Verses 1-12: The Empty Tomb and the First Witnesses

¹ But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ³ They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body. ⁴ While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing. ⁵ Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again?” ⁸ They remembered his words, ⁹ returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles. ¹¹ These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.

• The resurrection is a concrete, historical act of God:

  The rolled-away stone, the missing body, and the linen strips emphasize that the resurrection is not presented as a private feeling or mere symbol but as an event in real space and time. Christian hope rests on God’s decisive action in history, grounding faith in what God has done rather than in what humans can manufacture.

• God uses appointed witnesses—even when faith is initially weak:

  The women testify to the apostles, yet the message is dismissed as “nonsense,” showing that the first proclamation was not fueled by credulity. God’s truth can be carried by ordinary disciples and received through a process that includes confusion, questioning, and eventual conviction, which both humbles believers and strengthens confidence in God’s patience.

• Divine necessity and human responsibility meet at the cross and resurrection:

  The angels recall Jesus’ words that “the Son of Man must be delivered up” and crucified “into the hands of sinful men,” holding together God’s purposeful plan and real human sin. The saving work of Christ is neither accidental nor excusable for those who acted wickedly; rather, God overrules evil for redemption while maintaining moral accountability.

• Faith grows as God’s word is remembered and investigated:

  “They remembered his words,” and Peter runs to the tomb and wonders. Remembering Christ’s teaching and honestly engaging the evidence are portrayed as means through which God draws disciples from perplexity toward worshipful certainty.

Verses 13-35: The Road to Emmaus—Scripture Opened, Hearts Kindled

¹³ Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened. ¹⁵ While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?” ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹ He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²² Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb; ²³ and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” ²⁷ Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. ²⁸ They came near to the village where they were going, and he acted like he would go further. ²⁹ They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them. ³¹ Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, then he vanished out of their sight. ³² They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?” ³³ They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

• Jesus draws near to discouraged disciples in their confusion:

  These disciples are walking away from Jerusalem “sad,” still sorting events. Yet “Jesus himself came near, and went with them,” revealing the Lord’s pastoral nearness to weary believers. He engages their questions rather than rejecting them, showing that honest struggle is not the end of discipleship but often the place where Christ meets and restores.

• Spiritual perception is a gift God can withhold and then grant:

  “Their eyes were kept from recognizing him,” and later “Their eyes were opened.” The passage presents recognition of the risen Jesus as more than mere human deduction: God must enable sight. At the same time, the disciples actively listen, converse, urge him to stay, and then respond immediately by returning to Jerusalem—showing real human participation in the journey toward faith.

• Redemption hopes are corrected and fulfilled through the suffering Messiah:

  “We were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel,” reveals that true messianic redemption was expected but misunderstood. Jesus corrects them: “Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” Christian salvation is not bypassing suffering but passing through it, with the cross as the pathway to glory and the interpretive key to God’s saving plan.

• Christ-centered Scripture is the church’s interpretive foundation:

  Jesus teaches that Moses and the prophets speak “the things concerning himself.” This anchors Christian reading of the Old Testament in fulfillment: the Bible’s story coheres in Christ. The church remains safest and strongest when it learns Christ through “all the Scriptures,” not through speculation detached from God’s written revelation.

• Hospitality and fellowship become arenas for revelation:

  The disciples urge, “Stay with us,” and in the shared table setting their eyes are opened and they recognize him “in the breaking of the bread.” Without forcing a narrow sacramental conclusion beyond the text, the passage clearly teaches that ordinary practices of fellowship—welcome, gratitude, shared bread—can be places where the risen Lord makes himself known to his people.

• True encounter produces mission-shaped urgency and shared testimony:

  They “rose up that very hour” and return to the gathered disciples to relate what happened. The risen Christ turns private consolation into public witness: faith is not meant to be hoarded but testified, strengthening the community and confirming the common confession, “The Lord is risen indeed.”

Verses 36-49: Peace, Proof, and the Worldwide Message

³⁶ As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. ⁴³ He took them, and ate in front of them. ⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ 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 remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

• The risen Jesus offers peace to fearful disciples:

  “Peace be to you” is spoken into terror and misunderstanding. Resurrection peace is not denial of reality; it is the Lord’s reconciling presence that steadies anxious hearts. The church’s comfort is grounded not in self-confidence but in the living Christ who speaks peace amid doubts.

• The resurrection is bodily, not merely spiritual:

  Jesus invites them: “Touch me and see,” insisting he has “flesh and bones,” then he eats in front of them. This safeguards orthodox Christian confession: the resurrection is physical and personal continuity (“it is truly me”). It also undergirds the future hope of believers’ resurrection, because Christ’s victory is not abstract but embodied.

• Doubt is confronted with gracious evidence and patient instruction:

  The disciples’ fear and wavering (“doubts arise,” “didn’t believe for joy”) are met with invitation, demonstration, and teaching. God does not despise struggling faith; he strengthens it through truth, witness, and clarity—calling believers to move from confusion into settled conviction.

• God’s plan is unified across the Scriptures and fulfilled in Christ:

  Jesus ties his death and resurrection to “the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms,” affirming the unity of Scripture and the necessity of fulfillment. Christian doctrine and preaching are therefore not a break from Israel’s Scriptures but the proclamation that God’s promises have reached their intended goal in the Messiah.

• Understanding Scripture requires divine illumination:

  “Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.” The text teaches that correct comprehension is not merely intellectual capacity; it is a gift God grants. This encourages humility in study, dependence in prayer, and confidence that God can bring clarity to sincere learners.

• The gospel summons a real response and offers real forgiveness:

  The message to be preached is “repentance and remission of sins” in Jesus’ name “to all the nations.” Repentance is a genuine turning of the person, and forgiveness is a real gift granted by God on the basis of Christ’s accomplished work. The church must neither minimize the call to turn nor weaken the promise that sins are truly remitted in Christ.

• The mission is universal, orderly, and witnessed:

  It begins “at Jerusalem” and extends “to all the nations,” showing a coherent expansion outward. “You are witnesses of these things” grounds proclamation in testimony: the church does not announce private theories but bears witness to God’s public act in Christ, handed on through reliable apostolic witness.

• God empowers what he commands through the Father’s promise:

  Jesus sends them to preach, but also commands them to “wait” until “clothed with power from on high.” Mission depends on divine enabling, not human strength. Believers are responsible to obey the Lord’s commission, yet must do so in reliance on God’s promised power rather than mere zeal.

Verses 50-53: Ascension, Worship, and Joyful Continuance

⁵⁰ He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

• The ascended Christ blesses his people and reigns in heaven:

  Jesus lifts his hands and blesses them, then is “carried up into heaven.” The ascension is not Jesus abandoning the church but being enthroned and exalted, continuing to care for and bless his disciples. The church lives under Christ’s heavenly lordship with confidence that his saving work remains effective and his presence remains meaningful.

• Worship of Jesus is the fitting response to his risen and ascended identity:

  “They worshiped him,” presenting Christ as worthy of worship. This is devotion rooted in revelation: the resurrection and ascension compel adoration, not mere admiration. Christian worship is therefore Christ-centered and grateful, shaped by what he has done and who he is.

• Joy and persevering praise mark a church anchored in the gospel:

  They return “with great joy” and are “continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.” Luke ends with a community that is steady, worshipful, and public in devotion. Gospel certainty produces durable joy, and durable joy expresses itself in praise and faithful gathering as the people of God await what Christ has promised.

Conclusion: Luke 24 presents the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as the centerpiece of God’s fulfilled plan, confirmed by witnesses and grounded in the whole of Scripture. The chapter teaches that Christ meets doubting disciples with peace, evidence, and illumination; calls the nations to repentance and forgiveness in his name; and empowers the church by the Father’s promised gift. The fitting response is worship, joyful perseverance, and Spirit-dependent witness to the living Lord.