Lukas 9:57

Challenging Professed Followers

9:57 As ¹  they were walking ²  along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ³ 

Lukas 2:37

2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ⁴  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ⁵ 

Lukas 16:15

16:15 But ⁶  Jesus ⁷  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ⁸  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ⁹  among men is utterly detestable ¹⁰  in God’s sight.

Lukas 18:13

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ¹¹  far off and would not even look up ¹²  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ¹³  to me, sinner that I am!’ ¹⁴ 

[9:57]  ¹ tn Grk “And as.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:57]  ² tn Grk “going,” but “walking” is an accurate description of how they traveled about.

[9:57]  ³ tc Most mss (A C W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) add κύριε (kurie, “Lord”) here, but scribes were prone to add to the text, especially appellations for the Lord. The shorter reading also enjoys significant ms support (Ì^45,75 א B D L Ξ Ë¹ lat co).

[9:57]  sn The statement “I will follow you wherever you go” is an offer to follow Jesus as a disciple, no matter what the cost.

[2:37]  ⁴ tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ⁵ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[16:15]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “before men.” The contrast is between outward appearance (“in people’s eyes”) and inward reality (“God knows your hearts”). Here the Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used twice in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, but “men” has been retained in the text to provide a strong verbal contrast with “God” in the second half of the verse.

[16:15]  ⁹ tn Or “exalted.” This refers to the pride that often comes with money and position.

[16:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “is an abomination,” “is abhorrent” (L&N 25.187).

[18:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ¹² tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ¹³ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.