INTRODUCTION: The Gospel of Luke is considered as the Gospel
having an immense concern on the socio-economic background of
the people. A cursory reading of the
Gospel shows that there is in it various material that refers to a sharp
distinction of rich and poor. Generally speaking, Luke is kind-hearted to the
poor and hard-hearted towards the rich. Therefore, the point of inspection here
is what and who exactly are the rich and the poor? How has Luke coherently made
use of terms and theologies to address the issue in his Gospel? All these will
be dealt with and various terms that connote the lower strata of the
people Anawim, the poor and the
marginalized, and Gentiles will be discussed as well. Then, the underpinning
text of all his works – The Nazareth Manifesto will also be dealt with in this
paper.
1.
WHO ARE ‘THE WEALTHY/RICH’?
Luke uses the term ploutos to refer to wealth and plousios to refer to the rich. The rich
in Luke are not merely possessors of
wealth. They are those who abound
in resources and do not need to work for a living. They are those who, because of their undue attachment to wealth,
refuse to heed God’s call and let wealth become an obstacle to the Kingdom
(18:18-30). Because of wealth they fail to put their trust in God (12:13-21),
give themselves to enjoyment, become irreligious and fail to care for the poor
(16:19-31). This is why even Zacchaeus is categorized as plousios until he was ready to give away his riches
(19:1-10). In short, they do not make proper use of their wealth. For this
reason Luke avoids attributing the term plousios to Joseph of Arimathea (23:50) while Matthew does it (27:57). The rich at the time
of Luke oppressed the poor economically and socially.[1]
1.1 Luke towards the Rich
Right
at the beginning of the Gospel, in the Magnificat (1:46-55), by sending the
rich away empty, Luke foreshadows his disfavor towards the rich. This same
message is amplified in the Woes (6:24-26)
and then further intensified in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
through the reversals of fortunes (16:19-31). They are shown to be too attached to their riches which in turn
becomes an obstacle to obtain the Kingdom (8:14; 12:13-21). The extraordinary
difficulty of their entering the Kingdom is made explicit in the case of the
rich ruler: “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of
God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (18:24-25).[2]
Sam Peedikayil Mathew quotes
B.
J. Malina noting that in the Eastern Mediterranean region during the New
Testament times the terms ‘the rich’ and ‘wealthy’ as a rule meant ‘avaricious,’
and ‘greedy. The rich became rich as a result of their own covetousness or
greed or that of their ancestors. Typical of the rich is the amassing of
surplus, of having more than enough and more than others. The rich man to whom
Jesus refers does not seem to have come by his additional grain unfairly; the parable doesn’t state
that there was any dishonesty with his actions, it is quite probable that the
rich farmer by storing up grain for many years indirectly let the price of the
grain go up and led to the suffering of many. Jesus criticizes the rich through
this parable, for neglecting their obligation to the poor. Mathew also quotes R. J. Cassidy arguing
that Jesus in Luke’s Gospel is presented as chastising the rich for
accumulating surplus possessions, instead of sharing them with the poor and the
hungry.[3]
However, Mathew reads between the lines of Lucan passages and contends
that Wealth in itself is not attacked but it is for Common Good. Jesus
taught through the Parable of the Rich Fool and the Rich Man and Lazarus that
riches are not meant to be hoarded for personal gain and selfish enjoyment but
to be shared with the poor and the deserving people. Jesus’ challenge to the
rich ruler also indicates that accumulated riches are to be distributed among
those who do not have. In Luke 16:9 Jesus exhorts the rich to use unjust wealth
to make friends. In all the exhortations of Jesus regarding sharing riches we
could find that the recipients are those who cannot return (e. g., Lk.14:12
ff.; 10:30 ff.; 18:22; 12:33; 16:19 ff.; 19:8) and not those who can
reciprocate. This would indicate that Jesus understands the purpose of wealth
as common good.[4]
2. POVERTY IN LUKE: WHO
ARE THE POOR?
2.1 Background of Lucan
use of ‘Poor,’ the concept of Anawim
The
word ‘anawim’ is derived from the
Hebrew word which refers to ‘people of the low ebb of society’ to describe
their pathetic sociological conditions due to economic deprivation, social
backwardness or physical inadequacy. The word ‘ani’ the singular of ‘anawim’,
in its late and secondary ‘anaw’ has
the rendering of those whom poverty and powerlessness have taught ‘to bend
before God’ and to place their trust in God alone. So the implication of ‘anawim’ or the ‘poor’ indicates ‘those
through whom God shapes history’.[5]
Walter
E. Pilgrim holds that a pervasive and fundamental theme throughout the Old Testament
is the upholding of Yahweh as the protector of the poor and needy.
Interestingly, ‘possession of material wealth’ which is the other side of ‘poverty’,
is also seen as a ‘sign of God blessing and favor’ (Gen. 13:2; 26:13; 30:43;
41:40).[6]
Moreover, the concept of divine protection of the poor is found nowhere else in
the same degree in the religious literature of the ancient world than with Israel
The
most unique feature of the concept of the poor is seen in the book of Psalms that
merge the identity of the socially poor and the religiously pious. In effect
the poor and the pious become synonymous terms and so the meaning becomes ‘those
who place their total dependence upon God’ (Ps. 88:1-2). Thus, the ‘anawim’ understood themselves as persons
faithful to Yahweh in the midst of enemies, persecutions, afflictions and
corruptions by entrusting themselves solely to the care and protection of
Yahweh. This new concept of the poor carries over in the Intertestamental period
down though the New Testament. According to Pilgrim, some scholars have also tried
to identify these ‘pious poor’ as a distinct religious movement that emerged
within Judaism.[9]
The link between Jesus own social and religious background and Jesus’ concern
for the poor is observed from this context. In this, one important fact of the
concept of ‘anawim’ in the New
Testament is that, though the concept contains spiritualization, yet the situation
of distress generating from literal poverty, persecution, oppression,
affliction from the realm of social, economic and political occupies an
integral part.[10]
In Luke’s gospel the
connecting link between the ‘anawim’
and the gospel tradition is found in the preaching of Jesus to the poor. This
is because the presence of a sense of spiritual poverty and need, combined with
social setting of want and suffering, which is the very characteristics of the ‘anawim’ strongly enveloped the people to
whom Jesus proclaimed ‘good news’. ‘Jesus movement’ can be considered as a
movement among the pious and poor in the societies who are known as ‘anawim’ because Jesus’ words and actions
contains the theme of a coming eschatological reversal, which have been
identified with the core belief of ‘anawim’.
So, what makes the identification of the poor in Luke’s gospel as ‘anawim’ is their hope in God and of the
promised deliverance.[11]
2.2. LUKE TOWARDS THE
POOR AND THE MARGINALIZED
Any investigation of
Luke’s attitude toward wealth and poverty must deal with his use of ptwco,j,
“poor.” It has been asserted that this term must be taken in its purely literal
sense: the economically destitute. Unfortunately, there is not unanimity among
the interpreters. Indeed, “the poor” has been variously interpreted as the
pious, those who do not belong to the religious establishment, those faithful
disciples who have renounced worldly possessions those who are actually
destitute, those who suffer, particularly Jesus’ persecuted disciples, Israel
and the faithful remnant within Israel.[12]
Joachim Jeremias gives the broader definition of poor as Jesus used in Luke and
says, “Jesus used ‘the poor’ in the wider sense that the term had acquired in
the prophets… the hungry, those who weep, the sick, those who labor, those who
bear burdens, the last, the simple, the lost and the sinners.”[13] In
Jeremias definition, the concept of poor is swallowed up by the rubric of
concern for the outcasts and sinners. Luke lays heavy stress on the Jesus who
had table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. It can be seen that the various Jewish
traditions about the poor are very complex. Therefore, poor in Luke’s Gospel
are not only the destitute but at the same time they are those who live in an
outcast condition. These people represent the extremes of social and economic
status.[14]
So, ptwco,j is
used for not only poor in economic, but also oppressed and marginalized in the
society. The poor and marginalized in Luke’s Gospel may comprise of the poor,
the sick, the handicapped, slaves, lepers, shepherds, prostitutes, tax-collectors,
Samaritans, Gentiles, foreigners, refuges, children, the elderly, widows, and
women.[15]
The term ptwco,j appears in three principle texts:
Luke 4:18; 6:20 and 7:22. Since Luke apparently is referring to Isaiah 61,
Leaney, Schtirmann and others have underlined the importance of the Isaianic
background for understanding Luke’s use of ptwco,j. From the three basic
divisions in Isaiah, i.e. 1–39; 40–55; and 56–66, obviously Luke’s allusions
come from the last of these Isaianic sections. In Isaiah 56–66, we also see a
portrait of an underclass that emerges.[16]
James
Longkumer holds that the application of the terms “the rich” and “the poor” in
the Gospels have deeply rooted in the social conditions of the first century
Palestine and the Mediterranean world.[17]
Even though the terms are being perceived and applied commonly as economic
categories in modern parlance, at the same time, there has been a long standing
social castes (like aristocratic-peasant relationship) in the usage of the
terms in the Gospels.[18] In the New Testament, oi` ptwcoi/j (‘the poor’) is used to refer to the poor which
derived from the root word ptwssw meaning to ‘crouch’ or to ‘cringe’. It is understood
in a restricted and literal sense to indicate a person who lacks the
necessities of life and resort to begging.[19]
However, from the comments of Luke 4:18; 6:20 and 7:22, the definition of the ‘poor’
in Luke is so broad that it is not solely a means of discriminating material
possession of the rich and poor alone.[20] In
general, the ptwcoj refers to a large group of people to whom Jesus
preached the kingdom of God.[21]
According
to Cassidy, there are many passages where Luke showed Jesus’ expression of a
concern for the poor who suffered from various diseases and infirmaries (cf.
14:12-14), and also several passages where Jesus was shown as focusing upon the
situation of the poor. Perhaps the best-known passage is the beatitudes in
which Jesus proclaimed that the poor are blessed (6:20).[22]
Luke also showed about Jesus telling the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in
which the central issue is neglect of the poor (16:19-26); and portrays Jesus
explicitly instructing a rich ruler to sell all that he has and “distribute to
the poor” (18:22). Here Luke particularly emphasized Jesus’ solidarity with the
marginalized of the society.[23]
2.3.
The Kingdom of God and the Poor
In
Luke’s gospel, Jesus instructs his followers to proclaim the nearness of the
Kingdom of God (10:9, 11) which was connected with the understanding of
imminent Parousia by varieties of scholarships.[24]
However, Jesus commissioning for the proclamation of the good new to the
Seventy (10:1ff) and the report of the healing and casting out of demons to the
‘poor’ (10:17-20) inclined more towards Jesus concern of the poor rather than
Parousia itself. Moreover, the gospel traditions clearly presented that the
message of the ‘Kingdom of God’ is the central theme of Jesus’ message (Lk.
4:43; Mk. 1:14-15; Mt. 4:23) and was closely associated with miracles. This
understanding is clearly presented by Jesus through linking the message and
miracles: “The blind receives their sight, the lame walks, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hears, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news
brought to them” (Lk. 4:16-18; 7: 22-23; Mt. 11:4-5). In addition, Jesus
insisted that his message of the ‘Kingdom of God’ was acted out in his miracles
and exorcism: “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come to you” (Lk. 11:20; Mt. 12:28).[25]
2.4.
Why did Luke stress on the Poor?
As
Luke’s Jesus is seen to reflect having more concerns for the poor and
marginalized, scholarship circles tries to understand the reason for the
focusing on the stance made by Luke through his community. Mark Allan Powell
mentions that the concern for the ‘poor’ in Luke is so great that one of the
main intentions of Luke’s gospel was to mediate Jesus association and
solidarity with the lowly and outcast to a community of respectable people.
Suggestion with regards to the rich and the poor is that social tensions exists
even among the Christian community and many members looked down upon ‘poor
members’ for various reasons besides economic status. In such a situation, Luke
broadens the concept of the ‘poor’ by retracing Jesus’ concern for the ‘marginalized’
and urged the community of respectable people to compare their attitude with
those of Jesus’ enemies, who ‘murmured’ against Jesus fellowship with the ‘wrong’
sort of people (5:30; 15:1; 19:17). Powell further stresses that Luke reminded
the community not only to be good to those who are inferior to them (14:12-14)
but even to ‘love their enemies’ (6:27) just as Jesus taught them to.[26]
3.
GENTILES IN LUKE
Luke’s
concern for the Gentiles is clearly portrayed by his report of Jesus’ approval
of ‘the place which Gentiles will have in the coming kingdom’ (13:29). This
motif of inclusiveness of the community later dominates Acts.[27]
For Luke, there seems to be no doubt that the community of believers
incorporates Gentiles on an equal footing with Jews because universal
implication of Jesus’ message appeared in some portions. Instances are - “A
light for the revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’
(Lk. 2:3 cf. Isa. 49:6), ‘all flesh shall see the salvation of God’ (Lk. 3:6),
the mission of the Seventy-two disciples is alluded to the Gentile missions
(Lk. 10:1-20).[28]
According to Knight more than Matthew and Mark’s gospels, Luke’s gospel seems
to tone down the presence of the ministry of Jesus in non-Jewish territory (cf.
Luke’s omission of the tradition found in Mk 6:45; 7:24–31; 8:27). Evidently,
Luke is trying to show more clearly that the salvation of the Gentiles is not
something that gets underway during the time of Jesus.[29]
3.1
Inclusion of the Gentiles, why?
The
neglecting of the Jews to the promise of God and the inclusion of ‘Gentiles’ in
good news to the poor seems to have plausible reasons which Luke projected in
his gospel. According to Powell, the Jews were mystified when the ‘people of
God’ were humiliated after their struggle with the might of Rome
resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem Israel
will be accomplished and Israel
4.
KEY TEXT: NAZARETH MANIFESTO (Lk 4:14-30)
In
the Nazareth Manifesto (Lk. 4:16-30) the full thrust landed on some significant
issues like: ‘to preach good new to the poor’, ‘to proclaim release of the
captive’, ‘recovery of sight to the blind’, ‘to set at liberty to those who are
oppressed’ and ‘to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’. According to Lucius Nereparampil,
this very verse that Jesus read for the text of Isaiah brought out the clear
consciousness of Jesus and his identity ‘of being anointed and sent to bring
good news to the poor’. Moreover, Jesus was aware of the object to which his
mission and ministry were for: ‘to the poor’. The good news is therefore the
arrival of the kingdom
of God
Though this particular passage has been paralleled
with other two gospels of the Synoptics: Matthew 13:53-58 and Mark 6:1-6,[32]
yet Luke’s form of the story contains a more elaboration and additional
features that harmonize the Old Testament prophecy (Isa. 61:1-2; 58:6) with
Jesus’ time in the New Testament. Thus, this distinctive presentation of Jesus’
ministry demonstrated that the theme of ‘good news to the poor’ belongs at the
heart and centre of Lucan story.[33]
The
concern for the ‘poor’ is considered to be immensely portrayed in this
programme description of Jesus. The intention of providing ‘liberation’ to the
captives and oppressed from the Old Testament concept of ‘Jubilee’ year greatly
enhance the totality of Jesus’ good news to the poor. According to Pilgrim, the
omission of one line from Isaiah 61:1 quotation: “he sent me to heal the broken
in heart”, and yet the insertion of Isaiah 58:6 points towards the significance
of the word ‘release’. He further stresses that in both the ministry of Jesus
and in the apostolic preaching, the word ‘release’ is used specifically for the
bondage of sin and evil which is removed through the forgiving power of Jesus. However, its presence in the
Old Testament quotation from Isaiah suggests that it retains something of its
connection with the Jubilee hope of social and economic release.[34]
Moreover, the connection of the word ‘today this Scripture has been fulfilled
in your hearing’ (Lk. 4:21) showed that Jesus teaching was different as he saw
God as acting in the present; in his work. This connection of ‘today’ with the
Isaiah quotation is different because Jesus’ contemporaries did not doubt that
God’s kingdom would come some day in the future eschatological era.[35]
Razouselie
Lasetso deduces that Jesus’ proclamation of the good news to the poor entails
not only their sharing in God’s reign at the end of the age. It is also the
mission of the Lukan Jesus to transform the rich people to extend their wealth
for the cause of the poor. This becomes a double facet of the good news to the
poor: share of God’s reign at the eschaton and the making of generosity from
the wealthy possible. That Jesus had a power to create such a community is
later brought out by the evangelist when he gives us the picture of the
community life of the first Christians in Acts (2: 44-45; 4:34-35). Therefore,
it is very obvious that Jesus literally fulfilled that which he proclaimed at
Nazareth. Therefore, for Luke, in Jesus’ proclamation and ministry the jubilee
principle of redistribution of capital finds its fulfillment. In fact this is
one of the principles, which directs Luke to interpret Jesus’ total ministry.
We shall now turn to this aspect of Luke’s jubilary motif of redistribution of
capital.[36]
5.
LUKE’S THEOLOGY OF RICH AND POOR
Luke has a concern both for the
rich and the poor. Jesus is often seen associating with the rich and even
accepting hospitality from them. However, Luke’s Jesus warns them of the
dangers of riches, or the coming judgment and commands them to divest
themselves of their wealth or use their possessions in a right way. The rich
are called to repent and change their attitude towards the poor and towards
God.
5.1. Teaching
about Riches and Its Dangers: By using the word pleonexi,a Luke points that
in God’s sight to store away surplus goods and to trust in possessions rather
than in him is to become a fool, because wealth has no abiding value. Jesus
condemns such greed or pleonexi,a, i.e., the lust to
have more and more. Luke’s Jesus also warns the rich of another danger: the
danger of making mammon a God. In Luke 16:13, wealth is equivalent to a master.
It stands like a god in opposition to God himself. By using the saying in 16:13,
Luke makes the point that if a person trusts money then it is impossible to
trust in God: “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Lk. 16:13). Takatemjen
further observes that if holding on to possessions makes it impossible to trust
in God separating him from God, it is also dangerous in another way: it
separates man and man. The rich stand in danger of losing their poor
neighbours. Riches could make them blind and not see the needs around (Lk.
16:19-31).[37]
5.2 A New Social
Order of Relationships: It is Luke’s idea of koinwni,a which gives rise to his theology of rich and poor. There is a sense in
which all his concerns for the rich and the poor are converged in his theme of
koinwni,a. In a world divided by all
kinds of barriers, namely social (slaves and masters), ethnic (Jews and
Gentiles), and sexist (male and female), Luke presents his revolutionary
concept of koinwni,a as the answer to his community’s problem. Instances are – firstly, Table-Fellowship where Luke emphasizes on this question of
table-fellowship among the rich and the poor in their relationship to one
another especially in the parable of “A Man who Prepared a Dinner” and the
parable of “The Places of Honour at the Table” (Lk 14:7-14, 15-24) more
explicitly. The rich are called to recognize the presence of the poor in the
community by inviting them to the meals and by making friendship with the
latter. Such making of friendship will be rewarded at the resurrection of the
just (14:14 cf. 16:9). Secondly, Almsgiving
- For Luke, ‘alms’ is not just the giving of small sums but it involves the
giving of one’s whole self and convincingly shows this in the parable of “A Man
who had a Shrewd Steward”(16:9). This kind of giving has the purpose of
eradicating social injustices. It should be done for the sake of the poor
because financial and economic inequities are preeminent on God’s agenda. By
contrast, failure to give and share wealth through almsgiving is condemned and
judged in the parable of “A Rich Man with a Farm” (12:16-21). His attitude of
non-sharing, preservation of wealth and the hoarding of wealth is condemned
(cf. 18: 18-23; 16: 19-31).[38]
5.3. Salvation of the Rich and
Poor: One
of the most significant parts of Luke’s theology of rich and poor is his
concept of salvation. Although, it is true that salvation is depicted as coming
to both the rich and the poor, in Luke the poor are presented as the more
privileged than the rich as far as the appropriation of salvation is concerned.
Fr. Thomas holds that to be saved, the rich have to repent for the injustice
done to the poor. Luke places repentance, conversion and forgiveness of
sins as the preliminary stages to obtain salvation (1:77). At the end of the
episode of the Sinful Woman with the Ointment (Mk 14:3-9), Luke alone, in Jesus’
declaration, clearly tells her that it was because of her love, faith and
repentance that she was granted salvation (7:50). Those who do not repent come
under divine judgment (13:35), while those who repent are generously forgiven.
Thus, after having shown the difficulties that the rich have in entering the
Kingdom, and thereby instructing and guiding them to obtain salvation, Luke
(alone among the evangelists), shows that salvation is possible for them (cf.
18:27; 19:1-10).[39]
Luke puts a great emphasis on the poor, their plight, and the obligation to
help them through almsgiving and generosity. Over and above this, Luke speaks
of their salvation and their eventual deliverance (1:52-53; 6:20-21; 12:33;
16:19-25; 18:22; 19:8; 21:1-4, cf. Mk. 12:41-44). Although, the poor are poor
now, helpless and destitute and the rich fulfilled and satisfied, Luke
envisages a time when these conditions will be reversed in the next world. This
other-worldly concept of salvation for the poor occurs in Luke in a number of
places. One instance is Luke 16:19-31 where the rich man who ignored the cries
of the poor Lazarus is punished and deprived of the luxuries he enjoyed on
earth, while the poor Lazarus who was deprived in this life is given whatever
he had lacked in this life. Death has brought about a judgment in the form of
reversal. On the other hand, the concern for the poor man’s salvation now in
this life is seen in the following passages: (i) In 4:18f., the good news which
is preached to the poor is presented as happening now: “Today, this scripture
has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (ii) The emphasis on the “nowness”
of salvation is seen also in 14:17, “Come, for everything is now ready,” or
(iii) the beatitude in 6:20-21: “Blessed are you poor....Blessed are you who
hunger now...who weep now.” For Luke, while the reversal of conditions of the
rich and the poor will not occur until the parousia, the process has already
started right here on earth.[40]
CONCLUSION: From the above discussion, we
get an idea that though Luke expresses a definite concern for people of all
walks of life—the poor, the rich, the outcast and the underprivileged,
yet when he is confronted with the social practices that run counter to his
vision of healthy relationships, e.g., the negligence and oppression of the
poor by the rich, he does not remain passive but awakens the rich to the evil
that they cause in society and asks them to divest themselves of their wealth
and be just to the poor. The emphasizing of universalism in the presence of
rift between rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, male and female, and
marginalized and high class people created a sense of satisfaction as it offers
a tangible vision of the hope of the Kingdom
of God
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bergquist, James A. “Good News to the Poor’: Why Does this Lucan Motif
Appear to Run Dry in the Book of Acts?” TSR, vol. 9. 1987.
Cassidy, Richard J. Society and Politics in the Acts of the Apostles.
New York; Orbis Book, 1987.
Green, J.B. “Good
News to Whom? Jesus and the Poor in the Gospel of Luke ,” Jesus of Nazareth:
Lord and Christ: Essays on the Historical Jesus and the New Testament
Christology, ed. by J.B Green and Max Turner. Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1994.
Heart, Warren. “Luke’s
Attitudes towards the Rich and the Poor,” Trinity Journal, vol. 9:1. Spring,
1988.
Karris, Robert J. “Poor and Rich: the Lukan Sitz im Leben,” Perspective
on Luke-Acts, edited by Charles H. Talbert. Edinburgh: T &T Clark Ltd,
1978.
Lasetso, Razouselie. The Nazareth Manifesto: The Theology of Jubilee and
Its Trajectories in Luke-Acts. Delhi: ISPCK, 2005.
Longkumer, James. “Good News for the poor,” Theological Crossings 1/1.
Spring, 2008.
Mathew, Sam Peedikayil.
“The Rich and the Riches in the
Gospel of Luke and Tirukkural: An Inter-textual Reading” in Gurukul Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. XX. No. 11 January,
edited by George Zechariah. Chennai: Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and
Research Institute, 2009.
McKnight, S. “Gentiles”,
in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, J.B Green et al.(ed.). Illinois:
Inter Varsity Press, 1992.
Monikaraj, Daniel. The Inheritors of the BASILEIA TOU THEOU:
According to Lucan Perspective. Delhi: ISPCK, 2008.
Nereparampil, Lucius. “Good News to the Poor: The Synoptic View of
Evangelization”, in Bible Bashyam, Vol. 24 No.3, September 1998,
139-142.
Pilgrim, Walter E. Good News to the Poor: Wealth and Poverty in
Luke-Acts. Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1981.
Powel,
Mark Allan. What are
They Saying about Luke. New York: Paulist Press, 1989.
Squires, John T. “The Gospel According to Luke”, in Cambridge
Companion to THE GOSPELS, S.C Barton (ed.). New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2006.
Stanton, Graham. “Message and Miracles”, in The Cambridge
Companion to JESUS, Markus Bockmuehl (ed.). New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2001.
Takatemjen, The
Banquet is Ready: Rich and Poor in the Parables of Luke. Delhi:
ISPCK, 2003.
Thomas D’Sa, Rev. Fr. “The Salvation of the Rich in the Gospel of Luke,” in Vidyajyoti,
Vol. LII, edited by S. Arokyasami. Delhi: Vidyajyoti Educational & Welfare
Society, 1988.
[1]
Rev. Fr. Thomas D’Sa, “The Salvation of the Rich in the Gospel of Luke,” in Vidyajyoti, Vol. LII, edited by S.
Arokyasami (Delhi: Vidyajyoti Educational & Welfare Society, 1988), 172.
[2]
Thomas D’Sa, “The Salvation of the Rich in the Gospel of Luke, 173-174.
[3] Qouted by Sam Peedikayil Mathew, “The Rich and the Riches in the Gospel of Luke
and Tirukkural: An Inter-textual Reading” in Gurukul Journal of
Theological Studies, Vol. XX. No. 11 January, edited by George Zechariah
(Chennai: Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, 2009), 22-23.
[4] Mathew, “The Rich
and the Riches in the Gospel of Luke and Tirukkural: An Inter-textual Reading,
26.
[5]
Daniel Monikaraj, The Inheritors of the
BASILEIA TOU THEOU: According to Lucan Perspective (Delhi: ISPCK, 2008),
120.
[6]
Walter E. Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor:
Wealth and Poverty in Luke-Acts (Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House,
1981), 19.
[7]
A legal tradition was developed to
remove poverty from the land with the recurrent theme of Yahweh’s love and care
for the poor and needy alongside His protection of the stranger, the widow, the
orphan and the poor (Ex.22:21-27). The poor also occupies a special place in
the Psalter. In many of the psalms, the speaker often identifies himself as a
poor man who is confronted by his enemies or by severe afflictions. In this
situation he cries to God for help and makes his appeal on the basis of God’s
promise to rescue the afflicted (Ps. 86:1-2, 7). In many of these Psalms, a
collective sense of the poor occurs (Ps. 74:18, 19, 21) and the beseecher
identified himself either with a group within Israel or with Israel itself
standing in dire need of God. For Detail See Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor: Wealth and Poverty in Luke-Acts, 19-29.
[8]
Monikaraj, The Inheritors of the BASILEIA
TOU YEOU: According to Lucan Perspective, 121.
[9]
One such example can be the Qumran Community, who choose to become ‘pious’ in
the midst of degradation within religious, social and economic corruption
against God. It can also be applied to Jesus’ disciples who foreshake
everything in order to become ‘pious poor’ by following Jesus.
[10]
Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor: Wealth
and Poverty in Luke-Acts, 30-31.
[11]
Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor: Wealth
and Poverty in Luke-Acts, 55-57.
[12]
Robert J. Karris, “Poor and Rich: the Lukan Sitz im Leben,” Perspective on Luke-Acts, edited by
Charles H. Talbert (Edinburgh: T &T Clark Ltd, 1978), 113.
[13]
Joachim Jeremias, New Testament Theology:
The Proclamation of Jesus, pp109-113. as cited by Robert J. Karris, 113.
[14]
Takatemjen, The Banquet is Ready: Rich
and Poor in the Parables of Luke (Delhi: ISPCK, 2003), 356. So also James
A. Bergquist, “Good News to the Poor’: Why Does this Lucan Motif Appear to Run
Dry in the Book of Acts?” TSR, vol. 9
(1987), 18-27. So also J.B. Green, “Good News to Whom? Jesus and the Poor in
the Gospel of Luke ,” Jesus of Nazareth:
Lord and Christ: Essays on the Historical Jesus and the New Testament
Christology, ed. By J.B Green and Max Turner (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1994), 59-74, as cited by Karris, “Poor and Rich: the Lukan
Sitz im Leben,”
[15]
Mark Allan Powel, What are They Saying
about Luke (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 91.
[16]
Warren Heart, “Luke’s Attitudes towards the Rich and the Poor,” Trinity Journal, vol. 9:1 (Spring, 988),
4.
[17] The first century Palestinian world
of Jesus should be viewed not only in terms of categories that characterize
modern market economy and industrialised society, but rather in terms of
ancient partially commercialised aristocratic-peasant society. In the ancient
world there were two basic groups quantitatively- the aristocrats and the
peasants. They were the minorities and the majorities in the ancient
Mediterranean society respectively. As long as members from any of these two
groups of people were able to maintain their inherited status, they were
considered as honourable persons in the society. However, there is also a
qualitative aspect in which both the aristocrat and the peasants can be
considered as “poor’ when they fall from their original inherited status and
can no longer maintain their former social place in the society. Accordingly,
the definition of “the poor” stands as those “who cannot maintain their
inherited status due to circumstances that befall them and their families, such
as debt, being in a foreign land, sickness, death of spouse (widow), or some
personal physical accident.”………James Longkumer, “Good News for the poor, …114
[19]
Razouselie Lasetso, The Nazareth
Manifesto: The Theology of Jubilee and Its Trajectories in Luke-Acts
(Delhi: ISPCK, 2005), 117-118.
[20]
Robert J. Karris, “Poor and Rich: The Lukan Sitz im Leben”, in Perspective on Luke-Acts, C.H. Talbert (ed.) (Edinburgh: T & T
Clark, 1978), 113. (112-125)
[21]
Monikaraj, The Inheritors of the BASILEIA
TOU YEOU: According to Lucan Perspective, 48.
[22]
Richard J. Cassidy, Society and Politics
in the Acts of the Apostles (New York; Orbis Book, 1987), 2.
[23]
John T. Squires, “The Gospel According to Luke”, in Cambridge Companion to THE GOSPELS, S.C Barton (ed.) (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2006), 176.
[24]
For detail about the argument of imminent Parousia by Scholars from this
passage, see Mark Allan Powell, What are
They Saying About Luke? (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 42-44.
[25]
Graham Stanton, “Message and Miracles”, in The
Cambridge Companion to JESUS, Markus Bockmuehl (ed.) (New
York : Cambridge
University
[26]
Powell, What are They Saying About Luke?,
93.
[27]
Acts portrayed the universalism or inclusiveness of the gospel like: In the
case of Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18), where Peter declared about the
Gentile in Caesarea that ‘they have received the Holy Spirit just as they have’
(Acts 10:45), that ‘the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had fallen upon
them at the beginning (Acts 11:15), and that ‘God gave the same gift to those
who believe’ (Acts 11:17). For detail see Squires, “The Gospel According to
Luke”, 177.
[28]
Squires, “The Gospel According to Luke”, 177-178.
[29]
S. McKnight, “Gentiles”, in Dictionary of
Jesus and the Gospels, J.B Green et al.(ed.) (Illinois: Inter Varsity
Press, 1992), 262.
[30]
Powell, What are They Saying About Luke?,
49.
[31]
Lucius Nereparampil, “Good News to the Poor: The Synoptic View of
Evangelization”, in Bible Bashyam,
Vol. 24 No.3, September 1998, 139-142. (139-148)
[32]
In contrast to Matthew and Mark’s parallel on the one hand and Luke’s
presentation on the other, there were lots of argument in the scholarly circles
on the source which Luke used for this particular passage (Lk. 4:16-30 cf. Mt.
13:53-58; Mk. 6:1-6). Scholars like Eisler (for detail see Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts, 1987: 34-35) commented that
there was a source or sources behind it. However, the problem lies with which
source or sources Luke employed for this particular passage. Lasetso (for
detail see The Nazareth Manifesto,
2005: 86) pointed out that Luke had the Markan source with him as well as ‘Q’
and his special source ‘L’. He further added that though J.A Fitzmyer does not
cotton to the suggestion of a different source apart from Mark’s, yet on the
basis of the entire Lucan episode, in line with other commentators, Luke derive
the entire episode from a non-Markan source and most probably from a ‘Saying-source
variant’ resulting in the parallel with Mark in some instances.
[33]
Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor: Wealth
and Poverty in Luke-Acts, 64.
[34]
Pilgrim, Good News to the Poor: Wealth
and Poverty in Luke-Acts, 68.
[35]
Morris, Luke: An Introduction and
Commentary, 117.
[36] Lasetso,
The Nazareth Manifesto: The Theology of
Jubilee and Its Trajectories in Luke-Acts, 156.
[37]
Takatemjen, The Banquet is Ready: Rich
and Poor in the Parables of Luke, 358.
[38]
Takatemjen, The Banquet is Ready: Rich
and Poor in the Parables of Luke, 360.
[39]
Fr. Thomas D’Sa, The Salvation of the Rich in the Gospel of Luke, 176.
[40]
Takatemjen, The Banquet is Ready: Rich
and Poor in the Parables of Luke, 364-365.
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