Jerome Neyrey brings a remarkably enlightened approach to the Passion Narrative, and to Luke's particular version of it. The book begins where previous studies leave off, for it goes beyond traditional questions of source and historicity and treats the Lukan Passion Narrative from the standpoint of redaction criticism. Neyrey offers a fresh literary analysis of the text, along with significant thematic and theological insights into Luke's version of Jesus “Passion" Five major episodes in the Passion Narrative are treated: The Farewell Address at the Last Supper, the Garden, Jesus Trials, his Address to the Women, and the Crucifixion. Although rich in detail, this book continually offers a unified view of the text; readers are constantly offered overviews, summaries of the data, and interpretation of it. The book breaks new ground in suggesting a distinctive Lukan soteriology of the cross and a corresponding Christology. Study of the faith of the dying Jesus becomes a major clue for seeing Jesus as the New Adam in Luke-Acts.
This book significantly advances our reading of Luke, especially by the way Acts is brought to bear as an interpretative clue to Luke's whole project, Luke-Acts. Contemporary interpretation of Luke demands study of the way Lukan structures and themes are continued and confirmed in Acts, which holds true especially for the Passion Narrative. Luke brings the story of Jesus into harmony with the story of his church.
As will be evidenced from this book, Jerome Neyrey has a rich educational background, which includes graduate work in classics and literature, as well as theology and scripture. He completed doctoral studies in the New Testament at Yale University, and is currently Associate Professor at the Weston School of Theology, Cambridge, MA. Long a student of the Passion Narrative, he has written numerous articles on the synoptic gospels and especially Luke-Acts, and is the author of a forthcoming book on New Testament Christology.