THE OLD TESTAMENT IN LUKE'S GOSPEL

Although this Gospel was specifically addressed to Theophilus (“lover of God”), a probable pseudonym for a Gentile Godfearer, it is still filled with references to the Old Testament. The actual citations not found in the other Synoptic Gospels form an interesting pattern since they occur predominantly in the beginning four chapters. A.T. Robertson counts some 36 possible OT passages being referred to just in the encounters of the angel with Zacharias and Mary. Ten of these appear within Mary's song called the Magnificat.

One of the most complete citation formulations appears in 3:4 – “as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah.”

Continuing through Luke's Gospel and looking only at passages not found in the other gospels, we come next to the summary statement in 2:52 concerning Jesus' maturation. It turns out to be an almost exact quotation of I Samuel 2:26 describing the growth of the boy Samuel. Thus, we have a subtle reminder of Jesus' future role as a prophet also.

All of the Synoptics record the quotation of Isaiah 40:4-5. However, only Luke continues with the last portion of that prophecy which predicts that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” These final words are important to Luke's mainly Gentile audience.

The account of Jesus' early teaching in the synagogue is found only in Luke 4:16-31. He starts out by reading from Isaiah 58:6; 61:1-2 and goes on to cite incidents in the lives of Elijah and Elisha in which it was only Gentiles who were miraculously aided. Obviously, this message did not sit well with his Jewish audience.

Outsiders ask Jesus concerning the commandments in Luke 10:25-28 and 18:18-25, and these two occasions would form an interesting pair to be compared and contrasted in your private or group studies.

There are no actual citations from the OT from about chapters 5 to 18, and the first quotation (in 19:46) is actually recorded in Matthew and Mark as well. But these chapters are by no means devoid of references to the Hebrew Bible since there is mention of Jonah, Solomon, Sodom and Gomorrah, Abel, Zachariah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, and Lot in this central portion of Luke.

All three Synoptics record the quotation from the Psalms found in Luke 20:42. However, there is an intriguing difference in the way it is introduced: Both Mark and Luke begin basically the same way with the words “David said in the Holy Spirit” while Luke begins: “David said in the book of Psalms.” I am not sure what to make of that difference.

Luke 21:22-24 has reference to two events that are to be fulfilled: the days of vengeance and the time of the Gentiles. The former is an allusion to the Septuagint version of Hosea 9:7: "the days of vengeance have come." The mention of the time of the Gentiles does not have as exact a match in the OT but according to Pao and Schnadel may reflect passages such as Deuteronomy 28:64; Isaiah 28:3; 41:25; Jeremiah 20:4-6; Ezekiel 26:11; Daniel 8:13-14; and Zechariah 8:12-14; 12:3.

21:28 The phrase “your redemption draws near” may come from Deuteronomy 30:4; Isaiah 27:12-13; or Zechariah 2:6, with the first and last of these showing the closest parallels to Luke in the Greek Septuagint form.

Luke 23:46 is a quotation from Psalm 31:6. “Where the psalmist entrusts himself to God as he is surrounded by enemies, Jesus entrusts himself to God in the face of imminent death, expressing his submission to God's will and his confidence that God will deliver him – that is, bring him back from the dead.” (Pao and Schnadel)

And then as we get to the finale of Luke's account, we see the recurrence of similar events that were found at the beginning of his Gospel. In the first recorded example of Jesus' teaching ministry (in the synagogue at 4:6-31, he taught from the Scriptures. Finally, in his last recorded public teaching (Luke 25-28) he teaches the two men from Emmaus from the same source. The second reference to the OT found at the end is Luke 23:56 in which Jesus' followers are said to have rested on the Sabbath according to the law. This matches up perfectly with the five times in Luke 2:22-39 where people are recorded as having obeyed the law.