He rides again

He rides again The Resurrection, Luke 24

A good ending to a story ties up the various threads; the best sort of ending opens up new horizons. Mark’s gospel ended with the enigma of the empty tomb and an absent Jesus; Matthew had the supernatural happenings and the Teacher commissioning the true Israel on a mountain in Galilee, again bringing his themes together. Luke is more matter of fact: Jesus is once again walking and eating with his friends, and they stay in Jerusalem in prayer and praise in the Temple. We likened Luke’s opening stories to an overture; now his coda reworks the motifs into a final, quiet movement – but, like some blockbusting movie, there is also an exciting sequel!…