44 He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”
45 Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that a change of hearts and lives and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I will send you what my Father has promised, but you must stay in Jerusalem until you have received that power from heaven.”
50 Jesus led his followers as far as Bethany, and he raised his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven. 52 They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. 53 They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.
Read Luke 24:44-53 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
All too often, when more than one gospel includes an event, we tend to play favorites, and focus on only the gospel that we like the most. Unfortunately, it is this way with the grand conclusion to Jesus’ life on earth. All too often, we focus on Matthew’s gospel and the great commission as the big last event in Jesus life on earth before He returns to heaven. However, by focusing only on Matthew, we miss some interesting insights that we can find in how other gospels chose to finish their narratives.
While reading Luke’s conclusion, a verse stood out to me that I had never seen before. Perhaps this is because too often we stop reading Luke’s gospel following the road to Emmaus and Jesus appearing to the disciples in the upper room. But when we stop there, which is almost at the end, we will miss this amazing verse that Luke chooses to include.
Right in the middle of Luke’s conclusion we read: “Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (v. 45)
This verse is incredibly significant even though we may be tempted to gloss over it.
Up until this point, the disciples had a preconceived idea about who Jesus was, and about the Old Testament. Their point of view, aside from what Jesus had shared with them, was made up of a long chain of rabbis’ commentaries about what various scriptures meant. One rabbi would discover something in a passage, or look at a passage from a certain angle, and then the rabbis that followed afterwards would continue looking down that same path.
While this is not inherently bad, what becomes bad about it is when we stop being open to other insights or angles when looking at the scripture itself. If you only see a verse or passage one way every time you read it, then you will miss out on what God wants to help you discover.
But here is the great news: “Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (v. 45)
Each and every one of us, regardless of our past situations or opinion of the Bible, can learn, grow, and discover new things in the scripture when we let Jesus and the Holy Spirit into our minds while reading the Bible (a.k.a. the scriptures).
Whether you are one to accept this idea or not, we actually need Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help us understand the underlying themes in the Bible, because without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Bible becomes a history book full of stories and fables.
Jesus brings meaning to the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is the only way we can really, fully tap into the power that the Bible offers!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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