Jesus and Elijah in Luke 4:16-30

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 That Luke (or his source) intentionally brought the Nazareth incident near to the baptism is suggested by the fact that Mark’s parallel (essentially a stripped-down version) doesn’t appear until Mark 6:1-6, as well as by the apparent anachronism of Jesus’ mention of Capernaum in Luke 4:23: “what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.” … (Luke 4:18-19; RSV)

Few scholars are aware of the fact that this passage was apparently associated, in the minds of apocalyptically minded Jews, with the endtime appearance of Elijah.

Heaven and Earth Pass Away

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How to cite this article:
Joshua N. Tilton and David N. Bivin, “Heaven and Earth Pass Away,” The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction (Jerusalem Perspective, 2023) .

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Increasing

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Matt. 11:12-15; Luke 16:16
(Huck 65, 176; Aland 107, 226; Crook 125, 272)For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.'” Revised: 12 December 2022

מִימֵי יוֹחָנָן הַמַּטְבִּיל וְעַד עַכְשָׁיו מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם פּוֹרֶצֶת וּפוֹרְצִים פּוֹרְצִים בָּהּ שֶׁכָּל הַנְּבִיאִים וְאַף הַתּוֹרָה עַד יוֹחָנָן מִתְנַבְּאִים

“Since Yohanan the Immerser, and continuing into the present time, God’s redeeming reign has begun to increase, and the number of participants in his reign is on the rise.

“For all the prophets—and even the Torah—down to Yohanan tell of the coming redemption. But now the redemption is happening before your very eyes!”This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels.

“Prophet” as a Messianic Title

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Jesus also was referred to by such messianic titles as “Lord” (Luke 5:8), “Son of God” (Luke 1:35) and “Son of David” (Luke 18:38)….

Jesus the Prophet

Jesus claimed to be a prophet when he quoted the popular saying, “No one is a prophet in his own village,” going on to compare himself to Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:24-27).

Innocent Blood

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(Matt. 23:34-36; Luke 11:49-51)

Sign-Seeking Generation

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Matt. 12:38-40; 16:1-2, 4; Mark 8:11-13; Luke 11:16, 29-30

A Friend of Tax Collectors

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They usually are described as wicked and are occasionally mentioned together with sinners (Matt. 9:11; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30; Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34). … — wp:paragraph –>

Occasionally, Jesus was accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34), and of socializing with them (Matt. 9:11; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30). … — wp:paragraph –>

It is possible that John the Baptist’s answer to the tax collectors, “Collect no more than is appointed you” (Luke 3:13), represented a rather moder

Completion

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How to cite this article:
Joshua N. Tilton and David N. Bivin, “Completion,” The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction (Jerusalem Perspective, 2023) .

Beyond an Inheritance

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Revised: 21-Oct.-2015

From the early centuries of the Christian era to our day, expositors of the Gospels have wrestled with the temporal dimension of Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of Heaven. Will the Kingdom of Heaven appear one day in the future when the Son of Man suddenly comes?

The Nature of Jesus’ Task

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Verses like Luke 3:9 and Luke 3:17 suggest that John anticipated an unfolding of God’s judgment with the advent of the Messiah—good fruit trees were to be spared and wheat collected, whereas bad trees and chaff were to be burned. … Jesus knew, as is evident from the way he described publicly his agenda in a synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21), that he had been anointed to proclaim release to the captives, set free the downtrodden and announce the favorable year of the LORD.

The Hebrew Life of Jesus

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While attempting to translate the Gospel of Mark into modern Hebrew I came to the startling conclusion that there once existed a Hebrew Life of Jesus that was later translated into Greek, and that descendants of this literal Greek translation of the Hebrew Life of Jesus served as the basis of the Synoptic Gospels. We may, therefore, speak of a Hebrew source from which the Synoptic Gospels stem.

Fathers Give Good Gifts Simile

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Matt. 7:9-11; Luke 11:11-13 (Huck 38, 148; Aland 70, 187; Crook 53, 212)For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.'” Revised: 6 February 2023

וּמִי בָּכֶם אָדָם שֶׁיִּשְׁאַל בְּנוֹ לֶחֶם וְאֶבֶן יִתֵּן לוֹ אוֹ שֶׁיִּשְׁאַל דָּג וְנָחָשׁ יִתֵּן לוֹ אוֹ שֶׁיִּשְׁאַל בֵּיצָה וְעַקְרָב יִתֵּן לוֹ לְפִיכָךְ אִם אַתֶּם שֶׁרָעִים יְדַעְתֶּם לִיתֵּן מַתָּנוֹת טוֹבוֹת לְיַלְדֵיכֶם עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם שֶׁיִּתֵּן טוֹבוֹת לַשּׁוֹאֲלִים מִמֶּנּוּ

“Now what father is there among you who, when his son asks for bread, would give him a rock instead? Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, would give him a scorpion? Not a single one of you!

Selected Examples of Rewriting in Mark’s Account of Jesus’ Last Week

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Revised: 02-Jul-2013A revised and abbreviated version of this unpublished article (written in 2004) was published as “Evidence of an Editor’s Hand in Two Instances of Mark’s Account of Jesus’ Last Week?” in Jesus’ Last Week: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels (ed. R. Steven Notley, Marc Turnage and Brian Becker; Leiden: E. J.

Sending the Twelve: Apostle and Sender

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Matt. 10:40-42; Mark 9:41; Luke 10:16 (Huck 63, 130b, 139b; Aland 104, 167b, 179; Crook 119-120, 185b, 203)For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.'” Revised: 24 November 2021

הַמְּקַבֵּל אֶתְכֶם אוֹתִי מְקַבֵּל וְהַמְּקַבֵּל אוֹתִי מְקַבֵּל אֶת הַשּׁוֹלֵחַ אוֹתִי וְהַמּוֹאֵס אֶתְכֶם אוֹתִי מוֹאֵס וְהַמּוֹאֵס אוֹתִי מוֹאֵס אֶת הַשּׁוֹלֵחַ אוֹתִי

“If anyone receives you, it is as if he has received me, and if anyone receives me, it is as if he has received the one who sent me. But if anyone rejects you, it is as if he has rejected me, and if anyone rejects me, it is as if he has rejected the one who sent me.”This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source.

“Shake the Dust from Your Feet”: What Did the Apostles’ Action Signify?

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For Dr. Roger Green, in gratitude for his many years of Bible instruction at Gordon College.

The Programmatic Opening of Jesus’ Biography as a Reflection of Contemporaneous Jewish Messianic Ideas

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(Mark 1:1-11; adapted from RSV)

Mark’s programmatic opening of the Gospel narrative also appears in a slightly reworked and expanded form in Matthew 3:1-17 and Luke 3:2-22.

Jesus and the Enigmatic “Green Tree”

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The above image, courtesy of Gary Asperschlager, shows olive trees growing near the Church of All Nations on the Mount of Olives. Revised: 19-Apr-13How did a Jew in Jesus’ time announce that he was the Messiah? One accomplished this by applying to himself words or phrases from Scripture that were interpreted by members of his community to be references to the coming Messiah. Being interpretations rather than direct references, such messianic allusions are extremely subtle, and easily missed by modern readers of ancient Jewish literature. Claimants certainly did not reveal themselves by simply declaring, “I am the Messiah,”Even today a Jew who believes he is the Messiah never says, “I am the Messiah,” but rather, a messianic pretender refers to himself using words or phrases from scripture texts that have been interpreted messianically.