April 26, The 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B

SCRIPTURE STUDY
THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
YEAR B
APRIL 26, 2009


Acts 3:12-19
Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48


The Collect

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


Acts 3:12-19

When Peter saw the astonishment of those who had seen the lame man healed, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out."



The Psalm
Psalm 4 Page 587, BCP
Cum invocarem

1
Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause;
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2
"You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory;
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?"

3
Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful;
when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.

4
Tremble, then, and do not sin;
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.

5
Offer the appointed sacrifices
and put your trust in the LORD.

6
Many are saying, "Oh, that we might see better times!"
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O LORD.

7
You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when grain and wine and oil increase.

8
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep;
for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.


1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.


Luke 24:36b-48

While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost 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. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, 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 Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."


EXEGESIS:

CHAPTER 24: RESURRECTION APPEARANCES

Jesus' appearance to the "eleven and their companions" takes place in Jerusalem where the two men who encountered the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus find "the eleven and their companions gathered together (v. 33). Luke has told us that the encounter with the two men on the Emmaus road took place "on that same day" (v. 13) –– meaning the day of Christ's resurrection. He then tells us that, after recognizing Jesus as he broke bread with them, "that same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem (v. 33), where they met with "the eleven and their companions gathered together" (v. 33). This encounter, then, almost certainly takes place on Easter evening. The place is almost certainly the room where the disciples gathered behind locked doors as related in the Gospel of John (John 20:19-23) –– although Luke doesn't specify the place.

This is Jesus' third resurrection appearance in Luke's Gospel. The women find the empty tomb, but do not see Jesus (vv. 1-12). Jesus' first resurrection appearance is to Peter, but Luke only mentions that encounter, giving no details (v. 34). Jesus' second resurrection appearance is to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, an incident that Luke records in considerable detail (vv. 13-35).

The Emmaus Road appearance (vv. 13-35) lays the foundation for Jesus' appearance to his gathered disciples (vv. 36-49). There are a number of parallels between the two appearances:

• Jesus appears to disciples who do not recognize him (v. 16) or who believe that they are seeing a ghost (v. 37).

• Jesus rebukes the disciples for their failure to believe (vv. 25, 38).

• Jesus breaks bread for the disciples (v. 30) or eats in their presence (v. 43).

• Jesus interprets scripture for the edification of the disciples (vv. 27, 44-47).

• The disciples hearts burn with them as Jesus teaches them (v. 32) or they respond with joy (v. 41).

"The only element that is added, which was not present in the Emmaus episode, is the commission that Christ gives to his disciples" (see vv. 46-49 for the commission) (Fitzmyer, 1573).


VERSES 36-43: A GHOST DOES NOT HAVE FLESH AND BONES

36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost (Greek: pneuma –– spirit). 38He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.

"While they were talking about this" (v. 36a). Who are "they"? They include the two disciples from the Emmaus road encounter, the eleven, and companions of the eleven (v. 32-35). The topic of discussion just prior to this appearance of Jesus was his earlier appearance on the Emmaus road. The two disciples who saw Jesus on that occasion were telling "how (Jesus) had been made known to them in the breaking of bread" (v. 35). The apostles were ready to listen to this report, because Peter had also reported seeing the risen Christ (24:34).

"Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you'" (v. 36b). Luke doesn't tell us where the disciples were when Jesus appears to them. Mark says "they were sitting at the table" (Mark 16:14). In the Fourth Gospel, they were inside a locked room (John 20:19). Nor do any of the Gospels tell us how Jesus entered the room. It is clear from the next verse that Jesus' visit is a great surprise to the disciples.

"They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost" (v. 37). Given the presence and testimony of the Emmaus road disciples, we would think that the gathered disciples would be well prepared for Jesus to appear in their midst but, rather than gladdening them, Jesus' sudden appearance startles and terrifies them. They assume that they are seeing a pneuma –– a disembodied spirit or ghost.

"Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (vv. 38-39). Jesus presents two forms of evidence that he is not a ghost but, instead, has a resurrected body. First, he shows them his hands and feet and invites them to touch him. Second, he asks for food and eats it in their presence (vv. 41-43). Neither would be possible if Jesus were a disembodied spirit.

In relating this story, Luke has an apologetic purpose –– to establish that Jesus has been raised from the dead with a physical body, a fact to which this rather large group of disciples can bear eyewitness testimony. Jesus will call these disciples to be "witnesses of these things" (v. 48), and the effectiveness of their witness will depend on their personal experience of the risen Lord.

This emphasis on Jesus' physical body requires us to consider two popular Greek beliefs –– dualism and immortality.

• Dualism divides the world into the physical and the spiritual, saying that the physical world is bad but the spiritual world is good.

• The concept of immortality, growing out of this dualistic understanding, says that, at death, the good spirit or soul separates from the bad body and continues to live independently of the body.

We should note that many Christians today have a very fuzzy understanding of the difference between resurrection (future oriented –– God raises a person from the dead after a period of time) and immortality ("now" oriented –– life continues after death with no lapse of time). At a funeral, it isn't uncommon to hear Christians say, "That isn't Joe. Joe is somewhere else" –– acting as if the body were like a skin shed at death –– something no longer important to the deceased person. However, Jesus presents himself to the disciples after the resurrection, not as a disembodied spirit, but as a person in bodily form –– a body recognizable by sight and touch –– a body capable of eating food. The scriptures teach us that we too shall be resurrected from the dead in bodily form. The body is not some sort of useless debris that we leave behind, but is an integral part of our identity.

However, we also need to acknowledge that while resurrection is the central teaching of the New Testament, there are also New Testament scriptures that hint at immortality.

• In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus says, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3) –– thus giving a "now" dimension to eternal life, which we usually consider to be something that we can experience only in the future.

• In his classic resurrection chapter that is almost totally future-oriented, Paul speaks of immortality: "For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'" (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).

• Jesus incorporates both the "now" and the "future" dimensions in a single sentence when he says, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life (now), and I will raise them up on the last day" (future) (John 6:54).


There are also sensitive pastoral issues here:

• For one thing, we need to be careful about correcting grieving people. It is good to preach resurrection, but not so good to take a grieving person to task for saying, "That isn't Joe."

• Also, the doctrine of resurrection raises questions about people whose bodies were destroyed in an explosion, fire, or other disaster. What becomes of them? The answer is that the God who gave them life (and bodies) originally is quite capable of restoring life (and bodies) in the resurrection.

• Then there is the issue of cremation –– is cremation an obstacle to resurrection? It is hard to imagine that the God who can resurrect bodies lost at sea or torn apart in an explosion cannot also resurrect cremated bodies. There are other issues to consider, such as the respect with which we treat the dead body. In my opinion, cremation seems as respectful as embalming.

• What about donated organs? If, after a person dies, physicians use various parts of that person's organs to give life or functionality to a dozen people, how can God get all the right parts together in the resurrection? Once again, the God who gave us bodies in the beginning is surely capable of restoring our bodies in the resurrection.


Understanding that Luke has an apologetic purpose here (to establish that Jesus has been raised from the dead with a physical body), we might be inclined to doubt the truth of this story. Perhaps Luke has just fabricated the story to make Jesus' resurrection believable. However, the story is credible because of the changed lives of these disciples. Before this appearance, they were defeated and afraid. After this appearance, they will find courage to preach publicly on a street corner in Jerusalem at Pentecost –– to bring thousands of Jews into the Christian faith in a very public baptism (Acts 2). They will go on to change the world.

We should also note that, while Jesus' resurrected body is a physical body, it is apparently different from his pre-resurrection body. He makes surprising appearances from out of nowhere (v. 36). In John's Gospel, he enters a room without regard for a locked door (John 20:19). The Emmaus disciples did not recognize him for the longest time, and the gathered disciples require reassurance that he is not a ghost.

Paul talks about the resurrected body in 1 Corinthians 15:35-57, contrasting the physical body and the spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44). However, Paul "sought to emphasize the difference between Jesus of Nazareth before the resurrection and the Lord Jesus after the resurrection, (but) Luke sought here to emphasize the similarity" (Stein, 618).

The disciples respond to Jesus with joy, disbelief, and wonderment (v. 41). Jesus' sudden appearance overloads their ability to process what is happening. A lifetime's experience tells them that death is the end, but Jesus' sudden presence tells them otherwise. We should not be surprised that they are befuddled. Just imagine how you would respond if you were to bury a loved one only to find that person standing in your midst again, fully alive, a few days later. Joy, disbelief, wonder! Yes! Confusion! Absolutely!


VERSES 44-48: HE OPENED THEIR MINDS

44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you––that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be (Greek: dei –– it is necessary –– a divine necessity) fulfilled." 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations (Greek: ethne), beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses (Greek: martures –– from maruria –– this is where we get our word "martyr") of these things.


"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you –– that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be (dei) fulfilled" (v. 44). Jesus first demonstrated the physical reality of his resurrected by body by inviting the disciples to look at him and to touch him and also by eating food in their presence. We have the sense that they watch in stunned silence. Now Jesus takes the next step in the revelatory process, first reminding the disciples of what he said to them earlier –– and then helping them to understand the scriptures –– scriptures that speak of the Messiah suffering and rising from the dead on the third day (v. 46) –– scriptures that speak of "repentance and forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (v. 47).

Luke does not specify which of the earlier words of Jesus he now brings to the disciples attention, but they must surely include his passion predictions (9:22; 18:31-33). Both of these predict his suffering and death at the hands of the Jewish leaders as well as his resurrection on the third day. 18:31 specifies that this will happen in Jerusalem and that it is in accord with the writings of the prophets.

"Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45). Neither does Luke specify which scriptures Jesus opens their minds to understand. There is no single Old Testament scripture that incorporates all the three major themes of vv. 46-47 –– three themes that will form the core of the church's kerygma: (1) the suffering and death of the Messiah, (2) his resurrection on the third day, and (3) the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness to all nations. There are, however, a number of Old Testament scriptures that address particular elements. Luke alludes to or quotes a number of these in Luke-Acts (see Bock, 387-389 and Evans, 358-360):

• Isaiah 53:7-8 says, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people." Luke tells us that it was these verses that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading. Philip will use these verses to proclaim the good news about Jesus to him (Acts 8:32-35).

• Psalm 16:10 says, "For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit." Peter will allude to this verse in Acts 2:27 and Paul will allude to it in Acts 13:35 (in both cases recorded by Luke).

• Hosea 6:2 says, "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." This may be the verse to which Jesus refers in Luke 24:46.

• In Luke 11:29-32, Jesus referred to the sign of Jonah. In Matthew's version Jesus said, "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

• Isaiah 49:6 says "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Luke alludes to this verse in Luke 2:32; Acts 1:8; 13:47.

• Joel 2:32 says, "Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved," which Peter (recorded by Luke) quotes in Acts 2:21.

• Other Old Testament scriptures that Jesus might have used to open the disciples' minds include Psalms 22; 31:5; 69; 110:1; 118:22-26 and Isaiah 11:10.

Green notes the unusual reference to the psalms in verse 44 (the usual phrase would be "the law and the prophets," but Jesus adds the psalms). Green calls this "a consequence of the important role of the psalms in Luke's interpretation of Jesus' passion" and concludes, "Not only Isaiah…, then, but all of the Scriptures speak of Jesus and have their consummation in him" (Green, 856). As one of my professors used to say, all of the Old Testament points forward to Jesus and all of the New Testament points back to Jesus. Jesus is the focal point of all scripture.

"repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in (the Messiah's) name" (v. 47a). While this is not in the imperative mood (Jesus does not say, "You shall proclaim") it nevertheless constitutes Jesus' mission statement for the disciples. They are to proclaim two things –– repentance and forgiveness of sins. They are to do so in the name of the Messiah, who is the one who makes forgiveness possible.

"to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (v. 47b). The disciples are to proclaim repentance and forgiveness "to all nations" (eis panta ta ethne). The word ethne can mean nations or Gentiles, and these words suggest an opening of the door to Gentile Christians. Luke will spell out in the Acts of the Apostles how the disciples come to grips with understanding the Jewish Messiah to be everyone's Messiah (see especially Acts 10).

This proclamation is to begin from Jerusalem, but it will not be limited to Jerusalem. The disciples are to be Jesus' witnesses "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8 –– also written by Luke). Prior to Jesus, the Jews had assumed a centripetal model, with the world being drawn toward a central point, Jerusalem. After Jesus, the model reverses, spinning outward from Jerusalem.

In Mark and Matthew Jesus issues even more explicit commissioning statements –– "in each case (tailored) to suit a major theme of each Gospel" (Fitzmyer, 1578). Whereas Luke emphasizes repentance and forgiveness of sins (v. 47), Mark emphasizes preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:15) and Matthew emphasizes making disciples and teaching (Matthew 28:19-20a).

The initial proclamation will take place on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem with Peter's sermon (Acts 2), which will emphasize the three great themes of vv. 46-47:

• The suffering and death of the Messiah (Acts 2:23, 36)

• His resurrection on the third day (Acts 2:24, 31-36)

• The proclamation of repentance and forgiveness to all nations (Acts 2:17, 21, 38-39).

"You are witnesses (martures –– from marturia –– a witness, one who bears testimony) of these things" (v. 48). "The concept of 'witness' develops in the course of the NT writings from the role of an eyewitness, to one who can testify to the gospel, to one who dies for the sake of the gospel (a martyr)" (Culpepper, 488).

These disciples to whom Jesus speaks in our Gospel lesson, opening their minds to understand the scriptures (v. 45), are witnesses of the risen Christ. They have seen him with their eyes and experienced him with their lives. Now they will testify to what they have seen, and some will be killed as a consequence. They were "to tell the story. To tell it not as hearsay, but as of their own knowledge (I John 1:1). And to tell it at cost. There was no other plan" (Scherer, 433).

There still is no other plan. We have not seen the risen Christ with our own eyes, but we have experienced him in our lives. Our responsibility is "to tell the story. To tell it not as hearsay, but as (our) own knowledge…. And to tell it at cost. There (is) no other plan."


VERSES 49-53: THE ASCENSION

49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.


These verses are not included in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) reading, presumably because the RCL deals with verses 44-53 for Ascension, Years ABC. However, Fitzmyer rightly notes that verses 36-53 form "a literary unit, for they recount but one appearance of the risen Christ" (Fitzmyer, 1572, cf. 1578).

The failure of the lectionary to include verse 49 in this reading seems particularly puzzling. In that verse, Jesus is still with the disciples in Jerusalem and gives them their orders. They are to remain in Jerusalem until they have received "what my Father promised" –– until they "have been clothed with power from on high" –– until they have received the Holy Spirit. They "are not to proceed on their own; Christ's commission to them clearly involves a grace, but it is also an authorized commission, one invested with dynamis (power), which they will need to carry it out" (Fitzmyer, 1580).

TRUE STORY: See http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1539249

Lots of people would like to have the assurance that Christians have already –– the assurance of the resurrection –– and that leads them to do bizarre things.

David and Trudy Pizer have arranged with Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona to freeze their bodies when they die. They hope that, during the next century, someone will figure out a way to bring a frozen body back to life –– and that the someone will remember to bring them back to life. To make sure that they have plenty of money when they come back to life, they are trying to set up a "personal revival trust" with $10 million that they will receive when they come back to life.

It costs $150,000 to have your body frozen and stored at Alcor, but some people opt to have just their heads frozen for $80,000. They hope that they will be able to attach their heads to someone else's body when they come back to life. I'm not sure where they expect to find a spare body.

The question is: Who do you trust? Do you trust whoever happens to be running Alcor a century from now –– or do you trust Jesus? Personally, I'm happy to trust Jesus!


THOUGHT PROVOKERS: (Top of page)

What reason have atheists for saying that we cannot rise again?
Which is the more difficult, to be born, or to rise again?
That what has never been, should be,
of that what has been, should be again?
Is it more difficult to come into being than to return to it?

Blaise Pascal

* * * * * * * * * *

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust,
in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection
unto eternal life.

Book of Common Prayer

* * * * * * * * * *

The Gospels do not explain the resurrection;
the resurrection explains the Gospels.
Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith;
it is the Christian faith.

J.S. Whale

* * * * * * * * * *

Christ has turned all our sunsets into dawns.

Clement of Alexandria

* * * * * * * * * *

Jesus was born twice.
The birth at Bethlehem was a birth into a life of weakness.
The second time he was born from the grave ––
"the first-born from the dead" ––
into the glory of heaven and the throne of God.

Andrew Murray

* * * * * * * * * *


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Atkins, Martyn D., in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001)

Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, The Gospel of Luke (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1953)

Bock, Darrell L., The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Luke (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994)

Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R.; McCann, J. Clinton; and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV–Year C (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994)

Craddock, Fred B., "Luke," Interpretation (Louisville: John Knox Press,(1990)

Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holliday, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, C (Valley Forge: Trinity Press, 1994)

Culpepper, R. Alan, The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)

Evans, Craig A., New International Biblical Commentary: Luke (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990)

Fitzmyer, Joseph A., S.J., The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

Gilmour, S. MacLean & Scherer, Paul, The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8. (Nashville: Abingdon , 1952)

Green, Joel B., The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)

Hendriksen, William, New Testament Commentary: Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978)

Johnson, Luke Timothy, Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991)

Nickle, Keith F., Preaching the Gospel of Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000)

Nolland, John, Word Biblical Commentary: Luke 18:35 - 24:53 (Dallas: Word Books, 1993)

Ringe, Sharon H., Westminster Bible Companion, Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995)

Stein, Robert H., The New American Commentary: Luke (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992)

Tannehill, Robert C., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Luke (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996)

Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (NY: American Book Company, 1889)

Copyright 2009, Richard Niell Donovan