Luke 24:1-12, the Gospel reading for the Resurrection of Our Lord in the year of a Luke, is a unique take on the resurrection account. Most obviously, "the women who had come with him from Galilee" (vs. 23:55) and have witnessed both his death and entombment, are front and center. They are even named, giving them further prominence. They become models of faith for us. It will be the preacher's task to let them speak on Easter Day.
(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used with other fine sets of questions available to exegetes. These questions have been developed to highlight the function of the Word in the text, a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers. See my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, for more information on Law and Gospel preaching and on this method. It is available at wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? The opening verses of this text reveal how much we need a Savior - a Law function. The women have forgotten the words of Jesus, are expecting a dead body, are perplexed when the body is gone, and are terrified when they encounter the 'men' in dazzling clothes. They are, as the men tell them, looking for the Living One amongst dead ones. All of this is the Word functioning as Law. But then comes faith: "They remembered [Jesus'] words!" Their eyes are opened and they joyfully return to the apostles and tell the story. This is a Gospel function.
2. With whom are you identifying in the text? We are those to whom the Word is spoken, in this text that is the women. We are those who easily forget the words of Jesus and need to be reminded by God's witnesses. We are also those who, upon being reminded, find our way once again to faith and joy.
3. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? There is no explicit call to obedience here, but the women's example is a call in itself. We are called to go and tell this joyful, hopeful story to others, so that they too might remember and be given faith.
4. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? The before-and-after sequence of this text makes for several easy couplets: disbelief/faith; despair/hope; dead ones/Living Lord.
5. Exegetical work: Kurt Aland's Synopsis of the Four Gospels is always an important tool in NT exegesis, but in this text it is particularly helpful. With his side-by-side approach in both Greek and English, Aland helps us see clearly the difference between Luke's account of the resurrection and those of other gospel writers. The most telling difference is in how the women are portrayed. Upon hearing the message from the men in dazzling clothes, Luke tells us "they remembered his words." This indicates that they are part of the inner circle of Jesus. Also, unlike Matthew and Mark's account, in Luke the messengers do not tell them to go and tell the disciples, but rather they take this initiative themselves, telling "the apostles." Once again, it seems Luke is careful to show them to be disciples themselves. One insight that Amy-Jill Levine brings in her commentary is that the apostles did not disbelieve the women because they are women, but because the story is so unbelievable. She points out that Josephus's report that the testimony of women was not trusted in antiquity is simply not the case. "No Torah statement and no rabbinic majority policy forbids women witnesses or the witnesses of servants in general." (New Cambridge Bible Commentary, The Gospel of Luke, p. 654).
6. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? Chris Neumann's latest post regarding this text is a great example of the Diagnosis/Prognosis movement through the text. The Law is shown in all of its glory as the women arrive at the tomb only to find that everything regarding Jesus is going from bad to worse. Of course, God's great reversal, that Jesus has been raised, reverses this trajectory. Go to crossings.org/text-study for this analysis and others archived under the reference.
7. Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic? Eugene Lowry, in his wonderful book, The Homiletical Plot, shows how important it is to take the listeners from disequilibrium to equilibrium. This text will be a great text in which to make this happen.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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