Luke: Duality In Deity!, Transcript, Contradictions
Main Points: Contradictions
- Genealogy of Jesus:
- Luke: Traces genealogy back to Adam, emphasizing Jesus's universal significance ("son of man").
- Matthew: Traces genealogy from Abraham to Joseph, signifying Jesus's Jewishness and proper bloodline.
- Speaker's take: Not a total contradiction, but a different "version of Jesus" is presented.
- Infancy Narratives:
- Luke: Includes the census, journey to Bethlehem, manger, and shepherds.
- Matthew: Includes the Magi, flight to Egypt, and massacre of the Innocents; no mention of the census or shepherds.
- Speaker's take: The census in Luke is problematic and likely a "plot device."
- The Temptations of Jesus (Luke 4 vs. Matthew 4): Different in both order and content.
- The Calling of the Disciples (Luke 5 vs. Matthew):
- Luke: Miraculous catching of fish, then calling of Simon Peter.
- Matthew: Different order of events, emphasis on Jesus's call to discipleship.
- Resurrection Narratives:
- Luke 24: Women find empty tomb, encounters with angels, appearances to disciples on the road to Emmaus and in Jerusalem, and the Ascension.
- Matthew: Women find empty tomb (with earthquake), appearance to women and disciples in Galilee; no mention of Emmaus or the Ascension.
- The Ascension:
- Only mentioned in Luke and Acts.
- Luke 24: Occurs in Bethany on the day of his resurrection.
- Acts: Occurs on the Mount of Olives 40 days after the resurrection.
- Speaker's take: This is a significant omission in other Gospels and a "tiring" difference.
- Jesus's Birthplace (Details):
- Luke: Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census, Jesus born and laid in a manger.
- Matthew: Jesus born in Bethlehem, but no mention of a census.
- Anointing of Jesus: Differences noted (previously discussed).
- Judas's Death: Covered (previously discussed).
- Last Words of Jesus on the Cross:
- Matthew and Mark: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
- Luke 23: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Speaker suggests Luke "improves Jesus" by showing him taking "ownership".)
- John: "It is finished."
- Women at the Tomb:
- Luke: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women.
- Matthew: Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary."
- Speaker's overall sentiment: Frustration with those who continue to believe these narratives without acknowledging the "insanity of the differences" and "contradictions," and who "quote from gospel to gospel with whatever suits their needs." Recommends reading the accounts side-by-side.
Contradictions
We will start with contradictions. It's important to highlight that not all are direct contradictions; I'm covering differences as well. Both things could exist, but the focus from these different authors with their different vantage points is the most generous term we could give here. They show an issue in concocting a story to look a different way, ultimately leading to a different version of Jesus.
Let's start with the genealogy of Jesus. Luke is interesting because it traces the genealogy all the way back to Adam, emphasizing Jesus's universal significance. This "Son of Man" aspect flows throughout this gospel. In contrast, Matthew traces it from Abraham to Joseph, signifying the importance of his Jewishness and being in the right bloodline. If you go from Abraham to Adam, it's not a total contradiction, but you're trying to get a whole different version of Jesus by focusing on the information differently.
How about the infancy narratives? Luke includes the census, the journey to Bethlehem, the manger, and the shepherds, whereas Matthew includes the Magi, the flight to Egypt, and the massacre of the innocents, with no mention of the census or the shepherds. The census is an issue; maybe I shouldn't have skipped point three and just talked about how we know that this census would not have made any sense. I'll make a side video on it so we don't have to worry about it here because there's a lot to discuss. By the way, that census would have been just another plot device tool to get Jesus where he needed to be. Matthew just went about it in a different way.
Some differences do equal contradictions. The temptations of Jesus between Luke 4 and Matthew 4 are different in both order and content. The calling of the disciples is different; in Luke 5, we get the miraculous catch of fish and then the calling of the first disciple, Simon Peter, whereas in Matthew, we have a different order of events and an emphasis on Jesus's call to discipleship.
The resurrection narratives are, of course, different. I know I'm jumping back and forth in the timeline, but in Luke 24, we have the women finding the empty tomb, encounters with angels, appearances to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and in Jerusalem, and the Ascension. In Matthew, we have the women finding the empty tomb, an earthquake, and appearances to the women and disciples in Galilee, with no mention of the road to Emmaus or the Ascension.
Can we take a second to talk about how the only two places that the Ascension is mentioned are in Luke and Acts? This is a significant thing to have left out in the other gospels. It's almost tiring to continue pointing out the insanity of the differences between them. I know them all, I've seen them all, and I've made peace with the fact that this is obviously not an accurate telling, that there's myth and lore involved. But to