chapter four
The verbδ 6μαιat the beginning of the verse , which differs from
the verb used in Matthew, Mark and Cor (λαμ*%νω), appears in Luke
much more often than in Mark and Matthew (Matt , Mark and Luke
occurrences). Four of the occurrences are in unparalleled material,
but there are also a couple of places were the word is clearly editorial
(:, :). The expressionε76αριστ8σας ε:πενreflects the liturgical
language of Cor :–. The verbδιαμερ ωin verse is perhaps
the most obvious part of the whole section which certainly comes from
Luke’s pen. The verb occurs time in the New Testament of which
are in Lukan writings while, in Mark and in Matthew, there is only one
occurrence in each. (Luke’s redaction in :,; from Q or redactional
in :,; from Luke’s special tradition in :; from the LXX in
:). As a matter of fact, verse on the whole seems to be from Luke’s
pen. This accords with the observation that, in contrast to Matthew and
Mark, Luke seems to have transposed Jesus’ words about not drinking
wine from the end of the section to its beginning (cf. Matt :–
and Mark :–). After the transposition, Luke was compelled to
create words where Jesus takes the cup in his hands. Matthew and Mark
do not need this detail in their narratives because Jesus already holds
the cup. When Luke composed verse , he used his favorite diction
combined with familiar liturgical phrases he knew from the Pauline
tradition.^31
On the whole it seems that if Luke used traditional material in verses
:–a, he either did not know the tradition in a written form or did
not want to quote it in its original wording. Therefore, if we want to trace
the tradition to the time preceding Luke’s editorial work, the arguments
have to be based on non-linguistic grounds.
In practice, we are left with Jesus’ prediction that he will not drink
wine until he will drink it in the kingdom of God, recorded in Mark
: and with the Q tradition concerning a banquet with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob in the future kingdom of God (Matt :– par. Luke
:–; Matt : par. Luke :). Whether or not these might reflect
a memory of Jesus’ Last Supper where he might have anticipated the
dawning of the kingdom of God and would have abstained from eating
and drinking until its full coming, is surely an interesting question but
goes beyond the scope of the present volume. Nevertheless, even though
(^31) For a more detailed analysis of Luke’s use of the Pauline Eucharistic tradition, see
Leppä . Leppä has also argued for Luke’s knowledge and (critical) use of Galatians.
See Leppä .