Abstract:

Luke has contributed a lot to the reshaping of NT Christology by the emphasis he gives on the prophetic role of Jesus. By placing the story of Jesus’ preaching and rejection in Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry, Luke provides the Bible readers with an optic to view the entire public ministry of Jesus along the lines of the Spirit-empowered prophet announcing and fulfilling the advent of God’s reign, but also encountering opposition and rejection by his own people. The story serves a “metadiegetic narrative” – a micronarrative embedded within a macronarrative – the purpose of which is to prefigure the larger drama of the rejection of Jesus on the cross.
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By incorporating Isa 61:1-2a, which is absent in the parallel account of Mk 6:1-6, into the narrative of Lk 4:16-30, Luke portrays Jesus as the Spirit-empowered prophet who will supremely bring about the “good tidings”€ (euvaggeli, sasqai) of God’s glorious reign on earth, for there seems to be an expectation at that time of an eschatological prophet whose role is to be a herald of God’s kingdom. The miracles which Jesus performed in his public ministry proclaimed in the language of eschatological Jubilee Year as a;fesij, i.e., “liberation”€ (Isa 61:1-2a) – are signs of the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. Luke takes the Jubilee theme of the Trito-Isaiah and gives it a far-reaching significance. In Luke’s perspective, Jesus’ ministry inaugurates the ultimate realization of God’s reign. The time of the liberation of the anawim and the brokenhearted has arrived. In that respect, Jesus’ work fulfills in a superlative way the social and religious concern of the Jubilee Year. The year of the Lord’s favor refers to the kairos of salvation. The deliverance envisioned by Trito-Isaiah for Zion is now used in Jesus’ proclamation of universal salvation.
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By expanding the narrative on Lk 4:16-30 with references to Elijah”s kindheartedness to the woman of Zarephath and Elisha’s graciousness to the Syrian commander Naaman, Luke is able to show the universality of Jesus’ work of salvation. Thus, the story serves to highlight Luke’s outreach to the gentiles.

Final Defense:

Board of Examiners: Fr. Herbert Schneider, S.J., S.T.D. (Principal Examiner) and Fr. Renato Repole, S.J., S.T.D.

Proposal Defense:

Board of Examiners: Fr. Felipe Fruto Ramirez, S.J., S.T.D. (Adviser), Fr. Herbert Schneider, S.J., S.T.D., Fr. Renato Repole, S.J., S.T.D.