1 page single spaced paper E&P

2 SAMPLEs: 2 Former Students A-Papers 1

Interpretative Journal Entry #3: Luke

Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55, also known as the Magnificat, is one of several other hymns in the prologue to the Gospel of Luke that introduce themes found throughout the writing (Powell, Introducing, 156-7; Smith, 10/20/16, lecture on the Gospel of Luke). Contained in the Magnificat, in particular, are themes that are foundational to Luke’s gospel: an emphasis on praise, ministry to the lowly, Jesus’ Jewish heritage, and nature of Jesus’ messiahship. The song begins with praise of God and rejoicing (Lk 1:46- 47), which Luke thematically emphasizes more than any other gospel (Powell, Introducing, 158). The cause of this praise is that God has “looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant” (Lk. 1:48), previewing the focus on Jesus’ ministry on the lowly or disadvantaged (Powell, Introducing, 159). We see the hints of the specifics of that ministry in verse 53, where the Lord has “filled the hungry with good things.” Though Jesus certainly tended to the physical needs of the hungry (as seen in the feeding of the 5,000 in Luke 9:12-17) and does make eating a part of his ministry (Powell, Introducing, 158-9; Smith 10/20/16), by saying “good things”, Mary expands the concept what Jesus may bring to the lowly: healing (Lk 4:38-41, 5:12-26, 8:20-56, 9:37-43, 13:10-17, 14:1-6), for example, could be included in these good things. Verses 49-50 use language, like Mighty One, mercy, fear, and generation, which is reminiscent of the psalms and prophecies of the Hebrew Bible (Powell, Introducing, 155-6). This connection back to Jesus’ Jewish heritage is made explicit in the concluding stanzas of the song in the references to Israel and Abraham in verses 54 and 55. At the same time, Mary states in verse 48 that “all generations” will call her blessed, an allusion to the extension of Jesus’ ministry and salvation to the gentiles. The parallelisms in verses 51, 52, and 53, in which God brings down the powerful and rich and exalts and cares for the lowly and hungry, prefigures the type of “world turned upside down” ministry that Jesus will teach and preach through his parables (Lk 6:20-26, 9:21-26, 9:46-50, 10:29-37, 11:37-54, and others). They also serve to prefigure the type of Messiah Jesus will be; rather than the savior of Israel coming with military or political strength, as had been expected, Luke’s Jesus is the prophetic suffering servant who disrupts power structures by his refusal to participate in them (Smith, 10/20/16). Luke and John: Luke and John both include hymn-like material early in their gospels that introduce themes that will be found throughout the book. Just as Mary’s Magnificat in Luke’s gospel highlights Jesus’ emphasis on the ministry to the lowly in Luke’s gospel, as seen above, the prologue to the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18) emphasizes Jesus’ identity as God. This thematic emphasis in introductory material may be a reflection of the relatively later dating of both of these gospels (in the 80’s or 90’s CE) and of a more advanced compositional or editorial process (Powell, Introducing, 155-156, 175-177). Though the gospels are broadly categorized on opposite ends of the theological spectrum, with John as the most theological or spiritual of the gospels (Powell 169-170) and Luke as less concerned about clear theological thinking (Powell, Introducing, 166-167), both do express theological thought with this introductory material. At the same time, John’s prologue has a substantially different emphasis than the hymns in Luke. John introduces Jesus as the Word (John 1:1, 1:14), the true light (1:9), the son of the Father (1:14, 18), and, fundamentally, God (1:1, 13, 18). Though he does situate Jesus in the Jewish tradition (1:17) and expands Jesus’ saving power to those outside of Judaism (1:12) as Luke does, John is more theologically expansive, bridging the gap in the thought of the church between Jesus as messiah and Jesus as God (Powell, Introducing, 182).

2 SAMPLEs: 2 Former Students A-Papers 2

Interpretive Journal Entry #3: Luke

Throughout the Gospel of Luke, the writer provides a very clear example of what church should be through the depiction of meals. “Luke mentions nineteen meals, thirteen of which are peculiar to his Gospel” (Powell 158). Meals provide an overview of several major themes of Luke’s gospel, including inclusivity and fellowship, humility, and healing. The first is that of inclusivity and fellowship. Customs of the early 1st century dictated that Jews were not to eat with Gentiles or those who were unclean. Jesus shatters these customs and is seen eating with everyone from tax collectors, (Luke 5:29) to Pharisees (Luke 14:1) to sinners (Luke 7:36). Meals throughout the gospel are filled with individuals from across different cultural, socio economic, and faith backgrounds. Christ’s table is an inclusive table. The second theme visible throughout Luke’s gospel, and portrayed through meals is that of humility. Meals are often accompanied by lessons, and many of Jesus’s teachings such as, hospitality (Luke 10:7) and service (Luke 22:26), are grounded in the theme of humility. In Luke 22 Jesus informs his disciples, “Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant…For I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:26-27)”. Finally, a third theme visible throughout the Gospel of Luke is healing. Specifically, three types of healings—personal forgiveness and healing (Luke 7:48), physical healing (Luke 14:4) and the healing of relationship (Luke 15:11-31)—all occur at or are celebrated by meals. Through his depiction of meals, Luke is sending a very clear message to the 21st century church. Church is to be a place where all are welcome and can come as they are. Church is to extend beyond Sunday to the breakfast, lunch and dinner table. Meals instead of being filled by TV are to be shared with friends, family and strangers. Teaching, healing and fellowship are not to be limited to Sunday service, but are instead to be lived out throughout the week and lives of Christ followers. Luke and Matthew: The gospels of Luke and Matthew contain a number of similarities—both are synoptic gospels, used the Gospel of Mark as a source, and most importantly proclaim Jesus as Christ— however these gospels cannot be fully appreciated without understanding the audience the original work was intended for. The Gospel of Luke is addressed to the “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 3:1), who is assumed to be “a wealthy patron who has put up the money to cover the considerable cost that the production and distribution for a work such as [the Gospel of Luke] would entail” (Powell 152). Luke’s Gospel was intended for a widespread audience. The Gospel of Matthew on the other hand, was written to a largely Jewish Audience. One way the intended audience is visible is through each author’s purpose of writing. In Luke 4, Jesus states the purpose of his ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim …. the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (Luke 4:18-19). A key theme throughout Luke is that Jesus’ ministry is for all, even the least of these. Matthew intentionally focuses in on his Jewish audience. In Matthew, Jesus makes a number of references to his ministry being directed solely to Israel, “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). Another way to examine the disparities in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew is by the way Jesus is portrayed. To his Jewish audience, Matthew insists that Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). Matthew makes numerous references to Jesus’ fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy (Matthew 1:23 and 21:5). In Luke on the other hand, Jesus is known by a number of different titles. Like Matthew, Luke makes clear that Jesus is the Messiah that was spoken about in the Hebrew Scriptures (Luke 9:20 and 24:27). At the same time, Luke draws upon pagan images such as philosopher, and benefactor (Powell, Introducingnt.com). Given his diverse audience Luke is intent on providing multiple entry points to Jesus. Readers of the Bible in the 21st century must resist the urge to label the stories presented in the gospels as right or wrong. No single view point could ever capture the full picture of Jesus. As 21st century Christians we have a great honor and privilege to read and experience the story of Jesus from a number of different perspectives, may we take full advantage.