7
goats (25:31-46), irrespective of the specific interpretation adopted of that notoriously
controversial text.
17
Distinctively Lucan Emphases
Much of the dynamic between Jesus and various Jewish leaders remains the same
as we move from Mark and Matthew to uniquely Lucan texts. Classic examples include
the account of Jesus at the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50) and the parable of
the Pharisee and tax-collector (18:9-14). A close parallel to the Matthean warning
against antinomians appears in Luke 13:24-30. The major, new emphasis in Luke
involves his inclusion of Jesus' warnings against certain Jewish leaders who are also rich.
The uniquely Lucan material in the Sermon on the Plain includes woes against those
socio-economically wealthy (6:24) who also persecute the righteous (v. 26). Also unique
to Luke is the triad of parables on the right use of riches--the rich fool (12:13-21), the
unjust steward (16:1-9), and the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31), the latter two
sandwiching an explicit Lucan comment on how certain Pharisees "who loved money"
were listening to and sneering at Jesus (v. 14). While the Bible never condemns wealth
per se, I have demonstrated elsewhere that neither does it ever acknowledge someone to
truly be a member of the people of God who is wealthy and not simultaneously generous
and compassionate in his or her use of that wealth.
18
The Gospel of John
By dividing John from the Synoptics, I am not suggesting that it is any less
historical.
19
But in a survey that essentially is sketching a New Testament theology of
17
For a full history, see Sherman W. Gray, The Least of My Brothers (Atlanta: Scholars, 1989).
18
Craig L. Blomberg, Neither Poverty nor Riches (Downers Grove: IVP, 1999); on Luke specifically, see
pp. 219-27.
19
Indeed, I have elsewhere recently made a robust defense of John's historicity, in The Historical
Reliability of John's Gospel (Downers Grove: IVP, 2001).