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4 “A Light for the Gentiles” The prophet Samuel does not provide an appropriate model for the adult Messiah as Luke portrays him. Samuel’s wars with the Philistines, confrontations with Saul, and anointing of Jesus’ royal progenitor David serve no useful purpose in illuminating Jesus’ ministry and death. After Luke recounts Jesus’ conception, birth, and childhood, he must rely on other prophets to set the precedent for Gentile inclusion, Jewish rejection, and the fall of Jerusalem. Elijah is a perfect candidate. He raises a dead child, as does the Jesus Luke knows from Mark’s Gospel. More importantly, Elijah can help with Luke’s agenda. God sends him to a Gentile; he transfers his spirit to his disciple. Luke can therefore use Elijah to legitimate the unexpected extension of God’s salvation to all people—first through the Messiah, then through his followers.1 1. On the necessity for Luke to address this issue, see David L. Tiede, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), 120. Many scholars recognize some or all of the parallels discussed in this chapter. According to P. Dabeck, Adrian Hastings, and J. Severino Croatto, they illustrate various characteristics of Jesus such as his compassion and ability to heal (see Dabeck, “Siehe, es erschienen Moses und Elias,” Bib 23 [1942]: 184–88; Hastings, A Prophet and Witness in Jerusalem: A Study of the Teaching of Saint Luke [London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1958], 74–75; Croatto, “Jesus, Prophet Like Elijah, and Prophet-Teacher Like Moses in Luke-Acts,” JBL 124, no. 3 [2005]: 461). Jean-Daniel Dubois, Paul S. Minear, and Ulrich Busse argue that the parallels liken Jesus to a prophet (see Dubois, “La Figure d’Elie dans la Perspective Lucanienne,” RHPR 53 [1973]: 176; Minear, To Heal and to Reveal: The Prophetic Vocation According to Luke [New York: Seabury, 1976], 95–97; Busse, Die Wunder des Propheten Jesus: Die Rezeption, Komposition und Interpretation der Wundertradition im Evangelium des Lukas, FB 24 [Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1977], 378). Paul Hinnebusch and Luke Timothy Johnson get more specific: the parallels liken Jesus to Elijah (Hinnebusch, “Jesus, the New Elijah, in Saint Luke,” TBT 31 [1967]: 2176) or Moses (Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, SP 3 [Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1991], 119–20, 162–64). Craig A. Evans, D. A. S. Ravens, and Robert F. O’Toole take a different tack: the parallels illustrate themes like election, Jewish rejection, and salvation history (Evans, “Luke’s Use of the Elijah/Elisha Narratives and the Ethics of Election,” JBL 106 [1987]: 82, Ravens, “Luke 9.7-62 and the Prophetic Role of Jesus,” NTS 36 [1990]: 128; O’Toole, Luke’s Presentation of Jesus: A Christology, SubBi 25 [Rome: Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico, 2004], 52). My view that they legitimate Gentile outreach is shared by G. W. H. Lampe, Gerhard Voss, and Joel B. Green (Lampe, “The Holy Spirit in the Writings of St 45 “For All the People” Luke consistently emphasizes that God offers salvation to everyone. As the angel tells the shepherds, the birth of the Messiah is “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). Simeon affirms this. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he takes the infant Jesus into his arms and prays: Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples; a light for revelation to the Gentiles [phōs ethnōn] and for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32) Simeon’s prophecy echoes Isa. 49:6: See, I have set you to be a covenant for the nation, a light for the Gentiles [phōs ethnōn], so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth [heōs eschatou tēs gēs]. Luke reiterates this prophecy twice in the book of Acts. First, the risen Jesus tells his disciples, “You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth [heōs eschatou tēs gēs]” (Acts 1:8). Later, Paul quotes Isa. 49:6 as his personal mission statement: I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. (Acts 13:47) By the time Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch (Acts 11:26), salvation for Gentiles has come to the fore. Meanwhile, Luke has introduced several more prophecies about salvation for everyone. When John the Baptist appears...

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