Bread, Wisdom, and Discipleship : Body Imagery in Luke 24 and Didache 9

Sammanfattning: The final chapter of Luke 24 exhibits a peculiar interest in the body of Jesus, which has historically led to theologians interpreting the passage as mainly concerned with christological matters. The phrase “body of Christ” can be understood in regard to the Eucharist meal, but also as employed by Paul to speak of the community of believers. Could the focus on the body in Luke 24, and its climactic recognition scene with Jesus breaking the bread, invoke symbolism related to the corporate community? If so, it could serve as an elegant narratological transition onto Acts. This paper presents a narrative–rhetorical analysis of Luke24:1–53 and a semantic–rhetorical analysis of Did 9:3–4, investigating the use of the symbolism and the ideas associated with the bread of the Eucharist as the body of Jesus. Both analyses are concerned with the historically situated author–reader and utilizes Relevance theory from the field of linguistics to help determine whether the suggested symbolism maybe at play in Luke 24. The study concludes that the bread of the Eucharist carries symbolism that communicates how God’s Wisdom is shared among, and existing within, the community of believers, and that this understanding underlies the entire narrative of Luke 24—adding an ecclesiological layer to the passage.