More on Surprise and Amazement in Luke 24.1-12
From https://www.gospelimages.com/paintings/46/peter-and-john-visit-the-empty-grave?focus=true
More on Surprise and Amazement in Luke 24.1-12
Amazement, the topic of the last newsletter, characterizes Luke 24:1-12 more than any other emotion. Looking forward to Easter, this newsletter (drawn largely from an appendix of my first thesis draft) shares more insights from the exegesis I have done on the emotions in Luke 24:1-12.
Seeing the Surprising
Until the scene with the empty tomb, the unfolding events in Luke's narrative have been, to varying degrees, predictable. Jesus prophesied the events surrounding his death with some level of detail, foretelling his betrayal, mocking, and crucifixion three times. Two times he mentions being raised to life again (9:21-22; 18:31-34), yet Christ leaves his disciples – and Luke leaves his audience – with barely any details about the nature and events surrounding his prophesied resurrection. The angelic appearance that unfolds before the audience is one they could not have anticipated based on Luke's narrative thus far.
In depicting the resurrection, Luke repeats a pattern of “seeing the surprising,” thereby allowing the audience to relive the scene of the shockingly empty tomb twice in a very short span. Using rich visual language enhances the emotional experience of the scene by stimulating the brain’s visual centers and corresponding emotions (cf. Just et al. 2004).
The table below summarizes five instances where sight is intricately linked with surprise in Luke 24:1-12:
| Event Number | Reference | Participant | Translation from the Greek | Reaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24:2 | Women | “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb” | [curiosity led them into the tomb] |
| 2 | 24:3 | Women | “They went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” | The women were “at a loss” (ἀπορέω) |
| 3 | 24:4 | Women | “Behold—two men were standing in clothes like lightning” | “The women became afraid and fell with their faces to the ground” |
| 4 | 24:11 | Male disciples | “The women [reporting what they saw] looked, in the eyes of the male disciples, like they were speaking nonsense.” | [because it was too surprising] “they did not believe them” |
| 5 | 24:12 | Peter | “Stooping, [Peter] saw only the burial cloth strips” (a new detail in the already surprising empty tomb) | “he went away at awe in himself” |
Table 1: Five Sight-Surprising Pairs in Luke 24:1-12
The first three events involve the women, while the latter two involve the male disciples, initially the entire group, and then Peter. The women see the stone rolled away and enter out of curiosity. They do not find the body of the Lord Jesus inside the tomb, leaving them at a loss. The audience is then drawn into the sight of the angels appearing with the word "behold." The perspective then shifts to the male disciples, where the Greek literally uses the word “appear/be seen” to convey that they perceive the women's accounts as utter nonsense—so outlandish that they dismiss it as unbelievable. Finally, Peter sees only strips of burial cloths inside the tomb, leaving him in a state of amazement.
Mirroring Journeys: An Amplification of Surprise and Amazement
The journey of the women unfolds fairly predictably, reflecting the shift in their emotions—they journey to the tomb in sorrow but return with energy and excitement to tell the disciples the surprise they have discovered. Remarkably, Peter's physical postures during his journey to and from the tomb echo the women's actions, beginning with incredible energy at the amazing news:
- (A) The women, presumably at a normal pace, head to the tomb (24:1).
- (B) They peer into the empty tomb (24:2-3).
- (C) They bow down when the angels appear (24:4).
- (D) Subsequently, we can assume they leave hastily (24:8) (cf. Matthew 28; Mark 16).
- (D') Mirroring their journey, Peter rushes to the tomb (24:12).
- (C') He stoops to
- (B') look into the tomb, and then
- (A') presumably walks away at a regular pace.
Collectively, the five sight-surprise connections (the section above) and the mirrored journeys of Peter and the women (this section) anchor a strong association between the empty tomb and feelings of surprise and amazement. These emotions resonate with the climax of Luke—an episode that not only contains breathtaking content but is also narrated at an equally breathless pace. To evoke a similar impact, translators should retain the use of visual language, as outlined in the table above.
TL;DR
If the email was too long to read, here are the main points:
- There are five instances in Luke 24:1-12 in which people see surprising things, which heightens the cumulative sense of surprise in the story.
- Peter’s journey mirrors the women’s journey, reinforcing the emotions of the story and ushering the audience into a brief episode recounting the shocking experience of the empty tomb.
Challenge for You
The biblical authors often crafted their messages in extraordinary ways. Next time you are reading the Bible, look for ways that the organization and structure of the text embodies its message—you’ll be surprised at what you find!
Hours of meticulous research and commitment went into creating this newsletter. Remember, knowledge grows when it's shared. So, don't hesitate to pass this on!
References
Just, M., Sharlene D. Newman, T. Keller, Alice McEleney, and P. Carpenter. 2004. “Imagery in Sentence Comprehension: An fMRI Study.” NeuroImage 21: 112–24.