Luke 24 Jesus not the Christ-construct

 [Introduction: Biblical literature offers hints to the-ineluctable-truth about human opportunity. Here are 3 suggestions: Jesus is the-God (John 1:1), Jesus’ will/intentions (Genesis 1:26-28, NIV featuring “may”), and Jesus’ message, "Be [as] perfect" as the-God (Mathew 5:48). Ineluctable means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscacted, rationalized, or resisted.

The speaking Jesus may have advocated the-good rather than claimed to be “anointed one& king”. Human-beings can& may accept the-good, continually pursue the-good, and continuously practice the-good. If asked how humankind discovered self-interest in the-good, we can& may express appreciation to Jesus. Also, see my Genesis-1 essay about human duty, at the end of this study.

Consider the scholarly Bible evidence, “From Jesus to Christ”, Parts 1& 2, FRONTLINE,1998 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN8FM1NCOSk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXqFvfCaFwY. Humankind can effect the public resurrection of the-civic-Jesus.

Under our generation’s mystery-watch to “ourselves and our Posterity”, Jesus-the-God can surpass Christ -- Judeo-Christian messiah& king.] 

[Notice that Luke:24 says nothing of “Christ”. Someone else posits “Christ is risen”.]

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James [and Jesus?], and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from [why not “didn’t”?] recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked. [I do not accept that Jesus would feign ignorance of his own crucifixion.]

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. [What are the elements of this explanation and why doesn’t it start with Genesis 1, which is long before Abraham, rather than with Moses?]

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon [Who reported that to them?].” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. [This seems a reprise of the last supper.] [This story reminded me of lunch with a Protestant and a Catholic. When the Protestant says grace it seems inclusive. When the Catholic makes the sign of the cross it seems egocentric. I’m 79 and never noticed this before. I think prayer is coercive.]

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself [not a spirit?] stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [What is Jesus’ peace? Can “Christ” enhance it?]

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost [why not “spirit”?]. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name [not “Christ”] to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father [Why not “our” Father?] has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” [Political power?]

⁵⁰ When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵² Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³ And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. [Is this the Biblical quid pro quo: praise bargained for blessings? I prefer to consider, discuss, choose, practice, facilitate, and encourage adherence-to the-civic-Jesus’ suggestions to the continuum of generations – ourselves and our posterity.]

Luke 24 highlights the importance of Genesis 1, a 5,500 year old Mesopotamian political philosophy. First, in V 44, Jesus reportedly says everything about him since Moses must be fulfilled. However, John 1:1 says Jesus is God and Genesis 1, before both Moses and Abraham says that Jesus willed to humankind responsibility for lives on earth. Jesus seemed to talk to contemporaries as though they were ignorant of both the New Testament and ancient Mesopotamian political philosophy. It seems odd that Jesus would be comfortable with their ignorance of both the before and the after.

[I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation -- NIV because of the phrase “so they may” in V 26. Coming from the-God, “may” implies “can”. For all I know, Jesus is the-God, and the-God may be the-good.

I think Genesis 1:26-28, expresses the-civic-Jesus-message (CJM):  Human male unites-to female human-being and their spouse-hood can& may pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). Every person can& may aid SECURITY, and the civic-citizen so chooses. “Civic” means reliable in human connections& transactions. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, civic-Jesus-appreciation, Jesus’-peace, and SECURITY. I don’t know that there are humans who cannot, rather than will-not, aid SECURITY. But some humans don’t aid SECRITY.

I call Genesis-1’s message, “responsible-human-independence” or RHI. Some human-beings, throughout history, practice, facilitate& encourage RHI. Jesus exemplified& eoncoraged RHI. From the past, civic-citizens guide-us, and consequences from non-civic-persons warn-us against error. I think the-civic-Jesus guides-us to RHI. Perhaps the authentic Jesus merely advocated the-good.

But I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth (IDK). “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscated, rationalized, or resisted: I can& may choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance. I can& may be derelict.

Persons who appreciate contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop CJM. In other words, CJM facilitates the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born”, since then, and into the future. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, I respond IDK, yet value CJM, an attitude which seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus and admit that could be the-good. Yet the-good cannot replace the authentic Jesus. Nor can Christ displace Jesus.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). Intention to the-good was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting IDK, seeking the-ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI. Joy may facilitate happiness.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. A person who claims to be a spirit nevertheless bleeds. Physics’ progeny includes: fundamental forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept the-civic-Jesus and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. Only if I secure my energy to work can I help the indigent. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to usurp RHI. Make no mistake: if one of my loved ones seems threatened beyond my protection, I pray to the-God IDK.

Admitting I could be wrong, IDK, I accept that Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living; in other words, urges me to the-good suggested by the-civic-Jesus I pursue by listening to fellow-citizens. IDK, but at age 79, I perceive joy made possible by Jesus’ direct-influence and look forward to what I can& may learn on the journey toward 99.]