Jesus in Luke 24:13-35 and the Johannine Jesus

Abstract

The similarities of the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Luke have been noted and discussed in relation to the question of the literary relationship of John and the Synoptics. The similarities of Luke and John are explained as due to (a) the supposed dependence of John on Luke; (b) their access to and reliance on common traditions; (c) the possible dependence of Luke on John. Andrew Gregory’s examination of the competing hypotheses leads him to the conclusion that they are “not susceptible either to verification or falsification on the basis of the evidence we have” (2006:132). One wonders how to proceed considering the “continuing uncertainty of the relationship between the gospels”. This paper explores some possible connection between the two gospel narratives in terms of the characterization of Jesus. After a brief survey of linguistic and thematic correspondences between Luke and John, the study focuses on the characterization of Jesus in Lk 24:13-35 and compares this with the portrait of Jesus in John’s gospel. This paper illustrates how the image of Jesus in Luke’s Emmaus story may be an interpretive key to understanding some aspects of John’s story and characterization of Jesus.