Starting Points for Biblical Interpretation: Part One (Luke 24:44–49)

Learning to read Scripture involves a commitment to understanding how the entire Bible fits together. My two recent books Invitation (Seedbed, 2015) and (re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World (Cascade, 2016) have reflected on the narrative of the Bible as a coherent story from Creation to New Creation.

NIV Luke 24:44-49 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

This text occurs in the climactic section of Luke’s Gospel. The risen Jesus meets with his astonished band of disciples and begins to prepare them for their ministry as apostles. Here are some of the highlights:

1) Jesus views his life, death, and resurrection as the fulfillment of Scripture. Notice Jesus’ use of the phrase “Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” This is shorthand for the totality of Israel’s Scriptures. Jesus taught his followers to read the Scriptures messianically. In other words, Jesus’ followers read the whole Bible as a witness to the mission of God as fulfilled in Jesus. This does not mean, as it has in some quarters of the Church, that the Old Testament becomes a mere pool of proof texts for the coming of Jesus. For example, the whole purpose of the book of Micah was not to predict that Bethlehem would be the place from which the messiah would come (Mic 5:2). Rather the Church is to listen to the witness of the Old Testament on its own terms and to recognize a trajectory that points beyond its witness to the coming of God’s Messiah to usher in the age of salvation.

2) Scripture is to be read missionally. If most Churches do a good job recognizing and teaching Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, it struggles in emphasizing the missional implications of this. Look again at verses 47-48. As a result of recognizing Jesus as the long-awaited messiah from God, the apostles are unleashed into the nations to be God’s witnesses. In other words, learning to read the Old Testament as a witness to Jesus is not about mere information it is about being transformed into a missional community with good news to share with the world. This will impact our reading of the Bible because it invites us to read Scripture missionally. That is we read the Bible not merely as a guide to personal piety or to create theological systems, but most profoundly in order to shape our own missional practice as we seek to live faithfully in our world as Jesus’ witnesses. The starting point for a missional reading of the Bible is the recognition of this reality. Christopher Wright in his essay “Mission as a Matrix for Hermeneutics and Biblical Theology” on page 109 asks, “Is it possible, is it valid, is it profitable for Christians to read the Bible as a whole from a missional perspective, and what happens when they do?” Wright, of course, believes that this is indeed the proper approach. Perhaps the pages of the New Testament bear witness to what happens when Christians do indeed read and act on the Scripture’s missional message. Wright's most comprehensive work on missional reading can be found in his seminal work The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative.

3) The Spirit of God empowers the Church. Verse 49 promises the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. This of course was fulfilled at Pentecost in Acts 2, but I want to suggest that this on-going reality has implications for our reading of the Bible. We do not read the Bible merely out of our own intellect, experience, education, and setting. Since the Spirit of God abides in each believer, it is important to recognize the role of the Holy Spirit in biblical interpretation. We do not read alone. Prayer for illumination is vital so that the Spirit of Truth may lead his people into the truth. I don’t want to overemphasize this aspect and I don’t see the indwelling of the Spirit as somehow legitimizing any or every reading of a text offered by a believer as there is a profound synergy involved in the interpretive process. But a text such as Luke 24 promises the empowerment of the Spirit in the life of the Church on mission. This implies, I think, guidance for the Church in its reading of the text as it seeks to bear faithful witness to the world about the salvation that God offers in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let us apply this promise by continually praying that the Lord would astonish us anew with the richness of the Word.

Resurrection and Mission (Part Two): Luke 24:13–35 The Road to Emmaus

The second scene in Luke 24 verses 13-35 (Read opening essay on Luke 24:1-12) builds on the first. This is the famous “Walk to Emmaus” narrative:

    NRS Luke 24:13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

This narrative is filled with mystery and intrigue. Only one of the two persons is named (Cleopas, v. 18), but neither of them is among the Eleven traditional disciples. They are joined by the Risen Jesus, but are unable to recognize him during the journey. They end up in a conversation about Jesus’ death and the women’s strange (24:1-12) report from earlier in the day. “Jesus” then begins to instruct them from the Scriptures about the necessity of the Messiah to suffer. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus taught them from Israel’s Scriptures beginning with Moses everything taught about Messiah. Upon reaching Emmaus, they persuade “Jesus” to stay with them for the evening. They do not recognize Jesus’ true identity until Jesus “took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them” (24:30). At this moment, they realize that they have been journeying with Jesus. Jesus disappears and the two men hurry back to Jerusalem in order to declare to the Eleven that Jesus is truly risen.

This narrative contains some key insights:

1) The Scriptures must be understood in light of Jesus. Jesus opens the Scriptures to Cleopas and his friend. The Scriptures of Israel (the Old Testament) point to the necessity of a suffering Messiah. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah is the climax of God’s work in calling Israel as a community of God’s people. Individuals now need to find themselves in this narrative and live their lives in light of it.

2) The power, mystery, and possibility of encountering Jesus in the breaking of bread is a theme. In v. 30, Jesus “took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.”  This was no mere meal. These words are an explicit allusion to the Last Supper. Compare the language of 24:30 with that of 22:19: "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’” This is a mysterious passage. Why were Cleopas and his friend unable to recognize Jesus? Regardless, it is only after Jesus reenacts the Last Supper meal that they see him for who he truly is. I think that there is a word here for us-particularly for those among us who take a low view of the Eucharist. Let’s invite people to the Lord’s Table so that they may encounter the Risen Jesus through the meal.

3) Cleopas and his friend are transformed from forlorn former followers to empowered, passionate proclaimers. Just as the women in vv. 1-12, Cleopas and his friend are transformed into Jesus’ witnesses. There is no commission given, but they immediately return to Jerusalem to announce to the Eleven what they had seen and heard. Encountering the Risen Jesus is all that is required for a call to a missional life.

Have you encountered the Risen Jesus?

How has the resurrection of Jesus affected your life? 

What would it look like for you to live as an empowered, passionate proclaimmer and witness?

© 2015 Brian D. Russell
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