A Full Meal in Emmaus

At the feeding the 5000, Jesus, the gracious host, welcomed the crowd. Hospitality is an important theme in the Gospel of Luke. The mass feeding is linked to the pericope of the Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus where Jesus is again the host. The linkage is remarkable with usage of words unique to Luke appearing in both pericopes. However, the most important coincidence of the two accounts lies in the blessing, braking and distributing bread in Luke 9:16 and Luke 24:30.

Luke tells the story in Acts 12 of the famine relief using it to frame the story of Herod Agrippa I.[1] Luke employs an inclusio to contrast the conduct of Herod with the Antioch congregation.

Question: If the mass feeding has been framed by the Questioning of Herod and Peter’s Confession what is the theme being emphasized in this three pericope inclusio?

[1] Noted by John B. Polhill in Acts, The New American Commentary (1992), 276-77.

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