A quick update on the book: I have received the second
copy-edited version of the book and am working through it in detail one more
time before it is formatted into book-form (the next stage allows limited
changes). There are also a number of copy-editor queries through which I need
to work. I have to admit, this part of the publishing process, albeit
necessary, is the least fun.
Back to the literary context of the rich man and Lazarus
parable in Luke. Once again, I must stress that the discussion below is only about the Lukan Pharisees, not the historical Pharisees.
The Pharisees who
appear in Luke 16:14 are not a blank slate, because the narrative has already
generated quite a pejorative picture of them. They initially appear in a
chiastic series of controversies (5:17-6:11) that depicts a progression of
hostility (See Gowler, Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend, 183-215). The
progression is clearly seen in the reactions to Jesus' words and deeds: All
"glorified God" at the end of the first controversy story (5:26). The
final controversy in this series, though, provides a negative response: The
opponents of Jesus (including the Pharisees) are "filled with fury" (ἀνοίας)
and deliberate "what they might do to Jesus" (6:11). The question
remains, though: How will the Lukan Pharisees continue to respond?
The narrator begins
to answer that question by the authoritative pronouncement that the Pharisees
and lawyers reject the purpose of God for themselves (7:30). The narrator, in a
way similar to the "lovers of money" of Luke 16:14 and the rich man
of 16:19-31, immediately illustrates his overt evaluations of "all the
people and the tax collectors" as opposed to the "Pharisees and the
lawyers" (7:29-30) by the differing responses to Jesus by the "sinful
woman" (whose sins were forgiven) and (the rather inhospitable) Simon the
Pharisee (7:36-50).
The conflict between
Jesus and the Pharisees then escalates the next time Jesus dines in a
Pharisee's home (Luke 11:37-54; see Gowler, "Hospitality and
Characterization in Luke 11:37-54: A Socio-Narratological Approach," Semeia
64 (1993): 213-51). The host Pharisee is astonished that Jesus
did not wash before the meal. Jesus, as Lord (11:39), replies to the
Pharisee's unspoken thoughts with a string of rebukes. The first two sentences
of Jesus' speech are quite damaging: "inside you are full of rapacity and
the evil of covetousness. You fools!" (11:39-40). Since Jesus the Lord labels
the Pharisees fools, this appellation is of momentous importance. Being
a fool is the equivalent of being a denier of God, that is, someone
"who contemptuously disrupts fellowship between God and [humankind]"
(Georg Bertram, "ἀφρων," TDNT 9:225). The accusation
labels the Pharisees as moral failures who disregard their social
responsibilities (see Malina, The New Testament World, 2001, 50, which
makes the connection to the rich man in Luke 16:19-31 more obvious). This
devastating attack against the Pharisees also helps to create a consistent
pattern of a higher, ever-increasing level of opposition to Jesus.
The next mention of
the Pharisees in 12:1 reinforces this impression. The opposition of the
Pharisees and scribes greatly contrasts with the many thousands who come out to
see Jesus. Jesus then warns the disciples to "beware of the yeast of the
Pharisees." Yeast, of course, has a permeating influence whether
for good or for evil, but the warning of Jesus (προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς) includes the explanatory comment, ἥτις
ἐστὶν ὑπόκρισις. Once again, the Pharisees serve as an example of what to
avoid.
Other aspects in
Luke 11:37-54 have serious implications for our reading of Luke 16:19-31.
First, the Lukan Pharisees are rapacious and filled with avarice (11:39). Second,
since the Pharisees are also filled with self-righteous pride, they love to
exalt themselves over others (11:43). In Luke 14:1-14, Jesus again chastises
the social elite for seeking after honor. The narrator explains that Jesus
observed how the guests scrambled for "places of honor" (14:7). Thus
the narrative again closely identifies the Pharisees with the desire for
self-glorification. The suggestion that their tendency to self-advertisement
has eternal consequences (ἔσχατον; 14:9-10; cf. 14:11, 14) increases their
negative rating even more. The narrative intimately connects such
self-aggrandizement to a love of possessions and a disregard for the poor, as
Jesus' words and parable illustrate (14:7-24). Instead, Jesus expects the
Pharisees—and the rich man of 16:19-31—when they have a feast to "invite
the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and [they]... will be repaid at the
resurrection of the just" (14:12-14).
In the next post, I will conclude with some further comments
about how the literary context of Luke prior to the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus characterizes the Lukan Pharisees. This characterization affects our reading of the parable in its Lukan context: Luke is sending a warning to a particular group of the elite in his society (which does not really reflect the historical Pharisees very well).
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