Fire and Fire: Luke 3:7–14 and 16:19–31 in Correspondence

Abstract:Luke's Gospel is famous for its impressive series of parallels between John the Baptist and Jesus, including a number of matching points in the ethical teaching of the two. This study, which joins the spate of works highlighting similarities between persons and texts within this Gospel, argues that John's preaching to the crowds in the vicinity of the Jordan river in 3:7–14 and Jesus's parable of the rich man and Lazarus in 16:19–31 represent one such point of correspondence. It accomplishes this objective by demonstrating that a number of lexical and thematic elements in 3:7–14 are echoed in 16:19–31. This leads to the suggestion that Jesus's message, transmitted through this parable, can be interpreted as a reprise of John's preaching at the beginning of the narrative. Since John is portrayed in Luke 3 as a prophet of repentance in the face of the impending judgment, the similarity of Jesus's teaching in Luke 16 to that of John emphasises Jesus's role as a prophet, frequently elaborated in Luke.