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Luke’s Resurrection Narratives
Now, after the long narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, comes the resurrection.
No one knows exactly when Christ’s resurrection took place, only that it was sometimes between his burial late of Friday and the discovery of the empty tomb early Sunday morning. There were no eyewitnesses to describe the resurrection itself. Instead, there are descriptions of appearances of the Risen Lord after the resurrection.
The account of the Passion is one continuous narrative, very similar in all four Gospels. Not so with the narratives of the resurrection appearances. There are isolated scenes and, while there are some similarities, each Gospel has its own stories to tell.
Luke’s Gospel account can be divided into five episodes all taking place on Easter Sunday:
(1) the finding of the empty tomb at dawn.
(2) the appearance of the Risen Christ to two disciples walking to Emmaus.
(3) the appearance to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem.
(4) the commissioning of these disciples to witness and preach in his name.
(5) the end of the visible appearances as Christ.
BTTT on Monday in the Octave of Easter.