The Davidic Shepherd King in the Lukan Narrative

Abstract

The Davidic motif is well recognised in the Lukan narrative but David's identity as God's shepherd king has not seemed to influence how scholars have understood the Lukan Jesus and his mission to seek and save the lost. This thesis argues that David's identity as God's shepherd cannot be separated from his kingship, and that Luke takes this aspect of David into his narrative. I use a narrative methodology that relies heavily on exegetical discussion to explore the text. Luke's own intention to write a διήγησις that is orderly (καθεξῆς) and written from the beginning (ἄνωθεν) is thus followed. In light of the path Luke has set, I pay particular attention to the primacy effect as this sets the trajectory for a narrative, the cumulative and cohesive nature of narrative, gaps and blanks in narrative which invite the reader to find meaning, and the use of Leitwortstil to reveal and clarify meaning. I also use Hays' test for echoes since Luke's writing uses a number of implicit tools to direct the reader to understand Jesus' mission and ministry.

The thesis considers, first, the pervasive nature of the shepherd king motif in Israel's history and especially Kingdoms' portrayal of David in the Septuagint. Second, it takes the motif in Luke's infancy narrative and after reviewing the well recognised motif of David in Luke 1, asks again why the angels went to the shepherds in the birth narrative? I conclude that Micah 5:2-5 lies behind Luke's expression of the 'City of David, Bethlehem' and that here Luke points to Jesus as Micah's messianic shepherd. Further, in Luke's genealogy, which follows a different path to Matthew, we find Luke draws on Zech 12:10-14 and Jer 22:30-23:6 where the end of the kingly line from Jeconiah would be superseded by the Davidic shepherd king who brings God's salvation. Third, four shepherd sayings and passages are considered in Luke-Acts (Luke 10:3; 12:32; 15:1-7; Acts 20:28). These demonstrate that the motif of the Davidic shepherd king has an on-going influence on how the reader understands Jesus' ministry to the marginalised. I note that this shepherd task is passed onto the wider discipleship group in the household mission and also influences Paul's Abschiedsrede at Miletus. God's concern for the disciples' welfare in Luke 12:22-32 is as their faithful shepherd, and Jesus is the faithful shepherd in 15:1-7 and challenges the scribes and the Pharisees' view of God's mission. Finally, I consider the story of Zacchaeus and especially 19:10 where the Son of Man is said to come to seek out and save the lost (sheep). I note that this well-recognised Davidic shepherd king echo of Ezekiel 34 creates a link back to the Nazareth sermon (4:18-19) by echoing its content and adding a strong statement that Jesus' ministry to the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed is enacted as God's faithful shepherd. This resonance leads to the conclusion that Luke has a second saying (19:10) which is programmatic for Luke. At the beginning of Jesus' ministry in 4:18-19 we hear to whom Jesus' mission is directed and at the end of Jesus' ministry outside Jerusalem in 19:10, the reader hears how this mission is enacted: Jesus is God's faithful Davidic shepherd king who is constantly reaching to the margins of society to seek out and save the lost sheep. I therefore conclude that the two sayings work together as a programmatic inclusio for the Lukan narrative. Finally, I show that the Zacchaeus story resonates with, complements and completes Jesus' ministry where universal salvation is for the clean and the unclean, for women and men, for the poor and the rich and ultimately for Jew and Gentile. For the Lukan Jesus no-one should be lost, as the faithful shepherd is the one who seeks the lost sheep until he finds it.