Salvation in Luke: the impact of allusions to the cult on his soteriology
by Anthony John Talbot
A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS BY RESEARCH
Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham December 2015
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Abstract
This thesis examines possible allusions to the cult in Luke and indicates their potential impact on his soteriology. Various Jewish concepts of ‘salvation’ current in Luke’s day are discussed.
This is followed by a critical examination of the Nazareth pericope (Lk 4.16-30) and the
Emmaus encounter (Lk 24.13-35), as possible allusions to the Jubilee, and that Jesus might be presented as the fulfilment of the prophetic redemption contained therein. The sabbath-day healings are considered as possible indications that Luke’s Jesus deliberately healed on the sabbath in order that the sick might, being healed, receive shalom. Indications that Luke and his contemporaries may have understood the consecration of the sabbath in Genesis to be, at least partly, a celebration of shalom as the work of creation, is presented as possible evidence that the healing ministry of Jesus in Luke was fulfilling the purpose of the Temple cult (the ritual re-creation of Edenic shalom), and that Jesus applied to himself the exemption from sabbath-day rest granted to the Temple priests. Finally the prayer of the parabolic tax collector
(Lk 18.13) is treated as a possible allusion to the prayer of the High Priest on the Day of
Atonement and an indication that the righteousness attributed to those who observe the Day is now available to the penitent sinner.
לְמִרְ יָם
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my profound thanks to my supervisor, Dr Philip Burton, for his invaluable constructive criticism and encouragement.
AT
Contents
0 Introduction 1
0.1 The question 1 0.2 Aspects of the cult relevant to this research 3 0.2.1 The Year of Jubilee 3 0.2.2 The Sabbath 4 0.2.3 The Day of Atonement 5 0.2.4 Salvation, Cultic Sacrifice and Atonement 6 0.3 Methodology 118 0.3.1 A Taxonomy of Allusions 18
1a Chapter One Part One: The Year of Jubilee announced in Nazareth as the programme for salvation in Luke 25
1a.1 Introduction 25 1a.1.1 Jesus replaces John: the field of scholarship 26 1a.2 The Isaian citation 28 1a.3 The narrative location of Lk 4.18-19 against Mk and Mt 29 1a.4 The response of the hearers 30 1a.5 The role of the spirit in Luke-Acts 35 1a.6 Luke’s use of Isaiah in the context of Second Temple exegesis. 40 1a.7 Purposeful anointing– οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν µε 44 1a.7.1 Second Temple Messianic Expectations 44 1a.8 Good news for the poor 48 1a.9 Redemption 51 1a.10 The year of the Lord’s favour 52 1a.11 Conclusion 57
1b Chapter One Part Two: The road to Emmaus: the expected redemption and the Year of Jubilee 58
1b.1 Introduction 58 1b.2 The hope of Cleopas versus the passion predictions 59 1b.2.1 The passion predictions in Luke 61 1b.2.1.1 The first prediction 61
1b..2.1.1.2 The Transfiguration 64 1b.2.1.2 The second prediction of the passion 66 1b.2.1.3 The third prediction of the passion 67 1b.3 Messianic expectation and the Year of Jubilee 69 1b.3.1 Messianic expectation in the Dead Sea Scrolls 70 1b.3.2 A suffering Messiah 72 1b.4 Parallels with Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch 75 1b.5 The ironic fulfilment of prophecy in the Emmaus pericope 77 1b.6 Conclusion 78
2 Chapter Two: The Sabbath - Salvation in Luke as the re-establishment of Eden-based 80 שָׁלוֹם
2.1 Introduction 80 86 שָׁלוֹם The diversity of meaning of 2.2 in the creation stories and the Garden of Eden 89 שָׁלוֹם The concept of 2.3 in the Priestly source 90 שָׁלוֹם 2.3.1 among the beasts 92 שָׁלוֹם 2.3.1.1 2.3.1.2 The completion of creation 93 in the Yahwist source 95 שָׁלוֹם Indications of Edenic 2.3.2 2.3.2.1 The goodness of creation 95 2.3.2.2 Remedying the loneliness of man, creating wholeness 96 2.3.2.3 peace and delight without shame and the consequence of sin 98 and the promise of its re-establishment שָׁלוֹם The Sabbath consecrated to celebrate 2.4 99 in Eden 101 שָׁלוֹם Exorcisms: the defeat of evil reversing the rupture of 2.4.1 2.5 The mythical association of Eden and the Temple 102 2.5.1 Further evidence of the mythical interpretation of the Eden sanctuary in wider cultic aspects of Genesis. 110 in the Temple 111 שָׁלוֹם 2.5.2 the fruit of salvation 112 שָׁלוֹם 2.6 in Luke 113 שָׁלוֹם Salvation and 2.6.1 2.7 Conclusions 115
3 Chapter Three: The Day of Atonement - The prayer of the parabolic tax-collector, an allusion to the day of atonement 116
3.1 Introduction 116 3.2 The Temple in Luke 117
3.3 The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector 121 3.3.1 The penitential Psalms 122 3.3.2 The prayer of Manasseh 125 3.3.3 Yom Kippur 127
4 Conclusion 132
5 Bibliography 137
5.1 Ancient Sources 137 5.2 Modern Sources 138 Introduction 1
Introduction
0.1 The Question
Since Hans Conzelmann (1969, p.201) declared that in Luke:
‘there is no trace of any Passion mysticism, nor is any direct soteriological significance drawn from Jesus’ suffering or death. There is no suggestion of a connection with the forgiveness of sins [in the Passion of Jesus],’ many redaction and other historical Biblical critics have continued to deny any sense of salvation in the death of Jesus in Luke. Thus for instance Marshall (1970) and Pilgrim (1971) read a more holistic sense of salvation to incorporate physical, social, economic and political dimensions alongside the spiritual, and agree that Luke does not clarify the means of atonement, but rather obscures it by omitting Mk 10.45 καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ
ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.1 For
Glöckner (1975) salvation in Luke is not achieved by Jesus’ death or resurrection but rather by the repeated pattern of reversal: in his death and exaltation, Jesus identifies with the lowly who shall be exalted. For Dibelius (1966) the crucifixion was a model of innocent martyrdom rather than a means of expiation. Against this Karris (in Sylva ed. 1990) argues that translating
δίκαιος in Luke 23.47 as ‘innocent’ misses Luke’s theology of Jesus as the ‘righteous one’ (cf
Ps 22; 31; 69; Wis 2) who, having suffered, was vindicated by God. Some (du Plessis 1994,