This closing paragraph in the Gospel of Luke takes us to the threshold of mystery and leads us into an entirely new day. We are faced here with the close of the first part of Luke’s story — the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the story of Christ’s ministry on earth. This is the finish of that story, and the beginning of the story of the church.

            We begin by dealing with three lightning rods of our faith: the scriptures, the Messiah and proclamation.

The scriptures

            The key to this passage lies in verse 45. Here Jesus stands among his most faithful followers during his ministry on earth. His resurrection is now a sudden, wonderfully plain reality for them. And only then does he open their minds truly to understand what he has been teaching them, almost from the beginning: that the Messiah must suffer, and be handed over into the hands of sinners, who will kill him and then after three days he will rise again. It is only at the very end of this part of the story — what amounts to the first part of the story — that the disciples can begin to understand. And they can understand only because, as verse 45 tells us, the risen Christ “… opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

            What is it that he opens their minds to understand? And what is it that Jesus Christ — when we give our minds, our hearts, our lives to him

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