The first concern of the disciples after the resurrection is to heal their community. They have several reasons to feel incomplete if there are only eleven of them. They are twelve because twelve is the number of Jacob’s sons, and thus of the original tribes of Israel. They are twelve because Jesus appointed twelve, and … Continue reading Acts 1:12-26 The Witnesses
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, it seems that Jesus ascends into heaven very soon after he appears to the frightened disciples in the Upper Room. But at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke is willing to be more expansive, to linger over the time that Jesus was with his followers, those … Continue reading Acts 1:1-11 The Big Heart
I have not paid much attention to the mind while writing this blog about Luke’s Gospel, and now when I come to the end, I am struck by the fact that Jesus’ last teaching was not about ethics or seeing with spiritual eyes. Instead, “he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” Just as he … Continue reading Luke 24:36-53 The Resurrected Mind
Sheila Fabricant Linn speaks of this Emmaus moment and the moment when the two disciples memories are healed: When Jesus joined the depressed disciples on the road to Emmaus, the disciples’ hearts were filled with grief and disappointment from their hurtful memories of Jesus’ death. As they shared the events of the previous three days, … Continue reading Luke 24:13-35 Healing Memories on the Road to Emmaus
Ten of the eleven remaining apostles don’t believe the women - only Peter does, and then only reluctantly, and with the need to verify what they say by running to the tomb. Imagine what it must have been like to be one of the others. Called to be apostles, given power and privilege, they hide … Continue reading Luke 24:1-12 The Tomb of Longing
KPB Stevens 