JESUS' BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD IN LUKE 1:5-2:52

The pattern of organization in this first major section has probably been discussed more than any other in Luke’s Gospel. Fitzmyer rightly remarks that “none of the analyses of the structure has been able to avoid a certain amount of subjectivism.” Raymond Brown similarly notes, “There is common agreement today that Luke arranged these chapters with careful artistry even though scholars do not agree in their analyses of that arrangement.” Of the various schemes reviewed by Raymond Brown in his magisterial Birth of the Messiah, the only one with a pretense to the symmetry we have come to expect in biblical works is that of Burrows, shown below:

A. Annunciation of John’s Birth (1:5-25)

            A'. Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth (1:26-56)

B. Birth of John (1:57-80)

                        B'. Birth of Jesus (2:1-21)

C. First Temple Mystery (2:22-40)

                                    C'. Second Temple Mystery (2:41-52)

Songer similarly remarks on the deliberate parallelism between the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist shown above, but notes that it is interrupted by the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth (1:39-56). That “flaw” is corrected in Green's proposed structure:

Cycle I

    A. John

        1. parents introduced (1:5-7)

            2. birth announced (1:8-23)

                3. mothers respond (1:24-25)

    B. Jesus

        1. parents introduced (1:26-27)

            2. birth announced (1:28-38)

                3. mothers respond (1:39-56)

Cycle II

    A. John

        1. child is born (1:57-58)

            2. child is circumcised and named (1:59-66)

                3. prophetic response (1:67-79)

                    4. child grows (1:80)

    B. Jesus

        1. child is born (2:1-20)

            2. child is circumcised and named (2:21-24)

                3. prophetic response (2:25-39)

                    4. child grows (2:40-52)

Fitzmyer offers his own parallel organization based on a variation of Dibelius’ divisions:

            A. Angelic announcements of births

1. John (1:5-25)

                            2. Jesus (1:26-38)

                    Complementary Episode (1:39-56) 

B. Births and Manifestations of Children

1. John (1:57-80)

                            2. Jesus (2:1-40)

                    Complementary Episode (2:41-52)

That six-part scheme, unlike that of Ellis, includes the episode of Jesus speaking with the teachers in the temple as part of the Infancy Narratives, even though Fitzmyer admits that it “is ill-suited to the rest of the two chapters at the beginning of this Gospel.” In fact, this disputed passage does continue the theme of 2:22-24,27 involving respect for the law according to R.E. Brown, and it is even less suited to the following section dealing with Jesus’ early ministry. Figure 1 shows that Burrows’ divisions can be easily recast into a chiastic (i.e. symmetrical) form. It should be noted, however, that a chiastic understanding of Section I does not negate the strong parallels shown by Burrows and Fitzmyer between adjacent subsections in I. Such parallels between neighboring literary units form another hallmark of Luke’s Gospel.

Figure 1: Organization of Section I (Luke 1:5-2:52)

A. Temple witness to John the Baptist (1:5-25)

B. Gabriel and Elizabeth witness to Jesus (1:26-56)

C. John the Baptist is born (1:57-80)

                                    C'. Jesus is born (2:1-21)

B'. Simeon and Anna witness to Jesus (2:22-40)

A'. Temple witness to Jesus (2:41-52)

Some of the evidence for such a symmetrical structure is given below:

(a) This whole unit is framed by temple scenes and has five occurrences of soter/soteria in the center four sections.

(b) This section is unified by its many references to Genesis 18. (Pao and Schnabel)

(c) Ellis treats IB above as two separate units, 1:26-38 and 1:39-56, but admits that they “stand in close conjunction” with one another.

(d) Section IC is marked by occurrences of “salvation” at 1:69,71,77.

(e) Section IC' is unified by three appearances of “laid/lying in a manger” (vv. 7, 12, 16).

(f) Rather than beginning the subsequent section, 2:21 is included in C' for the following reasons:

1. The reference to angels fits in with the four previous instances of “angel(s)” in Section C'.

2. Verse 2:22 is a more appropriate opening for Section B' with its movement to Jerusalem and the temple setting that forms the scene for the remaining action.

3. It strengthens the inclusio for B' (law of Moses in v. 22 and law of the Lord in v. 39).

4. It results in the similar opening words in B' and A' regarding trips to Jerusalem.

(g) Mary appears to be the main witness to the events in sections A and A'. Her internal reactions are recorded in 1:29 and 2:51b.

(h) The births in IB and B' result in hymns to God with similar beginnings and conclusions:

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” (1:68)... “to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (1:79)

            “Glory to God in the highest” (2:14a).......................................... “peace among men.” (2:14b)

(i) Both B and B' attest to the coming of salvation (1:47; 2:30) and allude to the inner thoughts of the heart (1:51; 2:35)

(j) Jesus is pictured as savior in C (1:70-75) and C' (2:11).

(k) Breck has persuasively demonstrated the chiastic nature of 1:7-25, 1:26-38, 1:68-78 and 2:41-51 although his analyses are weakened somewhat by the need to relegate certain verses to introductory words. One specific problem with his first division is that it ignores the inclusio formed by mention of “his wife Elizabeth” in 1:5 and 1:24.

(l) Both B' and A' end with summary statements regarding Jesus' development.