Opening their Minds to the Scriptures

Below is a rough translation and some preliminary notes regarding Luke 24:36-48, the Revised Common Lectionary gospel reading for the third Sunday of Easter, Year B.

In v.37, I begin a series of questions that are less about the front of the text – syntax, grammar, and the like – and are more about the intended audiences of the text, both the first century audience to whom this gospel is written, and those of us trying to read it faithfully so many years later. I will signify these ramblings in green, so you can skip them if you want to stick more closely to the material in front of the text.

Whether addressing matters in front or behind the text, your comments are always welcomed. 

 

³⁶ Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτῶν λαλούντων αὐτὸς ἔστη ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν. 

Yet while they were speaking these things he stood in the midst of them and says to them, “Peace to you.” 

λαλούντων: PAPart gpm, λαλέω, 1) to utter a voice or emit a sound  2) to speak

ἔστη: AAI 3s, ἵστημι, 1) to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set  1a) to bid to stand by, [set up]  1a1) in the presence of others, in the midst,

λέγει: PAI 3s, λέγω 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain

1. The preceding story is the story of the two travelers who meet Jesus on the Road to Emmaus, where Jesus' identity is revealed to them when he breaks the bread. 

2. This pericope begins with the participle, “while they were talking about these things.” The Emmaus travelers had returned and were greeted with the words, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” in v. 34. One assumes that the Simon in question is Simon Peter, but the last we saw of him was in v.12, where Peter (not “Simon” there) leaves the tomb amazed at not seeing Jesus. Then the travelers recount their experience, leading to our pericope. 

3. “Peace to you” sounds odd, but there is no verb in Jesus’ greeting. Likewise, when Jesus is sending out the seventy proclaimers, in c.10:1-12, he says, “Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” (v.5). The phrase “Peace to this house” also lacks a verb, but shows that this is a blessing or greeting that I would assume is common. Initially, the greeting here feels more like a greeting proper than a much-needed word of encouragement, such as in John’s story where the disciples are locked behind doors in fear of persecution. But the next verse … 

 

³⁷ πτοηθέντες δὲ καὶ ἔμφοβοι γενόμενοι ἐδόκουν πνεῦμα θεωρεῖν. 

Yet having been terrified and having become fearful they were supposing to be viewing a spirit. 

πτοηθέντες: APPart npm, πτοέω, to terrify; pass. to be terrified 

γενόμενοι: AMPart npm, γίνομαι, 1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being  2) to become,

ἐδόκουν: IAI 3p, δοκέω, 1) to be of opinion, think, suppose  2) to seem, to be accounted, reputed  3) it seems to me

θεωρεῖν: PAInf, θεωρέω, 1) to be a spectator, look at, behold  1a) to view attentively, take a view of, survey  

1. The appearances of Jesus continue to be mystical in nature. The two on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him until he broke the bread. Here, despite the feeling one gets in the previous verses that they are sharing news of Jesus sightings and seem to be joyful, now Jesus appears and they fearfully reckon that it is a spirit. 

2. The gospels offer elusive accounts of what the risen body of Jesus is like, exactly. The elusiveness of this story is the Jesus was unrecognized on the road to Emmaus (perhaps a shape-shifting thing one might encounter as a “spirit,”) but recognized in breaking the bread (perhaps a corporeal thing that establishes Jesus’ true identity), then vanished immediately (back to the kind of thing that bodies don’t customarily do but spirits might). 

3. The terror and confusion here may be due to the fact that they saw Jesus die; but most of them had just been hearing that he is risen. It is hard for readers today to imagine the experience and challenge of disciples in these stories. 

4. Perhaps part of what the gospel writers are addressing in the resurrections stories is the first-hand nature of the stories they are telling, to an audience 50-60 years removed from the events. Those audiences believe that the risen Christ is present where two or three are gathered, or where the bread is broken, or where the Word is preached, etc., but that experience is different in kind than the ‘eating and drinking with Jesus’ stories from before the crucifixion. The resurrection stories seem to be mediating between those two ways of knowing Jesus. 

 

³⁸ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί τεταραγμένοι ἐστέ, καὶ διὰ τί διαλογισμοὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν; 

And he said to them, “Why are you having been troubled and on what account are deliberations arising in your heart? 

εἶπεν: AAI 3s, , λέγω 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain

τεταραγμένοι: PerfPPart, npm, ταράσσω, 1) to agitate, trouble (a thing, by the movement of its parts to and fro)  1a) to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of  mind, disturb his equanimity  

ἐστέ:  PAI 2p, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present

ἀναβαίνουσιν: PAI 3p, ἀναβαίνω, 1) ascend  1a) to go up  1b) to rise, mount, be borne up, spring up

1. I know that “Why are you having been troubled” is very awkward, but I want to point out that there are two verbs, “are” (ἐστέ in the present tense) and “having been troubled” (τεταραγμένοι in the perfect tense) together. 

2. Based on the comment in v.37, n.4 above, I am picturing Jesus here as speaking to those gathered in the room and, at the same time, looking past them to the church to whom Luke is writing and the questions they are facing. 

 

³⁹ ἴδετε τὰς χεῖράς μου καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτός: ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ ἴδετε, ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα.

See my hands and my feet that I am he; touch me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bone just as you view me having. 

ἴδετε: AAImpv 2p, ὁράω, 1) to see with the eyes  2) to see with the mind, to perceive, know

ψηλαφήσατέ: AAImpv 2p, ψηλαφάω, 1) to handle, touch and feel  2) metaph. mentally to seek after tokens of a person or a thing

ἔχει: PAI 3s, ἔχω, 1) to have, i.e. to hold

θεωρεῖτε: PAI 2p, θεωρέω, 1) to be a spectator, look at, behold  1a) to view attentively, take a view of, survey  

ἔχοντα: PAPart asm, ἔχω, 1) to have, i.e. to hold

1. Most translations have “as you see I have” at the end of this verse. I want to show that there are two different verbs here: “see” (ἴδετε) and “view” (θεωρέω). 2. Technically, θεωρέω could be translated as “see,” but then the English would lose the distinctions that are in the Greek. Having said that, I am not sure that I understand the point of the distinction. In v.38, the disciples thought they were ‘viewing’ a spirit, so maybe it’s a different kind of seeing. (I think it is related to the root of the word “theater,” so perhaps “spectating” is the flavor that it takes.)

3. Jesus’ invitation to see, touch, and view are intended to demonstrate that Jesus’ body is indeed a body, not a spirit, based on the simple premise that a spirit does not have flesh and bones. Likewise, Jesus will eat in front of them (v.43), which seems to be the icing on the cake of his real corporeality. 

4. It seems that Jesus demonstrates his corporeality to the disciples by inviting them to touch him. To that extent, merely hearing the news from Simon and the two Emmaus travelers did not seem to be enough. What, then, does Luke’s audience have to supplement their hearing? 

 

⁴⁰ καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας. 

And having said this he showed to them the hands and the feet. 

εἰπὼν: AAPart nsm, λέγω 1) to say, to speak  1a) affirm over, maintain

ἔδειξεν: AAI 3s, δεικνύεις, to show, exhibit;

1. This was my thinking from 2018: Theological moment (proceed with caution): It strikes me that the physicality of Jesus’ resurrected body can be taken in a couple of different directions. At one level, which I think is kind of superficial but very popular, these ‘touch and see’ stories could be interpreted as attempts to prove that Jesus did, in fact, arise bodily. One might respond, “Okay, and so what?” The answer to the “so what?” is what either takes us to a deeper level of meaning or gets us off track (IMHO). The “off track” would be something like, “So, unless you believe that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, then you’re not a real believer” – which would make resurrection a litmus test doctrine or orthodoxy of some sort. The better and deeper level of meaning would be to wonder why it is significant for the gospels that Jesus’ resurrected presence is an embodied presence. It would be so easy just to say that death releases us from the confines of the body and allows our spirits to be free as the wind. That would have been compatible with the popular Greek notions of the mind/body or spirit/body relationship. It would give credence to popular current notions about the body as some kind of shell with which we are stuck for a time, to be released one day. But, that’s not what the gospels say. The risen Christ is the embodied Christ. And that is profound. Simply profound. 

2. Nowadays, in 2024, I still find the embodiment of the risen Christ to have profound implications about what our own spirit and body connections are. In addition, I am wondering how Luke is contouring this story for readers who do not get to see and touch and view. More below.  

 

⁴¹ ἔτι δὲ ἀπιστούντων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς καὶ θαυμαζόντων εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Ἔχετέ τι βρώσιμον ἐνθάδε; 

Yet while they were disbelieving from the joy and were wondering he said to them, “Do you have something edible here?” 

ἀπιστούντων: PAPart gpm, ἀπιστέω, 1) to betray a trust, be unfaithful  2) to have no belief, disbelieve

θαυμαζόντων: PAPart gpm, θαυμάζω, 1) to wonder, wonder at, marvel  2) to be wondered at, to be had in admiration

Ἔχετέ: PAI 2p, ἔχω, 1) to have, i.e. to hold

1. It seems that we have a couplet “disbelieving (from joy) and wondering” (ἀπιστούντων ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς καὶ θαυμαζόντων) to answer for the couplet of “terrified and becoming fearful” (πτοηθέντες καὶ ἔμφοβοι γενόμενοι) in v. 37. 

2. “Disbelieving from joy” is worth a month of reflection in itself, no? The difference between “it’s not true” and “it’s just too good to be true” is real. That’s why I am using the term “disbelieving” instead of simply “not believing.” Either one is possible for ἀ/πιστέω. Years ago I heard (perhaps in a lecture on Thomas Groome’s educational philosophy?) a distinction between unbelief and disbelief, with unbelief cutting off the inquiry as a final “no” and disbelief as a form of wonder that leads to the search for more.

3. I’m not too attached to “something edible” as the best way of interpreting βρώσιμον. The KJV interprets it as “meat.”

4. Jesus’ question leads to the 2^nd part of the corporeal demonstration. Eating.

 

⁴² οἱ δὲ ἐπέδωκαν αὐτῷ ἰχθύος ὀπτοῦ μέρος: 

Yet they gave to him a piece of cooked fish; 

ἐπέδωκαν: AAI 3p, ἐπιδίδωμι, 1) to hand, give by hand  2) to give over  2a) give up to the power or will of one. 

1. I love how some manuscripts add “and of a honeycomb.” 

 

⁴³ καὶ λαβὼν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ἔφαγεν. 

and having taken he ate in front of them. 

λαβὼν: AAPart nsm, λαμβάνω, 1) to take  1a) to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing  in order to use it

ἔφαγεν: AAI 3s, ἐσθίω, 1) to eat  2) to eat (consume) a thing  2a) to take food, eat a meal  3) metaph. to devour, consume 

1. There is a comment in Mark and Matthew (Mk. 12:25, Mt. 22:30) that in the resurrection there will no longer be marriage, because the resurrected ones will be like angels. One could read that comment in a way that says the resurrected body will be unlike the body we know, with our drive/need for sex and marriage. Here, the resurrected body eats, which is a drive/need that we know in our current bodies. So, again, the description of the similarities/differences of the resurrected body from the current bodies that we know are either elusive or inconsistent or something else. It does seem that the gospel writers – and Paul, to some extent – are trying to speak of resurrection that is like, but not the same as, the popular Greek philosophical idea of the “immortality of the soul.” 

 

⁴⁴ Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς, Οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι μου οὓς ἐλάλησα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔτι ὢν σὺν ὑμῖν, ὅτι δεῖπληρωθῆναι πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ψαλμοῖς περὶ ἐμοῦ. 

Yet he said to them, “These my words which I spoke to you while I was with you, that it is necessary for all the writings in the law of Moses and in the prophets and the psalms concerning me to be fulfilled.” 

ἐλάλησα: AAI 1s, λαλέω, 1) to utter a voice or emit a sound  2) to speak

ὢν: PAPart nsm, εἰμί, 1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present

δεῖ: PAI 3s, δέω, 1) to bind tie, fasten  1a) to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains

πληρωθῆναι: APInf, πληρόω, 1) to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full

1. The phrase “these my words” is awkward. One can supply a verb ‘to be’ (“are”) here and treat ‘these’ as the nominative subject and ‘my words’ as the nominative predicate, which is what most translations seem to be doing. 

2. The ὅτι could be translated as ‘that’ or it could simply introduce a quote: “These my words …” 

3. At any rate, we’re done with the seeing, touching, viewing, and watching Jesus eat part of the demonstration of resurrected corporeality. 

4. It seems odd that Jesus would say, “While I was with you” when he’s standing right there. It seems related to the way I often stumble to describe Jesus insofar as he was walking, talking, healing, teaching, etc. in the gospel stories, and Jesus insofar as his risen presence is real among us today. Awkward phrases like, “Back when Jesus was alive” are quickly corrected to “and walking around with disciples.” 

5. More importantly, what words are we talking about, exactly? 

A. In vv. 6-8 of this chapter, the women at the tomb are told by the two men in dazzling clothes, “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” And then the women remember his words and return to tell the news to the rest. 

B. What is not as easy to identify is what are all the “writings in the law of Moses and in the prophets and the psalms” about Jesus. It seems to me that trying to go back to identify bits and pieces of OT writings that might have prophesied about Jesus is one way to approach this task. Various lament psalms and suffering servant motifs come to mind. But perhaps a better way is to let the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus be the lens through which a Christian reads the Scriptures. Then, it seems like many more possibilities arise. Jesus already hinted at this kind of hermeneutical approach when citing how God’s words, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” – spoken years after all three were long-dead – signify that insofar as God lives, all live. That’s already a way of reading the resurrection in the story, but not a proof-texting way of showing that Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were predicted. 

 

⁴⁵ τότε διήνοιξεν αὐτῶν τὸν νοῦν τοῦ συνιέναι τὰς γραφάς. 

Then he made open-minded their mind to the like-mindedness of the writings/scriptures. 

διήνοιξεν: AAI 3s, διανοίγω, 1) to open by dividing or drawing asunder, to open … to open one's soul, i.e. to rouse in one the faculty of  understanding or the desire of learning

συνιέναι: PAInf, συνίημι, 1) to set or bring together  1a) in a hostile sense, of combatants  2) to put (as it were) the perception with the thing perceived  2a) to set or join together in the mind  2a1) i.e. to understand: the man of understanding  2a2) idiom for: a good and upright man (having the knowledge  of those things which pertain to salvation)

1. This is a very awkward translation, I admit. But, I want to pick up on the duplicity of the words “open one’s mind” (διήνοιξεν) and “mind” (νοῦν). I think the word “meaning” (συνιέναι) is also in this vocabulary family – especially considering that one definition is “to join together the mind”. 

2. The phrase that is typically translated to “love God with all your … mind” has the noun διάνοια, which is the nominal version of this verb “open the mind” διήνοιξεν. 

3. I have written a blogpost for The Politics of Scripture, centering on this verse, that you can find here.

 

⁴⁶ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι Οὕτως γέγραπται παθεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, 

And he said to them “Thus it has been written the Christ to suffer and to rise out of death on the third day, 

γέγραπται: PerfPI 3s, γράφω, 1) to write, with reference to the form of the letters  1a) to delineate (or form) letters on a tablet, parchment,  paper, or other material  2) to write, with reference to the contents of the writing

παθεῖν: AAInf πάσχω, 1) to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a  sensible experience, to undergo  1a) in a good sense, to be well off, in good case  1b) in a bad sense, to suffer sadly, be in a bad plight  1b1) of a sick person

ἀναστῆναι: AAInf. ἀνίστημι, 1) to cause to rise up, raise up  1a) raise up from laying down  1b) to raise up from the dead

1. Grammatically, what has been written is described with the noun in the accusative case “the Christ” and an infinitive verb “to suffer”. The pattern is repeated in the second part of this sentence in v.47 with the noun “repentance” and the verb “to be preached.”

2. Once again, I think the “Scripture Scramble” method of proof-texting would have a hard time demonstrating where, exactly, it has been written in the Old Testament that the Christ would suffer and rise out of death on the third day. But does the Old Testament speak of life, grounded in God, who is eternal and whose steadfast love endures forever? Yes. Is the God made known in those stories compatible with the God made known through a suffering Christ? Yes. Is the God of those stories compatible with the resurrection of the suffering Christ? Yes. 

 

⁴⁷ καὶ κηρυχθῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλήμ: 

and repentance into release of sins to be preached in his name into all the nations which are beginning from Jerusalem; 

κηρυχθῆναι: APInf, κηρύσσω, 1) to be a herald, to officiate as a herald  1a) to proclaim after the manner of a herald  1b) always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an  authority which must be listened to and obeyed  …  3) used of the public proclamation of the gospel and matters  pertaining to it, made by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the  apostles and other Christian teachers

ἀρξάμενοι: AMPart npm, ἄρχω, 1) to be chief, to lead, to rule

1. We are still looking at how the God made known in the Old Testament is compatible – and perhaps that’s too soft of a word – with the God at work in the life, death, and resurrection of the Christ. Now, we’re turning a corner into what was – for the disciples gathered in this room – an unfolding fulfillment of what the Scriptures say. 

 

⁴⁸ ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες τούτων.

you [are] witnesses of these things. 

1. This sentence has no verb, so I supplied one. 

2. So, to continue the thought from v.47, the conversation about what the Scriptures said and in what way they were fulfilled turns out to be far more complex than the proof-texting variety of “In Hezekiah 9:10 it said, ‘Yada’ and then on the 3^rd day Jesus did precisely yada.” Instead, the fulfilment of what has been written is an existential unfolding of God’s eternity, a way of viewing not just the Scripture of old but the present moment itself through the lens of resurrection. And if we were to read to v.49, the story of the Day of Pentecost and the kind of church that is enlivened by the Spirit on that day is an extension of this resurrection story. 

3. And to go back behind the text for one last time: Perhaps this is where the reader is no longer one who sees, touches, and views, the story, but is brought into the story, part of this existential unfolding fulfillment of the God who is. And insofar as God is, we are. Everything else is detail.