October 22nd, 2022

During this special month of October, as we celebrate the Reformation, we have also been looking at some of the connections between the four living creatures of the LORD’s throne and the four gospel accounts. If you have not read the writings of the previous couple of weeks, those may be quite helpful in getting a significant amount of the background to this discussion. Two weeks ago, there was the connection made between the Gospel according to Matthew and the living creature of the man. And last week we looked at the connection between the Gospel according to Mark and the living creature of the lion.

LUKE AND OX

Last week I started by mentioning that we do not have too many encounters with lions these days and in this country, and you could say the same thing about the ox. But go to a different part of the world, perhaps the Middle East or Africa, and especially those who have lived a long time ago, and there would be some significant encounters with the ox.

There is a word for a wild ox, but that is not the word that is used to describe this living creature of the LORD’s throne. The lion was definitely wild; this ox is definitely tame. And there are many words that describe that type of animal, and that shows its importance for that group of people in that area of the world. That area of the world can be tough to plough, and so a strong and tame animal is needed. And nothing fits that job description better than the ox.

When it comes to the Gospel according to Luke and the number of historical presents, there is a noticeable difference from the other accounts. Perhaps you remember reading a quote three weeks ago that gave the reason for so few historical presents. It was said that Luke did not want to use such a simplistic literary device. But perhaps there is something more to this rare use—and something much more positive—especially when connecting the gospel accounts to the living creatures of the LORD’s throne, in both cases a very positive thing.

Since there are so few of the historical presents in this account, they will be counted and given below, in bold print and within their immediate context. And, as usual, what is given is in a somewhat-literal translation (it should be noted that the asterisk is not given in the New American Standard version for the first historical present listed below, although that edition of the bible may have an additional note which points out that the verb is in the present tense):

(1.) Luke 7:40 And answering, Jesus said toward [the Pharisee who had invited him], “Simon, I have to you something to say.” And he says, “Teacher, say.”

(2.) Luke 8:49 Still [Jesus] speaking, someone comes from the synagogue ruler saying, “Your daughter has died. Trouble no more the Teacher.”

(3.) Luke 11:37 And as [Jesus] spoke, a Pharisee asks him that he would eat with him; and entering, he reclined.

(4.) Luke 11:45 And answering, one of the lawyers says to [Jesus], “Teacher, these things saying, also us you insult.”

(5.) Luke 16:7 Then to another [the dishonest steward] said, “And you, how much you owe?” And he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He says to him, “Take your bill and write eighty.”

(6.) Luke 16:23 “And in the hades, [the rich man] lifting up his eyes, being in torment, he sees Abraham from afar and Lazarus in his bosom.”

(7.) Luke 16:29 “And Abraham says, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’”

(8.) Luke 17:37 And answering, [the disciples] say to [Jesus], “Where, Lord?” And he said to them, “Where the body, there also the eagles will be gathered.”

(9.) Luke 18:6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the judge of unrighteousness says.”

(10.) Luke 19:22 He [a certain nobleman] says to [his slave]: “Out of your mouth I will judge you, evil slave. You knew that I, myself, am an exacting man, taking what I did not place and reaping what I did not sow?”

(11.) Luke 24:12 And Peter, standing up, ran to the tomb, and stooping, and peering in, he sees the linen cloths only, and he went away to his own, marveling at what had happened.

It should be also noted that the last one does not appear in some ancient manuscripts. Why could this be? These manuscripts could have been directed toward those Christians who had a Jewish background. Such a background would have made numbers more important; and the number eleven, the total number of historical presents, was not taken as a positive number, since it fell one short of a better number, that of twelve. The number ten was much more positive for Jewish Christians. (We do the same thing in our day when we avoid the number 666; it falls short of the number seven—three times!)

The variety of the people connected to the historical presents is significant. There is everyone from Abraham to some REALLY bad people. (But Abraham was not a perfect person either.) As the ox is tame around anyone and everyone, Jesus ends up dealing with a great variety of people within this account.

To help understand the importance of the number of historical presents in an account, and to support even more that this literary device was not considered by the writer to be a vulgarism, it may be helpful to point out that there are only a few historical presents within the entire book of Acts, twelve to be exact (and all of these are indicated in the New American Standard Bible). You may wish to look at those as well in more detail, and you may wish to note the variety that is connected to those occurrences. What follows is an extremely brief listing of the historical presents in Acts:
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Acts 8:36 [eunuch]; 10:11 [Peter]; 10:31 [angel of God—see verse 3]; 12:8 [angel of the Lord]; 19:35 [Ephesus town clerk]; 22:2 [Paul]; 23:18 [one of the centurions]; 25:5 [Festus]; 25:22 [Festus], 25:24 [Festus]; 26:24 [Festus]; 26:25 [Paul; it is interesting to note that two verbs of speaking are not given in verses 28 and 29, verbs that probably would have been in the historical present as well; this avoidance was done, possibly to avoid going over the number twelve, but as the last historical present, it makes this argument a climactic one within the work].

A tame ox is able to work with a fantastic amount of variety, and the work done is significant. That the message of Jesus made its way to Rome by the end of the book of Acts could be considered a miracle. And miracles like that continue to happen.