Ph.D. Dissertation, Duke University, 1998
Mark A. Matson
ABSTRACT
An important aspect of the problem of John and the Synoptics is the close connection between Luke and John, especially in the Passion narrative. This study is an attempt to examine the Luke-John relationship from a new perspective, one in which the possi bility of John's influence on Luke is taken seriously. While many have noted the close connection between Luke and John, they have generally assumed that John was the last gospel written. As a result, the only explanations of the relationship between the two gospels were that John knew and used Luke or they relied on some common tradition. But the reasons for assuming John to be the last gospel written are not compelling; a third possibility should be explored, namely that Luke knew and used John. The relationship is extensive, but difficult to categorize. There are some, though not many, close verbal similarities, but a large number of points of content in common. Such similar points include common order of events, and common omissions of materi al found in Mark and Matthew. One particular group of similarities is found in some textual variants commonly called Western non-interpolations. The close study of these variants concludes that, for most of them, the long form of the text, containing th e Luke-John similarity, is original.
The study examines the Luke-John relationship in the Passion story from the perspective of Luke. For each unit of text, an effort is made to understand Luke's use of sources (especially Mark) and his editorial practices. Particular attention, however , is directed to Luke's possible use of John. The key question is, In terms of Luke's redaction, is it reasonable to think that Luke used John as a source alongside Mark? The study concludes that in many places Luke modifies his Mark-based story in a way that seems to show the use of John, often intertwining the two Gospel accounts. Although Mark is the primary source for Luke, in the Passion and Resurrection narratives L uke appears to be influenced by the Johannine narrative.
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