Lesson 10 - Luke (Issues and Texts) Flashcards
What do Jesus and John the Baptist have in common in Luke’s Gospel?
a. ) Angel Gabriel goes to both Mary and Elizabeth about pregnancies
b. ) Gabriel gives them the name of both children
c. ) Both children are given a title, office, responsibility
d. ) Both births are miraculous
e. ) Lineage of both parents are given
f. ) Each child who is to be born is said to be great
e. ) Structurally speaking, Luke is setting up a common ground between Jesus and John
How is Jesus superior to John the Baptist?
a. ) Ancestors – Jesus is the descendant of David, John is from Aaron
b. ) Miraculous birth – John’s is from barrenness, Jesus is from virgin
c. ) Titles – John will be a prophet, jesus is son of the most high God
d. ) Shared in their birth – John’s neighbors come to celebrate his birth; entire angelic host of heaven shares in Jesus’ birth
e. ) John is told he will make ready a people; Jesus will rule a people
f. ) John’s job is temporary; jesus’ job is eternal reign
e. ) Names – John is called John, Jesus is given the name that means Savior
How is the Christian understanding of Jesus’ virgin birth unique compared to other miraculous birth stories?
a. ) Jewish
- -There are a lot of miraculous births in the OT, but they are all opening up a barren womb, not a virgin
b. ) Pagan
- - pagan sources speak about gods who come down to have sex with a woman to produce a 1/2 human, 1/2 God
Why is the Virgin Birth important and foundational for Christian doctrine?
- ) Authority of the Bible
- - Do you really believe the Bible is trustworthy as infallible and inerrant? - ) Protects the divinity of Jesus
- - supernatural conception shows Jesus was always divine, not just that he became divine when he entered the womb - ) Avoids the curse of sin that is on human beings
- - jesus’ virgin birth protects him from original sin
What are the various options for interpreting parables?
- ) Allegorical Model
- - parables tell a story with mulitple parts with meanings that reflect some of reality
- - before the reformation: excessive allegorizing and redemptive historical allegorizing (ex. good samaritan)
- - Reformation : balanced/modest allegorizing - )One-point model
- - parables are moral stories with one big lesson
What is the case for the allegorical method?
- ) OT background with parables
- ) Jesus uses allegorical method in explaining parables (Mark 4:1-20)
- ) Allegorical doesn’t mean every detail of the story means something
- ) Many parables share more than one point (ex. prodigal son)
How does the Lord’s supper look both back and forward?
a. ) Back (Christ’s suffering)
b. ) Present (divine reassurance, means of grace)
c. ) Forward (look forward to the great wedding feast where we will dine with Christ in his second coming)
What are the various views of the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the Church?
- ) Augustine
- - Kingdom of God = the church
- - Advance of the Kingdom was the advance of the church
- - Slim distinction between kingdom and the church (overlap) - ) Harnack
- - Liberal view – only present, not future
- - Kingdom of God is moral in nature
- - Experience where people love and are kind to each other
- - People are living more moral and upright lives - ) Schweitzer
- - Kingdom of God = only future, not present
- - Church will be raptured away
- - Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are two separate things - ) Reformed
- - Kingdom of God = already, but not yet
- - Present and future
- - Christians today have their feet in both worlds
How do the parables support the Reformed view?
a. ) The Parable of the Sower
- - The kingdom doesn’t come as you expect, not all at once, but slowly and in stages.
b. ) The Parable of the Weeds
- - The kingdom does not come all at once, but arrives in stages and arrives in the midst of evil (weeds)
- - 2 stage dimension of the kingdom
- - Intermidate – wheat and weeds coextist
- - Harvest – second coming
c. ) The Parable of the Mustard seed
- - 2 stages – small, then blossoms into its fullness
