Miracles in the New Testament
The miracle that I have chosen to discuss is found in Luke 14:1-6. It is the miracle of Jesus Heals a Sick Man.
The introduction to the story tells us where Jesus was at the time the miracle was performed and why he was actually there. “One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees…” (14:1)
The showing of faith came when Christ asked those who sat before him watching him, “Does our Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” (14:2). As there was no specific law regarding healing or not healing on the Sabbath, the answer which was sought by Jesus required the gathering to have a knowledge of the compassion and mercy which God possessed.
Intervention occurred when Jesus approached the sick man and cured him of his ailments.
The result was that Jesus healed this man even though it was the Sabbath. Jesus in the case of this story almost tried to humiliate those in his company. He scorned the religious leaders for their snobbery; “If any one of you had a son or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull them out at once on the Sabbath itself?”(14:5).
The reaction of the spectators was that they are clearly unable to grasp the emphasis that God puts on the value of a person, “But they were unable to answer him about this.”(14:6).
2. Give a brief narrative analysis of the story under the following headings: Narrator, Characters, Setting and Plot.
The author of this story was not an eyewitness to the events, but he was dependent on other sources for his information. Luke is the author and narrator of the story and “…uses material which he receives from the tradition: the Gospel of Mark… and the logia source he shares with Matthew…” (Charpentier, 2007, p.82). He is not part of the narrated world which he is narrating. This means that he is external to the narrative discourse and subsequently able to adopt an omniscient point of view.
The main character in the story is Jesus
The introduction to the story tells us where Jesus was at the time the miracle was performed and why he was actually there. “One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees…” (14:1)
The showing of faith came when Christ asked those who sat before him watching him, “Does our Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” (14:2). As there was no specific law regarding healing or not healing on the Sabbath, the answer which was sought by Jesus required the gathering to have a knowledge of the compassion and mercy which God possessed.
Intervention occurred when Jesus approached the sick man and cured him of his ailments.
The result was that Jesus healed this man even though it was the Sabbath. Jesus in the case of this story almost tried to humiliate those in his company. He scorned the religious leaders for their snobbery; “If any one of you had a son or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull them out at once on the Sabbath itself?”(14:5).
The reaction of the spectators was that they are clearly unable to grasp the emphasis that God puts on the value of a person, “But they were unable to answer him about this.”(14:6).
2. Give a brief narrative analysis of the story under the following headings: Narrator, Characters, Setting and Plot.
The author of this story was not an eyewitness to the events, but he was dependent on other sources for his information. Luke is the author and narrator of the story and “…uses material which he receives from the tradition: the Gospel of Mark… and the logia source he shares with Matthew…” (Charpentier, 2007, p.82). He is not part of the narrated world which he is narrating. This means that he is external to the narrative discourse and subsequently able to adopt an omniscient point of view.
The main character in the story is Jesus
References: Luke, 14, 2005, Catholic Good News Bible, 3rd edition, UK: The Bible Societies/Harper Charpentier, E., 2007, How to Read the New Testament, 15th edition, London: SCM Press