The New Testament with Commentary Luke 24

Resurrection Day

“He is not here, but is risen!”

1 Then on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb carrying the spices they had prepared, along with some others.* 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but upon entering they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that wow, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing! 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them:† “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He told you while still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of the Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” 8 And they remembered His words.‡

The women report

9 Then they returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the Eleven, and to all the rest.§ 10 They were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 But their words seemed to them like nonsense, and they disbelieved them.* 12 (But Peter had gotten up and run to the tomb, and stooping down he saw the linen strips lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.)†

The ‘Emmaus’ incident

13 And then that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles‡ from Jerusalem. 14 And they were conversing with each other about all that had happened. 15 And then, as they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself came up and started going with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, in order that they not recognize Him. 17 So He said to them, “What words are these that you are exchanging with one another as you walk, and are gloomy?”§

18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas* answered and said to Him, “Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him: “The things concerning Jesus the Natsorean, how the man was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 And we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel!† Further, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover certain women of our group astonished us—arriving early at the tomb, 23 and not finding his body, they came saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb‡ and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.”

25 Then He said to them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the Prophets have spoken! 26 Was it really not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning from Moses, and then all the Prophets, He explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.§

28 Then they approached the village where they were going, and He made as though He would keep going.* 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, because it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 And then, as He was reclining with them, He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.† 31 Then their eyes were opened‡ and they recognized Him; and He became invisible to them. 32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked to us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”§

The two report

33 So they got up forthwith and returned to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven gathered together; also those with them, 34 who said, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”* 35 Then they described what happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus appears to the Eleven

36 As they were saying these things, indeed, Jesus† Himself stood in their midst, and He said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they, terrified, supposed they were seeing a ghost, and were becoming fearful. 38 And He said to them: “Why are you troubled?” and “Why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and feet; it is I myself! Feel me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 And saying this He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But as they were still disbelieving and marveling, because of the joy, He said to them, “Do you have any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.‡ 43 And taking it He ate in their presence.§

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything that is written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”* 45 Then He opened their understanding so as to comprehend the Scriptures. 46 And He said to them: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary† for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations,‡ beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Take note, I am sending the Promise of my Father upon you; but you must stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on High.”§

Jesus ascends to Heaven

50 He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. 51 And it happened, as He was blessing them, that He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 Worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple,* praising and† blessing God. Amen.‡

* 24:1 A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “along with some others” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). † 24:5 ‘They’ is masculine and ‘them’ is feminine. ‡ 24:8 These were the women who had been providing for Jesus for some time, and they doubtless heard much of His teaching, including this statement. § 24:9 There were more people in the upper room than just the Eleven. * 24:11 They had already been ‘burned’, their hopes dashed, and were not in a hurry to be ‘taken in’ again. † 24:12 According to John's account, this had already happened earlier, so Luke gives it out of sequence. ‡ 24:13 Literally, ‘sixty stadia’. § 24:17 Instead of “…walk, and are gloomy?” a mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “…walk? And they stood gloomy.” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). * 24:18 The other person is not identified, but presumably it could have been his wife. † 24:21 They were looking for the Messianic Kingdom right then. ‡ 24:24 Although in verse 12 above Luke mentions only Peter, Cleopas makes clear that more than one went, as is recorded in John 20:2-10. § 24:27 He declares Himself to be the Messiah. I do wish that explanation had been recorded! * 24:28 And He would have, if they hadn't restrained Him. † 24:30 He was a guest, but He took charge. ‡ 24:31 They had been supernaturally hindered from recognizing Him, up to that point. § 24:32 Don't you know that was so! To this day, if Jesus talks to you, your heart burns. * 24:34 There were others in the room besides the Eleven, some near the door. So when the two burst in, all exited with their news, the others ‘prick their balloon’—“Oh, we already know about that”. Has human nature changed? † 24:36 A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Jesus” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 24:42 Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and some honeycomb” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). § 24:43 It is easy to criticize them for being so slow to believe, but would we have done any better? Note that Christ's glorified body, that could just pass through a wall, was palpable—it had flesh and bones (but perhaps not blood). The food that He ate presumably did not go through a normal process of digestion. * 24:44 The Lord recognizes the three divisions of the Old Testament. † 24:46 A mere handful (0.5%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and thus it was necessary” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 24:47 The Gospel is for all nations, and it must include repentance! § 24:49 “Until you are clothed with power from on High”—what are the implications of this for us today? Without God's power, what difference can we make in this world? * 24:53 Jesus had declared that God had abandoned that temple, so why did they still go there? It was a logical place to evangelize Jews, if that was their object. It was also the largest meeting place in town, presumably. But subsequent events show clearly that they still regarded it as ‘God's house’, a special place for worshiping. I would say that this became a snare to them. † 24:53 A mere handful (0.4%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “praising and” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 24:53 Some 50% of the Greek manuscripts have a colophon that says, “published fifteen years after the ascension of Christ”. For 50% of the MSS to have this information probably means that the tradition is ancient. If this information is correct, then Luke was ‘published’ in 45/46 AD. The same sources have Matthew published seven years earlier (38/39) and Mark five years earlier (40/41), while John was ‘published’ thirty-two years after the ascension, or 61/62 AD. Not only were the authors eyewitnesses of the events, but many others were still alive when the Gospels appeared. They could attest to the veracity of the accounts, but could also be the source of textual variants, adding tidbits here and there, or ‘correcting’ something that they remembered differently.