Jesus the Priest? The Blessing in Luke 24 & Sirach

Luke chapter 24 closes with this scene:

"Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped [bowed down] him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God." (24:50-53)

What does Jesus' blessing here mean?  Some have pointed to Leviticus 9:22, which portrays Aaron raising his hands as he blesses the people, as the background to Jesus' blessing of the disciples, even suggesting that Jesus may have blessed them with the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26.  Some scholars, like Dennis Hamm, have seen an additional allusion to a passage from Sirach.  Sirach (A.K.A. Ecclesiasticus, A.KA. The Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira) is a 2nd century B.C.E. Palestinian Jewish writing which was very influential among ancient Jews and Christians and is considered scriptural by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.  Near the end of the book we read this description of the high priest Simon that :

"Then Simon came down, and lifted up his hands over the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, to pronounce the blessing of the Lord with his lips, and to glory in his name; and they bowed down in worship a second time, to receive the blessing from the Most High.  And now bless the God of all, who in every way does great things; who exalts our days from birth, and deals with us according to his mercy.  May he give us gladness of heart, and grant that peace may be in our days in Israel, as in the days of old." (Sirach 50:20-23; to read the whole chapter click here.)  

Dennis Hamm has this to say:

"Contemporary readers, familiar with blessings at the end of services, easily take [Jesus'] blessing simply as a gesture of farewell and dismissal.  In the world of first-century Palestine, however, raising one's hands and pronouncing a blessing . . . were the actions of a priest of the temple, most commonly as part of the twice-daily Tamid service.  Then comes the disciples' worship [prostration] of Jesus and their return with joy to Jerusalem, where they regularly bless God in the temple.  It is this combination of these elements -- the raising of the hands, the blessing, and the response of the community in joyful worship -- that has led such commentators as Daube, van Stempvoort, and Brown to recognize here an allusion to the portrait of the high priest Simeon II in Sir 50:20-23 . . .
Luke 24:50-53 echoes at least five features of that passage: (1) the raising of the hands (Sir 50:20a // Luke 24:50); (2) the blessing (Sir 50:20b // Luke 24:50-51a); (3) the worshipful prostration (Sir 50:21 // Luke 50:51b); (4) the blessing or praising of God (Sir 50:22a // Luke 24:53); and (5) the note of joy (Sir 50:23: a prayer for joy of the heart // Luke 24:52b: disciples return to Jerusalem with great joy).  The occurrence of this complex of five elements (and I will suggest a sixth) both at the end of Luke's Gospel and at the climax of Ben Sira's panegyric makes it plausible, even likely, that Luke describes the departure of the risen Jesus and the disciples' response in a way that is meant to evoke the memory of Sirach's description of the high priest Simeon blessing the people of Israel." ("The Tamid Service in Luke-Acts: The Cultic Background behind Luke's Theology of Worship [Luke 1:5-25; 18:9-14; 24:50-53; Acts 3:1; 10:3, 30]" Catholic Biblical Quarterly 25: 2003, 217-218).

Resources: The Text this Week & NT Gateway

Jenee Woodard's The Text this Week (textweek.com) is a treasure trove of digital resources on the Bible.  There are four pages in particular you might want to check out for studying Luke 24:

• Her general resources for the Gospel of Luke  
• Her resources for Luke 24:1-12
• Her resources for Luke 24:13-49
• And her resources for Luke 24:44-53

Another helpful online resource is Mark Goodacre's NT Gateway.  You can find his resources on Luke here (general), here (articles), here (books/dissertations), and here (audio/video).  

Lattimore's Rendition of Luke 24

If you've ever read Homer's Odyssey or Iliad, or the Greek dramatists, then you might be familiar with the name Richmond Lattimore.  Lattimore was a prolific and outstanding translator of ancient Greek literature, and his English translations of Homer are among the most respected.  Throughout his career Lattimore also used his skills to translate the New Testament.  Volumes of certain portions like Revelation were published in his lifetime, and his translation of the entire New Testament was finally published after his death.  I'd recommend adding a copy to your shelf -- it's a wonderful, fresh translation, and it does not have verse numbers in the text, which makes reading so much smoother.  Here is his translation of Luke 24:

Getting Started with the Text

53 verses.  818 words in the original Greek.  Resurrection . . . Ascension . . . Spirit . . . Scripture . . . the Lord's Table . . . Mission . . .

Where does one begin to study and reflect on a passage this long and theologically/spiritually dense?

I personally find it helpful to begin with some basic reading and free exploration of the text.  This can look something like:

• Choose three different translations of the text (if you know biblical Greek, throw that in there too!).  If you are bilingual or trilingual you might choose translations from different languages.  If you don't own hardcopies of several translations, or if you'd like to try one or two you haven't used before, check out biblegateway.com or unboundbible.org.  
• Read through the text at a good reading pace in one translation.  Then, perhaps at another sitting, read through it in the second translation.  And finally, read through it in the third.  You might consider reading it out loud one of these times.  
• Now read through the text again, this time at a slower, more reflective pace.
• What are some of the images that come to your mind as you read?  Think about all of your senses: what do you hear as you read the text?  What do you see?  Smell?  Jot these down.
• What are some of the questions that come to your mind as you read?  What do you find confusing?  Striking?  What would you like to know more about?  Jot this down as well.
• Think back to times you've read this passage in the past, or times that you've heard it preached on.  What is your history with this text?
• Write down any other initial thoughts and questions you have about the text.    

Luke 24: A 2 Year Study

The theme scripture for the Mennonite Church USA July 2015 biennial convention in Kansas City (MO) is the entire chapter of Luke 24.  Some of the rationale for choosing this chapter can be read here. Individuals and churches in the denomination have been encouraged to spend the two years leading up to Convention studying, reflecting on, and dwelling in this chapter. The idea of spending a solid two years reflecting on a single chunk of scripture leading up to our national (and hopefully international) gathering captured my attention and imagination. Over the next two years I’ll be using this blog to post diverse resources, research, and reflections on Luke 24 both in its ancient context and in its history of interpretation in the life of the church.

Whether you are part of the Mennonite church or not, I'd encourage you to think about participating in this time of study and reflection!