Both Here and There

Studies in Concentric Parallelism in the Gospel of Luke

Chadwick

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781498243209
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Chadwick moves the talk about concentric parallelism (chiasm) in biblical prose out of academia and into the pastor's study. The author displaces "reasons why we shouldn't" with ways we can confirm and interpret large concentric structures in scripture. Chadwick methodically unpacks the Galilee-to-Jerusalem travel narrative in Luke and brings to light three other lengthy concentric structures in the Third Gospel. He helps pastor-exegetes apply a productive hermeneutic that can lead to theologically rich preaching and teaching from Luke's Gospel. Any experienced Bible student will find Both Here and There fresh and fruitful.

Part 1

The Galilee Narrative

Luke’s Galilee narrative describes the period in Jesus’ ministry from his return to Galilee (4:14) after John’s baptism and the devil’s temptation to the moment when Jesus departs from Galilee toward Jerusalem (9:51). Rumors swirl around about Jesus (4:22, 23c, 37; 5:15; 7:18) and people come from near and far to see what he is doing and hear for themselves what he says.

Luke provides for Theophilus an account of Jesus’ early ministry, an account aimed at convincing Theophilus of Jesus’ uniqueness and of a requisite response to Jesus. Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee for Theophilus includes episodes arrayed in three large concentric parallelisms. These structures gather the story of Jesus up into theological units for a discerning reader.

Part 1 of this book identifies and interprets three concentric parallelisms in the first third of Luke’s Gospel, with our chapters 1, 2 and 3 offering detailed validations and systematic interpretations. Readers should study these three concentric structures well before moving on to the fourth structure in Part 2.

1

Disciples and Apostles

Luke 4:40–6:19

Luke writes his narrative to a person he calls “most excellent Theophilus” in order to clarify for him a variety of teachings about Jesus that were circulating. He intends to provide Theophilus with “certainty” about the person and activity of Jesus (Luke 1:1−4). For Theophilus and for any other readers, certainty about what God is up to in the “word” about Jesus (2) warrants theological and practical consequences. Perhaps more on the practical side is the question, how does one become a follower of Jesus?

In order to answer this question, Luke organized a concentric prose discourse in Luke 4:40–6:19, that erects the following structure.16

The justifications for dividing the text of Luke in this way make up a significant portion of this chapter, followed by an exposition on what Luke consequently teaches (through Jesus’ words and actions) about following Jesus as his disciples. In the course of our analysis we address Luke’s unique perspective on disciples. Next we document the form. Finally we interpret the form.

Luke’s Unique Perspective

Luke alone among the Gospels presents Jesus as calling disciples after a distinct time of individual ministry. Matthew, Mark, and John all describe Jesus as calling a band of disciples after his baptism and temptation. Matthew and Mark place the call of Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John just after Jesus’ withdrawal from the Judean wilderness to Galilee (Matt 4:12–22, Mark 1:14–20). John states that Simon Peter and others “came and saw” Jesus while all were still in the vicinity of John the Baptist (John 1:39). Subsequently Jesus calls them, renames Simon, and welcomes them to stay with him (1:29–51). Luke, however, uniquely places the gathering of disciples by Jesus as happening only after a period of unaccompanied ministry.

In Luke, Jesus returns to Galilee from the time of temptation in the Jordan wilderness, news about him spreads, he teaches in synagogues and then in the Nazareth synagogue. Later, in the Capernaum synagogue, he drives out a demon from a man, but leaves there in favor of ministry in Simon’s home, where he heals diseases and casts out more demons until there is reason for Jesus to seek out temporary solitude (Luke 4:14–44).

Luke describes all of this as happening after Jesus’ baptism and temptation in the wilderness, but before Jesus calls any disciples. At first Luke shows Jesus as a people’s prophet, but not as the kind who gathers a band of followers. He seems to be like Elijah and Elisha (4:24–27), although not yet having any followers analogous to the “sons of the prophets.”17 But unlike those prophets he attracts crowds of the curious and the needy. “All” were transfixed by his teaching (4:20), “all spoke well of him and marveled” at his words (22), “all” were “amazed” at his authoritative power (36), people brought “all” the sick and diseased to him for healing and Jesus healed “every one” (40). “The people” want access to Jesus and to his amazing power; they would keep him for themselves (42).

Then Luke tells of Jesus beginning to call out (from 5:2) a band of disciples, some of whom Jesus will eventually, after a period of training, send out to broaden his ministry (9:1–6, 10:1–24). The story of whom he gathered and Luke’s concurrent discourse on how persons become disciples extends through a long portion of text from 4:40 through 6:19, a portion which begins with Jesus having no disciples and ends with having twelve designated apostles (6:12–16) and “a great crowd of . . . disciples” (17), a portion centered on the statement “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (5:32).

Luke’s unique presentation of this period in Jesus’ ministry is made up of concentrically parallel rings of narration. These rings of encounters radiate out from a central teaching section in which Jesus teaches about calling disciples and becoming discipl...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1: The Galilee Narrative
• Part 2: The Journey Narrative
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Glossary
• Appendix 2: Jesus’ Journey and Elijah’s Journey
• Bibliography