A DATE WITH DESTINY: Worship, Structure & Geography in Luke - Andrew Larkin
Worship
Plans being made; decorations going up; Christmas music is being played in the shops and the John Lewis Ad has aired. Even though it is only November, thoughts are very much turning to Christmas. It is far too early for my tastes, but what can you do?! What has that got to do with Luke’s Gospel, you might well ask? Well, apart from the majority of the Christmas story coming from the first two chapters, we also have three passages which have become famous songs used for worship. They are, firstly, Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s words when visiting her, known as the Magnificat (1:46-55); the Benedictus (1:68-79) containing the prophecy of Zechariah after his mouth has been loosed; and the words of Simeon holding the infant Jesus as he was presented in the temple – the Nunc Dimittis (2:29-32).
Structure & Geography
These opening chapters have an “Old Testament” feel to them. The characters, Zechariah and Elizabeth, being childless recalls a common motif throughout the Old Testament going back to Abraham and Sarah. Much of the action in chapters 1-2 take place at the temple where Zechariah burned incense; Jesus was presented; and Mary and Joseph, unwittingly, left the 12-year-old Jesus at there…or, rather, he chose to stay to be in his Father’s house. Phrases such as “In those days” and “Now the time had come” also have an Old Testament feel, alongside the actions of burning incense, circumcision and temple presentation.
Chapter 3 then takes us from the ministry of John the Baptist through to the Transfiguration, and aftermath in chapter 9. After that, we read in Luke 9:51, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” and the narrative focuses on Jesus’ date with destiny in Jerusalem, as he embarks on the road to the cross. Intriguingly, on the Mount of Transfiguration, we read Moses and Elijah “appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.” The word for “departure” is the Greek word exodus – THE salvation event of the Old Testament when God delivered His people out of slavery in Egypt and through the Red Sea to receive His law and, eventually, enter into the Promised land. Similarly, Jesus will take away the sin of the world, dying in our place; deliver His people from slavery to sin into freedom as God’s children; receive the Holy Spirit and, one day, enter into the new heavens and the new earth.
After the events of the cross, the gospel finishes with the resurrection; road to Emmaus when Jesus appears to Cleopas and his travelling companion; other resurrection appearances; and then, his ascension.
The main part of Luke’s gospel, therefore, reveals a three-part geographical structure of Galilee-Journey-Jerusalem. As Graham Stanton comments in his book, The Gospels and Jesus, “Luke’s gospel is theological geography. Similarly, Luke’s interest in history turns out to have a strong theological dimension.” It is to history we will turn to in our next post.