Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: Here I share some thoughts on the start and end of Luke’s Gospel; I also note its many points of contact with the Song of Songs (SoS).

Luke begins and ends in similar ways. At the outset of Luke, we encounter two important men. One is a priest (Zechariah) who offers incense before the Lord, at which point he suddenly becomes aware of an angel beside him.

The second (Simeon) is a resident of Jerusalem. Simeon has been told to wait for ‘the παράκλητος (consolation) of Israel’ to appear, and has been promised he will live to see it. The παράκλητος in question is Jesus.

In ch. 2, Simeon enters the Temple, where he sees the recently born Jesus, lifts him up in his arms, gives thanks to God, and departs in peace.

The end of Luke’s gospel closes with similar events.

Like Simeon, the disciples are told to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit to appear. They gather in the Temple and witness the descent of the Spirit. Elsewhere, the Spirit is the παράκλητος = ‘comforter’ (John 16), cf. Simeon’s παράκλητος.

We also encounter a priest at the end of Luke’s Gospel. That priest is not Zechariah, but Jesus--a descendant of a relative of Elizabeth, a daughter of Aaron (1.5).

While Jesus was taken up in Simeon’s arms as a young child, he now lifts up his own arms, and is received up into heaven in an incense-like cloud. He hence departs from the disciples, at which point they become aware of an angel beside them (Acts 1).

Further symmetries in the start and end of Luke’s Gospel can be noted.

Three days after a Passover, Jesus’ parents are on their way home from Jerusalem. They have assumed Jesus is with him, but he is not. Suddenly, they realise Jesus’ absence and rush around the city in search of him. Jesus is surprised they didn’t realise where he’d be.

Three days after a later Passover, a different couple are involved in a similar incident.

Cleopas and a companion of his are on their way home from Jerusalem. They have assumed Jesus is not with them, but he is. Suddenly, they realise Jesus’ presence. Jesus is again surprised at the two people’s errant expectations.

These symmetries struck me as important. They made me wonder if Luke could be arranged in a chiasmus. Consequently, like a certain Shulamite woman, I rushed around Luke’s Gospel to see if I could find a chiasmus. I sought a chiasmus, but found it not.

Speaking of Song of Solomon (as we now are), we can note a number of parallels between what we have considered so far and the SoS.

Like Luke, the SoS opens with a song sung by a virgin (cf. Luke 1.47-55). We later find the virgin in question surrounded by shepherds (cf. Mary in 2.1-10). Like Mary, the Shulamite is a humble woman ‘exalted to a throne’ by her connection to Israel’s king (1.47-55).

Like Luke, the SoS mentions the ascent of incense, and involves a lady who waits for ‘he whom her soul longs for’, yet fails to recognise him when he arrives (cf. SoS 3 and below). Like Mary at Jesus’ 12th Passover (2.44-45), the Shulamite woman ‘seeks but does not find’.

These allusions are underlined by Jesus’ reference to the women who are with him as he is led away to be crucified as ‘daughters of Jerusalem’--a phrase which refers to the female onlookers in the SoS.

In the OT, the phrase ‘daughters of Jerusalem’ occurs only seven times, all of which are found in SoS. In the NT, it occurs only once, which is here in Luke (23.28). Thanks to @PastorSteveJeff for this observation and more!

Particularly notable here is SoS 3. Luke frames his account of Jesus’ crucifixion against the backdrop of Solomon’s arrival in glory in SoS 3.6-11. The parallels involved are parallels of contrast rather than of similarity, which resonates with Luke’s motif of non-recognition.

While Solomon came into the city of Jerusalem from the wilderness, Jesus was led out from the city of Jerusalem into the wilderness.

While the Song’s bride-to-be failed to recognise Solomon since she met him as a shepherd and did not expect him to appear as a king in his glory, the disciples failed to recognise Jesus’ identity because they expected him to appear as a king in his glory (not a ‘good shepherd’).

While Solomon was surrounded by ‘sweetly-perfumed clouds of smoke’, Jesus was accompanied by a ‘cloud of witnesses’ whose thoughts towards him were far from sweet, and the ‘perfume’ he wore had come from the home of a leper in anticipation of his burial.

While Solomon was associated with ‘myrrh and frankincense’ as a sign of his great wealth, Jesus’ life would be offered up as a sacrifice to God like frankincense, fragranced with the bitterness of myrrh.

While Solomon travelled in luxury in a chariot made from cedar trees surrounded by his loyal soldiers, a different wooden structure was borne for Jesus (a cross), who had been deserted by his followers and joined by hostile Roman soldiers.

While Solomon’s chariot was lined with purple fabric in recognition of his majesty, Jesus was clothed in purple in mockery of his majesty, and was awarded the title ‘king of the Jews’ only in jest.

While Solomon’s ‘daughters’ were invited to admire Solomon’s crown which his mother had crowned him with in anticipation of his marriage, Jesus wore a crown of thorns which his father had long ago appointed for him.

And, while Solomon’s ‘daughters’ were invited to share in his ‘gladness’, Jesus invited the ‘daughters of Jerusalem’ to weep in light of what would soon come to pass (23.28).

Jesus’ departure from Jerusalem was not what people took it to be; it was a road to victory, a ‘coronation march’, a path to glory. (Our own lives might also be things which people do not take them to be at times.)

Note: The SoS is traditionally read in synagogues after the Passover Seder. If that tradition goes back to the 1st cent., the text of Sng. 3.6-11 would have been read in synagogues only a few hours after Jesus’ statement, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me!”.

For a bit more detail, here: academia.edu/29983439

And for the sermon by @PastorSteveJeff I mentioned, here: northlondonchurch.org/eec/talk/luke-…