While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, for it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still could not believe it for joy and were full of amazement, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds so that they might come to understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ was to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am sending on you what my Father promised. But stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:36-49
As I indicated in the title, we are closing in on the end of Luke’s Gospel. Not long to go now. My purpose in laying it out as I have is to draw your attention to the details in Luke which remain but to see them in the overall context of the end of Jesus’ time as Messiah ben Yosef. There are a number of things to notice but I am not going to spell them out to you at the beginning. Rather I am giving you the above passages to compare and so gain a greater understanding of Luke’s purpose in his gospel, which is seen when you compare it with the others. When all the final segments are combined across the gospels some things become clear, especially when seen in the light of the end of Luke’s Gospel. Other items spark questions when you see things beside one another. It is all good to do. As you will have seen if you have followed the Gems for a while, when you compare the pericope across gospels certain things come to light. The detail of particular gospels allow us to see what has been chosen and what has been discarded in each writer’s version of the story.
Some of you have asked me already: is the story described in Luke 24:36-43 the same one described in John 20:26-31? Two people have sent that question to me in the last few days. Well now you can answer your own question at no charge. See what happens when you examine the text of the Bible carefully. All sorts of things come out of the exercise. Once again, take time to notice the small details (micro level elements) and the flow and details at the big picture level (macro level elements). Don’t forget to colour the columns in the way we normally do. You have developed the habit by now I’m sure, so I figure I don’t have to repeat the same things. Nor do I have to give you the colour scheme. Also take time to notice the flow, notice what Luke has included and what he has left out. I am only going to concentrate on Luke and not examine the details in the other gospels as well. But where relevant I will compare across gospel accounts in order to bring out the details of Luke more clearly.
We will finish off these last verses of Luke and then I will move on to the book of Philippians. I have been working on all past material i have produced to make it compatible to migrate to the new website which is ready to go when I have edited the contents. Very soon all past Gems will be searchable and accessible on the new website. You will be able to read all the Gems I have written and take your time to put the bigger picture together.
I began Luke on Christmas Day 2011 and it took me 601 Gems over 1 year, 5 months and 25 days to complete. The initial prime reasons I choose to gem Luke when I chose the book this time around was because it was a synoptic gospel and because it was linked sequentially with Acts. So there are still a wealth of good things lying ahead of you to find. I have already written the Gems for Acts (Luke’s second book). They are already posted on my new website. All related Gems will be hotlinked and easy to find. Also available is a search function which helps you find any topic or subject you want to dig into.
What lies in the future, unless the Lord returns. If that happens you won’t need to read gems on Acts: you will know as you are known. When i begin gemming Philippians Gems will go back to being live again. When I am writing live Gems I often pause and give you more time to reflect and solicit your questions and then I will interact with you as we work our way through the text. Some of you have tried to ask questions on these reposted Gems but I haven’t responded simply because the Gems on Luke were no longer interactive.
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.
Judy Garland
After all these years I’ve got what I’ve always wanted, something to play for that’s larger than myself.
Andre Agassi.
What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave.
Andre Agassi
I began the Gems on 09/09/2009. I have been writing Bible Gems for close to eleven years and have written 1898 Bible Gems, sent over 10,000 tweets and countless numbers of quotes. I have 537 pages of quotes I have used.