Reading the Gospels Together

The Resurrection – Part 4

As we turn to Luke’s gospel we need to recall that Luke has been freely re-writing Mark’s gospel in his own style and not following Mark closely throughout the Passion Narrative. That continues as Luke tells his readers of the resurrection of Jesus, however, it is interesting that Luke is closer to Mark than Matthew was in a number of ways. Mark had mentioned the women bringing spices to the tomb which suggests that the motive for coming to the tomb was to provide a more proper burial for Jesus since he had hastily been wrapped in a linen cloth by Joseph and placed in the tomb. So does Luke. Mark tells his readers that the women find the tomb already open when they arrive. So does Luke but he does not mention the women’s consternation regarding how the stone would be rolled away. Mark says that the women enter the open tomb and find the “young man” sitting inside. So does Luke although he adds the touch that the women see that the tomb is empty and are perplexed by this and then encounter two men. Why Luke mentions two men is not clear although there will also be two men at the side of the disciples when Jesus is taken up into heaven in the book of Acts. Of course Luke has not mentioned the young man fleeing naked at the time of the arrest and perhaps he wants to dispel any thought of that for his readers. Both Mark and Luke speak of the messenger(s) inside the tomb in ordinary human terms and not necessarily as angel(s). They are both ambiguous about that. Both Mark and Luke tell their readers that the women are terrified by the experience – and then each goes in their own way. Up to this point Luke has essentially been telling the same story Mark has told. At this point Luke diverges from Mark. The message of the men inside the tomb is different. Mark told his readers that the message was that Jesus was risen and that the disciples of Jesus would see him in Galilee. Luke reminds his readers of the passion predictions of Jesus which happened in Galilee as the women are told “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.” Luke tells his readers that the women do indeed remember and leave the tomb of their own volition and go to tell the eleven and all the rest. In Luke’s gospel no command to go and tell is given. The women see the empty tomb, are reminded of Jesus’ words, and leave to tell. It is at this point that Luke first identifies who the women are.

Earlier he had left them nameless as they watched the crucifixion from a distance, as they saw where the dead body Jesus was buried, and as they bought spices before they rested on the Sabbath. Luke pictures a larger group of witnesses, including male disciples, at least witnessing the crucifixion; and then limits the witness of the burial and now of the resurrection to an unspecified number of women, three of whom he names – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. We will recall that Mark (and also Matthew) had named three women witnesses – Mary Magdalene (both), Mary the mother of James and Joses (Mark) or Joseph (Matthew), and Salome (Mark) or the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matthew). The two names in common among all three are Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James. We have already discussed the possibility that Mary the mother of James is Jesus’ mother. If that is true all three synoptic writers agree that Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother were among these women. John had spoken likely of four women – Jesus’ mother, who John never names in his gospel, Jesus’ mother’s sister who is also unnamed, another Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene being at the foot of the cross. John will place only Mary Magdalene at the tomb as the sole first witness of the resurrection. The one name in common among the four gospel writers in all these events is Mary Magdalene.

As we return to Luke’s gospel, Luke tells his readers that these women see, hear, and remember and then return to tell the others – in particular the male disciples. They all think the report of the women is an idle tale and they do not believe them. The first witnesses are unsuccessful! Luke does tell his readers that Peter leaves and runs to the tomb and looks inside seeing only the linen cloth and that the tomb is indeed empty but Peter can return home only amazed – he still does not believe! We will hear that John also tells of Peter and the beloved disciple running to the tomb when Mary Magdalene announces to them that the tomb is empty. They go and check it out finding the tomb to be indeed empty but John is ambiguous about whether or not they believe Jesus was raised from the dead. It is only after Peter and the beloved disciple have left in John’s gospel that Mary Magdalene encounters the angels and the risen Jesus and comes to believe that Jesus is the risen Lord. This shared bit of information between Luke and John is interesting. Was one or the other really aware of the other’s gospel? More likely they shared a common piece of tradition that was passed along orally before any of the gospels were written. Luke’s point seems to be that the women are faithful witnesses but their witness is not believed by the male disciples. More will be needed for them to believe.

Like Mark before him, Luke has provided his readers with an empty tomb story of the resurrection which turns out to be unconvincing at least to some. Luke will now go on to tell his readers two stories of bodily resurrection appearances of Jesus – the other type of resurrection story. The first story is delightfully told by Luke. Two followers of Jesus who have become discouraged because Jesus was crucified are travelling home. A stranger comes and walks with them. Luke tells his readers that it is Jesus but that they do not recognize him – in fact they are prevented from recognizing him. Luke does not tell his readers why they are prevented from recognizing Jesus. One could only wish Luke had said more – we still are caught by the mystery of why they would be prevented from recognizing Jesus except that if they had recognized him the story would have been a lot shorter and Luke would not have been able to weave his delightful story. Luke’s story is filled with humor and irony. Jesus asks them what they are discussing and they reply in surprise how it might be that Jesus is unaware of what has just happened in Jerusalem – is Jesus the only uninformed person? Ironically, of course, the stranger they are telling these things to is Jesus who was at the center of it all! They tell Jesus that they had hoped that the Jesus they had witnessed being crucified was the one to redeem Israel. Ironically, Jesus, the stranger they are talking with is the redeemer. They tell Jesus that to top it all off some women had been to the tomb and found it empty and had told a tale of seeing a vision of angels but when Peter, a man, went to the tomb he found it empty just as the women had said but he didn’t see Jesus. They dismiss the witness of silly women. Ironically the women were telling the truth. At this point the stranger begins to speak telling his fellow travelers how foolish they are and how slow to believe the all that the prophets had declared. And then this stranger gives them a Bible lesson – beginning with the books of Moses he interprets for them the things about himself. When they arrive at the home of these two travelers Jesus intends to go further but they persuade him to stay with them for the night. Inside the house Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, gives thanks and gives it to them – the Holy Communion liturgy! And suddenly those who were prevented from seeing see. The sacrament leads to faith! And Jesus disappears. This resurrection appearance story is cloaked in mystery but it does lead these two travelers to come to believe. And they race back to Jerusalem to tell the other – only to find that they already know! Jesus has appeared to Simon – certainly this Simon is Peter and he too now believes that Jesus is raised from the dead. Luke does not tell the story of the resurrection appearance to Peter. The Emmaus travelers tell the others how the resurrected Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread – another pointer to the power of the sacrament!