Although the three accounts of Paul‟s conversion have been looked at from various angles, the one central and dominant feature that appears in all three is the link between the light that overwhelms Paul and his meeting of the resurrected Christ. The wording of the account in Acts 9 and 22 is very similar; Acts 9:3 περηήζηραυ εv θς θ ηo oραvo and Acts 22:6 ξαίθvες θ ηo oραvo περηαζηράυ αη θς. The description in Acts 26:13 is also similar except that in keeping with raised literary styles, the words used by Luke are more picturesque. Bruce gives the examples of oραvόζεv (Ac.26:13) as a literary form of θ ηo oραvo (Ac.9:3 and 22:6) and πρ ηv ι ακπρόηεηα ηoι ίoσ (Ac.26:13) is a picturesque
201 Origen Contra Celsus 3.1.27.
202 Origen Contra Celsus 3.77.
203 Ibid., 4.33.
204 D.Hamm, Vision as Metaphor, 477.
205 Hamm hints at the connection with the resurrection in his concluding remarks: “He would finally be
seen most fully in the context of the breaking of the bread and the opening of Scriptures - an understanding which embraces the Messiah's death, his resurrection, and the church's mission to preach repentance for the remission of sins to all nations (24,46-47).” Hamm, Vision as Metaphor, 476f.
phrase equivalent to θαvόv (Ac.22:6).206 Confirmation that the light represents the resurrected Christ, come from the words spoken by Jesus that follow immediately. O‟Toole concentrates on Luke‟s portrayal of the resurrected Christ and describes the Acts 26:13-18 scene as follows: “The risen Lord appears to Paul, identifies himself, and gives him a task. In Acts 26 (cf. 9,15; 22,14-15) the risen Lord personally designates Paul as his servant and witness.”207 However, the importance for Luke of linking the imagery of light to the resurrected Christ can be seen by its reappearance in other parts of the speech.
The climactic declaration in the Acts 26 speech: “The Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”(Ac.26:23) links Paul‟s commissioning to open eyes and proclaim light with the resurrection event in a very intimate way. The close relationship is firstly indicated by the word order, where the reference to the resurrection is followed immediately by the reference to light: ξ vαζηάζεφ ς vεθρv θς ... (Ac.26:23).
206 Bruce, 443.
The close relationship is emphasised further through the clear intimation that it is the risen Christ himself who will proclaim the light. On this point Krodel is emphatic: “It is the resurrected Christ who proclaims light, not Paul.”208 O‟Toole expounds on the implications of this relationship: “That the risen Jesus acts among Christians is an essential feature of Luke‟s portrayal of him. Luke can write of Jesus as the risen Lord who is present in his Church and in his word.”209
This intimate relationship identified in the Acts 26 speech, between the concepts of opening eyes and the proclamation of light on the one hand and the resurrection of Jesus on the other, is a theme that can be traced through the length of Luke-Acts. The singular importance of this relationship is explicitly revealed by the union of the imagery of opening eyes and the resurrection event which takes place at the heart of Luke‟s literary work. In the events that take place in Jerusalem (the literary mid point of the chiastic structure of the journey motif) the resurrected Jesus is only recognised when the eyes of the two disciples are opened (Lk.24:31). On the centrality of the recognition of Jesus at Emmaus, Hamm writes: “Luke‟s references to „seeing‟ Jesus in his final chapter are central to the narrative and highly nuanced.”210
The special role that Luke attaches to the process of opening eyes is revealed by the unique way in which he has reported the resurrection event. Luke's account of the resurrection differs from the other gospel writers in that both Matthew and John have the women and/or disciples meeting the resurrected Jesus in the garden.211 However, Luke's presentation of the risen Lord differs in that Jesus is not met in the garden, but only makes his first appearance on the road to Emmaus. The climactic moment in Luke‟s gospel is when the resurrected Jesus is recognised for the first time, and this only happens when the eyes of the disciples are opened (Lk.24:31).212
The two disciples do not merely see Jesus, but in the process of their eyes being opened there is an intellectual perception that takes place of recognising him and of realizing the significance of the resurrection event. Luke conveys to the reader that there is an intellectual perception involved with the opening of eyes, by contrasting two forms of seeing in a single episode. Although Jesus joined the two men on the road, o δ θζ αι κo αηv θραηovηo ηo κ πηγv vαη αηόv. (Lk.24:16). The similarity with the event that takes place a few verses on is evident, except for the special use of δηεvoίτζεζα v. αηv δ
208 Krodel, 78. O‟Toole makes the same observation in a more detailed way: “(I)n 26:23 the resurrected
Christ is to proclaim himself to the people and to the Gentiles.” O‟Toole, Christological Climax, 119. 209 O‟Toole, Activity of the Risen Jesus in Luke - Acts, 497.
210 Hamm, Vision as Metaphor, 474f. Although from a different perspective, Garrett has also identified the
link that Luke makes between the imagery of light and the resurrection. In her examination of the Exodus theme she writes: “Certainly the early interpretation of baptism as participation in Christ‟s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5; cf. Luke 12:50) would be consonant with this story‟s imagery of sleep in bondage and darkness, followed by light and `rising‟.” S.Garrett, Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9:31 and Acts 12:1-24, Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 52 (1990): 673.
211 Mark's reference to Jesus meeting two men in the country (chap. 16) is generally agreed to be a later
addition.
212 The imagery of light and eyes in relation to the resurrection in Luke‟s work in general has been noticed
by other scholars. Garrett, in her comparison of the Exodus theme contained in the Luke 9:31and Acts 12:1-24 writes concerning the Acts 12 account: “the „sleeping‟ one is told arise, and is (or will be) bathed in light (cf. Acts 12:7).” Garrett explains further: “Certainly the early interpretation of baptism as participation in Christ‟s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5; cf. Luke 12:50) would be consonant with this story‟s imagery of sleep in bondage and darkness, followed by light and `rising‟.” S.Garrett, Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9:31 and Acts 12:1-24, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52 (1990): 673.
δηεvoίτζεζα v o θζ αι κoί, θα πέγvφζα v αηόv· (Lk.24:31). The deeper significance of intellectual comprehension that Luke attaches to the opening of eyes in grasping the reality of the resurrection is shown by his use of the word δηαvoίγφ.213
Of the nine occurrences of δηαvoίγφ in the New Testament, seven of them occur in Luke's work with six directly related to the opening of eyes, heart, mind or scriptures. Even more specifically, Luke uses δηαvoίγφ on four occasions, for the opening of eyes, of the heart and of the mind (voς) as well as the opening of scripture in relation to the resurrection. Luke 24:31 refers to the eyes of the two disciples being opened (δηεvoίτζεζα v) to recognise the resurrected Jesus. Luke 24:45f.(δηήvoηξεv) refers to the minds of the disciples being opened up to understand the scriptures which spoke of His dying and rising. In Acts 7:56 Stephen's vision of the heavens being opened up (δηεvoηγκέvoσς), revealed the risen Lord standing at the right hand of God. Acts 17:3 (δηαvoίγφv), refers to Paul opening up the scripture for the Thessalonians and proving that the Christ must die and rise again.214
The repeated use of δηαvoίγφ reveals that Luke attaches a specific function to it. Where it is linked to the opening of the heart, it confirms the intellectual dimension, for in Greek thought, the heart was seen as the seat of moral and intellectual life.215 Hamm concurs with this interpretation for he explains that the seeing being referred to is an “inner kind of seeing called recognition.”216 He explains further: “This restraining of eyes in v.16 and the opening of eyes in v.31 is clearly a metaphor for understanding.”217 For Luke, the realization of the reality of the resurrection is a process of recognition and understanding which involves an intellectual process. This is in agreement with Hamm's conclusion about Luke's intentions in using the concept of the opening of eyes. “The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that when Luke presents Jesus either as enabler or as object of physical seeing, he does so in a way that symbolizes the deeper seeing which is the faith that perceives Jesus‟ true identity and acts upon it.”218 Hamm again makes the same point but in more direct terms: “Throughout the Third gospel - and Acts as well (see Acts 4:21; 11:18; 21:31) - people who glorify God for what they have seen are responding to nothing less than the inbreaking of the reign of God.”219 Hamm has therefore identified that through the process of seeing and having eyes opened, Luke implies a form of perception which culminates in understanding.
The words ζφ θρoζύvε, ι εζεηα, πoθζέγγoκαη and παρρεζηαδόκεvoς are not simply the negation of Festus‟ derogatory remark. A fuller significance is perceived when the words are seen as the affirmation of the issue which triggered Festus‟ outburst. This issue relates to the resurrection of Jesus (Ac.26:23). It is therefore necessary to analyse the process of intellectual perception more closely. In the following section the intellectual process involved in the opening of eyes will be examined in the light of Aristotle's doctrine of the intuitive grasp.
214 Although the other two references do not mention the resurrection directly, they do state that it was the
scriptures that were being opened. Luke 24:32 refers to the hearts of the disciples burning as He opened up the scriptures. Acts 16:14 refers to Lydia whose heart was opened to pay attention to Paul's message. The fact that she became a believer and was baptised implies that Paul's message focussed on the risen Jesus.
215 J.Behm, θαρδία, TDNT 3: 608. Behm also notes: “In Stoicism the heart is in some sense the central
organ of intellectual life, the seat of reason, from which feeling, willing and thinking proceed.” Ibid., 608f. See also the discussion by Malina on how in the first century, the make up of a person closely linked the eye to the heart, with the capacity to think, and how this is repeatedly reflected in the Scriptures. Malina, Insights from
Cultural Anthropology, 61-65.
216 Hamm, Vision as Metaphor 474.
217 Ibid.
218 Ibid., 458.
219 Hamm, What the Samaritan Leper Sees: The Narrative Christology of Luke 17:11-19, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56 (1994): 283.