Introduction

Having surveyed in the last chapter the major scholarly representations of Luke's apologetic motives and having outlined their merits and limitations in relation to the interpretation of Luke's trial narratives in general, we may now turn to the individual Lukan trial passages. The first narrative for consideration is Luke's account of Jesus' trial (Luke 22.66–23.25). As the next chapter will reveal, Luke's version of this event exhibits a considerable degree of independence from the Synoptic tradition. Which motives best explain the distinctiveness of Luke's story? Before embarking on the present analysis of the material, it seems appropriate to begin again by summarising some of the major contributions to the study of Jesus' trial in the Third Gospel and thus to set the stage for part one of the investigation (chapters 2–4). With this survey completed, we shall appear to be in a position to turn to the actual trial account. A look at the text soon reveals, however, that something important is still missing. We shall find ourselves at a significant loss in the appreciation of the event through joining the unfolding of a story almost at its end. To this problem there is but one remedy: an acquaintance with the foregoing part of the story, with a specific regard for those aspects of it which would seem to facilitate preparation for the encounter with the episode under consideration. This is precisely the purpose of the present chapter. But how should one go about such a ‘preparation’?