Texts in Conversation
Sirach describes the high priest Simon raising his hands to bless the people after worship, a gesture that highlights the climax of the liturgy. Luke echoes this language when it describes Jesus lifting his hands to bless his followers before ascending.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 50:20
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
18 The singers also praised him with their voices. There was a sweet melody in the whole house. 19 And the people implored the Lord Most High, in prayer before him who is merciful, until the worship of the Lord was finished, and so they accomplished his service. 20 Then he went down, and lifted up his hands over the whole congregation of the children of Israel, to give blessing to the Lord with his lips, and to glory in his name. 21 He bowed himself down in worship the second time, to declare the blessing from the Most High. 22 Now bless the God of all, who everywhere does great things, who exalts our days from the womb, and deals with us according to his mercy. 23 May he grant us joyfulness of heart, and that peace may be in our days in Israel for the days of eternity,
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Luke 24:50
New Testament
48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50 Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 Now during the blessing he departed and was taken up into heaven. 52 So they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple courts blessing God.
Date: 75–85 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Luke does theology by creating a narrative with striking images and tableaus, invariably with first testament motifs. Surely, a high point in the gospel narrative is Jesus' ascension. As Jesus ascends, Luke depicts him giving Aaron's blessing as the high priest would after sacrifice on the Feast of Atonement. The sacrificial and expiatory interpretation of the cup connects with the Lucan running allusion to Sirach 50, where the glory and function of the high priest in the liturgy of the Day of Atonement are magnified. From Luke 9:31 through 24:53 one finds applied to Jesus words which in Sirach 50 refer to the officiating high priest and to the worshiping assembly. In Luke 22:14-23 and 24:50-53 Jesus is thus depicted functioning as a priest. The bread as memorial and the cup as the token of the covenant in Jesus' blood lay the narrative base for depicting the ascending Jesus completing the liturgy of the Day of Atonement. Jesus' giving the cup as new covenant in his blood and imparting Aaron's blessing bring narratively to full view Luke's image of Jesus' relation to the temple. With this image the Third Evangelist explores the meaning and significance of Jesus' relation to God and to people. The result may help us integrate the conflict in Luke with that in Acts. Jesus is the cornerstone which the chief priests, as the builders, rejected (Acts 4:11). Luke portrays Jesus subsuming in himself the worship associated with the temple ..."
Francis G. Carpinelli, “‘Do This as My Memorial’: Lucan Soteriology of Atonement,” CBQ 61.1 (1999): 74–91.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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