Bible Study series: Luke 24:44-49. This is the other Great Commission, just as important, though.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 24:44-49
44 He said to them, “These were my words which I have spoken to you while I was still with you, because it was destined that all the things written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms about me be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said to them that in this way it was written that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and in his name repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to these things. 49 Now be attentive. I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But you settle in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:44-49)
Comments:
This passage continues from the last pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) (Luke 24:36-43). It is in the same room. But the focus of the scene shifts probably because they did believe to some degree because in v. 52 they worship him. Now Jesus is going to commission them.
44:
Jesus is placing his words on the level of the Old Testament. The Old Testament points to him, and he taught them his words. His words would never pass away. In the context of his prophecies of the judgment on Jerusalem and the temple, he said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Luke 21:33). We can expand this verse to his entire teaching, because Jesus also said during another commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19, 20). His words take precedence over the word of the Old Testament, but we should never ignore the Old Testament. Some even teach that we should throw it out. So, so false and misguided!
“destined”: see v. 7 for more comments, looking for the Greek verb dei.
As for the whether every verse refers to the Messiah, this is not what Jesus intended. He was teaching them the pattern and flow of OT history. Bock writes:
The Messiah need not be mentioned everywhere in the OT because in Jewish belief the eschaton involved the Messiah in an era of ideal rule and hope. It is on this holistic sense that Jesus speaks of the Scripture’s references to the Messiah here, although he adds the one element that Judaism lacked: a suffering Messiah. Luke’s threefold division is thus another way to say that all the OT teaches these things. This is the only place in the NT where this three-part division occurs. Jesus makes it clear that he is the subject of these Scriptures and that when it comes to God’s promise, he is at the center of those events. (p. 1937).
45:
This verse hit me right in the heart. It spoke to me. Did Jesus supernaturally open their mind to everything he had said during his ministry? Or did he go over key passages again, and their minds were opened, as he spoke, because the resurrected Lord was standing (or sitting) in front of them? I’m not sure.
We must not think that every (oddball) interpretation we come up with flows from the resurrected Jesus opening our minds to understand the Scriptures. If you want to see the interpretation that Jesus taught them, read the sermons in the Book of Acts, particularly the ones quoted at v. 27, above.
Paul also said that he got revelation when he was transported somehow to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:1-4). He said that the revelations and visions (plural) may not be uttered directly, but they surely appear in his letters, particularly to the Romans and the Galatians, if only as foundations of those two epistles. We should take these revelations seriously and not dismiss Paul’s writings, as some are prone to do nowadays. So, so false and misguided!
We can trust that Jesus guided the apostles and those in the apostolic community (James and Jude and Luke and Mark and the author of Hebrews) when they wrote their Gospels and letters, as well. His Spirit lived in them and prompted them to write to teach people and solve practical problems.
Be sure that when you get insights, therefore, that you don’t run with them. You should check them against the Scriptures that we know were inspired by virtue of having been written by the Spirit-filled apostolic community.
46-48:
“third day”: see my comments at Luke 24:7 for more information.
In Luke Gospel and Acts, the message goes out in Jesus’s name: Luke 9:22; 17:25; 22:15; 24:26; Acts 1:3; 3:18; 4:12; 17:3.
Then he reinforces the prophecies about the Messiah suffering. See the long quotations from Acts at v. 27 to understand more fully what he opened up to them.
Here’s a fuller version of the commissioning in the book of Acts:
4 While meeting and taking meals with them personally, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “which you heard from me; 5 John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.” … 8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:4-5, 8)
Jesus clearly means that the promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit falling or coming on them. Next, Jesus promised the huddled Jesus followers that he was going to send the promise of his Father upon them. Here’s how this prophecy-promise was fulfilled in the book of Acts (my tentative translation):
1 And when the Feast of Pentecost had fully come, all of them were together in that one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there was a sound like the rush of an extra-strong wind. The whole house was filled where they were sitting, 3 and tongues as fire were seen by them, were distributed among them, and settled on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them inspiration to speak and declare. (Acts 2:1-4)
Luke is simply continuing in Acts what he began in Luke 24, and indeed all of his Gospel.
Before we leave this pericope, let’s look at the meaning of repentance and forgiveness.
“repentance”: it is the noun metanoia (pronounced meh-tah-noi-ah), and it literally means “change of mind.” But it goes deeper than mental assent or agreement. That reality-concept is all about new life. One turns around 180 degrees, going from the direction of death to the new direction of life.
“forgiveness”: it comes from the Greek noun which means “release” or “cancellation” or “pardon” or “forgiveness.” God lets go, dismisses, releases, sends away, cancels, pardons, and forgives our sins. His work is full and final. Don’t go backwards or dwell on it.
Please read these verses for how forgiving God is:
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Ps. 103:10-12)
And these great verses are from Micah:
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea. (Mic. 7:18-19, ESV)
49:
“power”: it is the noun dunamis (or dynamis) (pronounced doo-na-mees or dee-na-mis, but most teachers prefer the first one). It is often translated as “power,” but also “miracle” or “miraculous power.” It means power in action, not static, but kinetic. It moves. Yes, we get our word dynamite from it, but God is never out of control, like dynamite is. Its purpose is to usher in the kingdom of God and repair and restore broken humanity, both in body and soul.
For nearly all the references of that word and a developed theology, please click on Miracles, Signs and Wonders.
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
In this verse the noun refers to the Holy Spirit and his empowerment.
GrowApp for Luke 24:44-49
1. Read Luke 24:45. Has God opened your mind to understand the Scriptures? Do you have an example? As you work your way through this study, have you been praying this verse to be carried out?
2.. How has he forgiven your sins?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
