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INTRODUCTION
1. Gregory Palamas, Homilies 4.12.
2. Cyril of Alexandria, Letters 46.
3. William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 1, Scene 1.
4. All translations in this book (biblical and otherwise) are my own, though I confess to an informal and inconsistent “default position” in the New King James Bible.
5. Gregory of Nyssa, De Opificio Hominis 16.12; Oratio Catechetica Magna 6.
6. Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses 4.20.7.
7. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 37.
1 GROWING UP
1. Cf. Acts 1:21–22; 10:36–37; 13:23–25. This historical point will be developed in detail in chapter 3.
2. There is nothing remarkable here. Genealogies in the Bible always follow the paternal line.
3. Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews 16.2.4 § 43.
4. Cf. Luke 4:33, 44; 6:6; 13:10.
5. One hates to insist on the obvious, but the odor of Descartes and Schopenhauer still infects the cultural atmosphere.
2 TWO CONVERSATIONS
1. My translation here strives to convey the precise sense of the Greek expression in Luke 2:51; the imperfect tense dieterei means more than “kept.” “Continued to keep” better expresses the ongoing action of the verb.
2. In the cultural setting of the day, marriage for a female at—or near—age twelve was not unusual.
3. Mark 1:14; cf. Matthew 4:12; Luke 4:14.
4. Mark 1:16–20; John 1:35–51; 2:2.
5. John 2:12; cf. Mark 1:21; Luke 4:23.
6. Matthew 2:1–15; Luke 1:8–38.
7. Mark 1:21–28; Luke 4:23.
8. John 16:32; cf. 4:21; 5:25; 13:1; 16:21; 17:1.
9. Letters 137 (to Volusianus), 3.9.
3 BAPTISM
1. Mark 1:7–8; John 1:29–34; 3:26–30; Acts 18:25–26; 19:3–4.
2. This emphasis is not added. It is conveyed in the Greek word order.
3. Contrast John 1:32.
4. Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28; 10:21–23; 11:2; 22:32, 41–44; 23:46.
5. Prayer is obviously a major preoccupation of Luke. This gospel begins (1:10) and ends (24:53) with prayer. Luke is the only Evangelist to speak of Jesus at prayer also at the Transfiguration (9:28–29), in preparation for the calling of the Twelve (6:12), and just prior to the giving of the Lord’s Prayer (11:1). Luke alone records certain parables about prayer (11:5–8; 18:1–14). Moreover, into her regular and standard formulations of worship, the Christian church has, virtually from the beginning, adopted certain specific prayers found only in Luke: the Magnificat (1:46–55), the Benedictus (1:68– 79), the Gloria in Excelsis (2:14), and the Nunc Dimittis (2:29–32).
6. Luke 1:15, 35, 41, 67; 2:25–27, 26, 27; 3:16.
7. The emphasis here is not added. It is contained in the Greek word order.
8. That is to say, his name was “Nathaniel, son of Tholomew.”
9. Acts 8:14–15.
4 THE HUMAN CONDITION
1. I will not speculate on what sorts of divine “adjustments” were necessary for God’s Son to become human. I know absolutely nothing about God’s life except through the revelation of Jesus’ life, given in Scripture.
2. We will come back to this Adamic motif when, in chapter 10, we reflect on Jesus’ agony in the garden.
3. Cf. Zechariah 3:1–5.
4. Luke 9:51; cf. 13:22; 17:11; 18:31.
5. Catechesis, a word that literally means “according to the echo,” refers to a standard pedagogical model in which the early Christians were instructed in the basics of the faith: repetition and memorization. Some of those “basics”—archai—are listed in Hebrews 6:1–2.
6. 1 Corinthians 10:1–13; Hebrews 3:7–4:11; 12:25.
5 THE PUBLIC MINISTRY
1. Luke 13:6–9.
2. Since as far back as the second century—Tatian’s Diatessaron—there have been attempts to harmonize all the material in the Gospels into sequential narrative. Such efforts serve mainly, I believe, to distract the reader from the particular voice of each of the gospel writers. In liturgical practice, this harmonization approach is used exclusively during the Passion narratives of Holy Week.
3. It bears comparison with Luke’s solemn introduction of the preaching of John the Baptist (Luke 3:1–6).
4. They even wondered, for a while, whether he was deranged; cf. Mark 3:21.
5. Outside of his seven “signs,” John records a later miracle dependent on obedience to a command: “He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find.’ So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish” (John 21:6).
6. The close relationship of Peter to “my son Mark” was well-known among the early Christians—1 Peter 5:13.
7. Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16.
8. This was a liberty rarely taken by Jewish scribes copying Hebrew manuscripts. When a Jewish copyist found a biblical reading that looked wrong to him, or seemed unusual, he made a note of it, but he would not change it.
9. Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56.
10. Their only shared feature, I think, is that the child is twelve years old and the woman has been bleeding for twelve years.
11. Matthew 8:23–34; Mark 4:35–5:20; Luke 8:22–39.
12. Papias of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, the Anti-Marcionite Prologue and the Muratorian Fragment in Rome, Tertullian in North Africa, Irenaeus of Lyons in southern Gaul, Clement at Alexandria in Egypt.
13. Nor do I discount the hypothesis that written sources were also available to the gospel writers. In particular, there seems to have been a written source from which Matthew and Luke derived a number of their parables.
14. Years ago, I sailed on the Sea of Galilee on a relatively calm day. There was only a slight wind, but the waves were high and the spray splashed up copiously over the sides. The scene as portrayed by Rembrandt catches the gospel account very well.
6 LEARNING AND TEACHING
1. I am leaving out of this discussion exactly what is meant by “the divine omniscience.” If I were to deal with this subject, it would be necessary to mention that the concept of the divine omniscience is not quantitative. Divine omniscience does not mean that whereas we human beings know only some things, God knows everything. The difference between some and every is merely quantitative. Alas, this quantitative assessment does seem to be the fancy of those who think that the mind of Jesus was gifted with the divine omniscience. That is to say, they imagine that Jesus’ knowledge extended, quoad quantum, to all things, as though divine omniscience were simply a widened extension of human knowledge. Even if a universal quantitative extension was a quality of the Incarnation—and there is not the slightest evidence for it in the Gospels—it would not imply that Jesus’ mind was gifted with “divine omniscience.” God’s knowledge is formally—and not just materially—different from man’s. Indeed, there are no parallels of comparison between the two. Between divine and human knowledge, there is no foundation for analogy or comparison.
2. Matthew 12:25; Mark 12:15; Luke 6:8; 11:17.
3. Perhaps this would be a good time to remind ourselves that we have not the foggiest idea what it means for God, as God, to be conscious of himself as God. It is insane to pretend we have the faintest inkling of what we are talking about when we speak this way. As Christians, who believe Jesus to be the sole mediator between God and man, we recognize that the only possible way for us to know how God thinks was for God’s Son to assume a human mind—like ours—to think with. And that is what the Incarnation means with respect to Jesus’ self-awareness. We must not kid ourselves here: Apart from Jesus, we have no insight whatever into the life of God. Apart from Jesus, all talk about God is just talk.
4. Matthew 8:26; 9:5; Luke 12:14; 17:17.
5. Matthew 12:5, 34; 19:4–5; 21:16; 22:20, 45; 23:33; Luke 11:40; 12:56–57.
6. Matthew seems deliberately to avoid this primitive usage, probably because of a reluctance to place Jesus within the same category as the Jewish leaders who opposed the gospel (cf. 23:7). In Matthew’s story, Jesus is called “Rabbi” only twice—both times by Judas Iscariot (26:25, 49)! Indeed, it appears that, for Matthew, the title “Rabbi” was to be eschewed altogether (cf. 23:8). (With respect to the Semitic “Rabbi,” it is worth remarking that not all Christians emulated Matthew’s avoidance of the expression. In spite of the injunction to “call no man Rabbi,” Christians in the Middle East, as late as the eighth century, felt no scruple about addressing their priest as “Rabbi” [cf. John of Damascus, Letter on Confession 9].)
7. John 1:49; 3:26; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 20:16.
8. John 8:4; 11:28; 13:13–14.
9. Mark 3:17, 22; 5:41; 7:11, 34; 10:46; 14:36; 15:34.
10. Mark 9:5; 10:51; 11:21; and, alas, 14:45.
11. Mark 5:35; 14:14.
12. Mark 4:38; 9:17, 38; 10:17, 20, 35; 12:14, 19, 32; 13:1.
13. Luke 7:40; 8:49; 9:38; 10:25; 11:45; 12:13; 18:18; 19:39; 20:21, 28, 39; 21:7; 22:11.
14. Matthew 8:19; 9:11; 12:38; 17:24; 19:16; 22:16, 24, 36; 26:18.
15. Matthew 24:45; cf. Luke 17:7–9; 22:27.
16. Matthew 9:28; Mark 8:27, 29; Luke 9:18–20.
17. Matthew 14:31; 16:8; 26:40; Luke 6:46; 8:25; John 14:9.
18. Matthew 10:29; 11:16; Luke 7:31; cf. 13:18, 20.
19. Other examples appear in Luke 11:11–12; 12:24–28; 13:2, 4; 16:11–12.
20. Matthew 17:25; 18:12; 21:28; Luke 10:26.
21. Mark 3:18; John 12:22.
22. This “road” (hodos) is, for Mark, the Way of the Cross. This word appears repeatedly as Mark’s story carries Jesus toward Jerusalem to suffer and die (cf. Mark 8:27; 9:33–34; 10:17, 32, 46, 52).
7 JESUS AT PRAYER
1. Midweek services, which are standard in many Christian congregations, serve to express this truth about the structure of existence.
2. Mark 6:48; cf. Matthew 14:23–25.
3. Recall that only Luke mentioned Jesus praying at the time of his baptism.
4. Luke 9:51, 53; 13:22, 33.
5. 2 Peter 2; 3:3, 17.
6. 1 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 3:2.
7. Matthew 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13.
8. Matthew 11:25–26; 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; 23:34, 46; John 11:41; 17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25.
8 JESUS AND THE WOMEN
1. The Greek pronoun for “others” here is feminine.
2. Cf. Matthew 9:35–36; Mark 6:34.
3. Literally, “only begotten” (monogenes). Elsewhere, of course, this is the word used to speak of Jesus’ own relationship to the Father (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9).
4. Contrast this text with Matthew 9:18 and Mark 5:23.
5. Contrast this text with Matthew 17:15 and Mark 9:17.
6. Literally, “Stop weeping.” In Greek, the present tense negative imperative (the form Luke uses here) means “Stop doing what you are doing.” The common translation, “Do not weep,” fails to catch this nuance.
7. Cf. Acts 10:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 12:3; Philippians 2:11.
8. Luke 10:1, 40; 11:39; 12:42; 13:15; 17:5, 6; 18:6; 19:8, 31, 34; 22:61; 24:3, 34.
9. It is used repeatedly in the post-Resurrection scenes.
10. Compare Mark 10:48.
11. Matthew 9:20–22; Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48.
12. The verb is in the Greek imperfect tense, signifying continued action.
13. The translation of agathen as “better”—instead of “good”—is required by the Koine Greek idiom, when two or more things are, in context, being compared.
9 THE GROWING CRISIS
1. We will presently reflect on this story at greater length.
2. Matthew 12:1–8; Luke 6:7–10; 13:14–16; John 5:9–10; 7:22–23; 9:14–16.
3. Matthew 12:8.
4. Matthew 9:1–6; Luke 7:48.
5. Matthew 21:12–17.
6. Matthew 21:1–9; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19.
7. Thus, Mark indicates Sunday to Monday (Mark 11:11–12), Monday to Tuesday (11:19–20), Wednesday (14:1), and Thursday (14:12).
8. Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26.
9. Matthew 9:9–13; Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32.
10. Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19.
11. Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35.
12. Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21:7–36.
13. 1 Kings 17:8–16; Luke 4:25–26.
14. Justin Martyr, First Apology, 67.
15. Matthew 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:17–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–25.
16. Matthew 26:17–20; Mark 14:12–17; Luke 22:7–15.
17. Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.
18. John 8:16, 18, 38, 49, 54; 10:25.
19. John 10:15, 17–18.
10 THE GARDEN
1. Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46.
2. Origen, Contra Celsum 2.24.
3. John, who does not narrate the agony at all, goes immediately to Jesus’ arrest, where the Savior is portrayed entirely in terms of dignity and majesty. In this gospel it is no exaggeration to say that Jesus controls the scene (cf. John 18:1–9).
4. Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62.
5. John 18:36–37; 19:11.
6. Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51.
7. Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28.
8. Matthew 26:40; Mark 14:37.
9. For reasons unnecessary to rehearse here, I am disposed to date Hebrews in the early 60s, prior to all four gospels. However, because none of the other accounts seems to borrow from Hebrews, the dating of these works is not pertinent to these reflections. Nor is the authorship of this work, on which Christians have never agreed.
10. To “taste death”—t’am mitah—was a standard rabbinical expression; see Matthew 16:28; John 8:52.
11. Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.
12. Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:32.
13. Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34.
14. Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke (22:39–46).
15. Ambrose of Milan, Homiliae in Lucam 10.56.
16. Cf. Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6.
17. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1.
18. I am following the longer text of Luke, which contains 22:43–44. I am familiar with the weak manuscript support for these verses, but their content (the bloody sweat and the strengthening angel) is well attested in Christian sources either earlier than, or contemporary with, our oldest extant manuscripts of Luke. To wit, Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 103.8; Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies 3.22.2; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments of the Psalms 1 (2.7); Epiphanius of Cyprus, Ancoratus 21:4–5.
19. Aristotle, Historia Animalium 3.19.
11 THE BRIDEGROOM IS TAKEN AWAY
1. Matthew 26:20, 26, 36, 37, 40, 58.
2. Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27; 1 Corinthians 1:23.
3. Matthew 10:17; 20:19; 23:34; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33; John 19:1.
4. For this reason, John reserves the name “antichrist” for those who deny Jesus’ sonship from the Father (1 John 2:22; 4:2–3).
5. God’s “delight” in His Son also evokes, once again, the opening chapter of Job.
6. Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23.
12 RISEN IN THE FLESH
1. Luke 24:36–43; John 21:24–25.
2. Luke 24:34; cf. Mark 16:7.
3. Mark 16:9–11; Luke 24:11, 22–24.
4. Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:12.
5. Arguably, the closest biblical parallel to the present story is the account of Joseph, who “led on” his brothers for several chapters of Genesis, constantly feigning ignorance about their family, pretending not to speak their language, giving them various probative hoops to jump through, and at great length setting them up for the surprise of their lives, when at last he revealed to them, “I am Joseph, your brother.”