Luke 24:19-24

Vers. 19b-24. Account of the Two Disciples.

Jesus has now brought them to the point where He wished, namely, to open up their heart to Him; σὺν πᾶσι τούτοις (Luke 24:21), in spite of the extraordinary qualities described Luke 24:19. ῎Αγει may be taken impersonally, as in Latin, agit diem, for agitur dies. But it may also have Jesus for its subject, as in the phrase ἄγει δεκατὸν ἔτος, “he is in his tenth year.” But along with those causes of discouragement, there are also grounds of hope. This opposition is indicated by ἀλλὰ καί, “ But indeed there are also...” (Luke 24:22).

Ver. 23. Λέγουσαι, οἱ λέγουσιν, hearsay of a hearsay. This form shows how little faith they put in all those reports (comp. Luke 24:11).

Ver. 24. Peter, then, was not the only one, as he seemed to be from Luke 24:12. Here is an example, among many others, of the traps which are unintentionally laid for criticism by the simple and artless style of our sacred historians. On each occasion they say simply what the context calls for, omitting everything which goes beyond, but sometimes, as here, adding it themselves later (John 3:22; comp. with Luke 4:2). The last words, Him they saw not, prove that the two disciples set out from Jerusalem between the return of the women and that of Peter and John, and even of Mary Magdalene.