An Exegesis of Luke 18:35-43

NT 3408 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE Fall 2014 Michael Sterns The Kingdom of God: A Four-Part Series Michael Sterns The Blind Beggar: Luke 18:35-43 Introduction Major Textual Variants: No major textual variants Delimiting the Passage: There is no strong connection between this passage and the one that it follows other than the word “ἐγένετο.” Luke 18:31-19:44 is the second part of the section beginning at 17:11 telling of Jesus’ movement towards Jerusalem (Talbert: 175). The beginning of this passage starts with “as it came to pass as he drew near into Jericho” --a Lukan way of continuing the story of Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem. It is an aorist participle denoting time or circumstances. This story starts with Jesus approaching Jericho, and the next pericope has Jesus in Jericho. Jericho is Jesus’ last stop before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. What separates this story from the one that follows is the location. Jesus is around Jericho in 18:35-43, and Jesus is in Jericho starting in 19:1 (Ringe, 230). This passage is the last healing story for Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Luke (most commentators do not include the Roman’s ear at the Passion Narrative). Thematically this story of the blind beggar matches the story of the children being brought to Jesus in 18:15-17. Johnson writes, “Like them, the man is helpless, like them, he is brought to Jesus; and as in the case of the children, some would prevent his ‘bothering’ Jesus” (287). This passage answers part of the question that the disciples ask in 18:26, “Who then can be saved?” It also fulfills Messianic promises from Luke 4:18. The aorist participle in 19:1 also denotes a passing of time, so after Jesus had healed the blind man on the way to Jericho, Jesus enters into the city of Jericho. Literary Analysis Form Criticism The genre of this story is not easily classifiable. It obviously is a healing story that puts it into the miraculous genre within a gospel, but it also has the beggar respond to the healing by following Jesus (Bovon: 583). Luke uses the word paracrema to talk about this miracle’s immediacy. It was not a miracle that took place over time like the cleansing of the lepers in Luke 17. This miracle happened instantaneously. Luke uses a different word than Mark’s favorite eutheós, but they both speak of the miracle happening in that moment. Luke uses eutheós three times in comparison to Mark’s forty-one. However, Luke uses parachrema nine times where Mark does not use it at all. Steinhauser, quoted in Bovon, sees it purely as a “call story” relating this passage to the Old Testament call narratives of Gideon and Moses (583-595). Nolland calls it a modified miracle-story (899). The majority of scholars agree that it cannot be simplified into an either-or genre. Ringe says that it is a healing story that is also a model of how people become disciples of Jesus (230). The healing of a physical need led to a spiritual conversion that produced praise (Talbert: 176). The word miracle denotes a supernatural event that transcends ordinary human happenings; it is God’s display of power in order to save (Blackburn: 801). In Luke, these miracle stories tended to end in doxologies (Lk. 5:25, 7:16, 9:43, 13:13, 17:15, 18, 18:43, and 19:37). Miracles were seen as the in breaking of the Kingdom of God, and Jesus himself saw that his miracles were actual expressions of God’s reign in Matt 12:28 and Luke 11:20 (Blackburn: 811). The miracle was followed by an admiring reaction of the spectators by praising God in keeping with the literary genre (Bovon: 587). Redaction Criticism Luke shares this miracle story with both Matthew 20:29-34 and Mark 10:46-52. In Matthew, there are two blind beggars present as Jesus leaves Jericho. In Mark, only one named beggar is on the way to Jericho. All three stories share naming Jesus as the Son of David, the cry for Jesus to be merciful, the beggar(s) talking to Jesus, the healing, and their following Jesus after being healed. Because both Luke and Matthew share this story as Mark, scholars assume that Mark was their primary source. Zeba Crook writes in his Parallel Gospels a guide to redaction criticism about the ways in which Matthew and Luke try to resolve theological problems in Mark. Most scholars agree that Mark was written first, and Luke and Matthew wrote using Mark, Q-Source, and their respected traditions. This paper will not try to solve the Synoptic Problem, but this section will see the way that Luke used Mark. Luke follows the Markan timeline, but he modifies it. Luke gives a genitive succinctness in v36 and prefers the participle for begging rather than the noun beggar in Mark 10:46 (Bovon: 581). Luke removes the naming of the beggar and the throwing off of the beggar’s cloak. Luke changes Jesus of Nazareth (Mk 10:47) to Jesus the Nazarene (Lk 18:37). This change’s meaning is uncertain. It can refer back to the Hebrew nazir of those who take a vow of consecration (Num 6:1-21), Hebrew neser which has messianic connotations (Isa 11:1), Aramaic nasorayya which means observers like the ones who followed John the Baptist (Nolland: 899-900) Luke also has the crowd specifically telling the beggar that it was Jesus passing by v37. Luke uses boan v38 instead of Mark’s krazein v47. These have similar meanings of crying out in exclamation. Luke changes the vague “many” in Mark 10:48 to “the ones leading ahead” v39. Mark’s “call him” in v49 becomes “he commanded him to be brought to him” in v40. Luke also eliminates the blind man throwing off his rags and running to Jesus in Mark. Luke’s emphasis is on the blind man’s lowly state. The blind man is not left to his own abilities to walk over to Jesus, but the crowds must help the blind man to get to Jesus (Wansbrough: 133). This redactional change focuses more on the communal aspect of the miracle because after the healing the whole people gave praise to God v43. It is not only the blind man that is healed, but the whole community as well who has a change of heart by both helping him in his lowly position and also joining in the chorus of praise. Luke makes another change to the way that the blind beggar names Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is the teacher, rabbouni, v51, but in Luke and Matthew, Jesus is Lord (Matt 20:33, Lk 18:41). Luke eliminates the disciples from the scene (Mk. 10:46) and instead focuses on the crowd to serve a useful purpose. First, the crowd’s negative reaction towards the beggar brings out the perseverance of the beggar who had to repeat his cry for help. But Jesus performs a double healing in a sense. Jesus asks the crowd, who had been silencing the blind man, to bring him closer, and after they see the miracle, they all praise God (Bovon: 583). Literary Criticism Throughout the Third Gospel, Luke adapts Old Testament theologies and themes to redefine the people of God (Elliot: 518-519). Luke begins the pericope with Jesus coming towards Jericho evoking Old Testament stories of Joshua and wall of Jericho; the blind beggar names Jesus as Son of David v38. Jesus’ name itself has etymological connotations. Jesus’ name is the Hellenized form of Joshua, the one who led the Israelites to the Promised Land. Though not explicit, Jesus’ journey back to Jerusalem in this travelogue is meant to showcase the continuation of God’s covenant towards the Jews, but also that God is extending the covenant to both Jew and Gentile (Elliot, 518). Luke gives several designations to Jesus throughout his gospel, but Son of David is not nearly as frequent as Lord, prophet, Christ, or Son of God (Burkett, 52-54). How the beggar came to proclaim Jesus as Son of David is unknown, but by doing so, the beggar has joined the ranks of Luke’s unlikely heroes (Roman centurion 7:1-10, sinner from the city 7:36-50, and the Samaritan 17:11-17) who play a role in Luke’s portrayal of the Kingdom of God (Green: 663). Though Luke introduces Jesus as Son of David in the birth narrative 1:32-33, this title falls away until this blind beggar’s cry. Within the Psalms of Solomon 17-18, the expectations of a Davidic messiah within the community were rampant, but Jesus himself did not accept the nationalistic and militaristic conceptions that came along with this term (Bauer: 1024). Again, Luke showcases a lowly figure’s healing and redemption. This blind beggar who had been on the outside is now on the inside as the Kingdom of God is breaking out among all peoples. Theological Analysis Soteriology: Green argues that salvation is the primary-theme within Luke-Acts (22). Jesus’ response to the beggar “Your faith has saved you” is obviously soteriological. The salvation that Luke focuses on is “neither ethereal nor merely future, but embraces life in the present, restoring the integrity of human life, revitalizing human communities, setting the cosmos in order, and commissioning the community of God’s people to put God’s grace into practice among themselves and toward ever-widening circles of others” (Green: 24-25). God’s salvation project fulfills ancient promises, but it does so in a way that challenges existing cultural norms, social patterns, and political arrangements (Carroll: 10). This blind beggar becomes a model of discipleship, and his participation with Jesus, and for that matter the plan and purpose of God, therefore encourages the crowds to praise God. Blindness is what disqualified Aaron from performing sacrifices to God (Lev 21:16-24). Those “untouchables” were on the outskirts of Jewish religious life, but they were to be protected (Lev 19:14). Anyone who misled a blind person would be cursed (Deut 21:18). One of the expectations of the eschatological age was the restoration of sight by God (Isa 29:18, 35:5). Though this blind man was to be taken care of by the Jewish people, he was also a beggar, which is probably why the “ones going by” rebuked him v39. To be reduced to begging was considered a horrible fate (Hooks: 93). In Sirach 40:28, it says it is better to die than to beg. Earlier in Luke 16, the shrewd manager proclaims that he is ashamed to beg v3. The people looked down upon this blind beggar, but this blind man could see Jesus for who he really was. Ironically, Luke uses this blind beggar to reveal the identity of Christ. This blind man could really see Jesus, and he knew that Jesus would be merciful. This blind man’s faith has saved him, and Luke uses a perfect passive verb. He uses the same word in 7:50, 8:48, and 17:19 all in conjunction with faith. Jesus did not heal this man only because the blind beggar had faith but because he also asked for it v41. His salvation came with a healing package (Bovon, 586). Physically, this blind man’s sight is restored, but spiritually his faith in Jesus as the Messianic Son of David saved him. Bovon writes in his commentary that it is impossible to know the answer to whether Luke was aware of the Messianic term p.585. Authorial intent is always ambiguous. Eschatology: George Ladd wrote in The Presence of the Future about Jesus’ healing in Matthew 12:28, but it holds true for all of Jesus’ miracle stories: “Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God in a real sense was present in the fulfillment of the prophetic home, while the age of consummation remained future. The presence of the Kingdom of God was seen as God’s dynamic reign invading the present age without transforming it into the age to come” (149). Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God occur 54 times in Matthew, 41 in Luke, and 19 in Mark (Spivey: 205). Jesus speaks throughout the Third Gospel about the Kingdom: The kingdom of God is the gospel (4:43), it is for the poor (6:20), it requires dedication (9:62), is sometimes small but has large influence (13:18-19), not everyone enters the Kingdom of God (13:28; 14:15-23), but anyone can (13:29), there is a cost to joining it(14:33), the Kingdom of God starts within you and flows out (17:21), it requires childlike faith (18:17), having wealth can be a barrier to entry (18:24-25), and it is here already and still coming (19:11; 21:31). The question, though, is what does this miracle story say about the Kingdom of God? Jesus says that it is part of his anointed ministry to give sight to the blind (4:18-19, Isa 61:1-2). When Jesus tells John the Baptist’s disciples about his ministry in 7:22-23, Jesus says that the blind receive sight emblematic of the Messianic hope in Isaiah 29:18 and 35. The kingdom of God, for Luke, is not an abstract and distant concept. It is real, here, and powerful. Jesus’ ministry is the Kingdom of God breaking into this present age. It has radical implications, and the kingdom of God affects everyone. Especially evident in this miracle story, the kingdom of God affects this blind beggar in a special and individual way, and his healing causes others, πᾶς ὁ λαὸς, to glorify God. In the same way of the mustard seed in 13:18-19, the healing story of the beggar was small but affected many people. Character of God: The beggar’s two cries commanding, urging, and pleading Jesus to “have mercy,” ἐλέησόν, on him reveal the compassionate nature of Jesus. This cry for mercy or pity are used previously in Luke 16:24 and 17:13, and the same language is used in Jesus’ healing of the demoniac in Mark 5:19. The beggar appeals for mercy, and Jesus’ response is compassion and forgiveness (Nolland: 901). Jesus gives the beggar immediate liberation from the condition that holds him hostage (González: 221). This episode in Luke is repeated but with different characters in Acts 3 where Peter and John heal the beggar with simply the name of Christ. Harkening back to Exodus 33:19, Jesus’ act of mercy and compassion reveals the nature of the God who loves. This cry for mercy is something all can pray knowing that God responds to persistence (11:5-10, 18:1-8). Conclusions and Hermeneutical Directions Luke makes a clear definition of those whom he calls apostles (6:13), but a major theme within the gospel of Luke is his emphasis on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The others, 10:1, are anyone who follows Christ. Huffman defines discipleship in Luke as somebody responding to Jesus in faith (7:48–50; 8:48; 17:19; Acts 10:43; 13:38–39; 16:31) and repenting of one’s sins (5:32; 7:48–50; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:39). The cost of discipleship is an important theme that Luke especially stresses (9:23-24, 57-62, 10:25-37, 14:15-33, 17:33, 18:18-30). But this healing story requires nothing of the blind beggar. The blind beggar loses nothing, did not have to count the cost, and he becomes a disciple of Christ. His salvation and faith causes those around him, the very people that had tried to silence him, to sing praises to Jehovah Rophi. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, he uses minor characters as heroes of faith. Society had driven this blind beggar out to beg on the roadside. The blind were to be helped by society, but people must have grown tired of helping this man because he is forced into begging. Luke does not go into the back-story of how he became blind or how he became a beggar, as many 21st Century American readers would like. We, as the audience, hardly know anything at all about this blind man. All that Luke says is that this man has become a beggar. Luke changes the noun, προσαίτης, which Mark uses into a verb, προσαιτῶν (Bovon: 581). This is a blind man that begs. He is not identified by his begging but by his blindness. Luke says that he is not even within city limits where he can be seen by society; he is on the way to Jericho v35. He is an expendable (Green: 663). He must rely on the help of travelers who do not know his story and who will have mercy on him. A curious aspect of this healing story is the way the blind man recognizes Jesus. When he asks the crowd who is passing by in v36, they respond by telling him that it is Jesus the Nazarene v37. The blind man then makes the first public declaration that this Nazarene is the Son of David. He connects the dots between Jesus the Nazarene and Jesus Son of David. Luke’s genealogy in 3:23-38 traces Jesus’ lineage to David and further to Adam, and the birth narrative 1:27, 32-35, and 2:4 all highlight Jesus’ Davidic heritage. As the long awaited Son of David, Jesus would reestablish the throne of David, deliver Israel from her enemies, and reign forever (Green: 663). Green goes on to reference 2 Sam 7:12-16 Psalm 89, Psalms of Solomon 17-18, 1QM 11:1-18, 4 QFlor 1:11-14, 4QIsa 3:18-21, 8-10, 4QTest 9-13, 2 Esdr 12:31-32 Cyril of Alexandria, quoted in Bovon, preached on this passage saying that the blind man calls both Jesus “Lord” and “Son of David” which respect the divine and human natures of Jesus (587). This blind beggar becomes a model for discipleship: he is persistent in prayer and recognizes that he is in need of the Lord’s help (Wansbrough: 133). Without reading a Chalcedonian Christology into this passage, the blind man truly sees Jesus, and his faith in Jesus saved him v42. We do not need to read too much into the text to realize how broken and desperate this blind man was. He needed help. He cried out for mercy. There is power in the wonderful name of Jesus. Similar to the faith of the Roman Centurion in 7:1-10, simply saying a word can heal. Luke uses παραχρῆμα in v43 to signify the suddenness of the miracle which he also uses in 4:39, 5:25, 8:44, 47, 55, 13:13, Acts 3:7, 5:10, 13:11, and 16:26 (Johnson: 284-285). The joy in the immediacy of the Kingdom of God breaking in created momentum in all the people as Jesus moves closer to Jerusalem in his triumphal entry. This idea of “all the people” (19:48 and 21:38) is an important phrase for Luke as he moves into Jesus’ passion narrative to come (Nolland: 901). How often do we rush pass people on the street, try to silence them, or even ignore them? Going back to Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, blessed are the poor (6:20). Jesus can see this man. He hears his cries of dereliction. He knows his pains. And this man sees Jesus. That is the crazy thing about this story, and the ones that we worked through. Luke uses these stories of healing and restoration to reveal the power and might of the Kingdom of God. We still are trying to rush by the beggars of the world. We still try to silence them. But their voice will not be silenced because God’s eye is on the sparrow. God knows the needs of this world, and the Kingdom of God is among us. It is full of broken and hurting people, but God knows their situations. This is the love of God. This story is just a glimpse of the goodness of God. Luke uses this blind beggar, an outcast in society, to reveal that God is working in all situations and especially in the people among us that we do not always want to see. Preaching Today: Sermon Title-“The Kingdom of God is Among You” Thesis: Luke 18:35-43 is about an unnamed, unimportant blind man who begs outside of everyone’s view. People pass him by. People silence him. But he sees Jesus, and he truly gets it that Jesus’ ministry is the Kingdom of God—Luke 4:14-30 I. Reading of Luke 18:35-43 A. Luke’s Audience—likely heterogeneous (Carroll, 4) B. The placement of this pericope—tail end of Jesus’ travelogue; the very last miracle C. Jesus’ Messianic vocation—4:16-30 D. Is there any significance to Jericho?—Joshua and Promised Land II. Blind man who begs A. The reality of being blind in Antiquity—“The Expendables” B. This man probably had been begging for a long time C. His identity is in being blind and not in being a blind beggar—cmpr to Mark 10 D. He probably did not enjoy begging--his two cries to Jesus, Son of David, show his desperation E. Though blind, he sees Jesus as Messianic linking him to Jesus’ proclamation in ch 4 and the Magnificat in ch 1 F. He is direct and persistent with Jesus G. He follows Jesus and joins the other people in glorifying God towards Jerusalem III. Jesus A. Jesus is moved with compassion—Exodus 33 B. He does not ignore the blind man’s pleas—Jesus stops in his tracks C. He talks to the man and has a conversation D. Jesus has the power to heal and to save—both physical and spiritual salvation IV. The Whole People A. They were traveling with Jesus—they were the “insiders” and the blind man was on the outside begging away from Jerusalem B. They had earlier tried to silence the blind man v39 C. Jesus tells them to help the blind man to him v40 D. They get to see the Kingdom of God in action to help people that they had ignored and quieted—Luke 17:20-21 E. They glorify God V. Conclusion A. The Kingdom of God is full of people that we don’t want in. But we don’t get to choose who’s in and out. The Kingdom of God is full of all people. The whole people of God are those who respond to the name of Jesus. The Kingdom doesn’t fit into our boxes or theologies. How do we ignore the people of the Kingdom of God on a daily basis? How do we try to silence them? We need to be able to see Jesus working in all people. We need to see Jesus like this blind man. 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