A Shorter Life of Christ by Donald Guthrie

Author:Donald Guthrie [Guthrie, Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ZONDERVAN
Published: 2010-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

7

The Closing Period

THIS IS THE most difficult period in which to arrange the narrative in any certain sequence either chronologically or geographically. Matthew and Mark are very brief, while Luke collects into a journey narrative a great deal of material which appears to be loosely linked.

1. Moving Toward Jerusalem

For Luke there is a sense of an inevitable movement of Jesus toward Jerusalem, subsequent to the two specific predictions of the Passion. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the impression of movement is slight. In one section (Luke 9:51-18:31), the references to Jerusalem are perplexing. Luke 9:51 indicates that Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem. Luke 10:38 shows Him in the village of Mary and Martha (Bethany). Luke 17:11 shows Him passing along between Samaria and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem. Luke 18:31 records His declared intention to go up to Jerusalem. Luke 18:35 ff. shows Him in the region of Jericho, and Luke 19:28 tells of His final movement toward Jerusalem and leads to the record of His entry into the city. It is difficult to fit all these references to Jerusalem into the same visit. Indeed, it is simpler to find suitable occasions for the Johannine material (John 7-10) if at least two distinct visits to Jerusalem are postulated. Even then no satisfactory chronological arrangement can be made. It may be questioned whether any advantage would accrue from such an arrangement. It is better to retain as far as possible the impressions given by Luke and to deal separately with the additional material belonging to the Jerusalem ministry related by John. For convenience, therefore, the travel narrative of Luke will be divided at the end of Luke 13 (the lament over Jerusalem) in order to record the events and discourses of John 7-10. It should be noted that whereas the greater part of the material in this section of Luke is peculiar to him, there is much that is paralleled in other contexts in Matthew and there are a few sections which are shared by all three synoptists. In the following brief survey emphasis will fall on Luke’s special contribution.

a. From Galilee to Bethany. In none of the other gospels is Jesus’ own dramatic awareness of the nearness of the climax brought out as vividly as it is in Luke’s brief comment on the commencement of the final journey (Luke 9:51). The resoluteness with which Jesus faces Jerusalem is specifically marked. The first event on the journey occurred when He was about to pass through a Samaritan village (Luke 9:51-56). The direction of His face roused the opposition of the inhabitants. The desire of James and John to wreak vengeance by means of heavenly fire is remarkable for its naive incongruity. It was not in their power to do what they suggested, and it was utterly alien to the spirit of Jesus. His path to Jerusalem was not to be strewn with burned villages as emblems of anger, but with many instances of patient forbearance toward those who had little understanding of the burden of His mission.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.