The Messianic Apocalypse

The Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521) states: “the Lord will accomplish glorious things” and then it asserts: “For He will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good news to the poor.”

In Luke we read of a deputation that John the Baptist sends to Jesus while John is imprisoned. John's disciples ask Jesus, "Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?"

“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the glad tiding preached to them.” (Luke 7:22-23).

Isaiah 61:1 says nothing about this Anointed One raising the dead. Yet, in the Luke quote, regarding the "signs of the Messiah," we find the two phrases linked: "the dead are raised up, the poor have the glad tidings preached to them," precisely as we have in our Qumran text. Luke makes more than passing use of this notion of the "resurrection of the dead" as a sign of the age of the Messiah. In the two places he quotes Isaiah 61:1, he also mentions specific cases of resurrection of the dead: as Elijah once raised the son of the widow, Jesus now raises the son of the widow from Nain (Luke 4:26; 7:11-17).

The Lucan Jesus, according to the Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521), is the eschatological messiah and prophet because only the Lucan Jesus fulfills the prophecy contained in 4Q521.

Copyrighted 2006

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Gospel of Luke