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    Before Luke: A Search for the Original Christian Gospel
    Before Luke: A Search for the Original Christian Gospel
    Before Luke: A Search for the Original Christian Gospel
    Ebook186 pages1 hour

    Before Luke: A Search for the Original Christian Gospel

    By Michael Fossett

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    Crucified under Pontius Pilate has been the central point of Christian belief. His governorship of Judea is dated 26-36AD. Jesus died on a Friday on the Eve of Passover (Jn 19:14,31). Scholarly research tells us that Passover fell on a Saturday in 30AD. The less likely alternative that Jesus died on the Day of Passover itself (Mk 14:16f) would date his death as 29AD.

    Caligula was Emperor of Rome 37-41AD. He was assassinated before he was he could carry out his threat to desecrate the Jerusalem Temple. The cryptic message in Mark’s Gospel about the abomination of desolation (Mk 13:14) argues that when Mark wrote those words Caligula was still a serious threat. We should therefore expect the origins of our New Testament to lie in the decade following the death of Jesus.
    In his introduction to his two-volume work we know as Luke-Acts, its author refers to the existence of such scripture (Lk 1:1-4). What then did these sacred texts say about Jesus, and especially about his resurrection that gives meaning to our faith (1 Cor 15:12-19)?
    Comparing our Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke we can discern certain theological patterns. Relating these patterns to the earliest information we have about their formulations, we can begin to answer that question.
    What emerges from this analysis is a trio of texts. The latest of these is an earlier version of Mark’s Gospel. This is Galilean in outlook and shows an interest in individual disciples of Jesus. The author would seem to be Mark who claims to be an eyewitness (Mk 14:51f).

    Mark has drawn upon an earlier Gospel with a Judean outlook, which Luke seems to have used as the framework for his Gospel. Matthew also seems to have used it extensively. (It is possible its author was a Matthew whose name thus came be associated with our Gospel that bears this name.) This Judean Gospel shows an awareness of an even earlier sacred text.

    This third sacred text is a theological tract about the advent of the Kingdom of God In style it seems to reflect the same Judean theological ethos where the emphasis is upon the community, rather than individuals.

    Before Luke seeks to uncover the content of these three sacred texts.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGilead Books Publishing
    Release dateDec 1, 2014
    ISBN9781310132018
    Before Luke: A Search for the Original Christian Gospel
    Author

    Michael Fossett

    Michael is a Maths graduate and Mechanical Engineer having spent 40 years in management and consultancy. Upon retirement he was ordained into the Anglican ministry, having previously served as a lay reader for 30 years. During this time he undertook a detailed study of the Fourth Gospel, including a critical analysis of John’s vocabulary. In 2009 he published Pilgrimage to Glory that reproduced the Fourth Gospel in the light of his research. In parallel with his Johannine studies he undertook a study of the 3 Synoptic Gospels, the outcome of which he is now publishing under the title Before Luke.

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      Book preview

      Before Luke - Michael Fossett

      TAKING SHAPE

      Before Luke

      The Twelfth Chapter of John’s Gospel begins with an account of Mary anointing Jesus in the presence of Martha her sister, Lazarus her brother and Jesus’ disciples. The next day Jesus comes to Jerusalem, when a great crowd exits to greet him bearing palm branches and hails him as The King of Israel. This populist demonstration, recalling an event some two centuries earlier (1Macc 13:51), evokes a protest from the Pharisees. The entire sequence of events is set within the compass of Israel, chosen people of Yahweh her God. But this acclaim of Jesus prompts some Greeks present in the city to ask his disciples, Sir, we wish to see Jesus (Jn 12:21)

      John builds his own gospel on the foundation of Luke’s. Luke introduces us to Martha and Mary (10:38-42) and tells of the crowd greeting Jesus as a King with the consequent protest by the Pharisees (19:37-40). Moreover, Luke’s Gospel forms the first volume of the two-volume work we know as Luke-Acts. The first volume describes the growing recognition of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. The second volume records the spread of that recognition into the Greek World of the Eastern Mediterranean – the pattern John reproduces in his Chapter 12. We could therefore describe Luke’s Gospel as Before John, which then in turn prompts the question what lies Before Luke?

      Luke began both volumes by addressing Theophilus (Lk 1:3, Acts 1:1), stating plainly that others had written before him on the issues under discussion. The name Theophilus translates as one who loves God. This was also the one John addressed in his Gospel (Jn 3:16). Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus (Jn 3:1), who is both a Pharisee (Lk 17:20) and a Judean Ruler (Lk 18:18). The related concepts of The Kingdom of God and Eternal Life (life in the coming age) are, like Nicodemus, both rooted in Judaism. John in his Gospel developed the central theme of Luke-Acts, the spiritual movement outwards from Judea into the world of the Roman Empire (Lk 1:1-8, Acts 28:14-30). So it seems a reasonable assumption that Luke aimed to build upon these earlier scriptures by enhancing, if not introducing, this theme of outward movement.

      Luke anchored his two-volume work very firmly in history (Lk 1:5, 3:1f, 23:7, Acts 2:9-11, 5:34, 18:12, 25:1 etc). In Acts many characters pass briefly through his narrative, and he even introduced himself into his account during latter parts of the book (We 16:11, 20:5, 21:1, 27:1). He seemed anxious to do the same in his Gospel, where he reproduced the list of the Apostles found at Acts 1:13 when describing Jesus calling The Twelve (Lk 6:12-16), albeit in a different order, and later we also encounter Martha and Mary, and Zacchaeus. But elsewhere such personal details are lacking, save for Legion and Jairus. This would imply that such detail tended also to be lacking in Luke’s sources.

      All four gospels agree that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate (Governor of Judea 26-36AD), being crucified on a Friday. At that time pilgrims were assembling to celebrate the Feast of Passover, which began on Nisan 15 in the Hebrew calendar. The Sanhedrin had wanted to do away with Jesus, for which it required Pilate’s approval, and felt a need to act discreetly to achieve its objective before the festival. Judas Iscariot offered to facilitate Jesus’ arrest in secret. In John’s Gospel Jesus died on Nisan 14, the Eve of Passover (Jn 19:14), which is consistent with that objective (Jn 11:57, 18:28), and Luke may well have agreed with him (Lk 22:15). On that basis Nisan 14 would have fallen on a Friday. Scholarly research suggests during Pilate’s governorship this occurred in 30AD.

      However each new Jewish day began at nightfall, and according to Mark’s Gospel, at the Last Supper Jesus did in fact eat the Passover with his disciples (Mk 14:16f), implying that the Sanhedrin chose to bring about Jesus’ death on the great day of the feast, directly contradicting their explicit aim. On that basis the year of crucifixion would be 29AD. Decades later Paul described that meal (1Cor 11:23-6). His terminology – new covenant in my blood - made it an act of remembrance, showing that by then the Last Supper had come to be seen as the Christian Passover (1Cor 5:7). Mark’s account matches Paul’s theology (Mk 10:45), and he agreed with Paul (Mk 14:22-4) in words he inserted immediately before a separate saying about not drinking wine again before the Kingdom of God comes. The origins of this saying seem part of the tradition that Jesus died on Nisan 14 (Lk 22:14f). Clearly Luke was faced with conflictions in his sources, which he had to resolve.

      Both alternative dates, 29 and 30AD, fit well with other data related to the era covered by Luke-Acts, unlike the only other possible dating of 33AD.

      The Gospel of Mark

      The answer to the question Before Luke favoured by many NT scholars is Mark’s Gospel. The earliest information about the evangelist named Mark is attributed to Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, dated c140AD, who described Mark as the ermeneutes of the Apostle Peter. In the NT Paul used this title only once (1Cor 14:28) concerning interpreting for those speaking in tongues. Luke used the related verb once (Lk 24:27), of Jesus expounding in Moses and all the Prophets the things written about himself. This suggests that Mark interpreted Peter’s words – seeking to bring out their meaning. (Peter would be one major source for Mark. If this contact arose on a face to face basis, we need to establish where and when this contact occurred.)

      Both these uses of the term concern making the word of God accessible to the faithful. This is in line with OT theology, especially in a prophetic context. The books of the Prophets represent compilations of material built around a core of prophetic utterances by a revered prophet after whom the whole book was named. The incident about the young man at Gethsemane (Mk 14:51f) seems to represent an eyewitness report, suggesting that this formed part of the prophetic core of Mark’s Gospel. This would then imply that this core was created in Jerusalem, where Mark’s parents lived (Acts 12:12).

      That reference to Mark’s parental home occurs in Luke’s account of Peter’s escape from prison. He had been imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I who ruled Judea 41-44AD, owing his throne to Claudius, who became emperor after the assassination of mad Caligula (emperor 37-41AD). Two centuries before, under Greek rule, the Emperor Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) had plundered the Jerusalem Temple and erected a heathen altar on that holy site. The Book of Daniel (Dan 9:27) calls this desecration the Abomination of Desolation. That book reflects the Judean uprising that these events provoked. Caligula had proposed to emulate Antiochus by erecting a statue of himself in the Temple. Prominent Jews feared that this would provoke a similar uprising, and made an unsuccessful appeal to Rome to halt the scheme. Mark’s text contains a clear but cryptic reference to this fear (Mk 13:14). Its cryptic form shows that Mark felt the danger was still real. He wrote it before 41AD. (Under Herod Agrippa the danger would have passed – Acts 12:1f). From this analysis we can date the prophetic core of Mark’s Gospel to c40AD.

      Luke described Mark as huperetes to Paul and Barnabas when he accompanied them as they set out from Jerusalem on their early mission a few years later (Acts 12:25, 13:5). In his Gospel Luke described the custodian of the Isaiah scroll in the Nazareth Synagogue by this term (Lk 4:20), and he also employed this title in describing his sources (Lk 1:2). We may reasonably suppose that Mark’s early efforts at compiling his prophetic gospel featured in Paul’s missionary activities. So if later Luke accompanied Paul in a similar venture he would have been aware of Mark’s work and been anxious to continue it, as he stated in his preface (Lk 1:1-4).

      Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians from prison, in which he described Mark as his fellow prisoner (Col 4:10). Scholars argue about the location of Paul’s place of imprisonment, Ephesus and Rome being the most popular choices. They also cross-reference this with a similar reference in his letter to Philemon (v24). Despite Mark being a very common name in the Roman world, the NT seems to know of only one Mark. The second letter to Timothy mentions Mark and Luke in the same verse (2Tim 4:11).

      This analysis would suggest that the common link between Mark and Luke is Paul, who saw himself as the Apostle to the Gentiles (Gal 2:7). Certainly Luke endorsed this view (Acts 9:15). We can detect Mark and Luke each expanding the prophetic core that Mark had begun in Jerusalem c40AD. However whilst Luke continued the record of Jesus the Messiah up to Paul’s arrival in Rome, Mark’s record breaks off at the Empty Tomb (Mk 16:8). We might expect him to have continued like Luke into the apostolic age, covering much of the same ground. Some scholars have argued that Mark intended to end his record at this ambiguous point, but given his association with Paul’s mission, the idea is hardly credible. The obvious place to look for evidence of a Markan account of life in the Early Church is in the first part of Luke’s own account (before Acts 15:40). Mark parting company with Paul would in effect bring to an end the link between Luke and Mark via Paul.

      Paul

      Clearly, one major factor in seeking to answer the question Before Luke must be Paul. His letters give us brief glimpses of his life as a missionary of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. In his letter to the Galatians he tells us some details of that life up to the time of writing. We can cross reference this material with what Luke records in Acts. The first part of Acts

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