Rejected Prophets: Jesus and His Witnesses in Luke-Acts

Messiah and Savior

2 Messiah and Savior Prophetic precedents cannot address the chief objection to early Christian faith: its central claim that Jesus, a condemned and crucified criminal, is actually the prophesied Messiah. Judging from the vocabulary of his purpose statement, Luke seeks above all to answer this objection. “I too decided . . . to write an orderly account for you,” he tells his audience, “so that you may know [epignōs] the certainty [asphaleian] of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3-4). Luke reiterates this vocabulary once more at the beginning of Acts: “Let the entire house of Israel know [ginōsketo] with certainty [asphalōs] that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).1 Above all, his audience needs assurance that Jesus is the Messiah. Unfortunately for Luke, however, no prophet sets a precedent for being God’s anointed king. Luke needs other strategies to bolster this particular claim. Since those strategies create a context for Luke’s use of prophetic precedents, we need to examine them here. We will find that Luke demonstrates Jesus’ messianic identity in the same ways that he shows how Gentile inclusion, Jewish rejection, and the destruction of the temple are part of God’s plan for the messianic age. He structures his narrative around it, using various characters to voice the concerns of his audience. He follows his written sources Mark and Q, especially when they cite messianic prophecy—prophecy that in Luke’s judgment refers to the Messiah. He then supplements his sources with God’s testimony through additional messianic prophecies, angels, characters who prophesy, and the Holy Spirit. He uses every possible means to convince his audience of this indispensable “certainty.” Explicating Jesus’ messianic identity is only half the job. Luke must also delineate Jesus’ messianic mission. Clearly, Jesus had not conquered the Romans. He was not ruling in Jerusalem. How then was he supposed to have saved Israel? Jesus saves by forgiving sins, says Luke. A Spirit-inspired prophet announces this. The Scriptures confirm it. Luke’s narrative portrays a Jesus who 1. See also Beverly Roberts Gaventa, The Acts of the Apostles, ANTC (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003), 79. 21 forgives sinners from his first miracles in Galilee to his death on Calvary. He cannot follow a prophetic precedent because no prophet claims to forgive sin. That prerogative is reserved for God alone. Luke’s Jesus claims that prerogative, however, and more than once he supports his claim by acting like a prophet. Surely a man who tells parables, reads minds, and predicts the future must speak for God when he says, “Your sins are forgiven you.” “The Messiah Is Jesus” Luke’s emphasis on Jesus as the Messiah is based on a similar emphasis in Mark and Q. Luke therefore reproduces several episodes where his sources appeal to messianic prophecies. He agrees with Mark about the heavenly proclamation at Jesus’ baptism: “You are my Son” (Luke 3:22//Mark 1:11). This statement identifies Jesus as the Messiah, God’s “son” according to 2 Sam. 7:14 and Ps. 2:7. Luke repeats the Q story about a query from John the Baptist: “Are you the one who is to come?” (Luke 7:19). Jesus answers by confirming his messianic identity with allusions to Isa. 26:19; 35:5-6; 61:1: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Luke 7:18-23//Matt. 11:2-6). Further prophecies are adapted from Mark. After accepting Peter’s confession that he is “the Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20//Mark 8:29), Jesus is transfigured. He radiates messianic glory as the heavenly voice reaffirms, “This is my Son” (Luke 9:35//Mark 9:7). When Jesus finally enters Jerusalem, the scene evokes Zech. 9:9: “Lo, your king comes to you . . . mounted on a donkey.” The people acclaim him in the words of Ps. 118:26: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:28-40//Mark 11:1-10). At his trial, Jesus finally admits that he is “the Messiah,” the “Son of God,” citing Dan. 7:13 and Ps. 110:1 to describe the “Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power of God” (Luke 22:67-70//Mark 14:61...