Jesus the pray-er.

The ideal reader of narratives--ancient and modem--must be prepared to respond to the emphasis of the narrative with respect to character, placing individuality or "typical" connection foremost to the extent which the narrative itself calls for such priority; but above all he must bring to his consideration of character a versatility of response commensurate with the infinite variety of narrative characterization. (1)

The Lucan Jesus is a pray-er. To be sure, all four biblical Gospels record Jesus in prayer, and in expansive prayer in John's Gospel. (2) Yet Luke is singularly interested in Jesus' prayer life as an integral aspect of his life and ministry. (3)

My contribution to this set of articles on the Gospel of Luke is to reflect on Jesus' practice of prayer in this Gospel. Please recognize that my topic is not Jesus' teaching about prayer, nor is it prayer as a theme in the Third Gospel. (4) I am intentionally limiting myself to observations on Jesus' own praying. I would suggest that there is, at least initially, a heuristic advantage to this approach, i.e., to looking at Jesus' own praying apart from his teaching about prayer. Such an approach fits the narrative progression of the Gospel itself. Jesus practices prayer beginning in chapter 3; yet Jesus does not begin to teach his disciples about prayer until they ask him, and they do not ask him until chapter 11. Perhaps Luke's own teaching method was to introduce his readers to the Pray-er before instructing them on praying. (5)

By my count, the Lucan Jesus is in prayer fourteen times, and another passage refers to him having prayed. (6) Luke shares some references to Jesus at prayer with Matthew and Mark. (7) Additionally, Luke alone reports that five of the events in Jesus' life recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels were accompanied by prayer: Jesus' baptism (Luke 3:21; parallels Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11), (8) when he withdrew for prayer after healing a leper (Luke 5:12-16; parallels Matt 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-15), prior to his selection of the twelve (Luke 6:12-16; parallels Matt 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19), the occasion of Jesus' question "Who do the crowds say that I am?" (Luke 9:18; parallels Matt 16:13; Mark 8:27), and his transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36; parallels Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13). Luke tells us that Jesus taught his disciples to pray after having been in prayer himself (Luke 11:1-13; parallel Matt 6:9-13). (9) We see Jesus at prayer as well in an episode unique to the Third Gospel: when the seventy return with joy (Luke 10:21). Plus the Lucan Jesus tells us that he has been praying for Peter (Luke 22:32).

I comment on features of each of these references to Jesus at prayer that appear to me to contribute to our understanding of Luke's characterization of Jesus. My interest is in how Luke shapes our image of Jesus as we, as interested readers, journey through the Gospel. (10) What stands out to me is the absence of any one overarching or unifying theme that ties together all of Jesus' praying. Though some prayers and praying situations display common features, we can look carefully and find more variety than sameness. At the end I suggest answers to the question, What does this variety in Jesus' praying tell us?

"Oh, by the way ... Jesus was praying"

When did Jesus pray? How did Jesus pray? What did Jesus pray about? Frequently, Luke answers only the first of these questions, and says nothing about the second and third. In fact, six of the eight references to Jesus' praying in chapters 3-11 are only general, summary statements, such as "when Jesus was praying," and "he withdrew ... and prayed." We get no information on the manner in which Jesus prayed, nor do we learn the content of his prayer. The remark that Jesus was praying is made almost in passing.

Nevertheless, the act of praying is itself meaningful. "Every aspect of character is given expression in action," say Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg of ancient sagas in their classic analysis of narrative. (11) This observation offers insight into our Gospels as well and is particularly appropriate to Jesus the pray-er. We learn of Jesus in Luke's Gospel not only from what Jesus says and from what others say of him but also through what Jesus does. Whatever he does is in some way an expression of his character.

Because action is always contextual, context contributes to characterization. So, in instances where we have no more than a summary statement that Jesus was praying, we develop an image of the pray-er from the circumstances surrounding the prayer. Characterization is also cumulative. This means that each of Luke's references to Jesus praying, however cursory, introduces some additional feature, quality, or nuance to our impression of Jesus the pray-er. It appears to me that as the narrative progresses Luke creates a multifaceted impression of Jesus the pray-er by accumulating these "oh, by the way" references to Jesus at prayer.

Jesus' baptism (3:21-22) (12) is an extraordinary event: heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form; the heavenly voice addressed Jesus to express the Father's pleasure and to affirm him as the beloved Son. All of this takes place, Luke says, "while Jesus is praying" (a present participle). Moreover, it is striking that the event is at the same time both public and private. "All the people" baptized appear to be present when the Spirit descends on Jesus, and yet the heavenly voice speaks to Jesus alone. (13)

What might Jesus have been praying about at his baptism? Is there a connection between the prayer and the descent of the Spirit? Was it a prayer of thanks for the calling that led to being baptized? Was it an intercession for future strength and/or guidance? Was it simply an act of adoration to the Father? We can only speculate. The narrative is suggestive enough to lead us to such questions and to provoke us to formulate answers, and it is sufficiently silent about Jesus' prayer so as to require us to construct our own conclusions. (14)

As public as Jesus' praying at his baptism was, his time of prayer following his healing of the leper was decidedly private and low key. The account is brief: "He was withdrawing to the wilderness places and praying" (5:16). (15) Beyond the observation that Jesus prays here in private, two other features are worth noting. The mention of prayer gives the scene a proactive dimension. There is a reason for Jesus' withdrawal beyond simply a desire to escape the crowds: he gets away in order to pray. Moreover, the parallel participial constructions [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] with the imperfect [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] impress upon Luke's reader that this is a repeated pattern, perhaps even a habit.

Whether it was a routine retreat for prayer and Jesus got carried away, or a deliberately extended prayer session commensurate with the weight of his deliberation, we do not know. But prior to choosing twelve apostles from among his disciples, Jesus prayed through the night (6:12). Separating out twelve of the disciples looks forward to the development of the church. Luke will see to it that this original number, twelve, is reestablished after the loss of Judas (Acts 1:15-26). Though "the Twelve" as a group will have no distinguishing duties or privileges during Jesus' earthly ministry, (16) they will embody the church's continuity with Israel's past (the twelve tribes). With tongue only partly in cheek, Fred Craddock wonders whether it might be more fitting to say that the church was launched not with the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, as traditionally thought, but in an all-night prayer vigil by Jesus. (17)

David Crump argues that Luke intended for his readers to conclude that Jesus prayed for guidance as he was making his selections of those to be included in the Twelve. (18) Joseph Fitzmyer proposes that Jesus was praying not so much for God to grant him discernment but for God's blessing upon those who would be selected as the Twelve. (19) Both emphases are plausible, and neither is demanded by the narrative.

Bringing us from Jesus' overwhelmingly populous and public engagement with a crowd of five thousand, Luke takes us again to Jesus in seclusion and in prayer (as in 5:16). This time Jesus himself interrupts his praying (9:18) to ask his disciples, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" This is a poignant moment in the Gospel. It is the occasion of Peter's assertion "[You are] the Messiah of God" (20) as well as of Jesus' first prediction of his passion/resurrection.

Is it possible in this instance to surmise what Jesus was praying about? Charles Talbert proposes that "implicit within 9:18-22 is that Jesus, while at prayer, came to the realization that he must suffer, die, and rise." (21) This is not an unreasonable inference. However, it appears to me that in light of the verbal resonance connecting "the crowds" in Jesus' initial question with "the crowds" in the immediately preceding story of the feeding of the five thousand (9:11, 12, 16), it is at least as likely that while in prayer Jesus was weighing his relationship with the throngs that came to him for healing.

To suggest what Jesus may have been praying about when he was transfigured (9:28-29) would be pure speculation. But what about the content of his praying before one of his disciples asks him to teach them to pray (11:1)? Might the "Our Father" mirror Jesus' own praying in structure and substance?

Several components of the Our Father appear in or resonate with prayers of Jesus. He addresses God as "Father" (10:21;22:42; 23:34, 46). He gives glory to God (10:21; cf. "hallowed be your name"). His blessings over food acknowledge God's gift of "daily bread." He seeks to avoid unnecessary trials (22:42; cf. "do not lead us into temptation"). But Jesus never prays to be forgiven. And, although the kingdom is a regular feature of Jesus' teaching, we do hear him praying for its arrival. Therefore, the Our Father is not necessarily a clue to the content of Jesus' prayer in 11:1.

To summarize what we have seen so far: In none of these "oh, by the way" mentions are we privy to the substance of Jesus' prayer. It is beyond the available evidence to suggest that there is a thematic pattern to his praying in these six passages. When Jesus takes the initiative in the action subsequent to his prayer, we may perhaps try to infer that his prayer was somehow related to that action, as in 6:12 and 9:18. Still, inferences about themes in his prayers in these cases remain speculative.

There is no pattern of narrative correspondence between Jesus being in prayer and his taking the initiative in the subsequent event. Nor is it necessarily so that the praying Jesus anticipates the next move in the story; it would be especially difficult to assert on the basis of the narrative itself, for example, that Jesus expected to be led by the Spirit into the wilderness following his baptism (4:1). (22)

These prayer episodes are more notable for their variety than for their sameness. Jesus prayed at what we might call unexceptional times (5:16; 11:11) and at pivotal moments in his ministry (9:18, 28-29). He prays with all of his disciples nearby (9:18; 11:1), with some of his disciples nearby (9:28-29), and when perhaps no disciples are present (5:16; 6:12). He prays in the presence of the general public (3:21-22). (23) He engages in extended prayer (6:12) and in briefer prayer (9:18). He may pursue prayer in wildernesses (5:16) or on mountains (9:28-29).

This variety produces a rhetorical effect. The cumulative force of these "in passing" references to Jesus praying characterizes Jesus as a pray-er--as someone for whom conversation with God is integral to who he is--but also a pray-er whose praying does not conform to any fixed pattern. His prayer life varies according to particular needs or circumstances.

We turn now to prayers of Jesus that Luke invites us to overhear.

In adoration and gratitude

In the first opportunity Luke gives us to hear words Jesus spoke in prayer (10:21) we hear Jesus address God as "Father." He repeats this manner of address later, on the Mount of Olives and on the cross (22:42; 23:34, 46). Addressing his prayers to his "Father" is the singularly consistent feature of Jesus' prayers and stands out because of the contrasting moods of the prayers: joy (10:21), anguish (22:42), beneficence (23:34), and trusting acquiescence (23:46).

The mood of this prayer is, indeed, joy. The popular translation "I thank you, Father" is not an incorrect translation of the verb [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. However, "I thank you" does not capture the sense of affirmation and adoration that also adheres to the Greek word.

The meal prayers

The words "pray" or "prayer" do not occur in 9:16, 22:19, and 24:30. Nevertheless, Jesus prays on these occasions. And we may infer from the meal context what the content of Jesus' prayer is in each case. Surrounded by the crowd at the end of the day, Jesus determines to feed them (9:14). "In accord with Jewish meal practice, Jesus blessed the loaves and fish before he broke them into pieces for distribution," (24) as the head of a Jewish household typically would. In essence, Jesus offers a table grace, which would be a Godward expression of thanks for the food.

There are two Greek words that are translated "blessed" in the New Testament. One is [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], most familiar to us in Jesus' beatitudes, as in "blessed are the poor," "blessed are those who are hungry now," and "blessed are those who weep now" (Luke 6:20-21). (25) The other one, the word behind "blessed" in 9:16, is (to use the verb form) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]; our English word "eulogize" comes from it. Does Jesus eulogize the bread and fish before feeding the five thousand? Hardly. Let us take a closer look at what is happening.

To [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is to thank God for God's beneficence or to appeal to God for God's beneficence. (26) Three times in Luke's Gospel, God is the object of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Zechariah bursts out with praise when his ability to speak is restored (1:64). Simeon cannot contain himself at the appearance of the Lord's salvation in the infant Jesus (2:28). Jesus' disciples give voice to their joy over Jesus' resurrection (24:53). (27) Clearly, we have here expressions of gratitude to God for remarkable demonstrations of God's beneficent goodness. (28)

Five times in Luke's Gospel, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] takes an object other than God: Jesus' father and mother (2:34), those who curse you (6:28), Jesus' disciples (24:50, 51), and, in the passage under discussion, the bread and fish (9:16). (29) From a strictly etymological standpoint, it would be possible to read 2:34 as Simeon's praise of Mary and Joseph, that is, to read the passage as Simeon eulogizing the parents. But that reading hardly fits the character of Simeon's song and prophecy. Rather, in view of the salvation drama to unfold, Simeon commends Jesus' parents to God's favor and acknowledges that the glory of God will be shown through them.

There is a thematic consistency in the way [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] functions in 2:34 and in 6:28. Simeon appeals to God for God's beneficence toward the parents. Jesus' hard instruction "Bless those who curse you" is his command that his followers appeal to God to act beneficently toward their condemners. "Bless those who curse you" is. therefore, essentially equivalent to "Pray for those who abuse you." (30) This thematic consistency continues into 24:50-51, where the risen Jesus entrusts his disciples to God's beneficent goodwill.

Does this same thematic consistency extend to the bread and fish in 9:16? Yes, to the extent that there is a Godward direction to the action expressed. (31) Jesus is hosting a meal. He will, therefore, praise God for the nourishment God has provided in the food to be eaten; and, like Simeon's blessing over Mary and Joseph in the temple and Jesus' blessing over his disciples at his ascension, his blessing over the bread and fish anticipates that the glory of God will be revealed through the bread and fish.

Jesus' meal prayer with the five thousand foreshadows his meal prayer with the Twelve the night he is betrayed and his meal prayer with the two disciples he accompanies on the road to Emmaus. Luke rhetorically links 9:16 with 22:19 and 24:19 by the repeated sequence of actions: "took," "blessed/gave thanks," "broke," and "gave." To be sure, the second term in the pattern varies; in the Upper Room, Jesus "gave thanks" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in 22:19, compared with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in 9:19 and 24:19). Because the variation in 22:19 occurs within the fixed pattern ("took," "blessed/gave thanks," "broke," and "gave") common to all three episodes, it is reasonable to conclude that in these contexts [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] are synonymous. (32) It is not unusual for Luke to vary his vocabulary. Moreover, in addition to linking Jesus' action at the meal in the Upper Room to the feeding of the five thousand and the meal in Emmaus, Luke is presenting, as parallel actions, thanking God for the bread (22:19) and thanking God for the wine (22:17).

Pleading for Peter

We do not actually see or hear Jesus praying for Peter in the Gospel. Jesus tells us he has done so. "I have prayed for you," Jesus says to Peter (22:32). The verb typically translated "have prayed" in this sentence ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) expresses a highly emotive "ask," "plead," or "beg." (33) It is what the leper does when he falls on his face before Jesus (5:12). It is the cry of the demoniac when he is still tormented (8:28) and his plea to Jesus when he is in his right mind (8:38). It is the distraught father begging on behalf of his son (8:40).

Jesus' prayer for Peter is verbally and thematically parallel to the praying that Jesus admonishes his followers to do in his earlier discourse on the cosmic upheaval at the appearance of the Son of Man: "Be alert and pray ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) at all times for the strength to come safely through all that is going to happen and to stand before the Son of Man" (21:36).

Jesus lets Peter know that he has pleadingly prayed for spiritual strength for him during the dangerous days ahead. Both the vocabulary and the context of Jesus' reference to his intercession on behalf of Peter convey intensity.

Yes, "Jesus implicitly predicts Peter's rehabilitation after his moral collapse." (34) But Jesus is not simply announcing future events; he speaks of praying on Peter's behalf. Within the narrative itself, telling Peter that he is praying for him heightens the tension in the scene. To say "I have been praying for you" has a bonding effect on the pray-er and the one prayed for. At the same time, this episode is about Jesus knowing that Peter will distance himself from Jesus.

On the Mount of Olives

Luke identifies the location of Jesus' arrest as the Mount of Olives (22:39). Though Luke has mentioned this Mount several times as the place where Jesus spent the nights during his final week (19:29, 37; 21:37), identifying it as the location for prayer after the Passover meal may prompt the reader to make comparisons with the two other mounts to which Jesus went to pray: the mount of all-night prayer (6:12) and the mount of transfiguration (9:28, 37).

"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." Prior to this, we have not heard Jesus pray a prayer of supplication for himself. Is this Luke's way of communicating to readers a condition under which supplication for oneself is acceptable to God? If so, the message is mixed.

Because others had taken in hand to write narratives of events related to Jesus (1:1), Luke does not assume that readers will be learning of Jesus' crucifixion for the first time when they reach his account of it. Therefore, the reader's prior knowledge creates dramatic irony as Jesus asks that this cup pass from him, for the reader knows that the Father's answer will be "No." As it turns out, the only time Jesus prays an intercession for himself, the requested outcome is not granted.

Is Jesus praying in order to discern the will of the Father for him, or is his prayer an expression of his anxiety over what he already knows is the will of the Father? It is one kind of struggle to discern God's will; it is another kind of struggle to accept God's will when you discern it. Perhaps Jesus' struggle here is the latter; the Lucan Jesus has insisted that the Son of Man must ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) suffer greatly and be killed (9:22).

On the cross

The first prayer. "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (23:34). (35) This prayer is intriguing in a couple of ways, beginning with the implication drawn from "they do not know what they are doing." The implication is that ignorance is no excuse. Someone who commits injustice without knowing he or she is doing so still needs to be forgiven. (36)

The idea that those who act out of ignorance are still held accountable is expressed in Luke 19:42-44. Approaching Jerusalem, Jesus weeps over the city:

If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make
for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will
come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and
surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the
ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within
you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of
your visitation from God.

Jerusalem's destruction, then, is the consequence of being unaware of what is really going on.

Peter's message in his speech in Solomon's Portico is even more directly parallel to the implication in Jesus' prayer. After summarizing the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion, Peter concludes,

I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way
God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his
Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your
sins may be wiped out. (Acts 3:17-19) (37)

Note that in Peter's speech here forgiveness is available, and contingent upon repentance.

Returning to Luke's crucifixion scene, Jesus' prayer implies culpability. Those who contributed to the crucifixion of Jesus need forgiveness, regardless of their acting in ignorance. (38)

This leads to the second intriguing feature of the prayer: they need forgiveness, but Jesus does not forgive them. Jesus does not tell his executioners, "I forgive you," or even the less personal "Your sins are forgiven." He has the authority to do so. He forgave the paralytic in order to assert that "the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Luke 5:24). He reinforced this authority by forgiving the sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee's house (7:37-50).

Nevertheless, Jesus on the cross does not exercise his authority to forgive. Instead, he hands the case over to the Father. "Father, forgive them," he prays. Why doesn't Jesus simply forgive the offenders himself?

Let me suggest that Jesus does not confer forgiveness because there has been no repentance. From the announcement that John the son of Zechariah went "proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (3:3), through the risen Jesus' declaration that "repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in (the Messiah's) name to all nations" (24:47), and into Acts and Peter's directive "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven" (Acts 2:38), Luke casts the Lord's salvation in terms of release from sins via repentance. (39) Jesus' ministry was to "call sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). There is joy in heaven over sinners who repent (Luke 15). The one who says "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" is the one who goes home justified (18:13, 14). Repentance elicits forgiveness (17:3-4). Where there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness. Indeed, "unless you repent, you will all perish" (13:5).

One might object that neither the paralytic in chapter 5 nor the sinful woman in chapter 7 explicitly repents before Jesus extends forgiveness to them. But this objection is overcome by attention to Jesus' focus on their faith. A connection between faith and repentance is not as obvious with the paralytic as it is with the sinful woman, but the rhetorical effect of telling the story of the sinful woman subsequent to telling the story of the paralytic is to expand the reader's understanding of faith to include acts that convey a turn away from sin and to Jesus. The faith of the paralytic and the sinful woman stands in contrast to the rejection of Jesus by those party to his crucifixion.

The nature of Jesus' prayer on behalf of his executioners may be illustrated in this way. In my pastoral practice, I distinguish between forgiving someone and "giving up the grudge." When a troubled parishioner, recalling Jesus' commands to forgive (Luke 6:37; 17:3-4), laments to me that he or she feels unable to forgive an unrepentant offender, this distinction clarifies the parishioner's situation and offers resolution. Forgiveness is a transaction that requires the involvement of both the offender and the offended. "Giving up the grudge" is a unilateral action on the part of the offended, not dependent upon the behavior of the offender: one commends the offender to God's judgment and mercy and does not allow one's own attitudes, thoughts, or actions to be bound to the offense or to the offender. The analogy is not perfect. Nevertheless, when he prays "Father, forgive them," Jesus is giving up the grudge.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

This prayer functions paradigmatically. On the cross, Jesus himself does what he commands his hearers to do in 6:28. The prayer "Father, forgive them" is an appeal to God for God's beneficence toward those who are condemning him. It is a prayer of blessing (as in [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Jesus is blessing those cursing him, praying for those abusing him.

As is universally recognized, the dying Stephen's prayer for his murderers echoes the dying Jesus' prayer for his: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). Stephen would have been obligated to forgive those who killed him had they asked for forgiveness (Luke 6:37; 17:3-4). But they do not ask. Therefore, Stephen does as Jesus did: he commends them to God. He prays for those abusing him. (40)

The second prayer. Jesus' final prayer before his resurrection (23:46), the one he utters at the point of his death, is prayed in words that are not his own. He prays Psalm 31:5 (LXX Psalm 30:6), after first identifying the Father as the addressee of his utterance: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." At this climactic moment, the reader learns of another dimension to Jesus' prayer life--namely, that it can reach into the liturgy and sacred songs of his people to borrow just the right words.

This prayer is hardly private; Jesus shouts it with "a loud voice" (23:46). The prayer is apparently overheard by the centurion and is at least part of the reason for the centurion's praise to God and assertion of Jesus' innocence (23:47).

At Jesus' departure

Jesus leaves his followers with a blessing reminiscent of the blessing Simeon gave Mary and Joseph in the temple. (41) Jesus blesses ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) them, and as he is blessing them he ascends away (24:50-51). Based on the rhetoric of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] that we have seen previously in Luke's Gospel, we can describe this blessing as a prayer to the Father, praising God for God's beneficence shown to these followers and anticipating the beneficence of God that will be shown through them in the future. Even before the Holy Spirit descends upon them (Acts 2), the disciples enjoy the favor of God.

Concluding comments

Luke's characterization of Jesus reflects Aristotle's and Horace's ideal of consistency. (42) Jesus is a pray-er from beginning to end. Prayer is a constant in Jesus' ministry, from his baptism to his death, and it is with a prayerful word that he ascends.

Lucan commentators frequently observe that Jesus prayed before pivotal events in his life. They note that he prayed before selecting the Twelve, before his transfiguration, and before his arrest. A survey of the Gospel confirms that this observation is true. But by itself the observation can be misleading. It would be a mistake to imply that the presence of prayer makes the event exceptional. Luke's mention of Jesus in prayer is not necessarily a narrative marker that a climactic moment is at hand. References to Jesus praying are scattered through exceptional and less exceptional narrative moments. They form the backdrop for mundane days as well as for pivotal events.

In addition, Jesus' prayer life in the Gospel of Luke is too varied to be captured by a single summary statement--and maybe that is an aspect of Luke's message. Jesus' prayers are not confined to any one purpose and do not serve any one function. Prayer may be traditional (a table blessing) or decidedly nontraditional ("Father, forgive them"). Jesus may pray in his own words and with words borrowed from his Scriptures. He prays at revelatory times and at introspective times.

Where we know the content of Jesus' prayers, these prayers model or mirror the prayers and piety of other faithful persons elsewhere in Luke-Acts. Believers are not expected to imitate all of Jesus' characteristics. Some characteristics of Jesus set him apart from his followers and from the rest of humanity. Jesus' transfiguration is an obvious testimony to Jesus' uniqueness; less obvious is the beneficence Jesus shows toward the blind, the lame, and the poor, beneficence that sets him apart as God's unique eschatological agent of salvation. (43) But when it comes to prayer and character traits associated with prayer, Jesus is the believer's model. (44) Thus the narrative urges believers to as full and wide-ranging a prayer life as Jesus' was.

I quoted Scholes and Kellogg above to suggest that in Luke's Gospel "every aspect of character is given expression in action." Let me draw this to a close by asking, What aspect or aspects of Jesus' character are brought to expression through prayer?

Several character traits come to my mind: ritually pious, deferential to the Father, unhurried, unselfish, and independent. Given the "gaps" in Luke's sketches of Jesus at prayer, any interpreter's summary of Luke's characterization of Jesus through prayer runs the risk of being a reflection of the interpreter's personally held view of ideal character traits. Letting our impression be shaped by the full sweep of references to Jesus at prayer serves as a corrective to idiosyncratic characterization.

Luke opens his Gospel with a nod to similar works by his predecessors: "many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us" (1:1). So why one more? That it "would seem good" to Luke to add to the number of narratives about Jesus already available implies that Luke believes there is more to the story than others have already recorded. (45) But Luke does not tell us directly what this "more" is. To find it, we look for what we can infer from the Gospel itself, for what we can infer from distinguishing characteristics of his narrative.

Is it too far-fetched to suppose that Luke determined that another orderly account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was needed, in part, in order to convey the character of Jesus as pray-er?

Sitting on a shelf behind me as I conclude this article is a four-and-a-half-foot long row of books on the person of Jesus. Among the thousands of pages describing the person and work of Jesus, my quick review netted only about two dozen pages that make anything more than a passing reference to Jesus as a person who prayed, and most of these are devoted to scholarly ruminations related to the Lord's Prayer. Yes, I am aware of the methodological hurdles the criteria of dissimilarity and multiple attestation place in front of passages that refer to Jesus' prayer life. (46) Nevertheless, as I enjoy speculating that one of Luke's motivations for writing his narrative was to reassert to his audiences (47) the significance of Jesus as one who prayed, I would add that it delights me to turn to his narrative to do likewise--that is, lift up Jesus the Pray-er for my audiences as well.

S. John Roth

Faith Lutheran Church

Jacksonville, Illinois

1. Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg, The Nature of Narrative (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), 206.

2. The words "pray" and "prayer" (forms of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) do not appear in John's Gospel. Nevertheless, "to lift up his eyes to heaven" and address "the Father" (John 17:1), for example, fits any conventional definition of prayer.

3. Fred Craddock's commentary Luke (Interpretation [Louisville: John Knox, 1990]) is particularly adept at drawing out this observation; see esp. p. 84. (Incidentally, taking nothing away from the power of prayer, is "might of prayer" supposed to read "night of prayer" on that page?) My interest in this topic was heightened by Craddock's delightful series of audio lectures produced under the title "The Prayer Life of Jesus."

4. For general treatments of prayer in Luke-Acts, see A. Trites, "The Prayer Motif in Luke-Acts," in Perspectives on Luke-Acts, ed. Charles H. Talbert (Perspectives in Religious Studies 5 [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1978]), 168-86; Craig G. Bartholomew and Robby Holt, "Prayer in/and the Drama of Redemption in Luke," in Reading Luke: Interpretation, Reflection, Formation, ed. Craig G. Bartholomew, Joel B. Green, and Anthony C. Thiselton (Scripture and Hermeneutics 6 [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005]), 350-75; John Navone, Themes of St. Luke (Rome: Gregorian University Press, 1970); P. T. O'Brien, "Prayer in Luke-Acts," Tyndale Bulletin 24 (1973): 111-27.

5. It may be worth further study to ask what literary/rhetorical significance there may be to the prayer-related transitions in the narrative. Luke suspends reports of Jesus at prayer from the time Jesus teaches his disciples to pray (chap. 11) until he is in the upper room (chap. 22). Within that span, Jesus tells the prayer-related parables of the friend at midnight (11:5), the widow's judge (18:1-8), and the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple (18:9-14).

6. Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:16, 18, 28-29; 10:21; 11:11; 22:17, 19, 32, 39-46; 23:34, 46; 24:30, 50-51. In this list, the two references to Jesus giving thanks to God at table in the upper room (22:17, 19) are counted as one prayer episode. Conventional lists are shorter, omitting for example the meal scenes in chaps. 9, 22, and 24; see, e.g., Navone, Themes of St. Luke, 118.

7. At the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:16; parallels Matt 14:19; Mark 6:41) and at the meal in the upper room (Luke 22:17, 19; parallels Matt 26:26; Mark 14:22).

8. John's Gospel alludes to Jesus' baptism, without any mention of prayer by Jesus (John 1:32-34).

9. The contexts in which Jesus gives his model prayer are obviously quite different in Matthew and Luke.

10. If you are familiar with the language of "ideal reader," "implied reader," "authorial audience," and the like, you will recognize that my article exhibits some imprecision in distinguishing between hypothetical ancient readers and the "real reader" (me). I try to be clear about such a distinction where this distinction appears to me to be pertinent. But I envision this article more as a conversation with you than as a technical treatise before a session of the Society of Biblical Literature.

11. Scholes and Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 173.

12. To help the reader review particular comments quickly, I have put a passage reference in boldface type to indicate the first discussion of this reference.

13. With Mark 1:11 and in contrast to Matt 3:17, "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22).

14. See Wolfgang Iser, The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978), esp. 18, 35, on textual indeterminacies and "gaps."

15. Joachim Jeremias, The Prayers of Jesus (Studies in Biblical Theology, Second Series 6 [London: SCM Press, 1967]), 69-75, argues that Jesus would have prayed at three appointed times during the day according to Jewish custom: sunrise, 3:00 p.m., and sunset. According to Jeremias, Jesus' prayers at those appointed times would have begun with formal, liturgical prayers (principally the "Eighteen Benedictions"). However, again according to Jeremias, it is not these liturgical prayers that account for Luke adding the motif of the praying Lord at 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 21. Rather, "the most likely answer is the existence of a firmly established tradition about Jesus' prayer in solitude by night" (p. 76). In fact, Jeremias wants to cite these references as evidence that Jesus "was not content with the pious practice of liturgical prayer three times a day" (p. 75), and Jesus' prayers when he withdraws represent a new initiative by Jesus of prayer in the idiom of everyday life. The only specific suggestion that Jeremias makes as to the substance of Jesus' innovative prayers is that they would have addressed God as "Abba." Because we know explicitly from prayers by the Lucan Jesus elsewhere that Jesus addressed prayers to his Father (10:21; 22:42; 23:34, 46), the strength or weakness of Jeremias's proposal does not impact our discussion. One may rightly object that Jeremias's appeal to the Eighteen Benedictions to illustrate his point is anachronistic. He does, however, convincingly argue against the "oh, by the way" prayers of Jesus being simply the customary formal prayers of Jews of Jesus' day.

16. Jesus does, however, declare that they will one day sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:30).

17. Craddock, "The Prayer Life of Jesus" (audio).

18. David Crump, Jesus the Intercessor: Prayer and Christology in Luke-Acts (Grand Rapids: Baker, [1992] 1999, 144-46.

19. Joseph Fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke X-XXIV: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible 28 [Garden City: Doubleday, 1979]), 616. Fitzmyer cites John 17:6 in support of his read of Luke 6:12.

20. After Peter's declaration, the title "Messiah" is used only as a polemic or in deriding Jesus (Luke 20:41; 22:67; 23:2, 35, 39) until Jesus applies it to himself after his resurrection (24:26, 46), when he teaches his disciples with echoes of his passion/resurrection prediction. Then, the title is used extensively in Acts (twenty-four times) to identify and to affirm Jesus.

21. Charles Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1992), 103.

22. There is a distinct tone of compulsion in Luke's use of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in this episode and the one that follows (see Luke 4:9, 29).

23. While five of these six "oh, by the way" reports of Jesus praying say that he did so in relatively private venues, it would be inaccurate to characterize the Lucan Jesus as one who eschewed corporate prayer. Luke notes that it was Jesus' custom to participate in synagogue worship (Luke 4:14).

24. John Paul Heil, The Meal Scenes in Luke-Acts: An Audience-Oriented Approach (SBL Monograph Series 52 [Atlanta: SBL, 1999]). 61. So also Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1991), s.v. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].

25. Noun forms of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] are common; a verb form occurs in Luke 1:48.

26. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG), rev. and ed. Frederick W. Danker (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2000), s.v. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].

27. It might be intriguing to explore the possible significance that the three instances in Luke's Gospel of persons "blessing God" are all connected with the Jerusalem temple (the "house of prayer" [Luke 19:46]): a temple-serving priest and two temple scenes.

28. See F. W. Danker, Jesus and the New Age: A Commentary on St. Luke's Gospel, revised and expanded ed. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 64.

29. We could consider Acts 3:25-26 as well.

30. An echo of poetic Hebrew parallelism.

31. In both 9:16 and 24:50-51, Jesus is acting as a pray-er.

32. Joseph Fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke X-XXIV, 1398, 1399, locates the kinship of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in a common Hebrew antecedent. C. F. Evans, Saint Luke (TPI New Testament Commentaries [Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990]), 785: "The two words are virtually synonymous, as in Jewish thought blessing was accomplished by giving thanks to God." I would caution that the two words are not quite synonymous in every context, since it would be a stretch to say that "blessing those who curse you" amounts to thanking God for them.

33. See BDAG, s.v. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].

34. L. Johnson, Luke, 346. Johnson's observation is representative of those of commentators in general.

35. It is necessary to acknowledge that there is a serious text-critical issue with this verse. I do not rehearse here the arguments for or against the verse's authenticity. My view is that the verse is authentically Lucan, and my discussion treats it as such. For an extensive overview of the textual issue, see Crump, Jesus the Intercessor, 79-85.

36. And crucifying the innocent Jesus is an injustice; cf. the centurion's declaration in 23:47.

37. See also Acts 13:27: "Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him."

38. Crump, Jesus the Intercessor, 85-86, has a helpful discussion of "Forgive Whom?" in which he points out that there is no need to choose between Roman authorities/soldiers and Jewish collaborators as the subjects of Jesus' prayer.

39. See Guy D. Nave Jr., The Role and Function of Repentance in Luke-Acts (Academia Biblica 4 [Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002]), esp. 189.

40. It is worth noting that in both cases, Jesus' prayer for his executioners and Stephen's prayer for his, the prayers remain unfulfilled within the narrative itself. By contrast, Luke chronicles the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer for Peter (22:32). Is Jesus' prayer for his executioners predictive of their future reception of forgiveness? Does this prayer come to fruition like his prayers for Peter did? Or is Luke's silence about the prayer's fulfillment ominous?

41. Mikeal C. Parson, The Departure of Jesus in Luke-Acts: The Ascension Narratives in Context (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 21 [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987]), 74-75, proposes that Jesus' blessing brings to mind Zechariah's failure to bless the people (Luke 1:23). "In effect, Jesus completes what Zechariah could not do: he blesses the people of God" (p. 74). The interpreter must decide whether Jesus is adopting a more priestly bearing, that is, speaking for the Father to the disciples, as Parsons suggests, or whether he is more at this point expressing thanks and praise to the Father for the sake of the disciples, as I suggest, drawing on the parallel with Simeon. The two interpretations may not be mutually exclusive, but they do cast the scene in differing lights.

42. Aristotle, Poetics, XV .4; Horace, Art of Poetry, 119-27.

43. If the church is to imitate Jesus' beneficence to the blind, the lame, and the poor, why are there so few examples in Acts of Christians healing the blind and the lame, and no references at all to the poor?

44. See, e.g., Acts 1:14; 2:42; 4:31; 7:59-60; 10:9; 16:13. It is striking, however, that Luke does not record in Acts any Christian addressing God as "Father." Peter refers to "the Father" in 2:33, but this is in a speech, not a prayer.

45. Alternatively, Luke T. Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (Sacra Pagina 3 [Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991]), 4, suggests that Luke may have seen his unique contribution to be presenting the narrative "in order"--that is, providing persuasiveness through his sequencing of events. So also, in part, Robin Griffith-Jones, The Four Witnesses: The Rebel, the Rabbi, the Chronicler, and the Mystic--Why the Gospels Present Strikingly Different Visions of Jesus (San Francisco: Harper, 2000), 194-95.

46. Hal Taussig, Jesus before God: The Prayer Life of the Historical Jesus (Santa Rosa: Polebridge, 1999). attempts to overcome these hurdles.

47. I use the plural "audiences" deliberately. See Danker, Jesus and the New Age, 3. 20-21.