The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 24:45
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Assuming (as is most probably the case) that Luke 24:44 and Luke 24:45 refer to words spoken by Jesus on the first Easter evening to the eleven and to Cleopas and his friend, then the way in which he opened their understanding is described by St. John ( John 20:22 ) thus: "He breathed on them , and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Among the new powers bestowed on them by this Divine gift,... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 24:44-49
The instruction of the apostles. The words contained in these verses are a summary of the instruction given by the risen Lord during the forty days in which he showed himself alive after his Passion. They are not to be regarded as the outline of only one discourse, following the appearance to the eleven recorded in the previous verses; they are rather the heads of the teaching which was imparted in the great period between the Resurrection and the Ascension. "We must suppose the evangelist... read more