How to cite this article:
Joshua N. Tilton and David N. Bivin, “Refusing John the Baptist,” The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction (Jerusalem Perspective, 2025) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/30118/].
Matt. 21:31b-32; Luke 7:29-30
(Huck 82, 203; Aland 107, 277; Crook 124, 313)[1]
[one_half]| Table of Contents |
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1. Text 3. Conjectured Stages of Transmission 5a. Luke’s Version 7. Conclusion |
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Conclusion
We find no evidence of direct dependence of either version of Refusing John the Baptist upon the other, nor do we find evidence that the authors of Luke and Matthew based their versions on a common literary source. Neither have we found that both authors were acquainted with an oral tradition in which Jesus said something about toll collectors being more receptive to John the Baptist than the Jewish authorities. Rather, it appears that both evangelists were independently familiar with an early Christian criticism of the Jewish leaders that disparaged them as being worse than toll collectors: Toll collectors responded to the preaching of both John and Jesus, but the Jewish leaders rejected John, so it is hardly surprising that they haven’t responded to Jesus either. Each evangelist independently alluded to this circulating criticism at different points in their writings where the respective authors found it to be useful to do so.
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Notes
- For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
