the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

prayer” (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28-29; 11:1; 22:32, 39-46; 23:34, 46) and “his teaching on
prayer” (11:2-4, 5-8, 9-13; 10:21-24; 18:1-8, 9-14; 21:36). Depending on whether or not the
prayer of Jesus gives content to the prayer, his prayer may fall into two groups 5 : prayer
passages with its content (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28-29; 11:1), and no content to the prayer
(22:32, 39-46; 23:34, 46). Apart from the prayer of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, what is so
noteworthy are the Canticles of Luke’s infancy narrative (1:46-55; 68-79; 2:29-32) that have
largely been neglected as the theme of prayer in Luke-Acts. It is generally recognized that the
Canticles of Luke’s infancy narrative are traditional hymns adapted by Luke. According to
Stephen Farris, the Lucan canticles can be seen as part of Israel’s history, since the canticles
bear the common features of words and reasons for praise that exist in canonical psalms and
the extra-biblical psalmody. 6 To put it more accurately, Mary’s Magnificat reminds us of
Hannah’s song of 1 Sam. 2:1-10, Leah’s rejoicing of Gen. 29:32, and Ps. 111:9. 7 In the same
vein, Zechariah’s Benedictus seems to be based on Ps 105:8-9, 106:10, 45, and 111:9, on the
other breath, Simeon’s Nunc Dimmittis bears a striking resemblance to Isa. 40:5, 42:6, and
52:10. Furthermore, all Lucan canticles also have certain similarities to Psalms of Solomon
10:4, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the fifteenth benediction
of the Shemoneh Esreh in the writings of Second Temples Judaism. 8 Taking all that into
consideration, we can say that the hymn comes from a Jewish Christian source. Luke not
merely adapts the traditional hymns for the Canticles, but also puts it in the pattern of
prophecy and fulfillment as proclamation from prophecy, not proof from prophecy. 9
Luke, in
5. R.J. Karris, Prayer and the New Testament (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2000), 40-81,
sorts prayer of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel according to whether prayer passages of Jesus give content to the prayer
or not.
6. Stephen C. Farris, “The Canticles of Luke’s Infancy Narrative: The Appropriation of a Biblical Tradition,” in
ed., Richard N. Longenecker, Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Edermans Publishing, 2001), 91-112, especially 103. For more on the Canticles of Luke’s Infancy Narrative, see
Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke
(Garden City: Doubleday, 1976); Stephen C. Farris, The Hymns of Luke’s Infancy Narratives: Their Origin,
Meaning and Significance (Sheffield: JSOT, 1985); Mark Coleridge, The Birth of the Lukan Narrative:
Narratives as Christology in Luke 1-2 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993); Samuel E. Balentine, Prayer in the Hebrew
Bible: The Drama of Divine-Human Dialogue (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993); Karris, Prayer and the New
Testament, 40-81.
7. This canticle, of course, may remind us of the song of Moses in Exod. 15:1-15, the song of Miriam in Exod.
15:21, the song of Deborah in Judg. 5:1-31 and many others. Cf. Green, Luke, 101.
8. Darrell L. Bock, Proclamation from Prophecy and Pattern: Lucan Old Testament Christology (Sheffield:
JSOT Press, 1987), 358-60, 386-89, and 458; Farris, “The Canticles of Luke’s Infancy Narrative: The
Appropriation of a Biblical Tradition,” 105-108.
9. Bock, Proclamation from Prophecy and Pattern: Lucan Old Testament Christology, 55-90, here 57, 88-89,
claims that in keeping with Haggadah which bears the exposition of events, Luke his infancy narrative engages
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