Son of Man in Luke II

Recently, there are been considerable interest in the Parables of Enoch which constitutes Chapters 37 to 72 of the Book of Enoch. In the Parables, the author adds four titles which did not previously appear in the Enochic writings. “Righteous One” appears 4x in Ethiopic text of the Parables, but in only one of these occurrences is “righteous One” used as an individual title of the eschatological leader: 1 En 53:6. VanderKam points out that in the Parables this title is never used alone in application to an eschatological figure; it is found only with another title, “Chosen One.” For Orlov, “This conjunction serves as a significant clue that in the Parables all four titles of the elevated messianic character are closely connected.”

“Anointed One” which occurs 2x, En 48:10 & 52 is based upon Ps 2:2, a biblical source. “Chosen One” used many times in the Parables designating an eschatological character with possible biblical roots. “Son of Man” appears multiple times in En 46:2,3,4; 48:2; 62:5,7,9,14; 63:11; 69:26,27,29*; 70:1; 71:14; 71:17. Some features of the son of man recall details found in Dan 7, where one a messianic figure designated as “one like the son of man.” These four titles seem to be used interchangeably in the Parables and refer to one composite figure.

Nine years ago, I did a series of articles on Enoch with the observation that both the books of Jubilees and Enoch are Palestinian writings used as a source by Luke with five examples provided for Enoch but I did not venture further because in my mind there was considerable dispute among scholars about the dating of the Book of Parables and whether it was a Jewish writing. Lately a consensus has developed that it is a Jewish writing with most scholars agreeing that in published during the reign of Herod the Great. I subsequently concluded that in Luke the “son of man” was the eschatological high priest, which I developed further in my book, Who are Johanna and Theophilus?: The Irony of the Intended Audience of the Gospel of Luke, available as an e-book at Amazon Books

Luke’s use of the term “Righteous One” in Acts 3:14; 7:52 and 22:14 is probably based upon 1 Enoch 53 since in these passages in Acts “the Righteous One” is an eschatological agent of God. The designation in Acts appears only speeches delivered to Jewish audiences in Jerusalem.

Luke uses the phrase “chosen one” twice in his gospel: Luke 9:35 “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" and Luke 23:35 “And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!"

Luke makes clear that Jesus is the “anointed one” in Lk 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

In the story of healing the paralytic, his friends removed the tiles to create a hole in roof of house so that they could lower him on his bed into the middle of crowded room. When the Lucan Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Man your sins are forgiven you.” A dialogue on forgiveness postponed the miracle that crowd had expected to witness. Judaism asserted that only God can forgive sins. The dialogue was concluded with the statement by Jesus that he would demonstrate his authority to forgive sins by healing the paralytic. In this pericope, Jesus refers to himself for the first time as “son of man.” In fact, Jesus had applied this title to himself 25 times in direct discourse beginning in Lk. 5:24. Stephen in Acts 7:56 used the phrase “son of man” in these words: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”

Although I have not yet demonstrated in this blog, I believe that Luke has appropriated the Enochic books as a source.

At the beginning of the Gospel, the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah. I Enoch 20:2-8 names Gabriel as one of the seven archangels and one of the four closest to the throne of God (I Enoch 10:9; 40:3,9; cf. Lk. 1:19). Gabriel delivers special revelations from God to individuals (Lk. 1:8-20; 26-38).

The Gospel of Luke contains the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth in Lk. 3:23-35 in seventy-seven generations. The author of the Book of Watchers states the Day of Judgment would take place seventy generations after Enoch. Since Enoch is the seventh generation and Luke has placed Jesus in the seventy-seventh generation, has Luke in agreement with Enoch suggested that the end of history would be in the seventy-seven generation? Luke presents Jesus as the Messiah and that the last judgment is very, very near.

Enoch 93:7 states “Those, too, who acquire gold and silver, shall justly and suddenly perish. Woe to you who are rich, for in your riches have you trusted; but from your riches you shall be removed.” Luke 6:24 states “Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.”

The Transfiguration in Luke 9:35 was previously mentioned.

Scholars have long recognized that there is a parallel between the last chapters of Enoch and the Gospel of Luke. Nickelsburg and Grenstedhave noted the parallelism between Luke 16 and 1 Enoch while others have noted the parallels with the deuteronomic injunctions against oppressive treatment of the poor in Israel. Not unlike Jesus' warning, 1 Enoch 103:5-8 delivers a stinging indictment of Sadducees with 'ill-gotten wealth' who live extravagantly only to descend to Sheol. These observations only confirm the very Jewish nature of the parable.

Finally, the Return of the Seventy periscope is an another possible reason in that the fall from heaven is a regular theme in the Enochic literature.

It is about time that the significance of these findings be further explored and developed.

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