The Samaritan Ministry and Mission

The nature and source of the section, 9:51—18:14, in the Gospel of Luke have long been debated by students of Early Christian Literature, as is evidenced by the various titles which have been proposed, such as: "The Perean Section," "The Travel Document," "Die Reise Bericht," "The Great Interpolation." It has frequently been argued that this section, with its several and various parables and stories, had already been joined to make a source of value in the eyes of Luke which he inserted in the Markan outline at the end of what is commonly styled "The Galilean Ministry," at the spot least disturbing his Markan outline. In this essay I am suggesting that a more apt designation of it is "The Samaritan Ministry"; that it is a loosely compacted parallel of Luke's own composition, whereby he very deftly indicates that far from ignoring God's beneficent intent, the gentile mission, Jesus had himself anticipated and blessed it by his own ministry and concern. While some of the material in this section is not especially apt in this suggested setting, there are several items — the initial rejection at the Samaritan village; the two doublets (healing of the Samaritan leper; sending out of the Seventy), palpable rewriting of stories he has already used; and the awkward reference to Samaritans, notably in the parable of the Good Samaritan — which suggest that the section is not one taken over by Luke but is of his own construction.