Rejected Prophets: Jesus and His Witnesses in Luke-Acts

The Role of Prophets in Luke-Acts

1 The Role of Prophets in Luke-Acts All four Gospels report that Jesus raised people from the dead. Together, they relate a total of three incidents. In Matt. 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, and Luke 8:40-56, Jesus restores a twelve-year-old girl to life. In John 11:1-44, he calls Lazarus out of the tomb. In Luke 7:11-17, he raises a widow’s only son. This third miracle, found only in Luke’s Gospel, evokes the story of the prophet Elijah and the widow’s son as told in 1 Kgs. 17:17-24. Luke seems to emphasize the connection by quoting 1 Kgs. 17:23: Jesus “gave him to his mother.” He reinforces the parallel by indicating that it is not lost on the people of Nain. “A great prophet has risen among us,” they exclaim (Luke 7:16). The story of Jesus’ raising the widow’s son is just one example of Luke’s clear and consistent effort to portray Jesus the Messiah as a prophet. Luke draws his concept of prophetic identity and mission from Israel’s Scriptures.1 A biblical prophet starts his or her career when the Lord comes to the prophet, perhaps through the Holy Spirit or in a vision. The prophet then speaks God’s word to the people. Salvation oracles proclaim God’s faithfulness to the covenants with Abraham and David; judgment oracles accuse the people of breaking the Mosaic covenant and pronounce sentence on them. Sometimes the prophet illustrates the oracle with a parable, a story that tricks its listeners into condemning themselves by inviting them to judge among its characters. At other times, the situation calls for a prophetic action, a stunt that drives home the prophet’s point. Prophets often demonstrate their supernatural power by performing miracles, reading minds, and predicting the future.2 1. For other summaries of prophetic characteristics in Luke-Acts, see Paul S. Minear, To Heal and to Reveal: The Prophetic Vocation According to Luke (New York: Seabury, 1976), 87–90; Luke Timothy Johnson, Luke-Acts: A Story of Prophet and People (Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1981), 25–26; David P. Moessner, Lord of the Banquet: The Literary and Theological Significance of the Lukan Travel Narrative (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), 48–50; Robert F. O’Toole, Luke’s Presentation of Jesus: A Christology, SubBi 25 (Rome: Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico, 2004), 43–52. 2. For example, the “word of the Lord” comes to Jeremiah (Jer. 1:2, 4). Zechariah son of Jehoiada is possessed by the Holy Spirit (2 Chron. 24:20); Amos sees visions (Amos 7:1-9). Isaiah delivers a salvation 9 Luke lavishes these prophetic characteristics on Jesus, thereby distinguishing his work from the other canonical Gospels. This is not to say that the theme is absent from Matthew, Mark, and John. On the contrary, it is somewhat prominent in Mark. When Mark’s Jesus gives offense in his hometown synagogue, for example, he compares himself to a dishonored prophet (Mark 6:4). Many believe that he is Elijah or one of the ancient prophets (Mark 6:15; 8:28). Like a prophet, he knows people’s thoughts (Mark 2:8). He also foretells several events: his death, resurrection, and second coming (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34; 13:24-28; 14:62); Judas’s betrayal (Mark 14:18-21); the disciples’ desertion (Mark 14:27-28); Peter’s denial (Mark 14:30); the Jewish War of 66–74 (Mark 13:1-24). Ironically, Roman soldiers mock Jesus’ prophetic ability even as a second cock-crow heralds the fulfillment of one of his prophecies (Mark 14:62-72). Matthew also portrays Jesus as a prophet. Like Mark, he includes the dishonored prophet saying (Matt. 13:57), the mind reading (Matt. 9:4), predictions of future events (Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-28; 24:1-44; 26:20-25, 31-34, 64), and the fulfillment of the prophecy about Peter (Matt. 26:67-75). He includes one of Mark’s sayings about Elijah and the ancient prophets, adding that some people also believe that Jesus is Jeremiah (Matt. 16:14). When he enters Jerusalem, the crowds hail him as a prophet (Matt. 21:11).3 He implicitly compares his own execution to the murder of Israel’s prophets (Matt. 23:29-36). Even John’s Gospel, with its focus on Jesus as the messianic Son whom God sends into the...