One of the great advantages of reading the Gospels
in parallel is that we can see very clearly what makes each Gospel
unique. Comparing
Luke to Mark, which Luke used as one of his sources, reveals changes
that Luke
has introduced, and these modifications reveal a lot about how he worked
as an
author. A seemingly minor detail in this week’s reading provides a good
example
of this.
When the paralyzed man’s friends couldn’t gain access to the
door of the home in which Jesus was teaching, Luke says they climbed to the
roof and let the paralyzed man down “through the tiles.” Mark, however, says the
man’s friends “dug an opening” in the roof. These subtle differences reflect diverse
cultural contexts. Mud roofs—through which one would have to dig—were common in
the Palestinian context of Jesus and his contemporaries, but they would have
been unfamiliar to most Gentiles in Hellenistic cities, where tile roofs were
the norm. This minor alteration, taken together with many other similar details
in Luke’s Gospel, suggests that Luke was probably a Gentile author writing to Gentile
Christians.
The title “Son of Man” is a significant one in the Gospels,
and this is the first time it occurs in Luke’s Gospel. In the Old Testament, “son
of man” can simply mean “mortal” or “human being” as it does in the book of
Ezekiel, where God frequently addresses the prophet as “son of man.”
Alternatively, the phrase “one like a son of man” is used in Daniel 7:13 to
refer to an angelic or symbolic figure associated with the final judgment.
While most historians agree that Jesus did refer to himself
as “Son of Man,” there is considerable debate over whether he used it in the
generic sense, meaning “human being,” or to identify himself as a messianic
figure. The ambiguity of the title is fitting in this passage, for it is
precisely Jesus’ identity and his authority that the Pharisees dispute:
“Who
is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus’
response to these questions is characteristically evasive. Refusing to let his
adversaries trap him in his words, he answers by healing the paralyzed man and
sending him on his way. |
