October 25th, 2025

The season of Pentecost continues on, but this Sunday is at an unusual time in the year. In an effort to focus on the Gospel once again, Dr. Martin Luther posted ninety-five theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, and many things happened as a result of that, the primary one being the Reformation. So on this Sunday, many churches observe the Reformation and have that as the theme for this Sunday. If you are interested, the three readings for this Sunday are as follows: Revelation 14:6-7, Romans 3:19-28, and John 8:31-36 (and there is also the alternate of Matthew 11:12-19). The Gospel Reading for the number of Sundays after Pentecost is usually given in the writings of this website, and it is now the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, and that text is Luke 18:9-17.​

We are coming to the end of the church year, and we are also coming to the end of the Gospel according to Luke. Each of these previous writings has taken a section at a time of the Gospel according to Luke, and these writings have translated in an EXTREMELY literal way. This is a translation that may be confusing to some, but hopefully it has also been helpful. Another translation or a study bible nearby you may be helpful when you go over the text that is below.

In the last of these writings, Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. Perhaps if you are familiar with one of the Creeds, you know what is coming next. The translation below will start talking about the resurrection, and it will look at what is normally called the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke.

This is a very well-known part of Jesus’ life. And you probably also know that there are a total of four Gospel Accounts within the New Testament. Perhaps you did not know that these four accounts differ in some details, and this is especially true when it comes to the resurrection accounts of Jesus.

A point that could be made at this time is that these accounts have not been designed to be history lessons. A history lesson presumes some ignorance, but it also implies that the person is not in serious trouble and just needs some additional help to know what went on. The problem with the human race is much more serious than that.

Jesus was on a rescue mission, not to give a history lesson. And the Gospel according to Luke has been particularly emphasizing the great variety of people Jesus encountered as he made his way to Jerusalem, and that variety will continue, especially into that “second volume” of Luke, the book of Acts.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, in the resurrection account there, only one angel is described talking to the women, and in the account below, two angels are described. Was this written down so many years later that someone forgot? You would think that such an experience would be memorable.

The evidence does not point in that direction. Two angels support the perspective of variety. And one angel supports the perspective that was seen in the Gospel according to Matthew, with Jesus standing alone (or sitting) as a single (and extremely qualified) teacher to the followers around him.

When the text is given in the Gospel according to Matthew regarding the resurrection, it does not say that there is ONLY one angel. When the resurrection text is given below of the Gospel according to Luke, please note that there are two angels. And it would be good to remember that each angel is different. They are not nameless machines.

There are some other things to mention if this is your first time looking at these writings and this particular translation. The most significant thing is to note that the order of the words in the translation below is the order in which they appear within the Greek, the language of the New Testament. The verb is usually first in the sentence, and if another word precedes that, it is important.

The hyphens below are meant to show how many English words are in a single Greek word. And the English words that are often chosen within this translation are designed to show how often the Greek words are somewhat similar to the English. And some of the words in English were also chosen to show how rare some of the words in Greek were. This account was written by a doctor, and a doctor often uses a lot of rare words.
It should also be said at the beginning of this particular section is that the structure is also a complicated one. To help simplify the start, the last part of the previous verse in the previous chapter will be laid out and given in brackets. That will help clarify to the reader/listener to make the “on-the-one-hand/on-the-other-hand” connection to that verse in this chapter. As was promised, what follows is an EXTREMELY literal translation of Luke 24:1-12:

[And  the,  on-the-one-hand,  on-the-Sabbath  they-rested,  according-to  the  commandment.]

On-the-other-hand,  in-the  one  of-the  Sabbath,  early-morning,  deep,  upon  the  tomb  they-came,  carrying  which  they-prepared,  spices.  Now  they-found  the  stone  having-been-rolled-away  from  the  tomb,  now  having-come-into,  not  they-found  the  body  of-the  Lord  Jesus.

And  it-happened  in  the  to-be-non-going,  they,  concerning  this,  and  behold,  men,  two,  stood-upon  them  in  clothing,  flashing;  now  fearing,  having-become,  they,  and  bending  the  faces  into  the  ground,  they-said  toward  them,  “Why  are-you-seeking  the  living-one  with  the  dead-ones?  Not  he-is  here,  but-on-the-contrary  he-was-raised.  Remember  how  he-spoke  to-you  yet  being  in  the  Galilee,  saying  the  Son  of-the  Man  that  it-is-necessary  to-be-given-over  into  hands  of-men,  sinful,  and  to-be-crucified  and  in-the  third  day,  to-rise-again.”  And  they-remembered  the  words  of-him. 


And  having-returned  from  the  tomb,  they-reported  these-things,  all,  to-the  eleven  and  to-all  the  rest.  Now  they-were  the  Magdalene,  Maria,  and  Joanna,  and  Maria,  the  of-Jacob,  and  the  rest  with  them,  they-were-telling  toward  the  apostles  these-things.
Now  the  Peter,  having-risen-up,  he-ran  upon  the  tomb,  and  having-bent-over-to-look,  HE-SEES  the  cloths  only,  and  he-came-back  toward  himself,  marveling  the-thing  having-happened.

Much could be said about this last verse and the verb in capital letters. Thankfully it need not all be said in this writing. In the last few weeks of this liturgical year, after the entire text of the Gospel according to Luke has been translated in these writings, some time will be given to the use of what is typically called the historical present in this account. That is when a past tense verb is expected, but a present tense is given. (It may also be called an ‘historic present’.) Whatever it is called, it is significant that all four gospel accounts have different verbs in the historical present. More will be said after the translation of the final part of this last chapter.