A Jewish Bible Companion (Part 16 of 0)

A Reading Plan for the Gospel of Luke(7) – Part seventeen

(Editor's note: As Bro. Hill has remarked to us, this series is not wholly "reader friendly." This is not unusual for a first presentation of basic research in any field. In every article, however, we have found very useful links between New Testament and Old that greatly help in our reading of both. While readers may not be able to follow every step in Bro. Joe's presentation, we encourage them to look for the gems that all Bible readers can appreciate.)

Week 51

The Torah reading for week 51 is Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20 “Ye stand.” Luke’s three lessons for the week are: 1) Luke 17:20-37 on the day of the son of man; 2) Luke 18:1-8 on the importunate widow; 3) Luke 18:9-14 on the Pharisee and the publican.

  • 51a. The kingdom is in your midst — Jesus’ “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Lk. 17:21 RVm) has the same idea as Moses’ “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off…But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” (Dt. 30:11-14).
  • 51b. Sodom, fire and brimstone — “The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Lk. 17:29) parallels “the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt (cp. “Remember Lot’s wife,” Lk. 17:32), and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah…which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath” (Dt. 29:23).
  • 51c. Life and death — “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Lk. 17:33) summarizes Moses’ exhortation (Dt. 30:15-20) on life and death. The previous generation of Israel sought to save its life by refusing to enter the land because of the giants that were there; consequently, they died. The new generation was exhorted to choose life instead of death. Jesus gives us the same exhortation. We must have faith that God will keep His promises. There should be no fear when we must lose our current way of life. In fact, unless we are willing to lose our lives in this world, we will lose our eternal life in the world to come.
  • 51d. Eagles — “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (Lk. 17:37) has the word “eagle” as does the previous week’s reading from “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance” (Dt. 28:49-50).
  • 51e. Judge and widow — “There was in a city a judge…and there was a widow in that city (Lk. 18:2-3) recalls “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge” (Dt. 24:17) from the reading for two weeks earlier.
  • 51f. Avenge — “Avenge me of mine adversary…I will avenge her…shall not God avenge his own elect…I tell you that he will avenge them speedily” (Lk 18:1-8) is based on “Vengeance is mine, and recompense…I will render vengeance to mine adversaries…Rejoice, 0 ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries’ (Dt. 32:35,41,43 RV) to be read two weeks later.
  • 51g. Tithes — The Pharisee’s “I give tithes of all that I possess” (Lk. 18:12) recalls the law “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing” (Dt. 26:12) read the week before.
  • 51h. Standing afar off — The publican “standing afar off” parallels the opening verse of the Torah reading, “Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God” (Dt. 29:10), and also uses the same word “afar off” that occurs later in the reading, “the stranger who shall come from a land afar off” (Dt 29:22 Septuagint; cp. 30:4).
  • 51i.  Repentance — The repentant attitude of the publican (Lk. 18:13) illustrates Moses’ exhortation to “return unto the Lord thy God…with all thine heart and with all thy soul” (Dt. 30:2).

Weeks 52-54

There are very few parallels in the rest of the Deuteronomy section of Luke One possible explanation for this is that starting with week 52 (that is, at Luke 18:15) to nearly the end of the book, Luke essentially copies, nearly in sequence from Mark, making relatively minor changes here and there. This method differs substantially from the method that Luke uses in weeks 44 through 51. In these eight weeks, which cover the journey to Jerusalem, Luke has a lot of material not found in the other synoptic gospels. Perhaps it is not coincidental that it is in these same weeks that we have found so many parallels to Deuteronomy. Luke is freer to arrange the material to follow the Torah readings. Now that he is copying from Mark, he has less flexibility, and the number of parallel: drops off. In other words, Luke has more in mind than just providing lessons corresponding to the Torah readings.

Week 52

The Torah reading for week 52 is Deuteronomy 31:1-30 “And he went.” Luke’s three lessons for the week are: 1) Luke 18:15-17 on becoming like children; 2) Luke 18:18-34 on the rich young ruler; 3) Luke 18:35-43 on the healing of the blind Bartimaeus.

In the Torah reading, Moses exhorts Joshua and the people to “be strong and of good courage” (Dt. 31:6,7,23) as they prepare to inherit the land. Luke’s lessons about entering the kingdom (Lk. 18:17,24) are related even if they do nu have the detailed parallels that we have become accustomed to. For example we must become like children in order to enter the kingdom (Lk. 18:17), alluding to the fact that it was the children who entered the promised land instead ol their unfaithful parents who died in the wilderness. In addition, it is in this reading that Jesus comes “nigh unto Jericho” (Lk. 18:35; cp. 19:1), just as the children of Israel were before they entered the land (cp. Dt. 32:49).

Week 53

(See “Tidings” 3/93, pg. 100 for explanation of why a 53rd and 54th week.)

The Torah reading for week 53 is Deuteronomy 32:1-52 “Give ear.” Luke’s three lessons for the week are: 1) Luke 19:1-10 on Zaccheus; 2) Luke 19:11-28 the parable of the pounds; 3) Luke 19:29-40 about the triumphal entry.

The Torah reading is the song of Moses, which recalls God’s righteousness (DL 32:1-4), the corruption of Israel (32:5-6), the selection of Israel as God’s people (32:7-14), the falling away of Israel (32:15-18), the resulting punishments (32:19-25), the preservation of Israel so its enemies could not take credit for the things God had done (32:26-34) and finally God’s vengeance taken on Israel’s enemies and the restoration of His people (32:35-43).

Simply put, neither Israel, the citizens of the kingdom, nor her enemy, God’s instrument for the destruction of Israel, want God to rule over them. Consequently, Israel and her enemy are punished.

Jesus turns this sequence into the parable of the pounds, which includes, “His citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us…those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over then, bring hither, and slay them before me” (Lk. 19:14,27).

Week 54

The Torah reading for week 54 is Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 “Blessing.” Luke’s three lessons for the week are: 1) Luke 19:41-48 on the lament for Jerusalem; 2) Luke 20:1-8 on the question of authority; 3) Luke 20:9-18 the parable of the wicked husbandmen.

Here Luke’s parallels to Deuteronomy drop off completely. Instead, the overturning of the money changers in the temple (Lk. 19:45-46) is Jesus’ way of purging the leaven out of his house in preparation for Passover a few weeks later.

Weeks 1-4

We briefly studied Luke’s readings for weeks 1 to 4 in an earlier article (Tidings, 12/93). Here we repeat some of that earlier material and add a few new ideas, especially on Luke’s reading for Passover.

Week 1

The Torah reading for week 1 is Genesis 1:1-6:8 “In the beginning.” Luke’s three lessons for the week are: 1) Luke 20:19-26 the question about tribute to Caesar; 2) Luke 20:27-44 the question about resurrection; 3) Luke 20:45-21:4 on widows and the widow’s mites.

  • 1a. Marriage — The references to marriage in Luke 20:27-36 recall the creation of the woman and the first marriage in Genesis 2:18-25.
  • 1b. The bush — The allusion to the bush, that is, to Exodus 3, is appropriate, because we are closing in on Passover.

Week 2

The Torah reading for week 2 is Genesis 6:9-11:32 “Noah.” Luke’s lesson for the week is Luke 21:5-38 the Olivet prophecy.

In Matthew, the Olivet prophecy was Jesus’ speech for Passover. Luke puts it in the same place. One specific allusion to the Torah reading on Noah and the flood is “the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21:25-26).

Passover

Luke’s reading for Passover is Luke 22-23. These chapters are filled with allusions to Passover.

For example, here are some selections from Luke 22:1-23 — “Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover…Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat…where I shall eat the passover with my disciples…and they made ready the passover…With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.”

And, like Matthew, Luke has readings for each of the three hour watches of the Passover vigil:

6 pm Luke 22:1-23 Last supper.
9 pm Luke 22:24-38 Conversation at supper.
Midnight Luke 22:39-53 Agony and arrest.
3 am Luke 22:54-62 Peter’s denials before the cockcrow.
6 am Luke 22:63-23:12 Trials: Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod.
9 am Luke 23:13-32 Pilate sentences Jesus to death.
Noon Luke 23:33-43 The crucifixion.
3 pm Luke 23:44-56 Death and burial.

The phrase “your hour, and the power of darkness” (Lk. 22:53) refers to two parts of the Passover story. First, “it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt” (Exo. 12:29). And second, the “power of darkness” likely refers to the destroying angel of darkness (Exo. 12:23), God’s angels of evil (Psa. 78:49 RV), who were the real power behind the activities that night (cp. Acts 2:23).

Week 3

The Torah reading for week 3 is Genesis 12-17 “Get thee,” which is about Abraham. Luke’s reading for week 3 is Luke 24:1-12 about the resurrection. Although there are no detailed parallels between these two readings, resurrection is one of the many teachings found in the Genesis readings (e.g., Gen. 13:15; 17:7-8; cp. Acts 7:1-7; Heb. 11:8-10,13-16; Lk. 20:37-38). In Genesis 15, Abraham awakens from a deep sleep (symbolic of death) between the two evenings, with a prophecy of the Exodus in between. The story in Luke is about the same topic, resurrection.

Week 4

The Torah reading for week 4 is Genesis 18-22 “The Lord appeared.” Luke’s reading is Luke 24:13-53 the resurrection appearances. The parallels here are obvious once you know to read the passages side-by-side. They both talk about “appearances” of the Lord, about the constraining of someone to come into their house, about eating, and about someone having doubt as a result of unbelievable joy (see Tidings, 12/93).

Luke’s Method of Construction

We are now in a position to suggest how Luke constructed his gospel. We suggest that Luke had the gospels of Mark and Matthew in front of him. He also had additional material about the life of Christ that had not been recorded in the two previous gospels. Mark and Matthew both organized their gospels around the Jewish feasts, Matthew for a complete year, Mark for half the year. These two gospels were ideal for Jewish believers who still kept the Jewish feasts.

But more and more Gentiles were coming into the household of God. These Gentile converts would be taught to read the Old Testament using the same reading plan that the Jews had used for thousands of years: each week, a portion of the Torah, and a corresponding portion from one of the five books of prophecy. First principle classes would be taught using these readings. These Gentile believers would also have brief lessons for the major Jewish feasts, but they would not keep all eight days of Passover and Unleavened Bread, Tabernacles or Hanukkah; these would become one-day feasts. Furthermore, they would not keep the Jewish invented fast on the Ninth of Ab or the Jewish festival of Purim, which was becoming more and more decadent as years went by.

Luke was inspired to write a gospel for Gentiles. He organized his gospel to line up with the weekly readings from the Torah and the prophets.

For his Genesis section (Lk. 1-4:30; 20:19-24:53), much of the material (Lk. 1-2; parts of 3-4; 24:13-53) is Luke’s own new material, that is, material that is not in Mark or Matthew; only a bit comes from the two earlier gospels. In these readings, Luke’s gospel is filled with the language and ideas of Genesis.

For his Exodus section (Lk. 4:14-6:19), he takes material from Mark, nearly in order, and leaving little out of the sequence. The connections to Exodus are there, but they are not as impressive as those in the Genesis readings.

For his Leviticus section (Lk. 6:20-8:25) which includes readings for Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, he rewrites material from Matthew. Luke’s Tabernacles reading is much shorter than Matthew’s because it is intended for a one-day feast instead of an eight-day feast.

For his Numbers section (Lk. 8:26-9:50) which includes a reading for Hanuk­kah, Luke takes his material from Mark, nearly in order, but this time skipping a large portion. Again, Luke cuts the Hanukkah reading down to a single portion, instead of eight portions.

For the majority of his Deuteronomy section (Lk. 9:51-20:18), Luke is his own master again, and the parallels are impressive. There are multiple parallels per week and the parallels are in exactly the same terms found in Deuteronomy.

Luke does not have readings for the Ninth of Ab or for Purim, neither of which would be appropriate for his Gentile audience.

What’s Next?

So far our study in Luke has focused on the parallels to the Torah readings. We have set out a reading plan for Luke and found many connections to the Torah. Next month, Lord willing, we will start studying parallels between Luke’s gospel and the readings for the Former Prophets.