Text Used to Create “The Resurrection of Jesus” Splice Series

Matthew 28:1-20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Matthew 28:1)

Mark 16:1-20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Mark 16:1)

Luke 24:1-53 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Luke 24:1)

John 20 (Greek Text Analysis starting with John 20:1)

John 21 (Greek Text Analysis starting with John 21:1)

Acts 1:1-14 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Acts 1:1)

 

1 Peter 1:21

who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

 

THE SPLICE

And two of Jesus’s followers, one who was named Cleopas, were walking that very day (Sunday, the day of the Resurrection) to a village named Emmaus, in the country, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached in a different form and ¹began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. The one ²named Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had seen a  ³vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with ⁴Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.  But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and ⁵returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and  those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to ⁶Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. But the eleven were doubting and didn’t believe them. At some point here, Thomas has to leave, because he is not here for Jesus’s first appearance to the disciples. It was evening on that day, the first day of the week, while Cleopas and the other traveler were telling these things. The doors were shut where the disciples were, for ⁷fear of the Jews. Jesus Himself came and stood in their midst, while they were reclining at the table and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing  ⁸a spirit. And He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, for it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw it was the Lord. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  They gave Him a piece of broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “⁹Receive the Holy Spirit.  ¹⁰If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” He said to them,  “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them,  “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” But  ¹¹Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written ¹²in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. 

1. began traveling with them: Probably a very common practice back then. Traveling opened you up to very dangerous conditions, due to criminals, animals and even the weather.  Walking in groups made it more likely you would make it to your destination. ↩︎
2. named Cleopas: It is uncertain if the other traveler with Cleopas is named Simon or if Cleopas is also called Simon. The Bible does not explicitly name the other traveler with Jesus and Cleopas, unless Luke is doing so in Luke 24:34. It seems odd, though, since only Luke gives any detail to this part of Resurrection Sunday (it is recorded as having happened in Mark 16:12), that he would call Cleopas by one name in Luke 24:18 and then another name in v. 34. It also seems odd that Luke would only mention Simon (if we are assuming he is the second traveler) as having seen Jesus when both men had obviously seen Him.  It could be that Luke expected his readers to be savvy enough to pull the strings together and to understand that both Cleopas and Simon were Jesus’s walking companions and when Luke mentions one, he expects us to assume the other is meant, as well. To see the record of Jesus’s walk to Emmaus, see Luke 24:13-35. ↩︎
3. vision of angels: The Greek word for “vision” used in Luke 24:23 is optasia which means “a supernatural visitation or appearance”. It does not mean a dream or hallucination. The Greek word for “angel”, used throughout the entire Bible is aggelos which means “angel, messenger”. Aggelos could be a human messenger from God, but in Luke 24:23, it is used with the word optasia. These angels are supernatural messengers and not human messengers. ↩︎
4. which are written about Me: See Luke 24:27, 44. Jesus is referring to quite a lengthy list of prophesies. Please see the document Messianic Mentions for the NASB references for Messianic prophesies in the Law/Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. ↩︎
5. returned to Jerusalem: It was almost dark or possibly dark by then and Jerusalem was 7 miles away! If it was dangerous to travel during the day, it was even more so in the dark. ↩︎
6. see note 2 “named Cleopas” above ↩︎
7. for fear of the Jews: For those affilitated with Jesus, the Jewish leaders were ex-communicating people at best (which meant complete loss business-wise, socially, and religiously) and at the worst, since they crucified Jesus, instilled a real fear that as Jesus’s followers, they were next in line for the cross. ↩︎
8. a spirit: The Greek word used for “spirit” in Luke 24:37, 39 is pneuma which means “wind, spirit, breath”. It is actually the same word used for “Spirit” when referring to the Holy Spirit in the Greek New Testament. There are some English Bible translations that use the word “ghost” for Luke 24:37, 39 but the Bible doesn’t say “ghost”. Compare to Matthew 14:26 where the English translation uses the word “ghost” and the Greek word used for “ghost” is phantasma which means “an apparition, ghost, an appearance of a ghost, or a phantom”. Does it matter? I’m not sure. I do know that the Greek words are distinctly different, but I don’t know if it is the same as saying in English “spirit” or “ghost” or if it is like saying “poltergeist” and “ghost”. In English, saying “spirit” in place of “ghost” would be accepted as interchangeable, even though they aren’t quite the same thing. But in English (and German) “poltergeist” definitely does not have the same meaning as “ghost”, and wouldn’t be used interchangeably.   ↩︎
9. Receive the Holy Spirit: This gift was fully manifested during Pentecost. To read about Jesus’s promise concerning the Holy Spirit, see John 14:16-18, 16:5-14, 20:22. See Acts 2:1-13 to read about the day of Pentecost. ↩︎
10. If you forgive: Not one human being has the ability to actually forgive sins on God’s behalf. Only Jesus can do that (there are many verses that say so, but for a sample Matthew 9:1-6, 1 John 2:9). This statement from John 20:23 is to be viewed in accompaniment with Matthew 18 and specifically verse 18. Read all of Matthew 18, taking out any non-canonical writing and additions (all those headings, references, notes, verse numbers, etc. which were added much later in our Bibles by non-canonical writers). This way, you can see how the writing of Matthew flows with this subject. ↩︎
11. Thomas: “Didymus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Thomas” and they both mean “twin”. It is very possible that Thomas did have a twin, but we can’t be sure. Names were very important in ancient Israel, though. Names were considered inseparable from the person’s character, and therefore names were chosen very carefully. It is most certain Thomas said many things over his three years with Jesus, but he is most remembered for being a doubter (John 20:24-29). Legend says that Thomas’s ministry (after Jesus ascended into heaven) took him to China and India to preach the Gospel and that he died by spear in India. Of course, the Bible says none of this, and the proof for these legends is mostly hearsay. Still, even in current times, many Catholic Indians consider Thomas to be the “patron saint” of India. The place where he was said to have been martyred is a hill area called Parangimalai, in Chennai, and there is a shrine dedicated to him there. To read mentions about Thomas, see Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, John 11:16, 14:5, 20:24-29,  Acts 1:3. ↩︎
12. in this book: The book of John. See John 20:30. ↩︎