In literary terms, the
character Jesus dominates the narrative of Luke. Beginning with Luke 4:1, he is
the center of interest, is at the center of all exchanges, and, until the
passion narrative, is in charge as the main actor. Since Jesus is the hero of
the story, the narrator expects readers to evaluate other characters in Luke
according to their responses to Jesus. Many characters belong to a group (e.g.,
the Pharisees, scribes, and priests) and can be evaluated—in varying degrees of
complexity— together (see Gowler, Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend, 177-319).
Numerous other minor characters, such as the characters in the parables,
flit across the stage of Luke and Acts and are more difficult to define or
delineate; but the Pharisees in Luke 16:14 and the rich man and Lazarus in Luke
16:19-31, like all characters in Luke, ultimately direct one's attention to the
main character, Jesus. The narrator provides a number of divergent characters
so that they can either draw out aspects of Jesus' character and/or provide
alternative responses to Jesus; the narrator's own ideology is clearly seen by
the way in which responses are seen as "appropriate" or
"inappropriate." Jesus, of course, is clearly identified
as the authoritative hero of the story: "Lord" (1:43, 76), "Son
of the Most High" (1:32), "Son of God" (1:35),
"Christ" (2:26-32), and various other positive evaluations (e.g.,
2:40,46-47,49, 52; 3:15-17). The entire narrative reinforces this positive
portrayal of Jesus.
The earlier sections
of Luke portray a conflict that occurs as the good news of God encounters
opposition from an often recalcitrant humanity. Signals of such conflicts
reverberate throughout the narrative. The narrator intersperses the themes of
reversal (e.g., 1:52-52) and Israel's salvation (1:32-33, 54-55, 68-79; 2:25,
30-32, 38) with the incorporation of Gentiles in God's plan (e.g., 2:30-32).
After Simeon's prophecy explicitly foretells the conflicts ahead (2:29-35),
signs of these conflicts soon appear in the narrative during the episodes prior
to Jesus' public ministry (3:1-4:13). The preaching of John the Baptist (3:7-9,
Ιοί 7) prepares the way in more than one respect: "all flesh shall see the
salvation of God" (3:6, cf. Simeon in 2:30-32). John warns those of Jewish
descent not to trust solely on their ancestry (as I will explain in a later
post, the rich man in the parable who calls out to "Father Abraham"
certainly is in this category), and he also explains why people
should "bear fruits worthy of repentance" (3:8, 14).
Luke 4:16-30
contains the inaugural statement of Jesus' mission and is a microcosm of the
entire ministry of Jesus. Almost every scene in Luke and Acts can be related to
this scene, especially the Galilean ministry (4:14-9:50). Jesus offers a
proclamation of release (4:18-21), and the narrator then sets out to
demonstrate that Jesus is indeed doing what he was sent to do, according to
that programmatic declaration in the Nazareth synagogue, such as bringing good
news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, recovery of sight to the
blind, liberty for the oppressed, and the acceptable year of the Lord. Then the
narrative displays Jesus' activities related to this proclamation: casting out
an unclean demon (4:31-37); cleansing a leper (5:12-16); healing a paralytic
(5:17-26); healing a man with a withered hand (6:6-11); healing a centurion's
servant (7:1-10); raising a widow's son at Nain (7:11-17); and other episodes
(e.g., 4:38-41; 6:20-21; 7:36-50; 8:26-33, 40-56; 9:37-43).
More explanation of the literary context in the next post.
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