Luke 24:44-49

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ¹  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ²  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ³  must be fulfilled.” 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, ⁴  24:46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ ⁵  would suffer ⁶  and would rise from the dead on the third day, 24:47 and repentance ⁷  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ⁸  in his name to all nations, ⁹  beginning from Jerusalem. ¹⁰  24:48 You are witnesses ¹¹  of these things. 24:49 And look, I am sending you ¹²  what my Father promised. ¹³  But stay in the city ¹⁴  until you have been clothed with power ¹⁵  from on high.”

[24:44]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ² sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ³ sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.

[24:45]  ⁴ sn Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.

[24:46]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:46]  ⁶ tn Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer, (2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain, would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.

[24:47]  ⁷ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

[24:47]  ⁸ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

[24:47]  ⁹ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

[24:47]  ¹⁰ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

[24:48]  ¹¹ sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.

[24:49]  ¹² tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ¹³ tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ¹⁴ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ¹⁵ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).