Literary criticism of exegesis - Research Paper Example

Professor Name Institution, course number Date Exegesis paper The Bible as any other Holy script has undergone various explanations since the time of its emergence. The disciples are considered to be the first bearers of Holy script, except the Christ. These data everyone can find in the Old Testament, where mostly revealed the history of relationships between God and people. New Testament is dedicated more to the life of Jesus Christ. The aim of this work is to analyze the verse of Luke 9:18-36. Literary criticism Context: The gospel of Luke is very special in its representation. It has some peculiar power of attraction. It abounds in marvelous narrations and makes a strong impression on the reader in relation to the personality and teachings of Jesus. That is why many people consider it as the best part among other gospels. Luke’s gospel has many features, distinguishing it from other scripts. Since Luke explicitly says that it intends to describe everything in order, the great interest is dedicated to the structure of his Gospel and its comparison with the other parts of the Holy Bible. He uses the same general scheme as Matthew and Mark, although the details of the structure have a lot of specific features. Analyzing the verse of Luke 9:18-36, we can see a lot of peculiarities, which arise during the reading of the script. The context, preceding this verse reveals the following. Sending to the service his twelve disciples, Jesus gave them two assignments. They were to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick people. They were able to commit this will, because Jesus gave them power over the world of demons and above the sphere of physical ailments. Christ Himself has revealed His power over both of these areas. Healing must have been performed particularly by the disciples as the evidence of their faith. That fact that Jesus gave them the appropriate "power" represents Him as the Messiah, who has the ability to enter a person into the kingdom of God. From this moment people had to show their faith also in relation to the twelve disciples, because in this way they would have revealed their faith in the Messiah. Hosting the disciples was the indicator, which revealed the confidence of people in them. The mission of disciples was not long and soon they returned to Jesus with the report. The disciples did not take with them money, food and spare clothes for two reasons. Firstly, as has been said, their service was not long and secondly to check the attitude of people in relation to them. Those who would believe their gospel and power to heal, would gladly have shared their material prosperity with them. Those who would not accept them would have testified against themselves. The mission of the disciples attracted much public attention. Everybody began to talk about the things that Jesus did. Even Herod, who ruled Galilee, heard of Jesus and his successors. Herod apparently doubted in the resurrection of the dead, and dubiously accepted the rumors that John the Baptist, whom he beheaded, had raised from the dead. Thus, even the higher strata of the society have talked a lot about Christ and his disciples. This fact is written in the gospel of Luke. Feeding of 5000 people is the only miracle that is described by all four Evangelists. It can be regarded as the climax in the mission of Christ through the creation of his miracles. The purpose of the miracle was to deepen and strengthen the faith of His disciples. In verses 9: 10-11 Luke reveals the name of twelve disciples. Jesus himself was the first who called them. The disciples returned to him to Capernaum, which had become the place of their living for a certain period of time. Then Jesus with His disciples went to a deserted place near the town of Bethsaida, located on the other side of the Jordan, on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd of people, who believed in Jesus, followed him everywhere. Jesus received these people and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, healing those who needed it. The thing, which happened after that, was the culmination of His miracles, showing all present people that he is the Messiah, able to fully meet their needs. This context is particularly important for the verses analyzed in this paper as they give the concession of events, which explain the further actions of Jesus and twelve disciples. It affects the perception of the reader, while it describes the miracles, which predetermined the further recognition of Jesus as the Son of God. Without the pre-history of healing and feeding people, it would be impossible to understand the strength and power of Jesus Christ. Consequently, the pages are greatly affected by this context. Form criticism: The literary form of the analyzed passage is narrative, similar to storytelling. Such forms of literary style are revealed in the previous passages Luke: 9: 1-18, which help to interpret the analyzed one. The narrative style is sometimes mixed with the elements of a dialogue or direct speech. “To get an idea of the significance of the New Testament manuscript evidence, note for a moment the record for non-biblical texts. These are secular texts from antiquity that have been reconstructed with a high degree of certainty based on the available textual evidence” (Koukl, G., 2013). Structure: The verse has an interesting structural pattern in terms of linguistics. “It is evident that the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, a section of its center part comprising the parables and its last two chapters contain material found only in the third gospel. Also large portion of Luke’s gospel chiefly chaps. 5, 6, 8, 9, 18, 20 and 21 have material paralleled in Mark’s account. A relatively small part of Luke’s gospel has material similar to that in Matthew’s gospel namely smaller segments in chaps. 4, 6, 7, 10-12” (Kistemaker, S., 1982). The passage contains the cases of inversion: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9: 24). The first part of the passage describes Jesus, asking his disciples of how other people see Him. Jesus prohibited his followers to talk about who He was and reveal the fact that He was a Messiah. The second part describes the story of Jesus about His destination and His instructions to the disciples. They stated that the last must reject their sublunary desires, take the Cross and follow Him. The third part reveals the prophecy of Jesus, stating that those who are ashamed of God or His words will never face His kingdom. The last, fourth part represents going of Jesus Christ on the mountain with His followers and revealing Himself as a Holy Messiah. Redaction criticism: The alteration of different Bible writings witnesses about the editorial process of the passage. “Accustomed to reciting of Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in worship, Christian readers may be surprised to discover that Luke has another version in a different context. Whereas Matthew embeds the Lord’s Prayer in Jesus’ sermon about doing righteous acts (almsgiving, praying, fasting) for right reasons, Luke presents it as an example of Jesus’ personal piety followed by an explanatory parable. As for the prayer itself, Luke’s account is notably briefer” (Spencer, S. F., 2008). The most of editorial processes are used in order to make the antiquity of the passage more appropriate for reading and understanding. Key words: The author used some words in order to reveal the theological essence of the passage: “the kingdom of God”, “pray”, “glory”, “the Son of Man” and so forth. These words reveal the main features of the passage and make it more religious. “From the study thus far, it seems certain that Luke was concerned with the Gentiles place within the kingdom of God. “Therefore, it is a fundamental element of this study that Luke wrote his Gospel in universal terms, precisely because he viewed the gospel inclusively” (Mann, J. A., 1999). The words can be observed in different passages of the Bible. For example, in Matthew 24:7; 24: 29; 24: 30. The words are applied in the similar meaning in both the gospel of Matthew and Luke. These terms in the religious understanding have the following meaning: “the kingdom of God” is the most desirable place after death, a paradise; “pray” – talking to God in the form of worship; “glory” – the magnificence of the power of God; “the Son of Man” – people, who live on the earth, whose main destination is to worship God in order to enter His kingdom. Theological analysis “The “event of Christ” constituted an impact not unlike that of other revelatory events in the history of God’s people in that it forced the believers to seriously reexamine their beliefs. It was radically different, however, in several significant ways” (Bergant, D., 1992). The passage contains the description of the relationships of the disciples with God. It describes one of the defining moments in the life of Jesus. He asked the disciples a question, which was extremely important for Him, as He knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew that he would die on the cross, but before Jesus wanted to know, if His followers understand who he really was. Joy filled the heart of Jesus, when the mouth of Peter answered: "You are the Christ of God” (Luke 9: 20). However, his disciples should have known not only that. It was necessary to find out what it meant. Jesus had to tell them that He came into this world to die on the cross. He had to turn upside down their ideas about God and His purposes. This passage represents two general truths: 1) Jesus first asked what people thought about him, and then suddenly asked his disciples the same question. A person can pass the exams and repeat everything that was said and thought about Jesus. He can read all the books on Christ, written in all languages of the world and still not be a Christian. Another thing is to know Jesus for yourself. Jesus does not appeal to everyone with a question of who he is. The Christian faith is not a mere repetition of religion, but related directly to God. 2) In this passage Jesus constantly uses the word “must”. Again and again he tells his disciples that He must go to the cross. (Luke, 9:22). Jesus knew that He must fulfill the destiny, related to him. Gods will is His will. He had no other purpose on the earth than the one for the fulfillment of His destination, for which God sent Him into the world. Christians as their Lord must perform the task, related to them. Further on, Jesus describes the conditions of mission for his followers, predetermined by God’s will. 1) A person must deny himself. It means that usually people evaluate themselves as if their personality is the most important thing in the world. If people trust Jesus, they must forget about their personal existence and serve to God. 2) 2) The person must take up his cross. Jesus knew everything about crucifixion. When he was about eleven years old, Judas of Galilee raised a revolt against Rome. He attacked the royal armory in the city of Sepforsis, not far from Nazareth. Romans revenge was swift and brutal. Sepforsis was burned to the ground, the inhabitants were sold into slavery, and two thousand rebels were crucified on the cross erected along the roads, so that they served as a terrible warning to those who thought of the rebellion. Take up the cross means to be willing to be subjected to such punishment for the sake of loyalty to Jesus. It means that people must be prepared to endure the worst thing for the faithfulness to Him. 3) People must sacrifice their lives and try to keep it at any cost. The Christian must realize that life is not given to him to take care of it for himself, but to sacrifice it for others. 4) The loyalty to Jesus is rewarded, while infidelity punished. If people are faithful to God, He will be faithful to them in the eternal life. If they apply the strength to follow Him in the world, He will acknowledge them in the future. But if people deny Him, He will deny people. 5) In the last verse of this passage Jesus says that some standing near Him will not face death but see the kingdom of God. Without a doubt, this moment has arrived. The world faces a power, which has been changed the life of mankind. Jesus asks people to repent the sins. All these descriptions represent God’s relationships with people as fair, sacrificing and devoted. He loves people, but hates sins. However, He is merciful. God gave people the redemption through the death of His beloved son Jesus Christ. This intention of God to save people expresses His eternal and endless love in relation to them. The passage was originally written for the human beings. God made a testament for people in order to show them how to execute His will and enter His kingdom. The passage raises such questions as: How to live a life, keeping dispensation with God? How to determine the destination of the person in the world? Who is Jesus and what is his function in the human’s life? The passage gives the answer to these questions, but in a confusing way. It is done intentionally in order to make people to find their own theories and conclusions. Concluding this article, it is necessary to mention that the passage of Luke 9: 18-36 is a great example of the communication between God and people through Jesus Christ. It also contains a set of instructions, for those who want to become closer to God. The passage has the peculiarities in the structure and presentation of information, which make the images of the verse more alive. Works Cited Bergant, D. The Collegeville Bible Commentary. Collegeville: The order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1992. Print Kistemaker, S., 1982. The structure of Luke’s gospel. Retrieved from: http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/25/25-1/25-1-pp033-039_JETS.pdf Koukl, G., 2013. Is the New Testament Text reliable? Retrieved from: http://www.str.org/articles/is-the-new-testament-text-reliable#.VGxq7vmsXuI Mann, J. A., 1999. To all nations: an exegetical analysis of the parables of the Lord in Luke. Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=fac_dis Spencer, S. F. Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. The USA: Abingdon Press, 2008. Print The New Testament. Retrieved from: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt?lang=eng Read More