Luke 4:31-6:16

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Home > The New Testament > Luke > Chapters 4b-9a > Verses 4:31-6:16
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Summary[edit]

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Discussion[edit]

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  • Luke 4:31. Jesus moves from Nazareth to Capernaum (which means "village of Nahum"), a reasonably large fishing village on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeologists are quite certain that they have uncovered the house of Peter in Capernaum, which they think might have included a room in which Jesus lived.
  • Luke 5:12. "Leprosy" referred to a number of skin diseases, including what we call leprosy today. In every case, however, a person so afflicted was prohibited from any social interaction.
Compare the man’s use of the word "if" to the way it is used in the previous chapter ("If thou be the Son of God..."). Consider other translations of the man’s request and Jesus’ response:
KJV: "If thou wilt..." "I will."
NET: "If you are willing..." "I am willing."
NLT: "If you want to..." "I want to."
BBE: "If it is your pleasure..." "It is my pleasure."
NRSV: "If you choose..." "I do choose."
  • Luke 5:20: Their. Notice the plural pronoun "their."
  MATTHEW 10:2-4            MARK 3:16-19                LUKE 6:14-16                ACTS 1:13 
  Simon (Peter)             Simon Peter                 Simon (Peter)               Peter 
  Andrew                    Andrew                      Andrew (Peter’s brother)    James 
  James (of Zebedee)        James (of Zebedee)          James                       John 
  John (brother of James)   John (brother of James)     John                        Andrew 
  Philip                    Philip                      Philip                      Philip 
  Bartholomew               Bartholomew                 Bartholomew                 Thomas 
  Thomas                    Thomas                      Matthew                     Bartholomew 
  Matthew                   Matthew                     Thomas                      Matthew 
  James (of Alpheus)        James (of Alpheus)          James (of Alphaeus)         James (of Alphaeus) 
  Lebbaeus Thaddaeus        Thaddaeus                   Simon (Zelotes)             Simon Zelotes 
  Simon (the Canaanite)     Simon (the Canaanite)       Judas (brother of James)    Judas (brother of James) 
  Judas Iscariot            Judas Iscariot              Judas Iscariot               — 
Notice that these occur in three groups of four, for example, in Matthew’s list (Peter, Andrew, James, and John), (Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew), (James, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas). Though the order of the persons in each group of four varies from list to list, each person always appears in the same group.
Here is how the differences between the names on these lists are traditionally resolved:
  • Peter = Simon Peter = Simon, Bar Jonas (son of Jonas) = Cephas
  • James = son of Zebedee = Boanerges = son of Thunder
  • John = son of Zebedee = Boanerges = son of Thunder = John the Beloved = the disciple Jesus loved
  • Andrew = the brother of Peter
  • Matthew = Levi
  • Philip
  • Nathanael = Bartholomew
  • Thomas = Didymus (meaning “twin”) = Doubting Thomas
  • James = the son of Alphaeus = James the Less = James the Younger
  • Thaddeus = Lebbaeus Thaddeus = Judas, brother of James
  • Simon the Zealot = Simon the Canaanite (”Canaanite” doesn’t refer to the Canaanite people of the Old Testament; it is a transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning “zealot.”
  • Judas Iscariot
We cannot be sure, but a popular explanation of Judas’s name, an explanation with scholarly backing, is that “Iscariot” means “man of Kerioth,” a town south of Judah; hence Judas may be the only non-Galilean among the twelve. Other less popular explanations of the name, also with scholarly backing: “Iscariot” means that he is a member of the Sicarii, a group of Zealots who assassinated using daggers (sica in Latin); “Iscariot” is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “betrayer”; the name is derived from a Greek word meaning “to hand over”—he handed Jesus over to the temple priests; the name refers to his occupation, either a red dyer or a fruit grower; “Iscariot” is an Aramaic word meaning “the man from the city,” in other words, “the man from Jerusalem”; like the first and the last explanation, the final proposal assumes that the name refers to his hometown, but instead of Kerioth or Jerusalem, it argues that the name refers to Askaroth or Askar, near Shechem.
Look at the number of relatives among the first Twelve: Peter and Andrew are brothers; James and John are brothers; James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus seem to be brothers. In addition, some have argued that some of the Twelve were Jesus’s cousins.
As for the nature of the apostolic calling in Luke, one might notice that for Luke "apostle" is a title, and the apostles are mentioned several times (9:10, 17:5, 22:14, and 24:10). This might be compared with Matthew, where the Twelve are called "apostles" only in 10:2-4 and it is not clear that the word is a title. Moreover, in Matthew, Peter is said to be "first" and the list is prefaced with mention of the power given them and is followed by a charge to them. Also, in Matthew, we are told that James and John are brothers. These details might provide clues for reading the difference between Matthew's purposes and Luke's purposes in writing about the life of Jesus. One should note, however, that in both Matthew and Luke, the Twelve are arranged in pairs, perhaps reflecting the missionary arrangement we see in Mark 6:7.

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Prompts for further study[edit]

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  • Luke 4:32. Does the people’s reaction in Capernaum differ from that in Nazareth? Why?
  • Luke 5:1-11. What does Jesus teach Peter, James, and John with this miracle?
  • Luke 5:1-11. Why does Peter respond this way? Why does Luke tell us about Peter’s response?
  • Luke 5:1-11. Jesus calls his disciples away just when they have made what was likely the largest haul of their lives. How is that particularly appropriate (cf. Luke 4:1-13?
  • Luke 5:12-15. What is particularly shocking about Jesus’ treatment of the man he heals?
  • Luke 5:27-32. The Levi mentioned here is often thought to be Matthew, the Gospel writer. Levi leaving his post is similar in some ways to the fishermen leaving their nets. But is there another aspect that we learn from this story?
  • Luke 5:36-39. Here are three parables: mending an old garment with a new, new wine in old skins, and new wine after old. While each plays on the theme of new versus old, they make distinct points. What are they?
  • Luke 5:36-39. The first two seem to be saying very similar things to me: if you patch the new and the old together you risk losing both. The last seems to be a rejection of the new. Yet if Christ is not new, what is he? Is he saying he is not new, but a fulfillment? He is the one who has been treasured and anticipated since the first prophets. Is he the old wine in the old bottles?
  • Luke 5:36-39. How are these parables an answer to the question about fasting? Are they an extension of his bridegroom analogy?

Resources[edit]

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Notes[edit]

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