Luke 6:39–45 ESV – Bible Gateway
One of the themes of Jesus’s post-Resurrection appearances is an emphasis on the need that the Christ would suffer. On the first day of his resurrection, talking to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he says in Luke 24:26
“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
That same night tells a gathering of the Apostles in Luke 24:45:
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The very purpose of his suffering was for the forgiveness of sins, and it was this that was to be proclaimed to all nations.
The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture comments:
In the next part of the scene, Jesus instructs his disciples about the fulfillment of Scripture and then announces their future mission. First, he reiterates how it was necessary that everything written about him in the Old Testament come to pass (18:31; 22:37). The two verbs used—must and fulfilled—have been repeated throughout the Gospel and here emphasize one last time that all the events of Jesus’ life have unfolded in accord with God’s plan, especially as revealed in Scripture. As he did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (24:32), he thus opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Whereas there he referred to two parts of the Old Testament (“Moses and all the prophets,” 24:27), here he indicates three parts: the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms. In particular, he highlights that the Scriptures foretold that the Messiah (24:26) would both suffer and rise from the dead on the third day (Hosea 6:2).
Second, he explains that repentance, for the forgiveness [aphesis] of sins, will be preached [kēryssō] in his name. This is the mission now announced to the apostles and the other disciples. Indeed, in Acts, repentance and forgiveness of sins through the name of Jesus will become the core message of the apostles’ preaching (“kerygma”). The beginning of the apostles’ mission in Jerusalem will thus recall the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in Nazareth, when he read from Isaiah and announced a jubilee, explaining that he was sent to proclaim liberty (Luke 4:18; kēryssō and aphesis). Now this jubilee is being extended in time and space: from Jerusalem the liberty that is forgiveness will be preached to all the nations(Acts 1:8). The apostles and disciples will be the witnesses of all these things about Jesus: his words and deeds (Acts 1:1)—his life, death, and resurrection.[1]
Jesus then says he is sending the promise of the Father to them and that they are to wait in the city until they are clothed with power from on high. He then leads them out of Jerusalem. “The Greek verb exagō (lead or bring out), which occurs only here in Luke’s Gospel, is the verb typically used in the †Septuagint—and even by Luke himself in Acts—to describe the exodus from Egypt under Moses.”[1]
In this last chapter of Luke, we can lose a sense of time as events move quickly from the events of that first Easter Sunday to the Ascension. Only through Luke’s “The Acts of the Apostles” that we get more time cues, such as the Ascension falling on the 40th day.
John Bergsma makes an interesting observation regarding verse 49:
“Behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you,” is in the Greek present tense. Translated quite literally, the verse reads, “Look, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” This is often thought to be a reference to the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, but again, the verb is present, not future. Plausibly, these words of the Lord were uttered while he “breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22, RSV2CE). In my view, Luke 24:44–49 is an independent account of the same meeting in the Upper Room with the Apostles and bestowal of the Spirit recorded in John 20:19–23.[2]
Jesus takes them as far as Bethany. This village on the Mount of Olives was earlier mentioned only when Jesus was drawing near to Jerusalem (Luke 19:29). It was then and there that he was acclaimed “king”. His triumphal entry then is now completed by his “triumphal exit.” At his transfiguration, Jesus had discussed with Moses and Elijah his own “exodus” from Jerusalem. As a prophet like Moses, Jesus now completes his exodus from Jerusalem to heaven. Moreover, as a prophet like Elijah (Jesus is taken up to heaven, and his followers will then receive his Spirit[1]
Before leaving, Jesus blesses them, lifting his hands. Early Church Fathers referenced the Gospel of Luke as the gospel of Jesus’ priesthood. This was a gesture explicitly used by the high priests starting with Aaron.
Brant Pitre says:
Luke here is deliberately emphasizing Jesus’ identity as priest. So he’s not just a prophet, he’s not just the king of Israel, Jesus is also the Messianic priest, the Messianic high priest. You can actually see this if you look at Luke’s gospel as a whole, because if you recall, how did Luke’s gospel begin? It began with the priest, Zechariah, going into the Temple to offer the incense and then coming out of the temple, and what were the people waiting for him to do? They were waiting for him to give them his priestly blessing. But he can’t do it because he’s mute after doubting Gabriel’s message to him about the birth of John the Baptist. So by contrast, then the gospel ends with Jesus (the true high priest), not mute at all, but blessing the Apostles and then telling them to go out and bear witness to the good news of his Passion, Death and Resurrection. So it’s kind of like an inclusio (scholars call it this way), beginning and ending with a similar theme to reveal Jesus’ identity as high priest.[3]
in Paragraph 662 of the Catechism:
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, “entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands … but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he “always lives to make intercession” for “those who draw near to God through him.”As “high priest of the good things to come,” he is the center and the principal actor of the liturgy that honors the Father in heaven.
I was thinking further of these time cues, and most are relatively straightforward significations, such as the 40 days Jesus spent with them to purify and lead them. The Holy Spirit comes on Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover and the beginning of the harvest season, bringing the first fruits to the Temple in thanksgiving to God.
During this period that Jesus was with them, they were remarkably strengthened. Jesus’s departure this time would not force them into bewilderment. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy and continually praised God in the Temple. During the Agony in the Garden the Apostles were not even able to stay awake and pray with Jesus. This time they would not only go to the Temple and praise God, but to meet together in the upper room each night, preparing themselves for Jesus’s promises.
I also started thinking about the significance of the nine days they stayed in the upper room until the day of Pentecost, which is sometimes called the birthday of the Church. What I thought of in this connection is a symbol of nine days mirroring the nine months of human gestation. The Church was born into the world fueled by prayer. Prayer fueled first by God and through grace helps us catch fire in prayer for the Church. You cannot receive tongues of fire without preparation and being docile to the movements of the Holy Spirit.
One last note in regards to Jesus ascending into Heaven. St Thomas Aquinas explains that it was inappropriate for Christ to remain on earth after the Resurrection, whereas it was appropriate that he should ascend into heaven, because, although his risen body was already a glorified one, it now receives an increase in glory due to the dignity of the place to which it ascends (cf. Summa theologiae, 3, 57, 1).
Sources
- The Gospel of Luke, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Rev. Pablo T. Gadenz
- Navarre, Saint Luke’s Gospel (2005)
- Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Year C
- Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
- The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year C – John Bergsma
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
- Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
- The Gospel of Luke, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Rev. Pablo T. Gadenz ↩
- The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year C, John Bergsma ↩
- Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre ↩
