Bible Study 2019 - LPNI

LUTHERAN PARISH NURSE INTERNATIONAL

BIBLE STUDY

UNIT ONE:  THE STORY BEGINS IN LUKE

Dr. Daniel Paavola—Professor of Theology

Concordia University Wisconsin

Mequon, Wisconsin

July, 2019

OPENING:  The author whom we will read in this series of studies, A.T. Robertson, wrote of pictures in language, especially the original Greek language of the New Testament: “Children love to read by pictures either where it is all pictures or where pictures are interspersed with simple words…Is it not true that words are metaphors, sometimes with the pictured flower still blooming, sometimes with the blossom blurred? These old Greek words in the New Testament are rich with meaning. They speak to us out of the past and with lively images to those wo have eyes to see…We must never forget that in dealing with the words of Jesus we are dealing with things that have life and breath.” ¹

Let’s start with the idea of language as pictures or pictures with the words.  When you were little, just learning to read, or even a few years later, what were some of your favorite picture books?

What was so attractive about combining pictures along wit the words?

READ: We will study Luke 1 and 2, so read these two chapters briefly or note the headings for the several episodes, as time allows

Let’s begin with an introduction of A.T. Robertson whose work we will use through this three part study.  Archibald Thomas Robertson was born at Cherbury, Virginia  on November 6, 1863, and attended college at Wake Forest (N. C.) College and graduate school at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He remained at the Seminary as professor of New Testament interpretation until his death, September 24, 1934.  He was the author of some 45 books and those which are best known are Word Pictures in the New Testament and A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research.

On a personal note, I discovered A.T. Robertson when I began studying New Testament Greek in 1979 at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne. Robertson’s enormous Greek Grammar intrigued me with its sheer size but also with the lively, personal way that Robertson wrote of Greek grammar. I soon found his 6 volume work which we will use in this study, Word Pictures in the New Testament. Here was the New Testament with a clear, beautiful depth. The books are as useful today as ever. They remain easily available through online sellers and can be enjoyed by anyone, whether they are familiar with New Testament Greek or not.

So let’s begin with Robertson holding up key words in the first two chapters of Luke.

Chapter One

In 1:2, Luke speaks of the message that was delivered to us by those who were eyewitnesses. Robertson notes that this word for witnesses is interesting. “The word for eyewitnesses (autoptai) is an old Greek word…It means seeing with one’s own eyes. It occurs here only in the NT. We have the very word in the medical term autopsy.² Given that Luke was a doctor himself, how is this a fitting word for his work in examining the message of Jesus’ life?

Also how can we accept as reliable the words of one who admits that he wasn’t himself a witness of Jesus’ life but that he is reporting to use what others saw?

In 1:6-9, Robertson notes that Zechariah and Elizabeth were fittingly the first to be eyewitnesses of what God was about to do. They are noted to be righteous and, v. 7, “had gone far in their days.” Robertson notes also that the honor to serve as priest would come only once in a priest’s life. (See further notes in the Lutheran Study Bible on this point.)  Robertson has a quote on this moment: “It was the great moment of Zacharias’s life, and his heart was no doubt alert for the supernatural.”

Why is this combination a fitting beginning for the story of Jesus’ incarnation and arrival on earth: a righteous man and his wife, both noted for holy living, a long life, and now serving as priest at the Temple once in his life? Would we expect something remarkable to happen on this day, in this place, to this man and his wife?  How does the message match and even exceed our expectations?

In 1:35, the angel says that the power of the Most High will overshadow Mary.  The verb for “overshadow” is episkiadzo, which means to cast a shadow, to cover, and involves the presence of God through the cloud in the tabernacle, Exodus 40:35.³ Robertson notes that this is the figure of a cloud such as is also found in the glory of the Transfiguration in ch. 9. The cloud represents the presence and power of God.⁴  How is the overshadowing of the divine glory and the tabernacle a fitting image for Jesus’ incarnation and his coming ministry?

In 1:41 we have the verb  eskirtasen which means to leap about.  It can be used to describe the leaping of lambs in an open field⁵.  It is used only here and 6:23.  Look at these two occurrences and see the similarities and also the near contrast with a darker setting.   

Chapter Two

Breathlessly the shepherds must have come to the stable.  Likely they left the sheep to find the greater shepherd, as the good shepherd would leave 99 sheep to find one lamb, Luke 15:1-7.  Incidentally, the verb for “ponder” in v. 19 is interesting.  Sumballo means to converse, confer, consider, draw conclusions about, and might be termed “to get it all together.”⁶  The verb is a combination of sum “together” and ballo to toss.  It has the image of turning over and over.  Consider a rock tumbler endlessly turning stones over until their roughness is gone and a polished beauty emerges.  Robertson describes her this way: “Mary would go over each detail in the words of Gabriel and of the shepherds and compare the sayings with the facts so far developed and brood over it all with a mother’s high hopes and joy.”⁷

Note how the words of Simeon surprise Mary and Joseph, vv. 33ff. Robertson explains this wonder this way: “If one wonders why they marveled at Simeon’s words after whet they had heard from Gabriel, Elisabeth, and the Shepherds, he should bear in mind that every parent is astonished and pleased at the fine things others see in the child. It is a mark of unusual insight for others to see so much that is obvious to the parent. Simeon’s prophecy had gone beyond the angel’s outline and it was surprising that he should know anything about the child’s destiny.”⁸  What an interesting balance for Mary and Joseph:  they alone know the true story of Jesus’ conception and birth but they encounter others who also know parts of the story.  If you were Mary and Joseph, would you want to tell the whole story to Simeon and Anna? How is Luke’s Gospel in a way a fulfillment of that desire for the story to be known?

APPLY:  Luke writes with these lively pictures of angels and temples, shepherds and stables, a young couple with their baby, so private and yet so known by strangers. Which are your favorite pictures of these two chapters and the beginning of the story of Jesus?  

UNIT TWO:  THE STORY CONTINUES WITH MIRACLES AND DANGER

OPENING:  Given the dramatic beginning of chapters 1 and 2, we expect more conflicts and wonders when the adult ministry of Jesus begins. This depends on the assumption that the early years of a child are predictive of his adulthood. Let’s begin with that idea:

How much does a child’s early life and behavior predict his future?

For example, will the quiet child continue to be quiet?  Will the rule-breaker continue to be the rebel?

Take this discussion to the early life of Jesus: How does the beginning of his life shown in chapters 1 and 2 point to the rest of his life? What things are missing from chapters 1-2 that will come in Jesus’ adult years?

READ:  We will study Luke 3 and 4, so read these two chapters briefly or note the headings for the several episodes, as time allows.

Chapter 3

The baptism of John is for the forgiveness of sins, 3:3. Robertson notes that forgiveness here could be rendered as remission and that this word is used more often in Luke than in all the rest of the New Testament combined. Medical writers used it to describe the relaxing of disease.⁹ Forgiveness has many images such as cleansing, covering and removing to a great distance.  How is the sense of an illness that has gripped someone a good picture of sin and guilt?

How is the relaxing of that pressure a wonderful picture of forgiveness?

  

The drama of John meeting with the Roman soldiers, 3:14, uses a vibrant word. The soldiers are not to “shake down” people,  diaseisate, to thoroughly shake, or here, to extort money  by violence.¹⁰  A.T. Robertson gives it this lively picture:  “It means to shake (seismic disturbance, earthquake) thoroughly (dia) and so thoroughly to terrify, to extort money or property by intimidating.”¹¹  How is there a fitting contrast now for these soldiers once they have heard John?  They formerly were those who shook up the lives of others but now they ….

In verse 22 we see the Trinity expressed at the baptism of Jesus. The Father speaks and the Spirit descends as a dove. Robertson sums it up this way: “The Trinity here manifest themselves at the baptism of Jesu which constitutes the formal entrance of Jesus upon his Messianic ministry. He enters upon it with the Father’s blessing and approval and with the power of the Holy Spirit upon him.”¹²  We have already had affirmations of Jesus identity by the angel Gabriel to Mary and Elizabeth’s words to Mary, ch. 1. Then in ch. 2 we have the angels speaking to the shepherds and the words of Anna and Simeon. Many others have witnessed to Jesus’ identity.

Why is this the time and the place for the Father and the Spirit to come forward?

The Jordan River is a fertile place placed up against the dry Wilderness to the east. How is this either the surprising or the expected place for Jesus to begin in his ministry in the context of John’s work?

Chapter Four

After the baptism of Jesus we come to the temptation. Robertson describes a measure of what’s to be expected when Satan and Jesus collide. “The devil challenged the Son of man though also the Son of God. It was a contest between Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, and the slanderer of men. The devil had won with Adam and Eve. He has hopes of triumph over Jesus.”¹³

Might Satan have assumed that the success he had over Adam and Eve would continue now with Jesus?

Robertson says that Satan assumes that Jesus is the Son of God. If Satan knows that Jesus is the Son of God, why bother trying to tempt him?

Why is the temptation of Jesus a comfort and a relief to us, given the temptations that we also face?

In v. 20, Jesus holds the attention of the crowd. Robertson notes that this is the verb atenizo which means that the eyes of all were gazing fixedly upon him. Robertson points out that this same verb was used by Paul to describe how the people looked at Moses when he came down from the mountain. “There was something in the look of Jesus here that held the people spellbound for the moment.”¹⁴

Is this the look and the power we expect Jesus to have throughout his ministry?

When would it be most effective and powerful for Jesus to have this commanding look?

However, when will he have to put this powerful appearance away?

Earth-shaking drama continues in 4:29 with the people of Nazareth taking Jesus to the hill.  They take him to the brow, ophruos, the very edge of the hill.  Luke takes us to the very edge of the cliff, and likely reminds us of 3:9 in which Jesus is taken to the very pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple. One promises glory and the other threatens destruction. In both cases, Jesus being true God needs neither the angels nor the rescue of calmer men.  As true God, he can step off into space without harm.  Therefore, why would these two scenes be temptations or dangers to him?

APPLY: The ministry of Jesus has begun with the context of John’s baptism unto forgiveness and then it goes to the murdering plot of the Nazareth crowd. What a way to start the long-awaited ministry.

What scenes of Jesus’ ministry are most expected, given his identity as the Son of God and his mission to save the world?

When is he in places and situations that are surprising, at least at the start of his ministry?

UNIT THREE:  FRIENDS, FOLLOWERS AND FOES GATHER

OPENING:  In these two chapters, Luke 5 and 6, we’re going to focus on Jesus attracting many individuals and also large crowds to himself.  Many of these relationships become well known as they last throughout his ministry. With that in mind, let’s start by thinking of the long lasting relationships we’ve found:

How did you start a friendship that has lasted for many years?

Who took the first step, said the first words, that began the friendship?

When it started, did you expect that it would last for years?

READ:  We will study Luke 5 and 6, so read these two chapters briefly or note the headings for the several episodes, as time allows.

Chapter 5

The word in 5:5 for “work” kopiao, meaning to work hard, to toil, to struggle is used only here in Luke but has an interesting background in two uses in Matthew.¹⁵  Matthew 6:28 reminds us that the flowers of the field don’t work, while Matt 11:28 is Jesus’ invitation that those who labor and are heavy-laden should come to him. Robertson notes that “Peter’s protest calls attention to the whole night of fruitless toil….Fishing in this lake was Peter’s business and he really claimed superior knowledge on this occasion to that of Jesus.”¹⁶  Why does Jesus wait until Peter’s night-long efforts have brought nothing?

In 5:12-16, the leper is cured and, though warned to say nothing, more is said with each miracle.  In 5:16, Jesus retreats to the desert.  Luke uses the word upochoreo  which is found only here in the New Testament for “retreat” or “withdraw.”¹⁷  A.T. Robertson gives a vibrant description of this scene:  “The more the crowds came as a result of the leper’s story, the more Jesus turned away from them to the desert regions and prayed with the Father.  It is a picture of Jesus drawn with vivid power.  The wild enthusiasm of the crowds was running ahead of their comprehension of Christ and his mission and message.”¹⁸  Why does Jesus create and live within this tension between the crowds and the desert?  Why not simply live in either the embrace of the crowd or the silence of the desert?

In 5:19, Robertson describes the four friends as they lowered the man through the roof. “The four friends had succeeded, probably each holding a rope to a corner of the pallet. It was a moment of triumph over difficulties and surprise to all in the house.”¹⁹ What do you imagine the reaction of the crowd was as the man was lowered into their already-crowded room?  Did the friends or the paralyzed man make any explanation or excuse?

Just a small note on 5:26 and the phrase “We have seen incredible things today.”  The word for “incredible things” is  paradoksa, meaning “contrary to opinion or expectation, strange, wonderful, remarkable.”²⁰  This is the root of our word “paradox.”  This is the only time that the word is used in the New Testament.  Why is this a fitting word for the wonders they have seen?

Chapter Six

In 6:11, the enemies of Jesus are driven nearly mad.  They are filled with madness, a literal translation of the first phrase, and then they began to talk thoroughly and endlessly, dialaloun.  The same word is used also in 1:65. It means a continuous talk back and forth between the  people.²¹  We might well imagine the nature of these talks, in wonder in ch. 1 and in desperate fear in ch. 6.  Miracles are being done in their midst and its unsettling nature is too great. Robertson says of this emotion: “Here is rage that is kin to insanity…Already nearly two years before the end, we see the set determination to destroy Jesus.”²² How could it be that these undeniable miracles don’t create faith?  How could such power openly displayed only result, for some, in their determination to destroy Jesus?

In 6:19, the crowd rushes forward to Jesus.  Robertson describes the healing ministry and the expectation of the crowd as Jesus begins the Sermon: “One can see the surging, eager crowd pressing up to Jesus. Probably some of them felt that there was a sort of virtue or magic in touching his garments…It was at a time of surpassing dynamic spiritual energy when Jesus delivered this greatest of all sermons so far as they are reported to us. The very air was electric with spiritual power.”²³ Why is this setting fitting—first miracles openly done and then Jesus gives the Sermon on the Plain?  (By the way, in Matthew 5-7, Matthew records first the Sermon on the Mount and then the miracles come in ch. 8-9).

In contrast to these moments of worry, a beautiful passage unique to Luke is 6:38 with the blessings that will come to the generous.  One of the key words is  pepiesmenon, pressed down.  It is a vigorous idea of an accomplished action with a lasting result.  A companion word in the same verse is huperekchunnomenon, meaning to run over, to pour out over.²⁴  These two have a nice contrast between the solidly tamped down and the abundantly overflowing.  This blessing is not cotton candy frothiness but something more substantial and moving. Robertson notes that the pouring into your lap image had a common application: “The fold of the wide upper garment bound by the girdle made a pocket in common use.”²⁵ How do these complimentary ideas capture the graciousness of God in returning gifts as they were given?

APPLY: As the ministry of Jesus arrives and begins with miracles and memorable words, Jesus combines the timeless words of the Sermon with the miracles that draw crowds.  How does this combination describe what we know will be the rest of Jesus’ ministry? Will the crowds increase as the miracles continue? What can his enemies do to counter his teaching and his healings?

1 A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament, vol. 1, (Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, 1930), x.

2 Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 5.

3 Walter Bauer, edited by William Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1979), 298.

4 Robertson, vol. 2, 14.

5 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 755.

6 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 777.

7 Robertson, vol. 2, 26.

8 Robertson, vol. 2, 29.

10 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 188.

11 A. T Robertson, vol.2, 40.

15 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 443.

16 A.T. Robertson, vol. 2, 70.

17 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 848.

18 A.T. Robertson, vol. 2, 73.

19 A.T. Robertson, vol. 2, 75.

20 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 615.

21 A.T. Robertson, vol. 2, 18.

24 Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, 840.