The Lord has risen
1 On the sabbath the women rested according to the commandment, but the first day of the week, at dawn, they went to the tomb with the perfumes and ointments they had prepared.
2 Seeing the stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb,
3 they entered and were puzzled to find that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there.
4 Two men in dazzling garments appeared beside them.
5 In fright the women bowed to the ground. But the men said, “Why look for the living among the dead?
6 (You won’t find him here. He is risen.)
7 Remember what he told you in Galilee, that the Son of Man had to be given into the hands of sinners, be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
8 And they recalled Jesus’ words.
9 Returning from the tomb, they informed the Eleven and their companions.
10 Among the women who brought the news were Mary Magda lene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.
11 But however much they insisted, those who heard did not believe the seemingly nonsensical story.
12 Then Peter got up and ran to the tomb. All he saw there on bending down were the linen cloths. He went home wondering.
The road to Emmaus
13 That same day, two of them were going to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jeru salem,
14 and they talked about what had hap pened.
15 While they were talking and wondering, Jesus came up and walked with them,
16 but their eyes were held and they did not recognize him.
17 He asked, “What is this you are talking about?” The two stood still, looking sad.
18 Then one named Cleo phas answered, “Why, it seems you are the only traveler in Jeru salem who doesn’t know what has happened there these past few days.” 19 And he asked, “What is it?”
19 They replied, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, you know, mighty in word and deed be fore God and the people.
20 But the chief priests and our rulers sentenced him to death. They handed him over to be crucified.
21 We had hoped that he would redeem Israel.
It is now the third day since all this took place.
22 It is true that some women of our group have disturbed us. When they went to the tomb at dawn,
23 they did not find his body; they came to tell us that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that Jesus was alive.
24 Some friends of our group went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25 He said to them, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding! You fail to believe the message of the prophets.
26 Is it not written that the Christ should suffer all this and then enter his glory?”
27 Then starting with Moses and going through the prophets, he explained to them every thing in the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they drew near the village they were heading for, Jesus made as if to go farther.
29 But they prevailed upon him, “Stay with us, for night comes quickly. The day is now almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When they were at table, he took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece.
31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; but he vanished out of their sight.
32 And they said to each other, “Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?”
33 They immediately set out and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and their companions gathered together.
34 They were greeted by these words: “Yes, it is true, the Lord is risen! He has appeared to Simon!”
35 Then the two told what had happened on the road and how Jesus made himself known when he broke bread with them.
Jesus appears to the apostles
36 As they went on talking about this, Jesus himself stood in their midst. (And he said to them, “Peace to you.”)
37 In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost,
38 but he said to them, “Why are you upset and why do such ideas cross your mind?
39 Look at my hands and feet and see that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves that a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have.”
40 (As he said this, he showed his hands and feet.)
41 In their joy they didn’t dare believe and were still astonished. So he said to them, “Have you any thing to eat?”
42 and they gave him a piece of broiled fish.
43 He took it and ate it before them.
Last instructions
44 Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you: Everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he went on,
46 “You see what was written: the Messiah had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.
47 Then repentance and forgiveness in his name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 Now you shall be witnesses to this.
49 And this is why I will send you what my Father promised. So remain in the city until you are invested with power from above.”
50 Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; then he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
51 And as he blessed them, he withdrew (and was taken to heaven. They worshiped him).
52 They returned to Jeru salem full of joy and
53 were continually in the Temple praising God.
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Comments Luke, Chapter 24
• 24.1 The Lord Jesus: with this expression, not found in the rest of the Gospel but very much in use in the early church, Luke shows us that the Risen Jesus has entered a kind of existence which is different from that of his mortal life. Let us remember the following:
1) None of the Gospels describe the Re surrection of Jesus: it was an event that could not be seen.
2) The apostles’ prea ch ing about the risen Jesus is based on two facts: the empty tomb and the appearances (see commentary on Mt 28:1).
3) Before the Gospels were written, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in the year 57, gave a list of Jesus’ appearances (1 Cor 15:3).
4) Although the four Gospels agree on the essentials, there are, nevertheless, differences as to the order of the appearances and the place where they occurred. Luke does not mention appearances in Galilee. Matthew gives the impression that all that was important took place in Galilee, and that the Ascension took place there as well. Paul speaks first of an appearance to Peter and does not mention the appearance to Mary Mag dalen. An in-depth study of the texts sheds some light on these discrepancies: they did not want to reveal everything, and at times preferred to modify details of the place or the chronology to fit the demands of their book and for the purpose of teaching.
5) As for Jesus’ ascension, it was not a “trip” to heaven; he was already “in heaven,” in the sense that he shared the glory of God from the moment of his Resurrection. The Ascension is simply the last of his appearances (see commentary on Acts 1:9).
• 13. We notice on this page of the Gospel how carefully Luke uses in turn the verbs: see and recognize. The evangelist, in fact, wishes to show us that after his resurrection Jesus can no longer be “seen” with the eyes of the body; he had gone from this world to the Father, and this new world evades our senses. It is only with new vision, this light of faith that we “recognize” him present and active in us and around us. If the history of the Church records a number of exceptional apparitions of the risen Jesus, the faithful are invited to “recognize” him through faith.
These two disciples were merely going home to return to their work, after their hopes had been crushed. We are accustomed to call them the pilgrims of Emmaus.
The Jewish people, the people of Israel, were pilgrim people because they never had the possibility of lingering on the way. The departure from Egypt, the conquest of the Land, the fights against invaders, the development of religious culture were many stages along the way. Each time they thought that in reaching their goal, their problems would be solved, and each time they had to realize that the road was taking them still further.
Cleophas and his companion were pilgrims since they followed Jesus, thinking that he would redeem Israel. In the end, there was only the death of Jesus. This is the moment when Jesus becomes present and teaches them that one does not enter the Kingdom without passing through death.
They recognized him (v. 31). Perhaps Jesus looked different as we see in John 20:14. This is what Mark says in 16:12. Luke also wants us to understand that the same people, whose eyes could not recognize Jesus, will see him when they come to believe.
Starting with Moses and go ing through the prophets (v. 27). Remember that “Moses and the prophets” is a way of designating Scrip ture. Jesus invites them to pass from Israel’s faith or hope in a happy future for the whole nation, to faith in his very person, accepting the mystery of his rejection and of his Passion.
Everything in Scripture concerning himself (v. 27). In his first biblical lesson, Jesus taught them that the Messiah had to suffer. Jesus not only found all the texts which foretold his Passion and Resurrection such as Is 50; Is 52:13; Zec 12:11; Ps 22; Ps 69; but also those texts showing that God’s plan filters human history.
Something similar happens to believers now when we often complain and show our impatience. Yet Jesus did not leave us alone. He has not risen in order to sit in heaven; he is ahead of humanity on pilgrimage and draws us toward that final day when he will come to meet us.
At the same time he walks with us, and when our hopes are dashed, it is the moment when we discover the meaning of the Resurrection.
Thus the Church does for us what Jesus did for the two disciples. First, it gives us the ‘interpretation of Scripture’: what matters in our efforts to understand the Bible is not to know many passages by heart, but to discover the thread connecting various events and to understand God’s plan concerning people.
Then, the Church also celebrates the Eucharist. Notice how Luke says: he took bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave it; these same four words were used among believers to speak of the Eucharist. We can come close to Jesus in conversation and meditating on his word; we find him present in our fraternal meetings, but he makes himself known in a different way when we share the bread that is his body.
Cleophas (v. 18): the husband of Mary, mother of James and Joset (see Jn 19:25 and Mk 15:40).
• 36. Jesus was reborn to a glorious life from the day of his resurrection. He was already ‘in the Father’s glory,’ but wanted to be with his disciples on various occasions in order to convince them that his new condition was not a lesser life, or something ghostly, but rather a super life.
In this chapter we put in parentheses some words or sentences that do not appear in many ancient manuscripts and which perhaps have been added later.
• 44. Jesus uses these encounters to clarify the meaning of his brief and intense mission for his apostles. He saves us from sin, which means nothing less than reordering history to resurrect humankind.
Everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. What the prophets announced, about a savior who would be rejected by his people and take the sin of his people upon himself, had to be fulfilled. What sin? Everyone’s sins, of course, but also the violence of the whole Jewish society at the time of Jesus. This was the sin that brought him to the cross.
As a matter of fact, this way of death and resurrection was not reserved only for Jesus, but for his people also. In that precise period, Israel, subject to the Roman Empire, had to accept the death of its earthly ambitions: autonomy, national pride, the religious superiority of the Jews over other people… in order to rise as the people of God scattered among nations and to become the agent of salvation. A minority took the way Jesus pointed out and this was the beginning of the Church.
Repentance and forgiveness. Christian conversion is not passing from one party to another, from one religious group to another: it is a recasting of the person. Persons are part of a society, a world, a history. There fore the preaching to the nations means also the education of the nations and even international society. This is something that takes longer than ten or a hundred years.
You shall be witnesses to this (v. 48). Jesus calls his apostles to be the official witnesses of his Gospel and those who judge authentic faith.
Remain in the city. The apostles are not able to begin immediately missionary work. They will first dedicate themselves to strengthening fellowship and the fervor of the community of the disciples, as they wait for the time chosen by the Father to give them the power coming from above.
I will send you what my Father promised. Jesus could not affirm his divine authority and the unity of the three divine persons more powerfully.
He withdrew: this was the last of Jesus’ appearances to the group of disciples.
And so concludes Luke’s first book. His second book, The Acts of the Apostles, follows the Gospels and it begins exactly where this Gospel ends.