1001 Errors in the Christian Bible

Luke -- Errors 342-347

#342

Luke 4: (KJV)

16 “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.”

In Luke Jesus teaches first in Nazareth and then in Capernaum. Strangely, in verse 23 Jesus refers to himself as having already taught in Capernaum. This confusion is likely caused by the fact that in the parallel accounts in Mark and Matthew Jesus taught first in Capernaum and then in Nazareth and the author of “Luke” was using “Mark” as one of her sources. Perhaps stranger still is that Christian commentaries can provide many pages of analysis regarding the significance of this road trip but fail to mention the contradiction in order. Guess that’s what I’m here for.

# 343

Luke 4: (KJV)

38 “And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.”

Compare to Mark 1: (KJV)

30 “But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.
31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.”

According to Mark Jesus’ cure recipe was take hand and lift while according to Luke it was stand over and rebuke. Look Mark, no hands.

# 344

Luke 4: (KJV)

40 “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.”

Compare to Matthew 8: (KJV)

16 “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:”

According to Luke the sick were brought as the sun was setting (the present tense is used). According to Matthew the sick were brought when it was evening. It would have been a violation of the Sabbath to bring the sick during the Sabbath. Matthew is more concerned/familiar with the Law than Luke.

# 345

Luke 4: (KJV)

40 “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.”

Compare to Matthew 8: (KJV)

16 “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:”

Now Luke sez that hands were used for healing and Matthew doesn’t. Hands, no hands. Uh, oh, Simon didn’t saay.

# 346

Luke 4: (KJV)

41 “And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.”

Compare to Mark 1: (KJV)

34 “And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.”

Mark sez that Jesus prevented the devils from speaking while Luke sez they were able to get out a “Thou art Christ the Son of God” before they were silenced. As Richard Dreyfus said in the classic “Moon Over Parador”, “Oh, too laate!”.

# 347

Luke 4: (KJV)

41 “And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.”

Compare to Mark 1: (KJV)

34 “And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.”

The subtle change that Luke has made to Mark here is interesting. Mark says that Jesus would not let the devils speak because they recognized him. There is a theory that the original “Mark” was more Gnostic in nature and that Jesus was a spirit which took possession of a human body and that is why the devil spirits recognized Jesus, because they were also spirits. In Mark Jesus successfully prevents the devils from revealing his spirit nature. The author of Luke had no use for this conclusion and therefore changes the story with the result that it no longer makes sense. Now Jesus makes the devils not speak except that they had already spoken and Jesus, who fulfills prophecy to let people know that he is the Messiah, doesn’t want to let people know that he is the Messiah.

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