Exodus in Luke

In Luke’s account of the transfiguration, Jesus discusses with Moses and Elijah the “exodus” that he is going to accomplish in Jerusalem (9:31). That surely refers to His sufferings, death, and resurrection, which have just recently been a subject of discussion with Jesus and the apostles (9:18-27, esp. v 22). Yet the context in Luke 9 also suggests a connection with the “coming of the Son of Man” and the coming of the “kingdom of God.”

What is the “exodus” that Jesus will accomplish for His people at His coming? In a number of ways, Luke 21 indicates that the events surrounding AD 70 was an exodus event. Prior to the catastrophe itself, Jesus predicts that there will be “plagues and famines” (21:11), and “plague” is always reminiscent of Egypt. Further, the end will be preceded by “terrors and great signs from heaven” (v. 11), which recalls the language of Deuteronomy about the signs and wonders that were performed in Egypt (Dt 4:34 and 26:8 actually use the word “terror(s)”; cf also Dt 6:22; 7:19). Further, the Jews, Jesus predicts, will persecute His disciples and cast them out of the synagogues, which is perhaps analogous to the Egyptian attacks on Israel. The references to flight, moreover, recall exhortations in Jeremiah and other prophets to “flee” from Babylon. Finally, the events that Jesus describes are signs that “your redemption is drawing nigh” (v. 28). “Redemption,” of course, originally referred to the liberation of slaves.

In this scenario, of course, Jerusalem and Judah fill the slot of Egypt, and the “exodus” is out of Judaism into a “wilderness” and ultimately into a “promised land” of the new heavens and new earth. Followers of Christ, “enslaved” to Egyptian-like Israel, will be redeemed in the days of their “vindication,” the days of vengeance.