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The Lord's Prayer in the Gospel of Luke

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The Lord's Prayer in the Gospel of Luke The Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke Moira Izatt Scholarscannotgiveadefinitedateastowhenthecanonicalgospelswerewritten,but itisbelievedthatMarkwaswrittenfirst,around70CE.Matthew,LukeandJohnwerewritten inthelatepartofthefirstcentury,perhapsbetween80and90CE.AlthoughJohnisalsoplaced inthe80sor90s,itisthoughtthathiswasthelastofthecanonicalgospelstobewritten. Thegospelsaremadeupoflayersoftraditionsandcollectionsofstories,sayings, andpassagesfromtheHebrewScripturesthatarestitchedtogethertotellaboutthefirst communities’experiencesofJesus.Thewritersofthegospelsalsomadeadditionsoftheirown dependingonthesituationandspecificneedsoftheircommunities.Scholarsuseavarietyoftext criticaltoolstoanalysethelayersoftraditionintheBibleinordertomakeeducatedguesses aboutthecommunitiesinwhichthewritingswerereadandused. Matthew,MarkandLukearecalledthesynopticgospelsbecausemuchofthematerial foundinthemissimilar.ItisgenerallyagreedthatLukeandMatthewusedMarkasaprimary source.Aswell,LukeandMatthewusedtheirownindependentsourcessothatthereismaterial inLukethatisfoundonlyinLuke,andmaterialinMatthewthatisfoundonlyinMatthew. LukeandMatthewalsousedanothersourcecalledtheQdocumentasoneoftheir primarysources.TheQdocumentisahypotheticalwrittendocument.Althoughthereareno extantcopiesofthisdocument,biblicalscholarshavereconstructeditbyanalyzingthematerial thatiscommontoLukeandMatthew,butnotfoundinMark.Becausemuchofthismaterial isthesamewordforwordinbothgospels,scholarsbelievethattheoriginalQwasawritten document.About30percentofLukeandabout25percentofMatthewcomefromtheQsource. Qisalsoreferredtoasthe‘SayingsSource’becauseitismostlymadeupofsayings withverylittlenarrative.Thesesayingsreflectthesentimentsofa1stcenturyapocalypticJewish Palestiniancommunity.Thatis,apoorcommunitythatwasunderduress,apeoplewhowere hopingforaprophet,priestorkingwhowoulddeliverthemfromlivesofhungerandpoverty. TheBeatitudes,whicharefoundinLukeandMatthew,areconsideredtobepartoftheQ document.Theygivehopetopoorpeoplewholongfortheendofaworldfilledwithinjustice. Blessedareyouwhoarepoor,foryoursisthekingdomofGod. Blessedareyouwhoarehungrynow,foryouwillbefilled. Blessedareyouwhoweepnow,foryouwilllaugh. Luke6.20-21 －21－ Theyalsoportrayapeoplewhorailagainstthisinjustice. Butwoetoyouwhoarerich,foryouhavereceivedyourconsolation. Woetoyouwhoarefullnow,foryouwillbehungry. Woetoyouwhoarelaughingnow,foryouwillmournandweep. Luke6.24-25 ScholarswhoaccepttheexistenceoftheQdocumentbelievethatsomeofthesayings originatedwiththehistoricalJesus.TheLord’sPrayerandtheBeatitudesaresaidtobeamong these.TheprayerappearsinasimpleversioninLuke11.2-4andamoreelaborateversionin Matthew6.9-13. Primarily,theLord’sPrayerhasexistedandstillexistsinasacredcontextfor Christians,clerical,layandacademic;itisdifficultnottobeovershadowedbythisinfluencewhen analyzingit. TheLord’sPrayeralsoexistsinseveralsocialcontexts.Thereisthecontextofthe unknownQcommunity,aJewishcommunitysomewhereinearly1stcenturyruralPalestine. Therearethecontextsofthesomewhatmoreknownandmoreurbancommunitiesoutside ofPalestinetowhomLukeorMatthewaddressedtheirgospels.ThereareJewishChristian contextsandtherearegentileChristiancontexts.WealsohavethelargerworldoftheGreco- Romanempirewithinwhichthesesmallercommunitiesexisted. Similarly,theprayerexistsinseveralliterarycontexts.Wehavetheambiguouscontext ofahypotheticalgroupofsayingswithlittlerevealingnarrativereference.Wealsohavethe multi-layeredliterarycontextswithintheGospelsofLukeandMatthew.Thispaperlargely focusesontheGospelofLukewithsomereferencetotheActsoftheApostles. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles ScholarsbelievethattheGospelofLukeandtheActsoftheApostleswerewrittenby thesameperson,theputativeLuke,eventhoughtheyareseparatedbytheGospelofJohn.The firstclueappearsintheintroductiontoeachbook.TheGospelofLukeisdedicatedtoTheophilus. ThewriterofLukeexplainstoTheophilusthatheplanstogiveanorderedaccountofthelife ofJesus.ThewriterofActsalsoaddressesTheophilusinhisintroductionandreferstothe‘first book’thattellsabout‘allthatJesusdid’.BothbooksarecommonlyreferredtoasLuke-Acts. TheGospelofLukedescribesthelifeandmissionofJesusfrombeforehisbirthto hisdeath,resurrectionandappearancesinJerusalem.TheActsoftheApostlesdescribesthe －22－ TheLord’sPrayerintheGospelofLuke expansionofthemissiontothegentilesandendsinRomewithPaul’steachingsbeingeasily acceptedbygentileaudiences.FromthelettersofPaul,whichpredateLuke-Acts,weknow thatthistransitionwasnotasseamlessasLukemakesitappear.Luke’seditorialadditionsand intentionssuggestthatthemostlygentileLucancommunityhadseparatedfromJudaism,the motherreligion.Asaresult,theylosttheprotectionofthespecialstatusthatJudaismheldinthe Romanempire.ThegrowinggentileChristiancommunityisbecomingadistinctreligiouscultin theGreco-Romanworld,butwithouttheprotectionofJudaism’sspecialprivilege,theChristian communitieshavetosurviveontheirownmeritintheRomanempire.Theyhavetodevelopand maintaingoodrelationswithRomanauthoritiesandatthesametimepreservetheintegrityof theirbeliefs. Relatedtothisisthedelayoftheparousia.NooneknowswhenChristwillcomeagain, sotheLucancommunitieshavetofindawaytoliveandproselytizeforanunknownlength oftime.OneofthetechniquesthatLukeusestomaketheChristiancultacceptabletoRoman authoritiesistoshowthatgentilesofhighsocialstandingoftenunderstandandacceptJesus’s authoritymorereadilythanJews（7.6）. The Holy Spirit and prayer PrayerandtheHolySpiritarevitaltothesurvivalofthecommunity.These themes areintertwinedandrunlikeathickgoldenthreadthroughoutLuke-Acts.IntheGospelofLuke, prayer,praiseandblessingareoftenlinkedtothepresenceoftheHolySpirit. ThefirsttwochaptersofthegospelaboundwithpeopleprayingandpraisingGodand thepresenceoftheHolySpirit.Attheverybeginning,（1.8） thewholeassemblyisprayinginthe TemplewhenJohntheBaptist’sfather,Zechariah,hashisvisionaboutJohn’smiraculousbirth. TheangelGabrieltellsZechariahthatJohnwillbefilledwiththeHolySpiritevenbeforeheis born. Mary’ssongofpraise（1.46-55） isaprayerofrejoicing,thetoneandthemereminiscent ofHannah’ssongofpraiseintheHebrewScriptures.MaryhonoursGodwithhersoulandcalls Hisnameholy. UndertheinfluenceoftheHolySpirit,Zechariahbeginshisprophecyaboutthesalvation ofIsraelbyblessingGod（1.68-79）. InLuke2.14,amultitudeofangelspraiseGodaftertheir announcementofthebirthofJesus.Likewise,theshepherdsglorifyGodaftertheyseethebaby Jesus（2.20）. AtJesus’scircumcision,Simeon,‘guidedbytheSpirit’,praisesGod（2.28-32）. Anna, anotherprophetwhospentherlifeinfastingandprayeralsopraisesGod（2.37-38）. LuketellsusthatJesusoftengoestoadesertedplacetopray（5.16）. Theimageof －23－ Jesusprayingaloneinvokesasenseofthesacredinthehearerorreader,especiallybecausewe knowhisstory,whathedidduringhislifetime,howhediedandwhathappenedafterhisdeath. InLuke3.21-22,JesusisprayingjustafterhisbaptismwhentheHolySpiritdescendson himandGodspeakstohim.‘YouaremySon,theBeloved;withyouIamwellpleased.’Although wecanassumethatJohntheBaptist（and possiblyotherdisciples）werearoundatJesus’s baptism,addressingJesusas‘you’suggeststhathearingthevoiceofGodisaprivateexperience whichisinkeepingwithLuke’sportrayalofJesusprayingalone.Afterthisexperience,Jesus, filledwiththeHolySpirit,goesintothewildernessandwrestleswiththetemptationsofthe devil. Prayeroftencomesbeforeanimportantdecision.InLuke6.12Jesusspendsthewhole nightinthemountainsinprayerandthefollowingday,hechoosesthetwelveapostlesfrom amonghisdisciples.Wedon’tknowhowmanycandidatesJesushadinmindforthetwelve apostles,butfurtheron,Lukewritesthat‘crowds’ofdiscipleswaitforhimontheplainafter hisdecision（6.17）. TellingusthatJesusspendsthenightinprayerandthathehassomany followersunderlinesthecomplexityofhisdecision.Itpointstothesignificanceoftheroleof prayerinJesus’slife.Inthispartofthestory,thepowerofprayerisfurtherexemplifiedin teachingandinhealing.IntheSermononthePlain（6.17-49）, Jesusteacheslargenumbersof peoplefromJudea,fromJerusalem,fromTyreandfromSidon.Intermsofgeography,these listenersandbrokenpeoplecamefromfarandwide.Jesushealseverysinglepersoninthose throngs.‘Powercameoutfromhimandhealedallofthem.’（6.19b） InLuke9.18-27Jesusisprayingwithhisdisciplesclosebywhenheasksthem,‘Whodo peoplesaythatIam?’Thedisciplesreplyvariously,andwhenJesusasksthediscipleswhothey thinkheis,Peteranswers,‘TheMessiahofGod’.Jesusdoesnotdisagree,andgoesontopredict hissuffering.Heexplainsthatdiscipleshipwillrequiresimilarsuffering.Inthisstoryprayeris connectedtopublicperception,self-identityandlifepurpose. InLuke9.28-36,JesusgoesupamountainwithPeter,JohnandJames.Asheprayshe istransformedinfrontofthedisciples’eyes.TheywitnessadifferentrealitywhereJesusspeaks withMosesandElijah.GodidentifiesJesusashissonagainandtellstheapostlestolistentohim. Afterthevoice,thatrealitydisappearsandJesusisalone. Jesus’smainteachingonprayerrunsfromLuke11.1-13whichincludestheLord’s Prayer,aparable,sayingsaboutpersistenceinprayerandthepromiseoftheHolySpirit.The needtobepersistentinprayerisreiteratedinLuke18.1-7.FurtheronJesuspointsoutthat humilityisthecorrectattitudetotakebeforeGodinprayer（18.9-14）. InLuke19.46,JesusmakesapowerfulstatementaboutprayerandtheTemple.He cleansestheTemple,thecentreofJudaism,whilequotingIsaiahwhodesignatedtheTempleasa －24－ TheLord’sPrayerintheGospelofLuke houseofprayer. WhenJesuscleansestheTemple,weareneartheendofLuke’sgospel.Thisstory recallsthebeginningofthegospelwhentheTemplewasfilledwithdevoutpeopleatprayer. TheangelpredictedthecomingofJohntheBaptistwhosemissionitwastocleansethepeopleof Israel. InLuke20.47,JesuscriticizesTemplefunctionarieswhosubstitutelongprayersfora genuineunderstandingofwhatGodwants.Theysaylongprayerswhileatthesametimeshow nomercytovulnerablepeopleinneed.
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