Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 59:4 (Dec 2016)
Article: The Temple In The Wilderness: Allusions To The Hebrew Sanctuary In The Baptism And Temptations Of Christ
Author: Nicholas P. Lunn

JETS 59:4 (December 2016) p. 701

The Temple In The Wilderness:
Allusions To The Hebrew Sanctuary In The Baptism And Temptations Of Christ

Nicholas P. Lunn*

* Nicholas Lunn is a translation consultant at Wycliffe Bible Translators UK, Wycombe Road, Saunderton, Buckinghamshire, HP14 4BF, United Kingdom. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: The aim of this article is to highlight a series of allusions to the OT sanctuary presented by the combined Gospels in the opening episodes of the ministry of Jesus, namely his baptism and temptations. Attention is first drawn to the fact that John the Baptist, to whom Jesus went for baptism, was a priest, being the son of a known member of the priesthood. John, however, is sent to minister in the wilderness rather than in the Jerusalem temple. Various articles contained within the temple are alluded to as Jesus comes to John, a feature which continues after the baptism and is to be further detected within the temptation narrative that immediately follows. The possible intentions of the allusions are then discussed and a suitable theological conclusion is drawn as to their significance which relates directly to the literal significance of the temptations.

Key Words: allusion, temple, tabernacle, sanctuary, John the Baptist, priest, baptism, temptation, wilderness

That the Gospel narratives should contain allusions to various OT events, persons, and institutions ought to occasion no surprise. The Hebrew Scriptures were after all the principal source texts of Jewish faith and worship, and the new covenant era was presented as a continuation, in terms of a fulfillment, of the contents of these earlier writings. It is natural, therefore, that the Gospels and other NT books should constantly make reference back to the ancient Scriptures in a variety of different ways. Although modern scholarship is more accustomed to dealing with full citations and partial citations than with allusions and echoes, a number of recent commentaries on the Gospels do endeavor to identify such features and offer some explanation. Prominent among these, for example, would be the backdrop of the book of Jonah to the account of Jesus stilling the storm,1 and the making of the Sinai covenant in Exodus as an allusory text for the institution of the new covenant at the Last Supper.2 More pertinent to our present purposes are the allusions discovered in the Gospels that relate to the temple, its contents, and its rituals. While recent studies have tended to focus on the Gospel of John in this

JETS 59:4 (December 2016) p. 702

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