Bible

Here in the Bible room today we conclude reading the Gospel according to St. Luke, with Session 10, the summaries of chapters 23 and 24.

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Luke

Session 10

Chapter 23. Why

Jesus has been arrested and is under the control of a rowdy mob of people:

• They take Him by force to stand before Pilate;
• And there, they accuse Him of various offenses: They say
• He is perverting the Nation, against paying taxes to Caesar;
• And saying He Himself is Christ, a King;
• So, Pilate asks Him if He is King of the Jews, He answers: He is;
• Then Pilate tells the crowd he finds no fault in Jesus;
• The crowd says He has been a disturbance all over the region;
• This prompts Pilate to ask them if Jesus is from Galilee;
• When he learns this, he tells them to take Jesus to see Herod;
• No friend of Pilate, Herod is the governor of the Galilee region;
• He has heard all about Jesus and is happy to finally meet Him;
• He had planned to ask Jesus to perform a miracle for him;
• He has many questions, but Jesus will answer him nothing;
• The crowd is very rowdy with their accusations of Jesus;
• Finally, Herod and his troops mock Jesus, put a robe on Him;
• And then they send Him back to Pilate;
• Before this day, Herod and Pilate had been enemies;
• But from this day forward they became fast friends;
• These two governors agreed that Jesus does not deserve death;
• So, Pilate says he will chastise Jesus and then release Him;
• On this feast day, it is customary that one criminal is set free;
• The crowd tells Pilate to pardon Barabas, a convicted murderer;
• Why should Jesus face the death penalty, Pilate asks the crowd;
• Crucify Him, crucify Him, the crowd shouts loudly;
• Why, what has He done to deserve death? Pilate asks again;
• He says he will just punish Him and then turn Him loose;
• But the crowd still insists, loudly, that Jesus be crucified;
• Finally, Pilate agrees to release the murderer, crucify Jesus;
• Simon, a Cyrenian, is chosen to carry the death cross;
• As they go, a mourning crowd follows, including women;
• Turning to them, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him;
• He says: Daughters, weep for yourselves and your children;
• The days are coming when they will wish they were barren;
• They will call for the mountains to fall on them, cover them;
• For they are facing a future of bad things happening;
• Two criminals are also taken with Jesus to be crucified;
• When they come to the place called Calvary, Jesus is crucified;
• The two criminals are crucified, one on each side of Him;
• On the cross, Jesus prays for the people, saying:
• Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing;
• They strip His garment from Him, divide it up by lots;
• Sneering, they say: He saved others, but cannot save Himself;
• They put a sign above His head in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
• It reads: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS;
• One of the criminals beside Him says: Lord, remember me;
• Jesus tells him: Today, he will be with Him in paradise;
• At the ninth hour, the veil in the temple is torn in two;
• Just before dying, in a loud voice, Jesus says:
• Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit; Then He dies;
• His friends all stand at a distance, watching;
• Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body of Jesus;
• He wraps the body in linen and places it in a new stone tomb;
• The women from Galilee prepare spices and fragrant oils;
• Then, on the Sabbath, they rest.

Chapter 24. Alive

On the first day of the week, the women come to the tomb with the spices:

• The stone covering the tomb has been rolled away;
• Inside, they discover that the body of Jesus is missing;
• Two men in shining garments are standing beside the tomb;
• They tell the women: Jesus is not here, He is risen;
• They ask the women if they remember what Jesus had said:
• He said He would be crucified, then risen on the third day;
• They did remember His words, so they left the tomb;
• They spread the news to the eleven apostles and the others;
• But none of them believed what the women were saying;
• So, Peter runs to the tomb and inside sees only the linens;
• He is confused, and wonders what has actually happened;
• Two of His followers begin walking the road to Emmaus;
• While they are talking, Jesus himself starts walking with them;
• They do not recognize Him, but they appear to be sad;
• He asks them what they are talking about so sadly;
• Cleopas asks Him if He has not heard of the local news;
• Jesus says: What news?
• Incredulous, they tell Him about Jesus of Nazareth;
• How He was a prophet, did great things before God and men;
• And how the religious leaders had Him crucified;
• Then some women went to the tomb and found it empty;
• These women have said some angels told them He is alive;
• Then Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart;
• He begins telling them the story of His life from scripture;
• Arriving at the village, they ask Jesus to stay with them;
• They all sit to eat, Jesus blesses the bread, passes it to them;
• Suddenly, they recognize Him, and He vanishes from sight;
• Then they begin to talk about their experience on the road;
• How they had sensed something special about Him,
• And how He had opened the scriptures for them;
• So, at once they head back to Jerusalem to find the eleven;
• They find them, gathered with some others who have news;
• They say Jesus has already appeared to Simon;
• But the group from the road say He had walked with them;
• They did not know Him until He broke the bread at the table;
• Then Jesus Himself appears with them saying: Peace to you;
• They think they have seen a ghost; He says: Don’t worry;
• He shows them His hands and feet to confirm it is He;
• While they are confused, He asks them if they have any food;
• They give Him some cooked fish and some honeycomb;
• He eats this food in their presence;
• He opens the scriptures to Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets;
• So they could understand all the things that have happened;
• How it was necessary the Christ would suffer, and rise again;
• Repentance and remission of sins are preached in His name;
• Beginning at Jerusalem and then to all the nations;
• He tells them they are the witnesses of these things;
• And He is sending to them the Promise of His Father;
• But they should wait in Jerusalem until His Power comes;
• Then He leads them out to Bethany where He lifts His hands;
• And while He is blessing them, He is lifted up into heaven;
• Joyful, they are in the temple daily, praising God.
• Amen.

End of Session 10 of the book of Luke.

(This concludes the book of Luke.)