Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:luke Chapter 24 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of luke, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Luke 24
New Revised Standard Version
1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.
2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3but when they went in, they did not find the body.
4While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.
5The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."
8Then they remembered his words,
9and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.
10Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.
11But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. The Emmaus incident
13Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,
16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad.
18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?"
19He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.
22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,
23and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him."
25Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"
27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.
29But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.
32They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"
33That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.
34They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!"
35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Jesus' appearance to his disciples
36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
38He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."
40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
42They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
43and he took it and ate in their presence. Jesus' final words and withdrawal into heaven
44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
46and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,
47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48You are witnesses of these things.
49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
52And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;
53and they were continually in the temple blessing God. JOHN
190JOHN Introduction The prologue of the Fourth Gospel (1.1-18), long recognized as the introduction to and summary of the Gospel's main concerns and emphases, takes pains not only to acknowledge Jesus as a human being, but as a social being as well when it proclaims, "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (1.14). Any effort to understand the Fourth Gospel must take this central pronouncement as a major point of interpretive entry. For although it speaks in a mystical tone that is meant to convey the unique relationship to God and solitary grandeur of the person of Jesus, the Fourth Gospel treats with equal gravity the "fleshly" nature of Jesus as it critiques the social relations and structures of the world that Jesus confronts. Thus even as it presents Jesus as the incarnate Word of God, the Fourth Gospel is also the story of Jesus as flesh and blood. Indeed, a careful reading reveals its focus to be precisely the doings of "flesh" in the "world" (1.10), that is, the activities of Jesus and the individual and collective responses to them. In telling the story of Jesus the author symbolically uses a number of terms drawn from common experience — bread, water, light, life, word, shepherd, door, way — to make the significance of Jesus both clear and gripping. After the prologue (1.1-1.18), the Gospel presents the public ministry of Jesus as both the object of faith (1.19-4.54) and the object of persecution and unbelief (chs 5-12), depicts his ministry to the disciples in the upper room (chs 13-17), narrates his death and resurrection (chs 18-20), and concludes with an epilogue (ch 21). The following division is suggested by the Gospel itself: the prologue (1.11.18); the book of Jesus' signs that his is the revelation of the Father (1.19-12.50); the book of Jesus' glory as it is revealed through his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to those that accept him (13.120.31); the epilogue, which contains accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances (21.1-25). JOHN
191The major concerns of the Gospel are engendering faith in the person of Jesus (20.21) and discrediting the Temple-centered, hereditary religious authorities who present a collective obstacle to the acceptance of faith in Jesus (1.14; 9.22-23). Its attempts to engender faith in Jesus are seen in its presentation of him as the incarnate Word (1.1), the only begotten Son (3.16, 18), the messiah (1.41), the Holy One of God (6.69), the King of Israel 1.49), its portrayal of him as totally in control of his life as well as in his death (18.12; 19.30), and its use as a term of self-description the Greek phrase "ego eimi" ("I am") without a predicate, which is reminiscent of God's self-reference in Ex 3.14; Isa 41.4; 43.10; 46.4. Its concern to discredit the religious authorities, whom it calls "the Jews," is effectuated by portraying them as mercenary and uncaring shepherds (10.12-13), as haughty and condescending to the people *7.15, 49; 9.34), as being more concerned with worldly acclaim than divine favor (12.43), and as betrayers of Jesus (11.53). In addition to its usage as cited above, in many instances its repeated use of "ego eimi" with a predicate contrasts Jesus with the religious authorities ("I am") or portrays him as replacing some aspect of established firstcentury Judaism. Even further, it presents him as embodying basic elements of the natural world, such as light (8.12) and life itself (11.25). This replacement or embodying motif is employed in other instances, such as the depiction of Jesus as replacing the Temple and the Passover (6.1-4), and serves to strengthen the Gospel's emphasis on the incarnation. Although its scathing portrayal of "the Jews" has opened it to charges of anti-Semitism, a careful reading of the Gospel reveals "the Jews" to be a class designation, not a religious or ethnic grouping; rather than denoting adherents to Judaism in general, the term primarily refers to the hereditary Temple religious authorities. The Gospel further acknowledges their influential status by including among "the Jews" those who have accepted the worldview and class interests of the hereditary religious authorities as their own. This larger group includes the Pharisees (1.19, 24) and even the "crowd" of laypersons whose worth the religious authorities dismissed (7.49; cf. 6.22, 41). Thus the rejection and persecution of Jesus by "the Jews" is seen to be not only the result of what he says and does, but because his healings, his JOHN
192pronouncements, and his earthly person lack the pedigree and imprimatur of the religious elite (7.15, 48-49; cf. 9.34). Several factors in the Fourth Gospel's attention to detail in the story of the fleshly Jesus suggest that it incorporates a much earlier tradition. Current scholarly consensus dates the final editing o the Gospel in
8090CE. The bitter and combative tone with which the Gospel discredits "the Jews" and its angry demonizing of them, as in 8.44, for instance, indicates opposition to a dominant group with the power to determine who is to be accepted in the Jewish community by anathematizing and expelling from Judaism those who challenge the dominant group's authority (9.22; 12.42). The powerful Temple hierarchy, in effect, ceased to exist in
70CE with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Moreover, the portrayal of Jesus as replacing the Temple may suggest that the Temple still stands as the center of Judaism (5.2), even as it repeats longstanding critiques of the Temple that prophesy its destruction (2.19; 4.21). Once the Temple and its hierarchy were no longer in existence, this polemic was transferred to local opponents of Christian believers. The "Jews" are equated with "the world" (16.1-4). Finally, recent archaeological finds indicate that the Fourth Gospel contains accurate details about the Jerusalem Temple and its environs prior to
70CE (e.g., 9.7; 10.22-23; 19.13). Together these factors suggest a possible alternate date for the earliest version of the Gospel material before
70CE. Although the theological complexity and high christology, especially in chs 14-17, could indicate a longer period of theological gestation and symbolic development (and this is the view of most scholars), similarly developed views are found in such early New Testament writings as Paul's letter to the Romans. Although some scholars deny any dependence of the Fourth Gospel upon the Synoptic Gospels, most scholars accept the Fourth Gospel's dependence upon the Synoptics; at the least, they hold that its author was aware of them. Who wrote this Gospel? Tradition says it was the apostle John. Scholarly opinion has long held that it was composed by a disciple of John who recorded his preaching. The epilogue speaks of an anonymous, loyal Jerusalem disciple of Jesus, called "the disciple whom JOHN
193Jesus loved" (20.2; see 13.23; 19.26; 21.7,20), as the source of this unique understanding of Jesus.