it is a woman who is praised for her choice. Finally, only the 052Gospel of Luke reports that “the women who had come with him from Galilee” followed Jesus all the way to his death and burial (Luke 23:55–56).
If Luke reflects any prejudice, it is against people who are wealthy and comfortable. When someone asks Jesus to tell the man’s brother to divide the family inheritance with him, Jesus rebukes him: “Human life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:13–15). The Rich Farmer, who has laid up store for years to come, does not live to enjoy the abundance of his goods (Luke 12:16–21). Instead of inviting the obviously well-cushioned people (who give excuses anyway), in Luke’s version of the parable of the Great Supper, it is the street people and the homeless who are invited to the meal (Luke 14:15–24; unfortunately, this too is not read in the Common Lectionary). And poor Lazarus is taken to rest in Abraham’s lap, while the rich man suffers in hell (Luke 16:19–31).
Luke obviously pictures the kind of people who will constitute the Church of his time as the same kind of people who constituted the company of Jesus.
Many of the stories that will be read from the Common Lectionary this summer and fall in churches all over the country may sound familiar. Listening to the way Luke tells these stories, however, may challenge some of the assumptions about our own political and social priorities as we seek to build the Church.
Many churches follow the Common Lectionary. It assigns a reading from the Old Testament, a New Testament Epistle reading and a Gospel reading to each Sunday of the liturgical year, which begins with the first Sunday in Advent, that is, four weeks before Christmas. We are now in the third year of the lectionary’s three-year cycle, with readings from the Gospel of Luke providing the basis for sermons throughout the summer and fall. The Gospel of Luke, one of the three so-called Synoptic Gospels—it can be printed together with Matthew and Mark in parallel columns—has many special features; it’s […]
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