Origins of the Gospel of Luke. 586 B.C.E. … Destruction of 1 st Jerusalem Temple 516 B.C.E. … Completion & dedication of 2 nd Temple Torah reading instituted

Origins of the

Gospel of Luke

Origins of the

Gospel of Luke

586 B.C.E. … Destruction of 1st Jerusalem Temple

516 B.C.E. … Completion & dedication of 2nd TempleTorah reading instituted by Ezra

4 B.C.E. - 30 C.E. … Lifespan of Jesus

Origins of Luke’s Nativity StoryOrigins of Luke’s Nativity StoryOrigins of Luke’s Nativity StoryOrigins of Luke’s Nativity Story

66 - 73 C.E. … Jewish/Roman War & Masada Siege

70 C.E. … Destruction of 2nd Jerusalem Temple

75 - 80 C.E. … Approx. writing of Luke’s Gospel

79 C.E. … Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii


By this time, Jews commonly spokeAramaic and/or Greek.

Hearing Torah read in ancient Hebrew would have been comparable to us today

hearing scripture read in the Englishof Chaucer’s time.


Targum

Literally, “translation” or “interpretation.”

An explanation of an ancient text, using amore modern common language.


Jewish targums began as memorizedoral explanations of scripture.

By early 2nd century C.E., targums beganto appear as formal written texts.

Some are fairly literal … others containmany midrashic expressions.


Was Luke’s Gospel a “Christian targum”composed to accompany and parallel Torah readings?

Luke’s Genealogy(Luke 3:23-38)

Is the genealogy a synchronization mark?


Liturgical Calendar of Torah ReadingsLiturgical Calendar of Torah Readings Liturgical Calendar of Torah ReadingsLiturgical Calendar of Torah Readings

GenesisGenesis

ExodusExodus

LeviticusLeviticus

NumbersNumbers

DeuteronomyDeuteronomy

PassoverPassover

PentecostPentecost

Ninth of AvNinth of Av

Rosh HashanahRosh Hashanah

Yom KippurYom Kippur

TabernaclesTabernacles

HanukkahHanukkah

PurimPurim

NisanNisan

IyarIyar

SivanSivan

TammuzTammuz

AvAv

ElulElul

TishreiTishrei

CheshvanCheshvan

KislevKislev

TevetTevet

ShevatShevat

AdarAdar

M O

N T

H

The parallel stories purposely connect Jesus to Abraham via the Jewish literary style called midrash.


Luke inserts the genealogy of Jesus after his nativity and baptism narratives to keep it synchronized with

a genealogy that appears in Torah.

Luke then continues telling his Jesus story in the order of the Torah, weaving it in theme by theme.

Liturgical Calendar of Luke Gospel Readings Liturgical Calendar of Luke Gospel Readings Liturgical Calendar of Luke Gospel Readings Liturgical Calendar of Luke Gospel Readings

Luke 20-24Luke 20-24

Luke 1-4Luke 1-4

Luke 4-6Luke 4-6

Luke 6-8Luke 6-8

Luke 8-10Luke 8-10

Luke 10-20Luke 10-20

NisanNisan

IyarIyar

SivanSivan

TammuzTammuz

AvAv

ElulElul

TishreiTishrei

CheshvanCheshvan

KislevKislev

TevetTevet

ShevatShevat

AdarAdar

PassoverPassover

PentecostPentecost

Ninth of AvNinth of Av

Rosh HashanahRosh Hashanah

Yom KippurYom Kippur

TabernaclesTabernacles

HanukkahHanukkah

PurimPurim

M O

N T

H

Genesis Abraham (Abram) & Sarah (Sarai)

Isaac & Rebekah / Jacob & Rachel/Leah

Luke Zacharias & Elisabeth / Joseph & Mary


vs.

Genesis 11 Abram’s wife was Sarai... But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Genesis 18Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Luke 1

A certain priest named Zacharias...and his wife...Elisabeth. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.


Type Scene

“The Barren Woman” is a common type scenein early Jewish literature.

Other common Jewish type scenes are“Foreigner Meets a Woman at a Well”

&“Older Serves the Younger”


Genesis 18

And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham]... And, lo, three men stood by him... He ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground.

Luke 1

And there appeared unto him [Zacharias] an angel of the Lord... I am Gabriel and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.


Genesis 18

Sarah thy wife shall have a son....Sarah laughed saying After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?...Is any thing too hard for the LORD?

Luke 1Thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.... Whereby shall I know this? I am an old man, and my wife well striken in years....Thou shalt be dumb because thou believest not my words....For with God nothing shall be impossible.


Genesis 26

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Luke 1

And they [Zacharias & Elisabeth] were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.



Both sets of parents were called righteous.

Both Sarah and Elisabeth were barren.

Both sets of parents were old.

In both stories, the news came via angelic beings to a disbelieving father.

Both fathers were told nothing is impossible with God.

Genesis 25

Unborn twins leapt in Rebekah’s womb...

And the elder [Esau] shall serve the younger [Jacob].

Luke 1

And [Gabriel] said, Fear not, Mary... Thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

And Mary entered into [Elisabeth’s] house... When Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe [John] leaped in her womb.


Genesis 30

And she [Rebekah] conceived and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach.

Luke 1

Thus hath the Lord dealt with me [Elisabeth] in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.


Genesis 30

Happy am I [Leah], for the daughters will call me blessed.

Luke 1

He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden [Mary]; from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.


Genesis 30And they journeyed [Jacob & Rachel]... And Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour... The midwife said unto her, thou shalt have this son... As her soul was departing, she called his name Benjamin... Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Eph-rath, which is Beth-lehem.

Luke 2And Joseph went from Nazareth, unto the City of David, which is Bethlehem... To be taxed with Mary his wife, being great with child... And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.


Only 2 times in scripture that babies leap in wombs.

The elder-born boys [Esau & John the Baptizer] serve the younger-born boys [Jacob & Jesus].

Jacob and Joseph are both portrayed as on the road to their hometowns with pregnant wives, about to deliver.

The respective sons are born in Bethlehem...



Why do the midrashic origins of Luke’s nativity story now seem to be “hiding in plain sight” in Genesis?

When Luke was originally used as a “Christian targum” on Torah, the separate readings were heard in tandem. This emphasized their connection to each other and would have been unmistakable … even to the less indoctrinated.


But when later anthologized in Christian bibles, Torahand Luke are separated by some 40 books. Luke hadlong since ceased to be used as targum on Torah, andtheir parallelism became obscured … even to the highly indoctrinated.


Christianic-Jews who heard Luke being read in synagogue or Christian meeting houses certainly recognized its midrashic tone and meaning.

They likely enjoyed it very much as a masterfully crafted example of midrashic story telling.


Midrash was a common device in Jewish literature of this period.

It can be both figurative and literal simultaneously.

But its literality is always secondary to the metaphor and its meaning.

Luke's Gospel may represent one of the earliest written midrashic targums in Jewish literature.


Today we are far more sensitive to documentary literality in these narratives than were audiences in antiquity, who were far more concerned with the metaphors and their meaning.

Some historic material lends itself more readily to midrashic treatment than does other material.

For example…


The Lincoln/Kennedy “Midrash”

Lincoln & Kennedy were both shot on a Friday.

Both presidents died of gunshot wounds to the head.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Lincoln elected to Congress 1846

Lincoln elected president in 1860

Andrew Johnson born 1808

John Wilkes Booth was born 1839

Lincoln's secretary was Kennedy

Kennedy elected to Congress 1946

Kennedy elected president in 1960

Lyndon Johnson born 1908

Lee Harvey Oswald was born 1939

Kennedy’s secretary was Lincoln



Both assassins were shot before they made it to trial.

Booth shot Lincoln in a theater, and was later captured in a warehouse.

Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse, and waslater captured in a theater.

Lincoln was shot sitting with his wife at the

Ford Theater on10th St. in Wash. D.C.

watching aperformance of

“Our American Cousin.”

Kennedy was shot sitting with his wife at the

Majestic Theater onW. 44th St. in New York

watching aperformance of

Lerner & Loewe's “Camelot.”



The Meaning of the Lincoln/Kennedy “Midrash”

Simply that John Kennedy was a great U.S. Presidentequally as admired and important

as Abraham Lincoln.

Documents

Origins of the Gospel of Luke. 586 B.C.E. … Destruction of 1 st Jerusalem Temple 516 B.C.E. … Completion & dedication of 2 nd Temple Torah reading instituted