Luke, the orderly Gospel narrator and companion of Paul, writes to give certainty concerning Jesus’ life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension, and the worldwide mission that flows from Him.
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Luke 24
The Risen Christ Opens the Scriptures, Commissions Witnesses, and Ascends in Blessing
The crucified Jesus is risen bodily, fulfills all Scripture, opens blind hearts and minds, commissions witnesses to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations, and ascends in blessing as the worshiped Lord.
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Chapter Summary
The crucified Jesus is risen bodily, fulfills all Scripture, opens blind hearts and minds, commissions witnesses to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations, and ascends in blessing as the worshiped Lord.
Overview
Luke 24 argues that the resurrection of Jesus is not an isolated miracle detached from Scripture, nor a private spiritual experience without bodily reality. The empty tomb, angelic announcement, remembered words of Jesus, Peter’s inspection, Emmaus exposition, table recognition, bodily appearance, wounds, touch, eating, opened minds, apostolic witness, and ascension all converge to show that the crucified Jesus is truly risen.
His suffering was not a failure of messianic hope but the necessary path spoken in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. The resurrection does not end the story in private joy; it launches mission. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in Jesus’ name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. The disciples are witnesses, but they must wait for the promised power from on high.
Jesus’ ascension confirms His exalted lordship and produces worship, joy, and praise.
Context
Theophilus and wider Jewish and Gentile readers needing assurance that Jesus’ resurrection is real, Scripture-fulfilled, bodily witnessed, and the foundation of repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all nations.
The chapter takes place on the first day of the week after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, beginning at the tomb near Jerusalem, moving to the road to Emmaus, returning to Jerusalem, and ending near Bethany with Jesus’ ascension.
The crucified Jesus is risen bodily, fulfills all Scripture, opens blind hearts and minds, commissions witnesses to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations, and ascends in blessing as the worshiped Lord.
Luke, the orderly Gospel narrator and companion of Paul, writes to give certainty concerning Jesus’ life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension, and the worldwide mission that flows from Him.
Theophilus and wider Jewish and Gentile readers needing assurance that Jesus’ resurrection is real, Scripture-fulfilled, bodily witnessed, and the foundation of repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all nations.
The chapter takes place on the first day of the week after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, beginning at the tomb near Jerusalem, moving to the road to Emmaus, returning to Jerusalem, and ending near Bethany with Jesus’ ascension.
Social Pressure
- The disciples are confused, grieving, disappointed, fearful, slow to believe, and uncertain how to interpret the crucifixion. The women’s testimony is initially dismissed, the Emmaus disciples are downcast, and the gathered disciples are startled and frightened when Jesus appears.
Jewish burial customs involved spices and care for the body. Women were key eyewitnesses in Luke’s narrative, though their testimony was culturally vulnerable to dismissal. Resurrection was not a vague spiritual continuation but a bodily raising from death. Table fellowship, Scripture exposition, witness language, and blessing gestures shape the chapter’s scenes.
Luke 24 is the fulfillment chapter of the Gospel. Jesus’ suffering and death are interpreted through Scripture, the resurrection vindicates Him as Messiah, the disciples are commissioned as witnesses, the mission to all nations is announced, and the ascension prepares for the Spirit-empowered mission of Acts.
Chapter Movement
The women find the empty tomb and remember Jesus’ words, Peter sees the grave clothes and wonders, the Emmaus disciples meet the risen Christ through Scripture and table recognition, Jesus appears bodily to the gathered disciples, opens their minds to Scripture, commissions them as witnesses to repentance and forgiveness for all nations, promises power from on high, blesses them, ascends, and leaves them worshiping with great joy.
Discourse Insight
Theological exposition and fulfillment
Luke 24 clarifies the gospel by showing that Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s vindication of the crucified Messiah and the fulfillment of the whole Scriptural story. The gospel is not merely that Jesus died, nor merely that the tomb was empty, but that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins is now to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The risen Christ is bodily alive, bearing wounds yet no longer captive to death. He gives peace to frightened disciples, opens Scripture to confused disciples, opens minds to understand fulfilled prophecy, and appoints witnesses to carry the message. The gospel is therefore cross-and-resurrection news: Christ suffered, Christ rose, Christ reigns, Christ forgives, Christ sends, Christ empowers, and Christ is worshiped.
Structural Flow
The women find the empty tomb, hear the resurrection announcement, remember Jesus’ words, and report to disbelieving apostles while Peter wonders.
The Emmaus disciples fail to recognize Jesus until He reinterprets the crucifixion and resurrection through Moses and the Prophets.
Jesus is recognized in the breaking of bread, and the disciples return to Jerusalem as witnesses to the risen Lord.
Jesus proves He is not a ghost by showing His wounds, inviting touch, and eating fish in the disciples’ presence.
Jesus opens the disciples’ minds to the Scriptures and commissions them to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations.
Jesus blesses the disciples, ascends into heaven, receives worship, and leaves them joyfully praising God in the temple.
Chapter Outline
- 24:1-8: The women find the empty tomb and are told Jesus has risen just as He said.
- 24:9-12: The women report the resurrection announcement, but the apostles do not believe, and Peter goes to the tomb amazed.
- 24:13-24: Two disciples journey to Emmaus in confusion and disappointment, not recognizing the risen Jesus walking with them.
- 24:25-27: Jesus rebukes their slowness to believe and interprets all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
- 24:28-35: The disciples recognize Jesus at the table and return to Jerusalem with burning hearts and resurrection witness.
- 24:36-43: Jesus appears to the gathered disciples and confirms His bodily resurrection.
- 24:44-47: Jesus teaches that the Law, Prophets, and Psalms are fulfilled in His suffering, resurrection, and the preaching of repentance and forgiveness.
- 24:48-49: Jesus commissions the disciples as witnesses and tells them to wait for power from on high.
- 24:50-53: Jesus blesses the disciples, ascends into heaven, receives worship, and sends them back to Jerusalem with great joy.
Theological Argument
Luke 24 argues that the resurrection of Jesus is not an isolated miracle detached from Scripture, nor a private spiritual experience without bodily reality. The empty tomb, angelic announcement, remembered words of Jesus, Peter’s inspection, Emmaus exposition, table recognition, bodily appearance, wounds, touch, eating, opened minds, apostolic witness, and ascension all converge to show that the crucified Jesus is truly risen.
His suffering was not a failure of messianic hope but the necessary path spoken in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. The resurrection does not end the story in private joy; it launches mission. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in Jesus’ name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. The disciples are witnesses, but they must wait for the promised power from on high.
Jesus’ ascension confirms His exalted lordship and produces worship, joy, and praise.
From empty tomb to opened Scriptures, from burning hearts to bodily proof, from fulfilled Scripture to worldwide mission, and from ascension blessing to worshiping joy.
- 1.The empty tomb must be interpreted by Jesus’ own prior words: the Son of Man had to be delivered, crucified, and raised on the third day.
- 2.The apostles’ initial unbelief shows that resurrection faith rests on divine revelation and witness, not wishful thinking.
- 3.Disappointment comes when disciples interpret the cross apart from the Scriptures concerning the Messiah.
- 4.The Messiah had to suffer and enter glory, as Moses and all the Prophets testify.
- 5.The risen Jesus makes himself known through opened Scriptures and table fellowship.
- 6.Jesus’ resurrection is bodily: he shows wounds, has flesh and bones, invites touch, and eats before them.
- 7.The whole Scripture witness is fulfilled in Christ’s suffering, third-day resurrection, and the preaching of repentance and forgiveness in his name.
- 8.The disciples are witnesses, but their mission must proceed by power from on high, not mere human energy.
- 9.The ascended Jesus blesses his people, receives worship, and leaves them in joy and praise.
Theological Focus
- The bodily resurrection of Jesus
- The empty tomb
- Remembering Jesus’ words
- Apostolic unbelief and wonder
- Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture
- The necessity of messianic suffering
- The Messiah entering glory
- Opened eyes and burning hearts
- Recognition of the risen Christ
- Peace from the risen Lord
- Wounds retained in resurrection
- Flesh and bones resurrection reality
- Eating as bodily proof
- Law, Prophets, and Psalms fulfilled
- Opened minds to understand Scripture
- Repentance and forgiveness of sins
- Mission to all nations beginning from Jerusalem
- Witnesses of the resurrection
- Promise of the Father
- Power from on high
- Ascension and blessing
- Worship and joy
- Temple praise transformed by resurrection
- Resurrection
- Remembered Word
- Scripture Fulfillment
- Messianic Necessity
- Spiritual Blindness and Opened Eyes
- Opened Minds
- Peace
- Forgiveness Mission
- Witness
- Mission to All Nations
- Spirit-Empowered Mission
- Ascension
- Worship and Joy
- Resurrection of Christ
- Bodily Resurrection
- Christ-Centered Hermeneutics
- Messianic Suffering
- Forgiveness of Sins
- Repentance
- Mission to the Nations
- Apostolic Witness
- Divine Empowerment
- Worship of Christ
Theological Themes
Jesus is not among the dead; He has risen bodily, with wounds, flesh and bones, and the ability to eat.
The women understand the empty tomb when they remember what Jesus had already spoken.
Jesus’ suffering, resurrection, and mission are the fulfillment of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
The Messiah had to suffer before entering glory, overturning false expectations of redemption without the cross.
The Emmaus disciples are prevented from recognizing Jesus until He opens Scripture and then opens their eyes.
The disciples need Jesus to open their minds to understand Scripture rightly.
The risen Jesus comes to frightened disciples with peace, not condemnation.
The resurrection launches proclamation of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.
The disciples are not inventors of a message but witnesses of what Jesus fulfilled and did.
The gospel must go beyond Israel to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The disciples must wait until clothed with power from on high.
Jesus is taken up into heaven while blessing His disciples, preparing for His continuing reign and the mission of Acts.
The proper response to the risen and ascended Christ is worship, great joy, and continual praise.
Covenant Significance
Luke 24 reveals that Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfill the covenant Scriptures and launch the new covenant mission. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms all point to the suffering and risen Messiah. The resurrection vindicates the new covenant blood announced in Luke 22 and confirms that forgiveness of sins is now to be proclaimed in Jesus’ name.
The mission begins in Jerusalem, the city that rejected and crucified Him, showing grace toward the guilty and continuity with Israel’s story. Yet the mission extends to all nations, fulfilling the Abrahamic promise of blessing to the nations and the prophetic hope of Gentile inclusion. Jesus’ ascension and blessing prepare for the promised Spirit, by whom the covenant people will bear witness from Jerusalem outward in Acts.
Old Testament Connections
- Scripture fulfilled in Christ - Jesus identifies the Law, Prophets, and Psalms as fulfilled in His suffering and resurrection.
- New covenant forgiveness proclaimed - The forgiveness secured by Jesus’ blood is now to be preached in His name.
- Jerusalem as beginning point - The city of rejection becomes the starting place for mercy, witness, and gospel proclamation.
- All nations included - The mission moves beyond Israel to the nations, fulfilling God’s wider covenant promises.
- Witness community formed - The disciples are constituted as witnesses to Christ’s death, resurrection, and scriptural fulfillment.
- Power from on high promised - The mission of the covenant people depends on the Father’s promised empowerment.
- Ascended blessing - Jesus leaves His people not under abandonment but under priestly-royal blessing.
- Genesis 12:1-3 - The promise that all nations will be blessed through Abraham’s seed stands behind the mission to all nations.
- Deuteronomy 18:15-19 - Moses’ promised prophet finds fulfillment in Jesus, whose words must be remembered and obeyed.
- Psalm 16:8-11 - The Holy One not abandoned to the grave provides resurrection background used apostolically in Acts.
- Psalm 22:22-31 - The suffering righteous one leads to worldwide worship and proclamation.
- Psalm 110:1 - The ascended Lord’s enthronement is assumed in Jesus’ exaltation and later apostolic preaching.
- Isaiah 49:6 - The servant as light to the nations connects with repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all nations.
- Isaiah 52:13-53:12 - The suffering servant who bears sin and is afterward exalted provides a central pattern for suffering then glory.
- Hosea 6:2 - Third-day restoration imagery contributes to the broader scriptural pattern Jesus identifies.
- Jonah 1:17 - Three-days imagery later associated with death and deliverance contributes to the resurrection pattern.
- Joel 2:28-32 - The promised outpouring of the Spirit prepares for the power from on high in Luke-Acts.
Canonical Connections
Jesus’ resurrection on the third day fulfills His own predictions and resonates with biblical patterns of third-day deliverance and restoration.
Jesus teaches that Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms testify to Him.
The Messiah’s path is suffering before glory, matching the servant and righteous sufferer patterns.
Luke 24’s eyewitness pattern becomes the foundation for apostolic witness in Acts and the epistles.
The mission announced by Jesus becomes the apostolic message of Acts.
Jesus’ commission fulfills the promised outward movement of God’s salvation to the nations.
Power from on high anticipates the Father’s promise fulfilled at Pentecost.
Jesus’ being taken up connects with exaltation, heavenly session, and continuing lordship.
Cross References
Gospel Clarity
Luke 24 clarifies the gospel by showing that Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s vindication of the crucified Messiah and the fulfillment of the whole Scriptural story. The gospel is not merely that Jesus died, nor merely that the tomb was empty, but that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins is now to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The risen Christ is bodily alive, bearing wounds yet no longer captive to death. He gives peace to frightened disciples, opens Scripture to confused disciples, opens minds to understand fulfilled prophecy, and appoints witnesses to carry the message. The gospel is therefore cross-and-resurrection news: Christ suffered, Christ rose, Christ reigns, Christ forgives, Christ sends, Christ empowers, and Christ is worshiped.
Gospel Guardrails
- Jesus is risen - The living one is not among the dead · the tomb is empty because He has risen.
- Jesus’ words are fulfilled - The resurrection happens according to what Jesus had already told His disciples.
- Scripture points to Christ - Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms find fulfillment in Jesus’ suffering, resurrection, and mission.
- The cross was necessary - The Messiah had to suffer before entering glory.
- The resurrection is bodily - Jesus has wounds, flesh and bones, and eats before the disciples.
- Forgiveness is proclaimed in Jesus’ name - The mission is repentance for forgiveness of sins grounded in the risen Christ.
- The gospel is for all nations - The message begins at Jerusalem but extends to all peoples.
- Witness requires power - The disciples must wait for the Father’s promised power from on high.
- The risen Christ is ascended and worshiped - Jesus blesses His disciples, is taken into heaven, and receives their worship.
- Do not preach resurrection as metaphor. Luke presents bodily resurrection with visible wounds, touch, flesh, bones, and eating.
- Do not preach the cross as defeat corrected by resurrection. Jesus teaches that the Messiah had to suffer and then enter glory.
- Do not detach the gospel from the Old Testament. Jesus roots the gospel in Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
- Do not preach forgiveness without repentance. Jesus commissions repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name.
- Do not keep the gospel local, tribal, or private. Jesus sends it to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
- Do not confuse witness with speculation. The disciples testify to what they have seen, heard, and had opened to them.
- Do not attempt mission without divine power. Jesus commands waiting for power from on high.
- Do not treat the ascension as absence only. The ascended Christ blesses, reigns, and is worshiped.
Primary Emphasis
Luke 24 presents Jesus as the risen Lord, the living one no longer among the dead, the interpreter and fulfillment of all Scripture, the suffering Messiah who enters glory, the bodily resurrected Christ with wounds, flesh, bones, and table fellowship, the giver of peace, the opener of minds, the sender of witnesses, the source of repentance and forgiveness, the ascended Lord who blesses His people, and the proper object of worship.
Chapter Contribution
Luke 24 argues that the resurrection of Jesus is not an isolated miracle detached from Scripture, nor a private spiritual experience without bodily reality. The empty tomb, angelic announcement, remembered words of Jesus, Peter’s inspection, Emmaus exposition, table recognition, bodily appearance, wounds, touch, eating, opened minds, apostolic witness, and ascension all converge to show that the crucified Jesus is truly risen.
His suffering was not a failure of messianic hope but the necessary path spoken in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. The resurrection does not end the story in private joy; it launches mission. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in Jesus’ name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. The disciples are witnesses, but they must wait for the promised power from on high.
Jesus’ ascension confirms His exalted lordship and produces worship, joy, and praise.
Doctrines in This Chapter
Christ physically ascends into heaven.
Jesus rises physically from the dead.
All Scripture testifies to the Messiah.
Understanding is granted by God.
Resurrection confirms acceptance of His atoning work.
Jesus reigns at the right hand of God.
The ascended Lord blesses and intercedes for His people.
Salvation proclaimed in Christ’s name.
The gospel is for all nations.
Christ conquers the grave.
Doctrinal Weight
Jesus is declared risen, appears alive, shows wounds, invites touch, and eats before the disciples.
Luke explicitly guards against ghostly interpretation by emphasizing flesh, bones, wounds, and eating.
Jesus teaches that the Law, Prophets, and Psalms are fulfilled in His suffering, resurrection, and mission.
Jesus interprets Moses, all the Prophets, and all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
The Messiah had to suffer these things before entering glory.
Forgiveness is proclaimed in Jesus’ name as the fruit of His death and resurrection.
The mission message includes repentance for forgiveness of sins.
The gospel is to be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The disciples are witnesses of Jesus’ suffering, resurrection, and scriptural fulfillment.
Jesus promises to send what the Father promised, anticipating the Spirit in Acts.
The disciples must wait until clothed with power from on high.
Jesus is taken up into heaven while blessing His disciples.
The disciples worship Jesus after His ascension.
Reading Lenses
Theological exposition and fulfillment
- Luke 24 clarifies the gospel by showing that Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s vindication of the crucified Messiah and the fulfillment of the whole Scriptural story. The gospel is not merely that Jesus died, nor merely that the tomb was empty, but that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins is now to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The risen Christ is bodily alive, bearing wounds yet no longer captive to death. He gives peace to frightened disciples, opens Scripture to confused disciples, opens minds to understand fulfilled prophecy, and appoints witnesses to carry the message. The gospel is therefore cross-and-resurrection news: Christ suffered, Christ rose, Christ reigns, Christ forgives, Christ sends, Christ empowers, and Christ is worshiped.
Key Greek Terms
Individual words ἀπολέσας ἐξ αὐτῶν ἓν apolesas ex autōn hen · τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου tē hēmera tou sabbatou
Form in passage Dative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense first day of the week
Definition The day after the Sabbath, the day on which the women came to the tomb.
References Luke 24:1
Lexicon first day of the week
Why it matters Marks resurrection morning and the beginning of new creation hope.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Neuter What is this?
Sense tomb, grave
Definition A burial place.
References Luke 24:1-2, 9, 12, 22, 24
Lexicon tomb, grave
Why it matters The women come to the place where Jesus was laid and find it empty.
Sense stone
Definition The stone that had sealed the tomb entrance.
References Luke 24:2
Lexicon stone
Why it matters The stone is rolled away, signaling that death’s enclosure has been opened.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Neuter What is this?
Sense body
Definition The physical body.
References Luke 24:3, 23
Lexicon body
Why it matters The body of the Lord Jesus is not found in the tomb because He is risen bodily.
Individual words βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων basileus tōn basileuontōn kai kyrios tōn kyrieuontōn · Christ Jesus our hope Christos Iēsous hē elpis hēmōn
Sense Lord Jesus
Definition Jesus identified as Lord.
References Luke 24:3
Lexicon Lord Jesus
Why it matters Luke uses Lord language at the empty tomb, highlighting Jesus’ exalted identity.
Form in passage Present · Middle · Infinitive What is this?
Sense to be perplexed, at a loss
Definition To be uncertain, confused, or without explanation.
References Luke 24:4
Lexicon to be perplexed, at a loss
Why it matters The women need revelation to interpret the empty tomb rightly.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense living, alive
Definition One who is alive.
References Luke 24:5
Lexicon living, alive
Why it matters The angels announce that Jesus belongs among the living, not the dead.
Sense dead
Definition Those who have died.
References Luke 24:5
Lexicon dead
Why it matters The contrast between living and dead frames the resurrection announcement.
Form in passage Aorist · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense has been raised, risen
Definition To raise up from death.
References Luke 24:6, 34
Lexicon has been raised, risen
Why it matters This is the central announcement of the chapter: Jesus has risen.
Sense remember, recall
Definition To call to mind what was previously spoken or known.
References Luke 24:6, 8
Lexicon remember, recall
Why it matters The women are instructed to remember Jesus’ words, and remembrance becomes resurrection understanding.
Sense it is necessary, must
Definition A term of divine necessity.
References Luke 24:7, 26, 44
Lexicon it is necessary, must
Why it matters Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection happen according to divine necessity.
Sense Son of Man
Definition Jesus’ self-designation tied to suffering, authority, death, resurrection, and glory.
References Luke 24:7
Lexicon Son of Man
Why it matters The resurrection announcement recalls Jesus’ Son of Man passion prediction.
Individual words ὥρα τρίτη hōra tritē · ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας εἰσῆλθεν Νῶε εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν achri hēs hēmeras eisēlthen Nōe eis tēn kibōton
Form in passage Dative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense third day
Definition The appointed day of Jesus’ resurrection.
References Luke 24:7, 21, 46
Lexicon third day
Why it matters Jesus rises on the third day according to His word and Scripture.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense nonsense, idle talk
Definition Speech dismissed as foolish or unbelievable.
References Luke 24:11
Lexicon nonsense, idle talk
Why it matters The apostles’ initial dismissal shows that resurrection faith was not wishful invention.
Form in passage Imperfect · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense to disbelieve, refuse belief
Definition To not believe or to disbelieve.
References Luke 24:11
Lexicon to disbelieve, refuse belief
Why it matters The apostles do not initially believe the women’s testimony.
Form in passage Accusative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense linen cloths, strips
Definition Linen burial cloths.
References Luke 24:12
Lexicon linen cloths, strips
Why it matters Peter sees the burial cloths by themselves, confirming the absence of the body and prompting wonder.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense wondering, marveling
Definition To marvel, wonder, or be amazed.
References Luke 24:12
Lexicon wondering, marveling
Why it matters Peter moves from report to investigation and wonder, though full understanding awaits revelation.
Sense Emmaus
Definition A village about sixty stadia from Jerusalem.
References Luke 24:13
Lexicon Emmaus
Why it matters The road to Emmaus becomes the setting for Jesus’ Scripture exposition and table recognition.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense their eyes were restrained or kept
Definition Their ability to recognize Jesus was held back.
References Luke 24:16
Lexicon their eyes were restrained or kept
Why it matters Recognition of the risen Christ depends on divine opening, not mere sight.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense sad, gloomy, downcast
Definition Visibly sad or gloomy.
References Luke 24:17
Lexicon sad, gloomy, downcast
Why it matters The Emmaus disciples’ sorrow reveals hope crushed by a misread cross.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense prophet
Definition One who speaks and acts by divine commission.
References Luke 24:19
Lexicon prophet
Why it matters The Emmaus disciples confess Jesus as a prophet powerful in word and deed, but still have an insufficient view of Him.
Individual words λυτροῦσθαι τὸν Ἰσραήλ lytrousthai ton Israēl · βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ basileus tou Israēl
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense to redeem Israel
Definition To rescue or liberate Israel.
References Luke 24:21
Lexicon to redeem Israel
Why it matters Their hope for redemption was real but needed correction through the necessity of Messiah’s suffering and resurrection.
Form in passage Vocative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense foolish, without understanding
Definition Lacking proper understanding or perception.
References Luke 24:25
Lexicon foolish, without understanding
Why it matters Jesus rebukes not their sorrow alone but their failure to believe Scripture.
Form in passage Vocative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense slow of heart
Definition Sluggish or dull in inner responsiveness.
References Luke 24:25
Lexicon slow of heart
Why it matters Their problem is not lack of information only but sluggish belief in all the prophets spoke.
Form in passage Present · Active · Infinitive What is this?
Sense to believe, trust
Definition To trust, rely on, or believe.
References Luke 24:25
Lexicon to believe, trust
Why it matters Jesus calls for belief in all that the prophets have spoken.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense Messiah, Christ, Anointed One
Definition God’s anointed King and Savior.
References Luke 24:26, 46
Lexicon Messiah, Christ, Anointed One
Why it matters Jesus teaches that the Messiah had to suffer and enter glory.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Infinitive What is this?
Sense to suffer
Definition To undergo suffering or affliction.
References Luke 24:26, 46
Lexicon to suffer
Why it matters Messianic suffering is necessary according to Scripture.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense glory, honor, splendor
Definition Radiant honor, majesty, and exalted state.
References Luke 24:26
Lexicon glory, honor, splendor
Why it matters The Messiah enters glory through suffering, not apart from it.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense to interpret, explain thoroughly
Definition To explain or interpret carefully.
References Luke 24:27
Lexicon to interpret, explain thoroughly
Why it matters Jesus gives the definitive Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture.
Form in passage Dative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense Scriptures, sacred writings
Definition The written Scriptures.
References Luke 24:27, 32, 45
Lexicon Scriptures, sacred writings
Why it matters The risen Christ explains Himself from all the Scriptures and later opens the disciples’ minds to them.
Form in passage Aorist · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense to open fully
Definition To open thoroughly, whether eyes, Scriptures, or minds.
References Luke 24:31, 32, 45
Lexicon to open fully
Why it matters Luke uses opening language for eyes, Scriptures, and minds, showing divine illumination.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense to recognize, know fully
Definition To recognize or come to know clearly.
References Luke 24:31
Lexicon to recognize, know fully
Why it matters The Emmaus disciples recognize Jesus when their eyes are opened at the table.
Form in passage Present · Passive · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense burning
Definition To burn or be kindled.
References Luke 24:32
Lexicon burning
Why it matters Their hearts burn as Jesus opens the Scriptures, describing the inner effect of Christ-centered exposition.
Sense peace
Definition Peace, wholeness, well-being, reconciliation.
References Luke 24:36
Lexicon peace
Why it matters The risen Jesus greets frightened disciples with peace.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Neuter What is this?
Sense spirit, ghost
Definition A spirit or non-bodily apparition in this context.
References Luke 24:37, 39
Lexicon spirit, ghost
Why it matters Jesus denies that He is merely a ghost by showing flesh and bones.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense doubts, thoughts, reasonings
Definition Inner thoughts, questions, doubts, or reasonings.
References Luke 24:38
Lexicon doubts, thoughts, reasonings
Why it matters Jesus addresses the doubts rising in the disciples’ hearts.
Individual words βάλω τὸν δάκτυλόν μου...τὴν χεῖρά μου balō ton daktylon mou...tēn cheira mou · χεῖράς μου καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου cheiras mou kai tous podas mou
Sense hands and feet
Definition The bodily extremities bearing crucifixion wounds.
References Luke 24:39-40
Lexicon hands and feet
Why it matters Jesus’ wounds identify the risen one as the same crucified Jesus.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense flesh and bones
Definition Physical bodily reality.
References Luke 24:39
Lexicon flesh and bones
Why it matters Jesus insists on bodily resurrection, not ghostly appearance.
Individual words πάντες οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ νόμος pantes hoi prophētai kai ho nomos · νόμῳ Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ψαλμοῖς nomō Mōuseōs kai tois prophētais kai psalmois · ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας hē apokteinousa tous prophētas · νόμῳ Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ψαλμοῖς nomō Mōuseōs kai tois prophētais kai psalmois
Form in passage Dative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense the whole Scripture witness
Definition A threefold way of referring to the Hebrew Scriptures.
References Luke 24:44
Lexicon the whole Scripture witness
Why it matters Jesus teaches that the whole Scripture bears witness to Him and is fulfilled in Him.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense opened their minds
Definition Enabled their understanding.
References Luke 24:45
Lexicon opened their minds
Why it matters Understanding Scripture rightly requires the risen Christ’s illumination.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense repentance, change of mind and turning
Definition A turning from sin toward God.
References Luke 24:47
Lexicon repentance, change of mind and turning
Why it matters The mission message is repentance for forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense forgiveness, release
Definition Release from sins, pardon, forgiveness.
References Luke 24:47
Lexicon forgiveness, release
Why it matters Forgiveness of sins is the gospel blessing preached in Jesus’ name.
Form in passage Genitive · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense sins
Definition Offenses against God, moral guilt, rebellion.
References Luke 24:47
Lexicon sins
Why it matters Jesus’ death and resurrection ground forgiveness of sins.
Sense name, authority, identity
Definition Name as identity and authority.
References Luke 24:47
Lexicon name, authority, identity
Why it matters Repentance and forgiveness are preached in Jesus’ name, not generic religious hope.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Accusative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense nations, Gentiles
Definition Peoples, nations, especially non-Jewish nations.
References Luke 24:47
Lexicon nations, Gentiles
Why it matters The gospel mission extends to all nations.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense witnesses
Definition Those who testify to what they have seen, heard, and know.
References Luke 24:48
Lexicon witnesses
Why it matters The disciples are appointed as witnesses of Jesus’ suffering, resurrection, and mission.
Individual words τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός μου tēn epangelian tou patros mou · τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν to pneuma tou patros hymōn
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense promise of my Father
Definition The promised gift from the Father, anticipating the Spirit.
References Luke 24:49
Lexicon promise of my Father
Why it matters Jesus connects mission with the Father’s promised empowerment.
Form in passage Aorist · Middle · Subjunctive · 2nd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense clothed with power
Definition Endowed or equipped with divine power.
References Luke 24:49
Lexicon clothed with power
Why it matters The mission cannot begin in fullness until the disciples receive power from on high.
Form in passage Genitive · Singular · Neuter What is this?
Sense from on high
Definition From above, from heaven, from God.
References Luke 24:49
Lexicon from on high
Why it matters The power for witness is heavenly in origin.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense to bless
Definition To bless, speak blessing over, or praise.
References Luke 24:50-51
Lexicon to bless
Why it matters Jesus ascends while blessing His disciples.
Form in passage Imperfect · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense to be carried up, taken up
Definition To be borne upward.
References Luke 24:51
Lexicon to be carried up, taken up
Why it matters Jesus is taken up into heaven, concluding Luke’s Gospel and preparing Acts.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense to worship, bow down
Definition To worship, bow, or show reverent homage.
References Luke 24:52
Lexicon to worship, bow down
Why it matters The disciples worship the ascended Jesus, confirming His divine worthiness.
Form in passage Genitive · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense great joy
Definition Deep gladness and rejoicing.
References Luke 24:52
Lexicon great joy
Why it matters The ascension produces joy rather than despair because Jesus reigns and blesses.
Individual words εὐλογοῦντες τὸν θεόν eulogountes ton theon · βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ bdelygma enōpion tou theou
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense praising God, blessing God
Definition To bless or praise God.
References Luke 24:53
Lexicon praising God, blessing God
Why it matters Luke’s Gospel ends with continual temple praise in response to the risen and ascended Christ.
Form in passage Aorist · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Definition He has been raised.
References Luke 24:6, 34
Why it matters The central resurrection announcement.
Definition Remember.
References Luke 24:6, 8
Why it matters The women understand by remembering Jesus’ prior words.
Definition It is necessary, must.
References Luke 24:7, 26, 44
Why it matters Jesus’ suffering and resurrection unfold according to divine necessity.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Definition Nonsense, idle talk.
References Luke 24:11
Why it matters The apostles’ unbelief shows the resurrection was not a projection of eager expectation.
Definition To redeem, liberate.
References Luke 24:21
Why it matters The Emmaus disciples hoped Jesus would redeem Israel, but they misunderstood the cross as defeat rather than the path to redemption.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Vocative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Definition Foolish, without understanding.
References Luke 24:25
Why it matters Jesus rebukes failure to believe the Scriptures.
Form in passage Vocative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Definition Slow of heart.
References Luke 24:25
Why it matters The issue is sluggish belief in all the prophets have spoken.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Definition Messiah, Christ.
References Luke 24:26, 46
Why it matters Jesus teaches the Messiah’s necessary suffering and resurrection.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Definition To interpret or explain thoroughly.
References Luke 24:27
Why it matters Jesus gives the authoritative interpretation of Scripture concerning Himself.
Form in passage Dative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Definition Scripture.
References Luke 24:27, 32, 45
Why it matters The risen Jesus grounds faith and mission in Scripture.
Form in passage Aorist · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Definition To open fully.
References Luke 24:31, 32, 45
Why it matters Eyes, Scriptures, and minds are opened by divine action.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Definition Flesh and bones.
References Luke 24:39
Why it matters Jesus affirms bodily resurrection against ghostly misunderstanding.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Definition Repentance.
References Luke 24:47
Why it matters Repentance is central to the mission message.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Definition Forgiveness, release.
References Luke 24:47
Why it matters Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in Jesus’ name.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Definition Witness.
References Luke 24:48
Why it matters The disciples are witnesses of Christ’s death, resurrection, and fulfillment.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Definition Promise.
References Luke 24:49
Why it matters Jesus promises to send the Father’s promised gift.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Definition Power.
References Luke 24:49
Why it matters Witness requires power from on high.
Form in passage Imperfect · Passive · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Definition To be taken up.
References Luke 24:51
Why it matters Jesus’ ascension completes the Gospel and prepares Acts.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Definition To worship.
References Luke 24:52
Why it matters The disciples worship the ascended Jesus.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
Discourse Connectives (62)
strong contrast / correction 3content marker or causal 8comparative / scriptural grounding 2continuation or mild contrast 21additive / emphatic 28
| v.1 | δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.2 | δὲthencontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.3 | Καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.4 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.5 | δὲthencontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.6 | ἀλλ᾽butstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.7 | ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.8 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.9 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.10 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.11 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.12 | δὲButcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.13 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.14 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.15 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.16 | δὲbutcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.17 | δὲthencontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.18 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.19 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.δὲAndcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.21 | δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.ἀλλάButstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.22 | ἀλλὰHoweverstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.23 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.24 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.καθὼςeven ascomparative / scriptural groundingWhen Paul writes καθώς γέγραπται ('just as it is written'), he is providing scriptural warrant for everything preceding it.δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.25 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.27 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.28 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.29 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ὅτιforcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.30 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.31 | δὲthencontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.32 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.33 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.34 | ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.35 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.36 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.37 | δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.38 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.39 | ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.ὅτιforcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.καθὼςeven ascomparative / scriptural groundingWhen Paul writes καθώς γέγραπται ('just as it is written'), he is providing scriptural warrant for everything preceding it. |
| v.40 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.41 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.42 | δὲAndcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.43 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.44 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.46 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.47 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.48 | δέnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.49 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.50 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.51 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.52 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.53 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
Discourse data: STEPBible TAGNT (CC BY 4.0)
Verb Aspect (161 main verbs)
completed 62ongoing 13resultant 2imperative 6subjunctive 1background 14infinitive 23participle 40
| v.1 | ἦλθονérchomaicameaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionφέρουσαιphérōbringingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἡτοίμασανhetoimázōpreparedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.2 | εὗρονheurískōfoundaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀποκεκυλισμένονrolled awayperfect passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.3 | εἰσελθοῦσαιeisérchomaiwent inaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεὗρονheurískōfindaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.4 | ἐγένετοgínomaihappenedaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀπορεῖσθαιperplexedpresent middle infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἐπέστησανephístēmistood byaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀστραπτούσῃdazzlingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.5 | κλινουσῶνklínōbowedpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεἶπανépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionζητεῖτεzētéōseekpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthζῶνταzáōlivingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.6 | ἠγέρθηegeírōrisenaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionμνήσθητεmnáomairememberaorist passive imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationἐλάλησενlaléōspokeaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.7 | λέγωνlégōsayingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionδεῖdéōmustpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπαραδοθῆναιparadídōmideliveredaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbσταυρωθῆναιstauróōcrucifiedaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἀναστῆναιriseaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.8 | ἐμνήσθησανmnáomairememberedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.9 | ὑποστρέψασαιhypostréphōreturningaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἀπήγγειλανtoldaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.10 | ἔλεγονlégōtoldimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.11 | ἐφάνησανphaínōseemedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἠπίστουνnot believeimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.12 | ἀναστὰςgot upaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔδραμενtréchōranaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionπαρακύψαςparakýptōstooping and looking inaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionβλέπειsawpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἀπῆλθενwent awayaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionθαυμάζωνthaumázōamazed atpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionγεγονόςgínomaihappenedperfect active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.13 | ἀπέχουσανwaspresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.14 | ὡμίλουνhomiléōtalkingimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionσυμβεβηκότωνsymbaínōhappenedperfect active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.15 | ἐγένετοgínomaiwereaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionὁμιλεῖνhomiléōtalkingpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbσυζητεῖνsyzētéōdiscussingpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἐγγίσαςengízōcame nearaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionσυνεπορεύετοsymporeúomaiwent withimperfect middle indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.16 | ἐκρατοῦντοkratéōpreventedimperfect passive indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐπιγνῶναιepiginṓskōrecognizingaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.17 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀντιβάλλετεdiscussingpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπεριπατοῦντεςperipatéōwalk alongpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐστάθησανhístēmistood stillaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.18 | ἀποκριθεὶςansweredaorist passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionπαροικεῖςparoikéōvisitorpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἔγνωςginṓskōknowaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionγενόμεναgínomaihappenedaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.19 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεἶπανépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.20 | παρέδωκανparadídōmihanded ~ overaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐσταύρωσανstauróōcrucifiedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.21 | ἠλπίζομενelpízōhopingimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionμέλλωνméllōwas going topresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionλυτροῦσθαιlytróōredeempresent middle infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἄγειispresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐγένετοgínomaihappenedaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.22 | ἐξέστησανexístēmiamazedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionγενόμεναιgínomaiwereaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.23 | εὑροῦσαιheurískōfindaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἦλθονérchomaicameaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλέγουσαιlégōsayingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἑωρακέναιhoráōseenperfect active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbλέγουσινlégōsaidpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthζῆνzáōalivepresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.24 | ἀπῆλθόνwentaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεὗρονheurískōfoundaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεἶπονépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεἶδονhoráōseeaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.25 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionπιστεύεινpisteúōbelievepresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἐλάλησανlaléōspokenaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.26 | ἔδειdeînecessaryimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionπαθεῖνpáschōsufferaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbεἰσελθεῖνeisérchomaienteraorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.27 | ἀρξάμενοςbeginningaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionδιερμήνευσενdiermēneúōinterpretedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.28 | ἤγγισανengízōdrew nearaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐπορεύοντοporeúomaigoingimperfect middle indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionπροσεποιήσατοprospoiéomaiacted as thoughaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionπορεύεσθαιporeúomaigoingpresent middle infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.29 | παρεβιάσαντοparabiázomaiurged ~ stronglyaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλέγοντεςlégōsayingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionΜεῖνονménōstayaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationκέκλικενklínōfar spentperfect active indicativeresultantPerfect indicative — completed action with present resultεἰσῆλθενeisérchomaiwent inaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionμεῖναιménōstayaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.30 | ἐγένετοgínomaiwasaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionκατακλιθῆναιkataklínōreclined at the tableaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbλαβὼνlambánōtookaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεὐλόγησενeulogéōblessedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionκλάσαςkláōbrokeaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐπεδίδουepidídōmigaveimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.31 | διηνοίχθησανdianoígōopenedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐπέγνωσανepiginṓskōrecognizedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.32 | εἶπανépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐλάλειlaléōtalkedimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionδιήνοιγενdianoígōopenedimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.33 | ἀναστάντεςgot upaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionὑπέστρεψανhypostréphōreturnedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεὗρονheurískōfoundaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἠθροισμένουςsynathroízōgathered togetherperfect passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.34 | λέγονταςlégōsayingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἠγέρθηegeírōrisenaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionὤφθηhoráōappearedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.35 | ἐξηγοῦντοexēgéomaitoldimperfect middle indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐγνώσθηginṓskōmade knownaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.36 | λαλούντωνlaléōtalking aboutpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔστηhístēmistoodaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.37 | πτοηθέντεςptoéōstartledaorist passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐδόκουνdokéōthoughtimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionθεωρεῖνtheōréōseeingpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.38 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀναβαίνουσινarisepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.39 | ἴδετεhoráōlook ataorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationψηλαφήσατέpsēlapháōtouchaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationἴδετεhoráōseeaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationἔχειéchōhavepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthθεωρεῖτεtheōréōseepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἔχονταéchōhavepresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.40 | εἰπὼνépōsaidaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔδειξενdeiknýōshowedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.41 | ἀπιστούντωνnot believepresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionθαυμαζόντωνthaumázōamazementpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἜχετέéchōhavepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.42 | ἐπέδωκανepidídōmigaveaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.43 | λαβὼνlambánōtookaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔφαγενphágōateaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.44 | Εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐλάλησαlaléōspokeaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionδεῖdéōmustpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπληρωθῆναιplēróōfulfilledaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbγεγραμμέναgráphōwrittenperfect passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.45 | διήνοιξενdianoígōopenedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionσυνιέναιsyníēmiunderstandpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.46 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionγέγραπταιgráphōwrittenperfect passive indicativeresultantPerfect indicative — completed action with present resultπαθεῖνpáschōsufferaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἀναστῆναιriseaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.47 | κηρυχθῆναιkērýssōproclaimedaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἀρξάμενοιbeginningaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.49 | ἐξαποστέλλωexapostéllōsendpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκαθίσατεkathízōstayaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationἐνδύσησθεendýōclothedaorist middle subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingent |
| v.50 | Ἐξήγαγενexágōledaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐπάραςepaírōlifting upaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεὐλόγησενeulogéōblessedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.51 | ἐγένετοgínomaihappenedaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεὐλογεῖνeulogéōblessingpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbδιέστηdiḯstēmipartedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἀνεφέρετοcarried upimperfect passive indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.52 | προσκυνήσαντεςproskynéōworshipedaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionὑπέστρεψανhypostréphōreturnedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
Verb forms indicate aspect — not interpretive weight. Consult context before drawing conclusions about emphasis.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain
Formation Focus
The risen Jesus fulfills Scripture, conquers death bodily, opens understanding, commissions witness, gives peace, promises power, ascends in blessing, and receives worship.
This chapter forms disciples who remember Jesus’ words, read Scripture through Christ, believe the bodily resurrection, proclaim repentance and forgiveness, wait for divine power, and worship with great joy.
Remembering faith, Scripture-shaped hope, resurrection confidence, gospel witness, patient dependence, worshipful joy, and continual praise.
Practice Response
- Remembered-word exercise
- Emmaus reading
- Burning-heart reflection
- Resurrection confession
- Peace reception
- Repentance-and-forgiveness proclamation
- Power-before-mission prayer
- Ascension worship
Warnings and Misreadings
- Luke 24 warns against looking for the living among the dead, forgetting Jesus’ words, dismissing faithful testimony, being slow of heart to believe all that Scripture has spoken, interpreting redemption without the cross, doubting the bodily resurrection, attempting mission without power from on high, and responding to fulfilled Scripture with anything less than worship and witness.
- Treating the resurrection as a vague spiritual survival after death. - Jesus shows His hands and feet, invites touch, has flesh and bones, and eats fish. Luke insists on bodily resurrection.
- Thinking the empty tomb alone produced immediate faith. - The women need the angelic reminder of Jesus’ words, the apostles initially dismiss the report, Peter wonders, and the Emmaus disciples need Scripture opened.
- Reading Emmaus as mainly a sentimental story about companionship. - The heart of Emmaus is Christ opening the Scriptures to show that the Messiah had to suffer and enter glory.
- Using 'breaking of bread' in Emmaus as though Luke clearly institutes a second Lord’s Supper scene. - The meal language echoes Jesus’ table actions, but Luke’s main emphasis is recognition of the risen Christ after Scripture exposition and table fellowship.
- Thinking the disciples invented resurrection hope because they expected it. - Luke shows the opposite: they are confused, slow, dismissive, frightened, and doubtful until Jesus reveals Himself.
- Separating Christ from the Old Testament. - Jesus Himself teaches that Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms speak concerning Him and are fulfilled in Him.
- Preaching forgiveness without repentance. - Jesus commissions the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name.
- Limiting the mission to one ethnic or cultural group. - Jesus sends the message to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
- Treating witness as human enthusiasm alone. - Jesus commands them to wait until clothed with power from on high.
- Treating the ascension as an afterthought. - The ascension crowns Luke’s Gospel, producing worship, joy, temple praise, and preparing for Acts.
Discipleship Questions
- Where am I looking for life among dead things when Jesus has already spoken resurrection hope?
- Do I remember Jesus’ words in confusion, or do I let fear erase what He has said?
- Do I dismiss faithful testimony when it does not fit my expectations?
- Where has disappointment made me slow of heart to believe all the Scriptures?
- Do I want redemption without the suffering Messiah?
- Do my heart and mind burn under Scripture because Christ is being opened before me?
- Do I believe the resurrection as bodily reality, or have I reduced it to religious metaphor?
- Do I read the Old Testament as Jesus taught, with Him as the fulfillment of Law, Prophets, and Psalms?
- Do I proclaim forgiveness without repentance, or repentance without forgiveness?
- Am I trying to do Christ’s mission without waiting upon Christ’s power?
- Does the ascended Christ produce worship, joy, and praise in me?
Pastoral Applications
- Anchor grief in the words of Jesus.
- Do not despise unexpected witnesses.
- Use Scripture to reinterpret disappointment.
- Preach the cross as necessary, not accidental.
- Teach Christ from the whole Bible.
- Defend bodily resurrection.
- Give peace to frightened disciples.
- Hold repentance and forgiveness together.
- Send witnesses, not speculators.
- Do not substitute activity for power.
- Let ascension produce worshipful joy.
Pastoral Trajectories
Motifs in This Chapter
Follow resurrection hope, vindication, and life-over-death patterns across the canon.
Trace servant identity, obedient mission, and suffering service across Scripture.
Trace how divine glory, revealed majesty, and Christ-centered exaltation move across Scripture.
Track judgment as covenant accountability, divine justice, and eschatological reckoning.
Trace the Spirit's presence, empowerment, renewal, and mission-bearing work across Scripture.
Study temple presence, worship, corruption, judgment, and renewal across Scripture.
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
The women find the empty tomb and remember Jesus’ words, Peter sees the grave clothes and wonders, the Emmaus disciples meet the risen Christ through Scripture and table recognition, Jesus appears bodily to the gathered disciples, opens their minds to Scripture, commissions them as witnesses to repentance and forgiveness for all nations, promises power from on high, blesses them, ascends, and leaves them worshiping with great joy.
Luke 24 reveals that Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfill the covenant Scriptures and launch the new covenant mission. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms all point to the suffering and risen Messiah. The resurrection vindicates the new covenant blood announced in Luke 22 and confirms that forgiveness of sins is now to be proclaimed in Jesus’ name.
The mission begins in Jerusalem, the city that rejected and crucified Him, showing grace toward the guilty and continuity with Israel’s story. Yet the mission extends to all nations, fulfilling the Abrahamic promise of blessing to the nations and the prophetic hope of Gentile inclusion. Jesus’ ascension and blessing prepare for the promised Spirit, by whom the covenant people will bear witness from Jerusalem outward in Acts.
Luke 24 clarifies the gospel by showing that Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s vindication of the crucified Messiah and the fulfillment of the whole Scriptural story. The gospel is not merely that Jesus died, nor merely that the tomb was empty, but that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins is now to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The risen Christ is bodily alive, bearing wounds yet no longer captive to death. He gives peace to frightened disciples, opens Scripture to confused disciples, opens minds to understand fulfilled prophecy, and appoints witnesses to carry the message. The gospel is therefore cross-and-resurrection news: Christ suffered, Christ rose, Christ reigns, Christ forgives, Christ sends, Christ empowers, and Christ is worshiped.
Remembering faith, Scripture-shaped hope, resurrection confidence, gospel witness, patient dependence, worshipful joy, and continual praise.
Focus Points
- The bodily resurrection of Jesus
- The empty tomb
- Remembering Jesus’ words
- Apostolic unbelief and wonder
- Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture
- The necessity of messianic suffering
- The Messiah entering glory
- Opened eyes and burning hearts
- Recognition of the risen Christ
- Peace from the risen Lord
- Wounds retained in resurrection
- Flesh and bones resurrection reality
- Eating as bodily proof
- Law, Prophets, and Psalms fulfilled
- Opened minds to understand Scripture
- Repentance and forgiveness of sins
- Mission to all nations beginning from Jerusalem
- Witnesses of the resurrection
- Promise of the Father
- Power from on high
- Ascension and blessing
- Worship and joy
- Temple praise transformed by resurrection
- Resurrection
- Remembered Word
- Scripture Fulfillment
- Messianic Necessity
- Spiritual Blindness and Opened Eyes
- Opened Minds
- Peace
- Forgiveness Mission
- Witness
- Mission to All Nations
- Spirit-Empowered Mission
- Ascension
- Resurrection of Christ
- Bodily Resurrection
- Christ-Centered Hermeneutics
- Messianic Suffering
- Forgiveness of Sins
- Repentance
- Mission to the Nations
- Apostolic Witness
- Divine Empowerment
- Worship of Christ
Cross References
Saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”
Same-book passion-resurrection prediction
He took the twelve aside, and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed. For He will be delivered up to the Gentiles, will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on. They will scourge and kill Him. On the third day, He will rise again.”
Same-book Scripture fulfillment prediction
Behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man (He had not consented to their counsel and deed), from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was also waiting for God’s Kingdom: this man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body.
Immediate burial context
He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for You. Do this in memory of me.”
Table echo
The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which He was received up, after He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also showed Himself alive after He suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking...
Luke-Acts continuation
“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to You by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by Him among You, even as You Yourselves know, Him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, You have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; whom God raised up, having freed Him...
Mission fulfillment
Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among You who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to You. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn’t know Him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. Though they found no cause for death, they still asked...
Apostolic gospel exposition
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and His clothing white as snow.
Synoptic resurrection and commission counterpart
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
Synoptic empty tomb counterpart
Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb. Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid Him!” Therefore Peter and...
Johannine resurrection counterpart
For I delivered to You first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Apostolic resurrection summary
Passages
Chapter opening: Luke 24:1-12
At early dawn (ορθρου βαθεος). Genitive of time. Literally, at deep dawn. The adjective βαθυς (deep) was often used of time. This very idiom occurs in Aristophanes, Plato, et cetera. Joh 20:1 adds "while it was yet dark." That is, when they started, for the sun was risen when they arrived ( Mr 16:2 ). Which they had prepared (α ητοιμασαν). Mr 16:1 notes that they bought other spices after the sabbath was over besides those which they already had ( Lu 23:56 ).
Rolled away (αποκεκυλισμενον). Perfect passive participle of αποκυλιω, late verb and in the N.T. only in this context ( Mr 16:3 ; Mt 28:2 ) while Joh 20:1 has ηρμενον (taken away).
Of the Lord Jesus (του κυριου Ιησου). The Western family of documents does not have these words and Westcott and Hort bracket them as Western non-interpolations. There are numerous instances of this shorter Western text in this chapter. For a discussion of the subject see my Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament , pp. 225-237. This precise combination (the Lord Jesus) is common in the Acts, but nowhere else in the Gospels.
While they were perplexed thereabout (εν τω απορεισθα αυτας περ τουτου). Luke's common Hebraistic idiom, εν with the articular infinitive (present passive απορεισθα from απορεω, to lose one's way) and the accusative of general reference. Two men (ανδρες δυο). Men, not women. Mr 16:5 speaks of a young man (νεανισκον) while Mt 28:5 has "an angel." We need not try to reconcile these varying accounts which agree in the main thing.
The angel looked like a man and some remembered two. In verse 23 Cleopas and his companion call them "angels." Stood by (επεστησαν). Second aorist active indicative of εφιστημ. This common verb usually means to step up suddenly, to burst upon one. In dazzling apparel (εν εσθητ αστραπτουση). This is the correct text. This common simplex verb occurs only twice in the N.
T. , here and Lu 17:24 (the Transfiguration). It has the same root as αστραπη (lightning). The "men" had the garments of "angels."
As they were affrighted (εμφοβων γενομενων αυτων). Genitive absolute with second aorist middle of γινομα, to become. Hence, when they became affrighted . They had utterly forgotten the prediction of Jesus that he would rise on the third day.
He is not here, but is risen (ουκ εστιν ωδε, αλλα ηγερθη). Another Western non-interpolation according to Westcott and Hort. The words are genuine at any rate in Mr 16:6 ; Mt 28:7 . The third day rise again (τη τριτη ημερα αναστηνα). See 9:22 ; 18:32 , 33 where Jesus plainly foretold this fact. And yet they had forgotten it, for it ran counter to all their ideas and hopes.
From the tomb (απο του μνημειου). Some documents omit these words. This word for tomb is like our "memorial" from μιμνησκω, to remind. Told (απηγγειλαν). It was a wonderful proclamation. Luke does not separate the story of Mary Magdalene from that of the other women as John does ( Joh 20:2-18 ).
As idle talk (ως ληρος). Old word for nonsense, only here in the N.T. Medical writers used it for the wild talk of those in delirium or hysteria. Disbelieved (pistoun). Imperfect active of απιστεω, old verb from απιστος, without confidence or faith in. They kept on distrusting the story of the women.
This entire verse is a Western non-interpolation. This incident is given in complete form in Joh 18:2-10 and most of the words in this verse are there also. It is of a piece with many items in this chapter about which it is not easy to reach a final conclusion. Stooping and looking in (παρακυψας). First aorist active participle of παρακυπτω, to stoop besides and peer into.
Old verb used also in Joh 20:5 , 11 ; Jas 1:25 ; 1Pe 1:12 . By themselves (μονα). Without the body. To his home (προς αυτον). Literally, "to himself."
Were going (ησαν πορευομενο). Periphrastic imperfect middle of πορευομα. Sixty stadia (σταδιους εξηκοντα). About seven miles.
They communed (ωμιλουν). Imperfect active of ομιλεω, old and common verb (from ομιλος, in company with). In the N.T. only here (and verse 15 ) and Ac 20:11 ; 24:26 . Our word homiletics is derived from this word for preaching was at first largely conversational in style and not declamatory.
While they communed and questioned together (εν τω ομιλειν αυτους κα συνζητειν). Same idiom as in verse 14 , which see. Note συνζητειν; each questioned the other. Jesus himself (αυτος Ιησους). In actual person. Went with them (συνεπορευετο αυτοις). Imperfect middle, was going along with them.
Were holden that they should not know him (εκρατουντο του μη επιγνωνα αυτον). Imperfect passive of κρατεω, continued being held, with the ablative case of the articular infinitive, "from recognizing him," from knowing him fully (επι-γνωνα, ingressive aorist of επιγινωσκο). The μη is a redundant negative after the negative idea in εκρατουντο.
That you have with another (ους αντιβαλλετε προς αλληλους). Αντι-βαλλω is an old verb and means to throw in turn, back and forth like a ball, from one to another, a beautiful picture of conversation as a game of words. Only here in the N.T. They stood still (εσταθησαν). First aorist passive of ιστημ, intransitive. They stopped. Looking sad (σκυθρωπο). This is the correct text. It is an old adjective from σκυθρος, gloomy and οπς, countenance. Only here in the N.T.
Dost thou alone sojourn? (συ μονος παροικεισ;). Μονος is predicate adjective. "Hast thou been dwelling alone (all by thyself)?" And not know? (κα ουκ εγνωσ;). Second aorist active indicative and difficult to put into English as the aorist often is. The verb παροικεω means to dwell beside one, then as a stranger like παροικο ( Eph 2:19 ). In Jerusalem everybody was talking about Jesus.
But we hoped (ημεις δε ηλπιζομεν). Imperfect active, we were hoping. Note emphasis in ημεις (we). Redeem (λυτρουσθα). From the bondage of Rome, no doubt. Yea and beside all this (αλλα γε κα συν πασιν τουτοις). Particles pile up to express their emotions. Yea (αλλα here affirmative, as in verse 22 , not adversative) at least (γε) also (κα) together with all these things (συν πασιν τουτοις).
Like Pelion on Ossa with them in their perplexity. Now the third day (τριτην ταυτην ημεραν αγε). A difficult idiom for the English. "One is keeping this a third day." And he is still dead and we are still without hope.
Amazed us (εξεστησαν ημας). First aorist active (transitive) indicative with accusative ημας of εξιστημ. The second aorist active is intransitive. Early (ορθρινα). A poetic and late form for ορθριος. In the N.T. only here and Re 24:22 . Predicate adjective agreeing with the women.
Had seen (εωρακενα). Perfect active infinitive in indirect assertion after λεγουσα. Same construction for ζηιν after λεγουσιν. But all this was too indirect and uncertain (women and angels) for Cleopas and his companion.
Foolish men (ανοητο). Literally without sense (νους), not understanding. Common word. Slow of heart (βραδεις τη καρδια). Slow in heart (locative case). Old word for one dull, slow to comprehend or to act. All that (πασιν οις). Relative attracted from the accusative α to the case of the antecedent πασιν (dative). They could only understand part of the prophecies, not all.
Behooved it not? (ουχ εδει;). Was it not necessary? The very things about the death of Jesus that disturbed them so were the strongest proof that he was the Messiah of the Old Testament.
Interpreted (διηρμηνευσεν). First aorist active (constative aorist) indicative of διερμηνευω (Margin has the imperfect διηρμηνευεν), intensive compound (δια) of ερμηνευω, the old verb to interpret from ερμηνευς, interpreter, and that from Hερμης, the messenger of the gods as the people of Lystra took Paul to be ( Ac 14:12 ). But what wonderful exegesis the two disciples were now hearing!
Concerning himself (περ εαυτον). Jesus found himself in the Old Testament, a thing that some modern scholars do not seem able to do.
Made as though (προσεποιησατο). First aorist active middle (Some MSS. have προσεποιειτο imperfect) indicative of προσποιεω, old verb to conform oneself to, to pretend. Only here in the N.T. Of course he would have gone on if the disciples had not urged him to stay.
Constrained (παρεβιασαντο). Strong verb παραβιαζομα, to compel by use of force (Polybius and LXX). In the N.T. only here and Ac 16:15 . It was here compulsion of courteous words. Is far spent (κεκλικεν). Perfect active indicative of κλινω. The day "has turned" toward setting.
When he had sat down (εν τω κατακλιθηνα αυτον). Luke's common idiom as in verses 4 , 15 . Note first aorist passive infinitive (on the reclining as to him). Gave (επεδιδου). Imperfect, inchoative idea, began to give to them, in contrast with the preceding aorist (punctiliar) participles.
Were opened (διηνοιχθησαν). Ingressive first aorist passive indicative of διανοιγω. Knew (επεγνωσαν). Effective first aorist active indicative fully recognized him. Same word in verse 16 . Vanished (αφαντος εγενετο). Became invisible or unmanifested. Αφαντος from α privative and φαινομα, to appear. Old word, only here in the N.T.
Was not our heart burning? (Ουχ η καρδια εμων καιομενη ην;). Periphrastic imperfect middle. Spake (ελαλε). Imperfect active, was speaking. This common verb λαλεω is onomatopoetic, to utter a sound, λα-λα and was used of birds, children chattering, and then for conversation, for preaching, for any public speech. Opened (διηνοιγεν). Imperfect active indicative of the same verb used of the eyes in verse 31 .
That very hour (αυτη τη ωρα). Locative case and common Lukan idiom, at the hour itself. They could not wait. Gathered (ηθροισμενους). Perfect passive participle of αθροιζω, old verb from αθροος (copulative α and θροος, crowd). Only here in the N.T.
Saying (λεγοντας). Accusative present active participle agreeing with "the eleven and those with them" in verse 33 . Indeed (οντως). Really, because "he has appeared to Simon" (ωπθη Σιμων). First aorist passive indicative of οραω. This is the crucial evidence that turned the scales with the disciples and explains "indeed." Paul also mentions it ( 1Co 15:5 ).
Rehearsed (εξηγουντο). Imperfect middle indicative of εξηγεομα, verb to lead out, to rehearse. Our word exegesis comes from this verb. Their story was now confirmatory, not revolutionary. The women were right then after all. Of them (αυτοις). To them, dative case. They did not recognize Jesus in his exegesis, but did in the breaking of bread. One is reminded of that saying in the Logia of Jesus : "Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me, cleave the wood and there am I."
He himself stood (αυτος εστη). He himself stepped and stood. Some documents do not have "Peace be unto you."
Terrified (πτοηθεντες). First aorist passive participle of πτοεω, old verb and in the N.T. only here and Lu 21:9 which see. Affrighted (εμφοβο γενομενο). Late adjective from εν and φοβος (fear). Both these terms of fear are strong. Supposed (εδοκουν). Imperfect active of δοκεω, kept on thinking so.
Why are ye troubled? (τ τεταραγμενο εστε;). Periphrastic perfect passive indicative of ταρασσω, old verb, to agitate, to stir up, to get excited.
Myself (αυτος). Jesus is patient with his proof. They were convinced before he came into the room, but that psychological shock had unnerved them all. Handle (ψηλαφησατε). This very word is used in 1Jo 1:1 as proof of the actual human body of Jesus. It is an old verb for touching with the hand. Flesh and bones (σαρκα κα οστεα). At least this proves that he is not just a ghost and that Jesus had a real human body against the Docetic Gnostics who denied it.
But clearly we are not to understand that our resurrection bodies will have "flesh and bones." Jesus was in a transition state and had not yet been glorified. The mystery remains unsolved, but it was proof to the disciples of the identity of the Risen Christ with Jesus of Nazareth.
Another Western non-interpolation according to Westcott and Hort. It is genuine in Joh 20:20 .
Disbelieved for joy (απιστουντων αυτων απο της χαρας). Genitive absolute and a quite understandable attitude. They were slowly reconvinced, but it was after all too good to be true. Anything to eat (βρωσιμον). Only here in the N.T., though an old word from βιβρωσκω, to eat.
A piece of broiled fish (ιχθυος οπτου μερος). Οπτος is a verbal from οπταω, to cook, to roast, to broil. Common word, but only here in the N.T. The best old documents omit "and a honeycomb" (κα απο μελισσιου κηριου).
While I was yet with you (ετ ων συν υμιν). Literally, Being yet with you . The participle ων takes the time of the principal verb.
Opened he their mind (διηνοιξεν αυτων τον νουν). The same verb as that in verses 31 , 32 about the eyes and the Scriptures. Jesus had all these years been trying to open their minds that they might understand the Scriptures about the Messiah and now at last he makes one more effort in the light of the Cross and the Resurrection. They can now see better the will and way of God, but they will still need the power of the Holy Spirit before they will fully know the mind of Christ.
It is written (γεγραπτα). Perfect passive indicative of γραφω, to write, the usual phrase for quoting Scripture. Jesus now finds in the Old Testament his suffering, his resurrection, and the preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations. Note the infinitives παθειν, αναστηναι, κηρυχθηνα.
Beginning (αρξαμενο). Aorist middle participle of αρχω, but the nominative plural with no syntactical connection (an anacoluthon).
Until ye be clothed (εως ου ενδυσησθε). First aorist middle subjunctive of ενδυω or ενδυνω. It is an old verb for putting on a garment. It is here the indirect middle, put on yourselves power from on high as a garment. They are to wait till this experience comes to them. This is "the promise of the Father." It is an old metaphor in Homer, Aristophanes, Plutarch, and Paul uses it often.
Over against Bethany (εως προς Βηθανιαν). That is on Olivet. On this blessed spot near where he had delivered the great Eschatological Discourse he could see Bethany and Jerusalem.
He parted from them (διεστη απ' αυτων). Second aorist active (intransitive) indicative of διιστημ. He stood apart (δια) and he was gone. Some manuscripts do not have the words "and was carried into heaven." But we know that Jesus was taken up into heaven on a cloud ( Ac 1:9 ).
Worshipped him (προσκυνησαντες αυτον). Here again we have one of Westcott and Hort's Western non-interpolations that may be genuine or not. With great joy (μετα χαρας μεγαλης). Now that the Ascension has come they are no longer in despair. Joy becomes the note of victory as it is today. No other note can win victories for Christ. The bells rang in heaven to greet the return of Jesus there, but he set the carillon of joy to ringing on earth in human hearts in all lands and for all time.
The test of time has given the palm to the Fourth Gospel over all the books of the world. If Luke's Gospel is the most beautiful, John's Gospel is supreme in its height and depth and reach of thought. The picture of Christ here given is the one that has captured the mind and heart of mankind. It is not possible for a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God to be indifferent to modern critical views concerning the authorship and historical value of this Holy of Holies of the New Testament.
Here we find The Heart of Christ (E. H. Sears), especially in chapters Joh 14-17 . If Jesus did not do or say these things, it is small consolation to be told that the book at least has symbolic and artistic value for the believer. The language of the Fourth Gospel has the clarity of a spring, but we are not able to sound the bottom of the depths. Lucidity and profundity challenge and charm us as we linger over it.
The book claims to be written by "the disciple whom Jesus loved" ( Joh 21:20 ) who is pointedly identified by a group of believers (apparently in Ephesus) as the writer: "This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true" ( Joh 21:24 ). This is the first criticism of the Fourth Gospel of which we have any record, made at the time when the book was first sent forth, made in a postscript to the epilogue or appendix.
Possibly the book closed first with Joh 20:31 , but chapter 21 is in precisely the same style and was probably added before publication by the author. The natural and obvious meaning of the language in Joh 21:24 is that the Beloved Disciple wrote the whole book. He is apparently still alive when this testimony to his authorship is given. There are scholars who interpret it to mean that the Beloved Disciple is responsible for the facts in the book and not the actual writer, but that is a manifest straining of the language.
There is in this verse no provision made for a redactor as distinct from the witness as is plausibly set forth by Dr. A. E. Garvie in The Beloved Disciple (1922). It is manifest all through the book that the writer is the witness who is making the contribution of his personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry. In Joh 1:14 he plainly says that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory" (εθεασαμεθα την δοξαν αυτου).
He here associates others with him in this witness to the glory of the Word, but in Joh 21:25 he employs the singular "I suppose" (οιμα) in sharp dis- tinction from the plural "we know" (οιδαμεν) just before. The writer is present in nearly all the scenes described. The word witness (μαρτυρεω, μαρτυρια) so common in this Gospel ( Joh 1:7 , 8 , 19 ; 3:11 , 26 , 33 ; 5:31 ; 12:17 ; 21:24 , etc.)
illustrates well this point of view. In the Gospel of Luke we have the work of one who was not a personal witness of Christ ( Lu 1:1-4 ). In the Gospel of Matthew we possess either the whole work of a personal follower and apostle or at least the Logia of Matthew according to Papias preserved in it. In Mark's Gospel we have as the basis the preaching of Simon Peter as preserved by his interpreter John Mark.
John's Gospel claims to be the personal witness of "the disciple whom Jesus loved" and as such deserves and has received exceptional esteem. One may note all through the book evidences of an eye-witness in the vivid details. WITH A HOME IN JERUSALEM It is not only that the writer was a Jew who knew accurately places and events in Palestine, once denied though now universally admitted.
The Beloved Disciple took the mother of Jesus "to his own home" (εις τα ιδια, Joh 19:27 ) from the Cross when Jesus commended his mother to his care. But this Beloved Disciple had access to the palace of the high priest ( Joh 18:15 f. ). Delff ( Das vierte Evangelium wiederhergestellt , 1890) argues that this fact shows that the Beloved Disciple was not one of the twelve apostles, one of a priestly family of wealth in Jerusalem.
He does seem to have had special information concerning what took place in the Sanhedrin ( Joh 7:45-52 ; 11:47-53 ; 12:10 ff. ). But at once we are confronted with the difficulty of supposing one outside of the circle of the twelve on even more intimate terms with Jesus than the twelve themselves and who was even present at the last passover meal and reclined on the bosom of Jesus ( Joh 13:23 ).
Nor is this all, for he was one of the seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee ( Joh 21:1 ff. ) when Peter speaks to Jesus about the "Beloved Disciple" ( Joh 21:20 ). ONLY ONE JOHN OF EPHESUS It is true that an ambiguous statement of Papias (circa A. D. 120) is contained in Eusebius where the phrase "the Elder John " (ο πρεσβυτερος Ιωαννης) occurs. The most natural way to understand Papias is that he is referring to the Apostle John by this phrase as he describes the teachings of the apostles by "the words of the elders" just before.
This interpretation of the allusion of Papias has been rendered almost certain by the work of Dom John Chapman, John the Presbyter and the Fourth Gospel (1911). Not before Eusebius is the error found of two Johns in Ephesus, one the apostle, the other the so-called Presbyter. "Papias is no witness for the admission of two Johns of Asia Minor. Irenaeus, too, in any case, knows of but one John of Asia Minor.
And this John was an eye-witness of our Lord's Life" (Bousset, Die Offenbarumg des Joh. , p. 38, translation of Nolloth, The Fourth Evangelist , p. 63, note). Let this be admitted and much becomes clear. NO EARLY MARTYRDOM FOR THE APOSTLE JOHN In 1862 a fragment of the Chronicle of Georgius Hamartolus, a Byzantine monk of the ninth century, was published. It is the Codex Coislinianus , Paris, 305, which differs from the other manuscripts of this author in saying that John according to Papias was slain by the Jews (υπο Ιουδαιων ανηιρεθη) while the other manuscripts say that John rested in peace (εν ειρηνη ανεπαυσατο).
The passage also quotes Eusebius to the effect that John received Asia as his sphere of work and lived and died in Ephesus. This same George the Sinner misquotes Origen about the death of John for Origen really says that the Roman king condemned him to the Isle of Patmos, not to death. Another fragment of Philip of Side, apparently used by Georgius, makes the same erroneous reference to Papias.
It is therefore a worthless legend growing out of the martyrdom promised James and John by Jesus ( Mr 10:39 ; Mt 20:23 ) and realized by James first of all ( Ac 12:1 f. ). John drank the cup in the exile to Patmos. The correction to Peter in Joh 21:20-23 would have no meaning if the Apostle John had already been put to death. THE AUTHOR THE APOSTLE JOHN Loisy ( Le Quatr.
Evangile , p. 132) says that if one takes literally what is given in the body of the Gospel of the Beloved Disciple he is bound to be one of the twelve. Loisy does not take it "literally." But why not? Are we to assume that the author of this greatest of books is playing a part or using a deliberate artifice to deceive? It may be asked why John does not use his own name instead of a nom de plume .
Reference can be made to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, no one of which gives the author's name. One can see a reason for the turn here given since the book consists so largely of personal experiences of the author with Christ. He thus avoids the too frequent use of the personal pronoun and preserves the element of witness which marks the whole book.
One by one the other twelve apostles disappear if we test their claims for the authorship. In the list of seven in chapter Joh 21 it is easy to drop the names of Simon Peter, Thomas, and Nathanael. There are left two unnamed disciples and the sons of Zebedee (here alone mentioned, not even named, in the book). John in this Gospel always means the Baptist. Why does the author so uniformly slight the sons of Zebedee if not one of them himself?
In the Acts Luke does not mention his own name nor that of Titus his brother, though so many other friends of Paul are named. If the Beloved Disciple is John the Apostle, the silence about James and himself is easily understood. James is ruled out because of his early death ( Ac 12:1 ). The evidence in the Gospel points directly to the Apostle John as the author.
EARLY AND CLEAR WITNESS TO THE APOSTLE JOHN Ignatius ( ad Philad . vii. 1) about A. D. 110 says of the Spirit that "he knows whence he comes and whither he is going," a clear allusion to Joh 3:8 . Polycarp ( ad Phil . S 7) quotes 1Jo 4:2 , 3 . Eusebius states that Papias quoted First John. Irenaeus is quoted by Eusebius (H. E. V, 20) as saying that he used as a boy to hear Polycarp tell "of his intercourse with John and the others who had seen the Lord."
Irenaeus accepted all our Four Gospels. Tatian made his Diatessaron out of the Four Gospels alone. Theophilus of Antioch ( Ad Autol . ii. 22) calls John the author of the Fourth Gospel. This was about A. D. 180. The Muratorian Canon near the close of the second century names John as the author of the Fourth Gospel. Till after the time of Origen no opposition to the Johannine authorship appears outside of Marcion and the Alogi.
No other New Testament book has stronger external evidence. THE USE OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS As the latest of the Gospels and by the oldest living apostle, it is only natural that there should be an infrequent use of the Synoptic Gospels. Outside of the events of Passion Week and the Resurrection period the Fourth Gospel touches the Synoptic narrative in only one incident, that of the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the walking on the water.
The author supplements the Synoptic record in various ways. He mentions two passovers not given by the other Gospels ( Joh 2:23 ; 6:4 ) and another ( Joh 5:1 ) may be implied. Otherwise we could not know certainly that the ministry of Jesus was more than a year in length. He adds greatly to our knowledge of the first year of our Lord's public ministry ("the year of obscurity," Stalker) without which we should know little of this beginning ( Joh 1:19-4:45 ).
The Synoptics give mainly the Galilean and Perean and Judean ministry, but John adds a considerable Jerusalem ministry which is really demanded by allusions in the Synoptics. The Prologue ( Joh 1:1-18 ) relates the Incarnation to God's eternal purpose as in Col 1:14-20 and Heb 1:1-3 and employs the language of the intellectuals of the time (Λογος -- Word) to interpret Christ as the Incarnate Son of God.
A DIFFERENT STYLE OF TEACHING So different is it in fact that some men bluntly assert that Jesus could not have spoken in the same fashion as presented in the Synoptics and in the Fourth Gospel. Such critics need to recall the Socrates of Xenophon's Memorabilia and of Plato's Dialogues . There is a difference beyond a doubt, but there is also some difference in the reports in the Synoptics.
Jesus for the most part spoke in Aramaic, sometimes in Greek, as to the great crowds from around Palestine (the Sermon on the Mount, for instance). There is the Logia of Jesus (Q of criticism) preserved in the non-Markan portions of Matthew and Luke besides Mark, and the rest of Matthew and Luke. Certain natural individualities are preserved. The difference is greater in the Fourth Gospel, because John writes in the ripeness of age and in the richness of his long experience.
He gives his reminiscences mellowed by long reflection and yet with rare dramatic power. The simplicity of the language leads many to think that they understand this Gospel when they fail to see the graphic pictures as in chapters Joh 7-11 . The book fairly throbs with life. There is, no doubt, a Johannine style here, but curiously enough there exists in the Logia (Q) a genuine Johannine passage written long before the Fourth Gospel ( Mt 11:25-30 ; Lu 10:21-24 ).
The use of "the Father" and "the Son" is thoroughly Johannine. It is clear that Jesus used the Johannine type of teaching also. Perhaps critics do not make enough allowance for the versatility and variety in Jesus. THE SAME STYLE IN THE DISCOURSES It is further objected that there is no difference in style between the discourses of Jesus in John's Gospel and his own narrative style.
There is an element of truth in this criticism. There are passages where it is not easy to tell where discourse ends and narrative begins. See, for instance, Joh 3:16-21 . Does the discourse of Jesus end with verse 15,16, or 21? So in Joh 12:44-50 . Does John give here a resume of Christ's teaching or a separate discourse? It is true also that John preserves in a vivid way the conversational style of Christ as in chapters 4,6,7,8,9.
In the Synoptic Gospels this element is not so striking, but we do not have to say that John has done as Shakespeare did with his characters. Each Gospel to a certain extent has the colouring of the author in reporting the words of Jesus. An element of this is inevitable unless men are mere automata, phonographs, or radios. But each Gospel preserves an accurate and vivid picture of Christ.
We need all four pictures including that of John's Gospel for the whole view of Christ. HISTORICAL VALUE OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL It is just here that the chief attack is made on the Fourth Gospel even by some who admit the Johannine authorship. It is now assumed by some that the Fourth Gospel is not on a par with the Synoptics in historical reliability and some harmonies omit it entirely or place it separately at the close, though certainly Tatian used it with the Synoptics in his Diatessaron , the first harmony of the Gospels.
Some even follow Schmiedel in seeing only a symbolic or parabolic character in the miracles in the Fourth Gospel, particularly in the narrative of the raising of Lazarus in chapter Joh 11 which occurs here alone. But John makes this miracle play quite an important part in the culmination of events at the end. Clearly the author professes to be giving actual data largely out of his own experience and knowledge.
It is objected by some that the Fourth Gospel gives an unnatural picture of Christ with Messianic claims at the very start. But the Synoptics give that same claim at the baptism and temptation, not to mention Luke's account of the Boy Jesus in the temple. The picture of the Jews as hostile to Jesus is said to be overdrawn in the Fourth Gospel. The answer to that appears in the Sermon on the Mount, the Sabbath miracles, the efforts of the Pharisees and lawyers to catch Jesus in his talk, the final denunciation in Mt 23 , all in the Synoptics.
The opposition to Jesus grew steadily as he revealed himself more clearly. Some of the difficulties raised are gratuitous as in the early cleansing of the temple as if it could not have happened twice, confounding the draught of fishes in chapter Joh 21 with that in Lu 5 , making Mary of Bethany at the feast of a Simon in chapter Joh 12 the same as the sinful woman at the feast of another Simon in Lu 7 , making John's Gospel locate the last passover meal a day ahead instead of at the regular time as the Synoptics have it.
Rightly interpreted these difficulties disappear. In simple truth, if one takes the Fourth Gospel at its face value, the personal recollections of the aged John phrased in his own way to supplement the narratives in the Synoptics, there is little left to give serious trouble. The Jerusalem ministry with the feasts is a case in point. The narrative of the call of the first disciples in chapter Joh 1 is another.
The author followed Simon in bringing also his own brother James to Jesus. John was present in the appearance of Christ before Annas, and Pilate. He was at the Cross when no other apostles were there. He took the mother of Jesus to his home and then returned to the Cross. He saw the piercing of the side of Jesus. He knew and saw the deed of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
E. H. Askwith has a most helpful discussion of this whole problem in The Historical Value of the Fourth Gospel (1910). LIKE THE JOHANNINE EPISTLES Critics of all classes agree that, whoever was the author of the Fourth Gospel, the same man wrote the First Epistle of John. There is the same inimitable style, the same vocabulary, the same theological outlook. Undoubtedly the same author wrote also Second and Third John, for, brief as they are, they exhibit the same characteristics.
In Second and Third John the author describes himself as "the Elder" (ο πρεσβυτερος), which fact has led some to argue for the mythical "Presbyter John" as the author in place of the Apostle John and so of First John and the Fourth Gospel. It is argued that the Apostle John would have termed himself "the Apostle John" after the fashion of Paul. But the example of the Apostle Peter disposes of that argument, for in addressing the elders ( 1Pe 5:1 ) he calls himself "your fellow-elder" (ο συνπρεσβυτερος).
In the Epistles John opposes Gnosticism both of the Docetic type which denied the actual humanity of Jesus as in 1Jo 1:1-4 and the Cerinthian type which denied the identity of the man Jesus and the aeon Christ which came on Jesus at his baptism and left him at his death on the Cross as in 1Jo 2:22 . One of the many stories told about John is his abhorrence of Cerinthus when found in the same public bath with him.
As Westcott shows, the Epistles of John prove his actual humanity while assuming his deity, whereas the Fourth Gospel proves his deity while assuming his humanity. BUT DIFFERENT FROM THE APOCALYPSE It should be said at once that the Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel does not depend on that of the Apocalypse. In fact, some men hold to the Johannine authorship of the Apocalypse who deny that of the Gospel while some hold directly the opposite view.
Some deny the Johannine authorship of both Gospel and Apocalypse, while the majority hold to the Johannine authorship of Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse as was the general rule till after the time of Origen. The author of the Apocalypse claims to be John ( Re 1:4 , 9 ; 22:8 ), though what John he does not say. Denial of the existence of a "Presbyter John" naturally leads one to think of the Apostle John.
Origen says that John, the brother of James, was banished to the Isle of Patmos where he saw the Apocalypse. There is undoubted radical difference in language between the Apocalypse and the other Johannine books which will receive discussion when the Apocalypse is reached. Westcott explained these differences as due to the early date of the Apocalypse in the reign of Vespasian before John had become master of the Greek language.
Even J. H. Moulton ( Prolegomena , p. 9, note 4) says bluntly: "If its date was 95 A. D. , the author cannot have written the fourth Gospel only a short time after." Or before, he would say. But the date of the Apocalypse seems definitely to belong to the reign of Domitian. So one ventures to call attention to the statement in Ac 4:13 where Peter and John are described as αγραμματο κα ιδιωτα (unlettered and private or unschooled men).
It is curious also that it is precisely in 2Peter and the Apocalypse that we have so many grammatical solecisms and peculiarities. We know that the Fourth Gospel was reviewed by a group of John's friends in Ephesus, while he was apparently alone in the Isle of Patmos. The excitement of the visions would naturally increase the uncouth vernacular of the Apocalypse so much like that in the Greek papyri as seen in Milligan's Greek Papyri , for instance.
This being true, one is able, in spite of Moulton's dictum, to hold to the Johannine authorship of both Gospel and Apocalypse and not far apart in date. THE UNITY OF THE GOSPEL This has been attacked in various ways in spite of the identity of style throughout. There are clearly three parts in the Gospel: the Prologue, Joh 1:1-18 , the Body of the Book, Joh 1:19-20:31 , the Epilogue, Joh 21 .
But there is no evidence that the Prologue was added by another hand, even though the use of Logos (Word) for Christ does not occur thereafter. This high conception of Christ dominates the whole book. Some argue that the Epilogue was added by some one else than John, but here again there is no proof and no real reason for the supposition. It is possible, as already stated, that John stopped at Joh 20:31 and then added Joh 21 before sending the book forth after his friends added Joh 21:24 as their endorsement of the volume.
Some scholars claim that they detect various displacements in the arrangement of the material, but such subjective criticism is never convincing. There are undoubtedly long gaps in the narrative as between chapters 5 and 6, but John is not giving a continuous narrative, but only a supplementary account assuming knowledge of the Synoptics. It is held that editorial comments by redactors can be detected here and there.
Perhaps, and perhaps not. The unity of this great book stands even if that be true. ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE BOOK The late Dr. C. F. Burney of Oxford wrote a volume called, The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (1922) in which he tried to prove that the Fourth Gospel is really the first in time and was originally written in Aramaic. The theory excited some interest, but did not convince either Aramaic or Greek scholars to an appreciable extent.
Some of the examples cited are plausible and some quite fanciful. This theory cannot be appealed to in any serious interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. The author was beyond doubt a Jew, but he wrote in the Koine Greek of his time that is comparatively free from crude Semiticisms, perhaps due in part to the help of the friends in Ephesus. THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK He tells us himself in Joh 20:30 f .
He has made a selection of the many signs wrought by Jesus for an obvious purpose: "But these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name." This is the high and noble purpose plainly stated by the author. The book is thus confessedly apologetic and this fact ruins it with the critics who demand a dull and dry chronicle of events without plan or purpose in a book of history.
Such a book would not be read and would be of little value if written. Each of the Synoptics is written with a purpose and every history or biography worth reading is written with a purpose. It is one thing to have a purpose in writing, but quite another to suppress or distort facts in order to create the impression that one wishes. This John did not do. He has given us his deliberate, mature, tested view of Jesus Christ as shown to him while alive and as proven since his resurrection.
He writes to win others to like faith in Christ. JOHN'S PORTRAIT OF CHRIST No one questions that the Fourth Gospel asserts the deity of Christ. It is in the Prologue at the very start: "And the Word was God" ( Joh 1:1 ) and in the correct text of Joh 1:18 , "God only begotten" (θεος μονογενης). It occurs repeatedly in the book as in the witness of the Baptist: "This is the Son of God" ( Joh 1:34 ).
It is in the charge of the Pharisees ( Joh 5:18 ) and the claim of Christ himself ( Joh 5:20-23 ; 6:48 ; 8:12 , 58 ; 11:25 ; 14:9 ; 17:5 ) with the full and frank conviction of the author in Joh 20:31 . He has made good his purpose. He has proven that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. With some critics this purpose has vitiated the entire book. The effort has been made to show that Paul, Peter, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Synoptics give a lower view of Christ without the term θεος applied to him.
In particular it was once argued that Q, the Logia of Jesus, used by Matthew and Luke (the non-Markan portions in both Matthew and Luke), gives a reduced picture of Jesus as on a lower plane than God, the Arian or Ritschlian view at any rate as answering for God to us though not God in actual nature. But in the Logia of Jesus we find the same essential picture of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Son of Man as I have shown in my The Christ of the Logia (1924).
The only way to get rid of the deity of Christ in the New Testament is to throw overboard all the books in it as legendary or reflections of late theological development away from the original picture. The very earliest picture drawn of Christ that has been preserved to us, that in the Logia of Jesus (drawn W. M. Ramsay believes before Christ's crucifixion), is in essential agreement with the fully drawn portrait in the Fourth Gospel.
Each picture in the Four Gospels adds touches of its own, but the features are the same, those of the God-Man Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. The brilliant blind preacher of Edinburgh, George Matheson, sees this clearly ( Studies in the Portrait of the Messiah , 1900; St. John's Portrait of Christ , 1910). ABBOT, EZRA, On the Authorship of the Fourth Gospel (1880).
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