Lectionary Year C
August 26, 2001
Luke 13:10-17
Composition
Step III - Composition
A. Immediate Context
(JFC) Pre - The first ten verses of Luke 13 Jesus is teaching, re: repentance's necessity for survival of tragedies. Then he tells part of a parable about a barren fig tree, which if it continues to bear no fruit it will be cut down.
Post - Following the text at hand, in the final eighteen verses of Luke 13, Jesus asks, "What is the Kingdom of God like?" and answers by telling the parables of the mustard seed and yeast. Thereafter, he goes a-journeying further on toward Jerusalem, teaching as he goes, about the end times. Then some Pharisees warn him that Herod wants to kill him. He sends word to Herod, "that fox", that he has three more days of healing to do. Subsequently, he prophecies that he wanted to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they were unwilling to be so gathered.
B. Organization of the Compositional Whole
(JFC) As recent weeks' exegeses have noted, the Gospel of Luke might be divided into four parts: 1) John the Baptist's and Jesus' births and early lives, 1:1-3:38; 2) Jesus' ministry (in Galilee) of teaching, preaching, healing, working miracles and associating with people, mostly people in need, 4:14-9:50; 3) Jesus' journeying toward Jerusalem, still teaching, preaching, healing, etc., 9:51-19:27; and 4) Jesus in Jerusalem for his trial, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection, 19:28-24:53. In The Good News According to Luke, Eduard Schweizer singles out 3:1-9:50 and names it, "The Growth of the Community". Obviously, Luke writes more of Jesus' going toward and suffering in Jerusalem than other stages of his life and ministry. Some commentaries divide Jesus' passion, his death and his resurrection appearances, but I combine them together, as does Schweizer. And a few others divide out the preparations for Jesus' ministry, 3:1-4:14. As Joseph A. Fitzmyer contends, in The Anchor Bible Commentary, Luke intended to further the historical developments of Israel in the Old Testament. Frederick W. Danker, in Jesus and the New Age, According to St. Luke, A Commentary on the Third Gospel, acknowledges how 1:1-4 might lead us to conclude Luke writes for one or only a few in authority. Thereupon, Danker at once expands his opinion of Luke's purpose by stating that Luke apparently writes for "a broader circle of readers, who are to receive further instruction and resources for evaluating especially theological issues." Luke seems to want to inform the people of the faith how their God intends for them to live.
C. Issues of Authorship
(JFC) As in previous weeks' essays, we wrote that the Gospel of Luke is composed, admittedly, not by eyewitnesses, but it depends on reports of those who were on the scenes when events happened (1:2). Plummer in ICC says it was written by a Gentile for Gentiles. Recently published commentaries tend to doubt the author of the Third Gospel is the companion of Paul (Philemon 24), and/or the physician (Colossians 4:14), though, many still do consider that he was the author of the Book of Acts, too. Most scholars date this Gospel's origin after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem (21:20-24) and after Mark's Gospel was written (c. 65-70). And, William Baird, The Interpreter's One Volume Commentary on the Bible, writes, "Since the situation of the Church reflected in the Gospel fits well the political situation of the reign of the emperor Domitian (81-96) a date from about 85 to 95 is most likely." Mark Alan Powell, in What Are They Saying About Luke, observes that, "Luke seems to have an affinity for parallel references to men and women. . . the Sabbath healings of a woman (13:10-17) and a man (14:1-6), . . ." among other examples cited. What's more, Luke seems to be, "the work of a consummate literary artist. Jerome recognizes this fact quite clearly, referring to Luke as the most skilled writer among the Evangelists," as Fred Craddock says in "Luke, Introduction," Harper's Bible Commentary. Also, the Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels in the Jerusalem Bible states, "Luke is at once a most gifted writer and a man of marked sensibility (could they have said, "sensitivity"? I think I could.) . . . Luke, in Dante's phrase, is 'the faithful recorder of Christ's lovingkindness'. . . Luke's (Greek) is mixed: when writing independently it is excellent but out of respect for his sources he incorporates their imperfections - after polishing them a little. . ."
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