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A Redaction-Critical Analysis of Jesus ' Rejection at Nazareth

Introduction

All the gospel wrote with specific objectives in mind . They have their respective target audiences as well as different emphases as to the different aspects of the person of the Christ . Matthew had the Jewish people as his target , while John , the broader audience which are Gentiles mainly . Mark and Luke also have their own audiences the aimed target of the first are Romans , while the latter 's recipient was an individual named Theophilus (Constable

2000 p5 . In to understand the application of the narratives and the messages of each of the gospel writer , which are usually similar (especially the synoptics , one needs to understand the background of each gospel . To whom was it originally addressed ? What are the objectives or the emphases which the have chosen to elaborate on their readers ? These are some of the important and helpful questions that the student may find beneficial in his /her study of the gospels

This 's focus at hand is to compare Mark 's record with Luke 's record pertaining to an instance in Jesus ' life when he came to his own hometown in Nazareth . What are the differences , if there are any between the two records ? Moreover , what are the reasons for discrepancies ? Are there aspects of Jesus ' person as Messiah , or theological points that the two simply wanted to stress . As is often pointed out by biblical apologists and scholars , the seeming contradictions within the three synoptic gospels (Matthew , Mark , and Luke ) can be explained only by taking the three documentations as independent accounts of three eyewitnesses - with each focusing on specific angle - intent on reporting what they have discovered on the scene , as modern-day journalists would in any given event . There are actually no inconsistencies among gospel , only differences in slant . For example , Matthew 's record of Jesus ' arrest by the Roman soldiers contained an incident involving the cutting off of the ear of the high priest 's servant (Matthew 26 :51-53 . In John 's gospel , he named the high priest 's servant as Malchus (John 18 :10 . Matthew did not identify the disciple who drew the sword , but John was more specific when he mentioned that it was Peter . When reading the four gospels (especially the synoptics , it is very important to compare all four records to have a complete documentation of certain events in Jesus life . When one lacks the necessary details , the other can supply those important details and thus a strong evidence of what has really happened is established (Constable 2000 p4

Mark 's Account of Jesus ' Visit at His Hometown - Nazareth

Mark 's account of Jesus can be understood better if the reader and student will take into consideration Mark 's portrayal of Jesus in his gospel . The gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the Suffering-Servant - a man of action . Jesus ' role as the Servant of the Lord is stressed all throughout . It is in Mark 's gospel that Prophet Isaiah 's prophesy concerning the Suffering-Servant is made clear . Although the evidences of Jesus ' miracles are enough proof of Jesus ' extra-ordinary nature still many Nazarenes refused to believe . They rather dwelled on the fact that Jesus grew up in their midst as an ordinary man - the son of the carpenter (v .3 . So familiar they were with Jesus that they could name not only his parents ' but also the names of his siblings . This familiarity led to contempt as evidenced by their refusal to accept and believe him as the One who was promised as the coming Savior . This rejection of the people of his home town paved the way for Jesus to focus more on his twelve disciples . Instead of getting too absorbed among the crowds , he started to turn increasingly from the multitudes to the training of the twelve . Mark emphasized the humanity of Jesus and expanded on his sufferings to present Jesus to his readers as truly man and not only divine . There was a tendency among early believers to take Jesus ' deity to extreme which left them at a loss especially when they were supposed to take Jesus as their human example of bearing the sufferings that resulted from their being followers of Christ . Mark 's challenge to his readers was like Apostle Paul 's challenge to the Christians at Philippi : Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus , who , being in the form of God , did not consider it robbery to be equal with God , but made Himself of no reputation , taking the form of a bondservant , and coming in the likeness of men . And being found in appearance as a man , He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death , even the death of the cross (Philippians 2 :5-8 . If Matthew presented Jesus as the Messiah-King , Mark depicted Jesus as the Son of Man who humbly submitted himself in was Mark 's aim to woo his readers into following Jesus even if it entails persecution (Escalona 2007

Luke 's Account of Jesus ' Visit at Nazareth

Luke has a different slant in his gospel . Although he made his intention clear at the very start of his letter (1 :4 , that is , to inform Theophilus of the reliability of the gospel , he also had other concerns - one of them was to draw his readers (not only Theophilus ) to the person of Jesus and become believers . One theologian has aptly said that the gospel of Luke was a good apologetic for Christianity that could have drawn Greeks because of Luke 's choice of materials , his vocabulary and style (Constable 2000 p5 . Luke 's target audience were Greek Gentiles who , like Theophilus , were God-fearers . In the book of Acts , Luke referred to Gentile God-fearers several times . These were Greeks who usually had a respect for the God of the Jews . Hence , they were familiar to the Greek translation of the Old Testament - the Septuagint - and were eager to learn more about this one God of the Jews . Faith in Jesus ' Luke tells his readers , is not a deviation from what the Old Testament Scripture is teaching it is , in reality the end to which God was driving at in His dealings with His people - Israel (Robert Maddox The Purpose of Luke-Acts

. 187 . Luke presents Jesus as the Perfect Man , the Second Adam who is the Savior of all mankind . If Adam , the first man , failed , Jesus the Second Adam - perfect and sinless - is able to save and is in fact seeking to save the lost ' Even though many bible students consider Matthew 13 :53-58 , Mark 6 :1-6 , and Luke 4 :16-30 to be parallels , there is good reason to set aside that consideration . Differences between Luke 's account and that of Matthew and Mark seem to prove that their records point to two separate incidents . The occasion which Luke recorded took place earlier while the incidents that Matthew and Mark alluded to happened later (Bock 1996

Luke 's Theological Agenda

What is Luke 's aim in his gospel ? As with the other gospel , it was to declare that the Christ has come . Luke presented Christ , as mentioned above , as a perfect man . This was to stress the fact that although he was a truly human person , he was nevertheless different in that he was perfect and sinless from birth (1 :35 . Thus , he was able to save to the uttermost . He was the second Adam who would head a new race which he himself would have redeemed by his own blood . The passage at hand (Luke 4 :16-30 ) reveals certain things about Jesus which Luke intended to drive home in the hearts of his readers (aside from Theophilus . First , He is the Messiah - the anointed One of Isaiah 61 :1 The Jews during the Old Testament times could not see the Messiah building his church in the New Testament era . Although Isaiah wrote about the Suffering Servant , it was vague and difficult to understand for the Jews to see the Messiah suffering . What they could see clearly was the triumphant Messiah-King who would reign and rule over his people Israel . They could not see and grasp the coming church age . Jesus is the liberator of the new race , and the first very important thing that he would do was to deliver his people from the power of sin . Jesus is the Anointed-One ' said Luke the One approved by God ' Second , Luke pointed out here that in spite of the fact that Jesus had lived a righteous life among them in that they were all witnesses of his life as he was growing in their midst , they found it hard to accept him like what he was claiming to be - the Anointed One of God . When Jesus said Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing ' the Nazarenes muttered , Is this not Joseph 's son ' They could not believe him in spite of the marvelous gracious words ' which he uttered . And so Jesus declared to them some of his severest condemnation (vv .23-27 because he was rejected by them as God 's Sent out One , he quoted several historical facts which relate also to the stubbornness of Israel in their past history of which God responded by turning to Gentiles even in those olden times . The words were too harsh for those people hearing him in the synagogue . So they were all filled with wrath (v .28 ) and attempted to throw him down the cliff , but for unexplainable reason , he escaped . Salvation was offered always to the Jews first since they were the ones who were supposed to be ripe for harvest . The Old Testament promises were given to them . But since most of them rejected God 's offer when God was fulfilling His promises in their midst , God deemed it right to turn to the Gentiles and so fulfill the broader implications of His plans - to take the gospel to all the nations , and bring it back again to the people of Israel when God 's appropriate time comes (Bock 1996

Conclusion

Luke , in no way , altered the message of Mark . If anything , he enhanced Mark 's message . As I mentioned in the introductory part of this all gospel were reporters who just worked on their evidences They focused on different angles of the same story thus , at times , they seemed to be contradicting each other . Understanding , however , the contexts of their narratives , their intended audience , and the goals of their writings , one will find that they aren 't opposed to each other at all . On the other hand , all four gospels are needed in for us to have a full and complete grasp of God 's plan of salvation . We need to see the four sides or aspects of the Person of the Messiah . We need to see Jesus as He is . Although reading and understanding the gospel of John alone or any of the four gospels is enough to tell anybody about salvation , it is still far more beneficial if we take all four and learn the complete account of Jesus ' life . Matthew presents Jesus as the King Mark portrays him as Servant , and Luke introduces him as the perfect Man - the second Adam , while Apostle John introduced Jesus to us as the Living Word . What a complete depiction we have of Christ in the four gospels

Works Cited

Constable , Thomas L . Dr . Constable 's Notes on Luke . Edition , 2000

Bock , Darrell L . Luke . The NIV Application Commentary series . Grand Rapids : Zondervan Publishing House , 1996 pp . 87-166

Escalona , Alan AD . Commentary Notes on Luke . The Way Christian Ministry 2007

Maddox , Robert . The Purpose of Luke-Acts . Gottingen : Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht , 1982

New King James Bible . Power BibleCD . Copyright 2001 by Online Publishing , Inc

127 N . Matteson Street PO Box 21 , Bronson , MI 49028

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