SEVENTH PART: THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION, CHAP. 24. It is in this part of the Gospel narrative that the four accounts diverge most. As friends, who for a time have travelled together, disperse at the end of the journey to take each the way which brings him to his own home, so in this last part,... [ Continue Reading ]
1. _The Women at the Sepulchre: Luke 24:1-7_. VERS. 1-7. The women play the first, if not the principal, part in all those accounts; a special duty called them to the tomb. They were, according to Matthew 28:1, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the aunt of Jesus); according to Mark (Mark 16:1), th... [ Continue Reading ]
2. _Visit of Peter to the Sepulchre: Luke 24:8-12_. VERS. 8-12. As we have found the account given, John 20:14-18, in Matthew's narrative of the appearance to the women, so we recognise here the fact which is related more in detail in John 20:1-10. Luke says, Luke 24:9, that on returning from the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Historical Introduction._ ᾿Ιδού, _behold_, prepares us for something unexpected. One of the two disciples was called _Cleopas_ (Luke 24:18). This name is an abbreviation of Cleopatros, and not, like Κλῶπας (John 19:25), the reproduction of the Hebrew name חלפי, which Luke always translates by ᾿... [ Continue Reading ]
3. _The Appearance on the way to Emmaus: Luke 24:13-32_. VERS. 13-32. Here is one of the most admirable pieces in Luke's Gospel. As John alone has preserved to us the account of the appearance to Mary Magdalene, so Luke alone has transmitted to us that of the appearance granted to the two disciples... [ Continue Reading ]
_a. Beginning of the Conversation._ VER. 17. Jesus generally interrogates before instructing. As a good teacher, in order to be heard, He begins by causing his auditors to speak (John 1:38). The Alex. reading at the end of Luke 24:17, allowed by Tischendorf (8th ed.): _and stood sad_, borders on t... [ Continue Reading ]
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 _... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Teaching of Jesus._ The καὶ αὐτός, _then He_ (Luke 24:25), shows that His turn has now come. They have said everything they have opened their heart; now it is for Him to fill it with new things. And first, in the way of rebuke (Luke 24:25). ᾿Ανοητοί, _fools_, refers to the understanding; βραδε... [ Continue Reading ]
_Historical Conclusion._ When Jesus _made_ as if He would continue His journey, it was not a mere feint. He would have really gone, but for that sort of constraint which they exercised over Him. Every gift of God is an invitation to claim a greater (χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος, John 1:16). But most men stop... [ Continue Reading ]
4. _The Appearance to the Apostles: Luke 24:33-43_. VERS. 33-43. The two travellers, immediately changing their intended route, return to Jerusalem, where they find the apostles assembled and full of joy. An appearance of Jesus to Peter had overcome all the doubts left by the accounts of the women.... [ Continue Reading ]
5. _The last Instructions: Luke 24:44-49_. VERS. 44-49. Meyer, Bleek, and others think that all the sayings which follow were uttered this same evening, and that the ascension itself must, according to Luke, have followed immediately, during the night or toward morning. Luke corrected himself later... [ Continue Reading ]
6. _The Ascension: Luke 24:50-53_. The resurrection restored humanity in that one of its members who, by His holy life and expiatory death, conquered our two enemies the law which condemned us because of sin, and death, which overtook us because of the condemnation of the law (1 Corinthians 15:56).... [ Continue Reading ]