I cannot read my little pocket Bible as easily as I used to. It makes me tired and nod off while reading. I need a larger print or stronger glasses, and I don’t think it’s the glasses at 56.
1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Luke 24:1 (NASB95)
Let’s start in a direction most of you don’t expect I’ll wager. “…on the first day of the week.” We view Sunday as the last day of the weekEND, not the first day of the week. I submit we need to rethink this approach because it is a paradigm shift. Sunday is not the end of the weekend. It is the start of the week, and here’s why.
7Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.
9Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Proverbs 3:7–10 (NASB95)
My statement to my small group for Lent was to give up some of your time this year. Read scripture from a physical Bible. This became the Lenten devotion for these last forty days. Sunday, as the first day of the week, becomes giving God the first fruits of our seven days to come. Shifting this mentally is a big deal because we are of the Kingdom of God, a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of the heart, not the flesh. This mental shift can become foundational for all of our giving, especially when we see our time as something that can be given or received.
2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
Luke 24:2 (NASB95)
The point of the stone is to keep the wild animals from defiling the body. In the case of rich people, to keep tomb robbers from stealing those things laid to rest with the deceased. In this case, they knew they were coming back to anoint the body because yesterday was a day of rest for them.
3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
5and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?
6“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
8And they remembered His words,
9and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Luke 24:3–9 (NASB95)
This is a large group of women coming to tend the body in a ritualistic fashion. They are somber and sober of mind. They are not hysterical or wildly emotional, though I suspect some were stricken with grief, having just lost Jesus two days ago. Understandably, they would not recall this teaching of Jesus while finding His body gone and two angelic men calmly conversing with them about it.
10Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.
11But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
Luke 24:10–11 (NASB95)
They are grief-stricken, so it is not unreasonable to accept these women rejected the angel’s statements. I wonder if they recognized them as angels or just with “glowing raiment,” which is to say their clothing radiated light. We do know that they returned to the apostles immediately with this news.
12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.
Luke 24:12 (NASB95)
Peter is first there. Perhaps he is propelled by his own internal events with the denying three times and revelation that Jesus told him it would happen that way. We don’t know. We do know that Peter found the tomb empty, and Luke tells us he found the funerary linen wrappings “laid by themselves,” as the King James says. The NASB relates it differently, but the point is this cloth wrapping was neatly set aside as though someone folded or tended to it with care.
13And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:13 (NASB95)
Let me take a moment to insert a plug here. If you aren’t familiar with the Walk to Emmaus movement, I highly recommend it. It is one of the most profound spiritual events I have ever had. It is not for everyone, and indeed not everyone is ready for what that weekend has to offer, but if you read that scripture and these words and feel called to it, you will need to seek out someone at your local church who has been through it. You must be sponsored for the event. If your church doesn’t have anyone who has attended, widen your search to your circle of Christian friends. If you still have no luck, widen your search further and keep widening your search until you encounter someone who can help you explore this unique Christian weekend. You won’t regret it.
14And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.
15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.
16But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
Luke 24:14–16 (NASB95)
The transfigured, risen Christ is not recognized by two of those who walked with Him in life. I often wonder if this is something Jesus does on purpose or if it is just an unconscious thing? I suppose the answer is that it is done to have the right effect at the right time to make their story relevant to salvation for a subset of people they encounter or who read their tale. I’ll have to put that one on the list of questions for God for now.
17And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad.
18One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?”
19And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
Luke 24:17–19 (NASB95)
Still, some people see Jesus as just a prophet. They haven’t realized He is risen yet. They know He spoke for God but apparently didn’t believe His claims to divinity as much as the religious leaders did.
20and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.
21“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
22“But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,
23and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.
Luke 24:20–23 (NASB95)
Verse twenty-one shows how they fully expected an earthly leader to do earthly things. Also, verse twenty-three states the women identified the men in “glowing raiment” as angels, so there’s an answer to that question.
24“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”
Luke 24:24 (NASB95)
“…but Him they saw not.” Is how the King James has it. I like that better. So, everyone knows the body of Christ is gone. They know what the women say, that angels say He is risen. In other Gospel stories, He has already appeared to Mary and the other women. This walk to Emmaus could be His first appearance to the male followers, and they still doubt the tale somewhat.
25And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26“Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
27Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
28And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.
29But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them.
30When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
Luke 24:25–31 (NASB95)
What a conversation that must have been. I am envious. They had the perfect source of truth. They could ask any question at all and get the one true answer. I wonder what they asked? I also find it interesting that when he blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to them to eat, it was at that moment that their eyes were opened, but once they knew who they sat with, he “…vanished out of their sight.” The Greek word says “turned invisible, but it is inextricably linked to all the words in that quote I just listed. As I read through all the Greek words behind this quoted portion, I wrote this down.
Invisible cause to be bid farewell through a baffling wind backward to self
I’m not going to post all the Greek words here. If you’re interested in digging into them, you can through any number of online resources but use the King James Version as the root scripture. The Greek interlinear for the King James Version has the best and most thorough information regarding the language. Other interlinear versions rely on what I consider to be spurious and tainted translations. I don’t use them.
The point is that Jesus is gone immediately after He blesses, brakes the bread, and gives it to the men. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that room at that moment to hear their conversations. The following retelling in scripture is as close as we will get, I’m afraid.
32They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
33And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,
Luke 24:32–33 (NASB95)
The encounter on the walk to Emmaus happened in the later afternoon. That makes the meal the evening meal. If the sun wasn’t already set when the two men rose to return to Jerusalem, it did while they traveled. Traveling at night was dangerous, especially for just two men on foot. We don’t know if they were armed, but the point is that the encounter so moved them, and they felt it was so important to get that information back to their friends that they risked it.
34saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”
35They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
36While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
Luke 24:34–36 (NASB95)
Jesus has perfect, dramatic timing. He appeared to the two men when He broke the bread and gave it to them. Now, He appears to the people they are telling the story to precisely when they recount how He appeared to them when He broke the bread and gave it to them. It is as perfect as it can be from a scripted, dramatic standpoint.
37But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.
Luke 24:37 (NASB95)
It is important for Luke to tell us they think they see a ghost here. Some denominations who shall remain nameless claim Jesus did not rise in bodily form. That is incorrect, and Luke is taking pains here to make that clear just as Jesus does next.
38And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Luke 24:38–39 (NASB95)
It is a perversion of scripture, and the truth to claim Jesus didn’t rise bodily and have a resurrected physical form after He died. Just like Thomas, whom Jesus invited to touch and inspect Him, Jesus calls all who are viewing Him to put their hands on Him to confirm that He is real.
40And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
41While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
42They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish;
43and He took it and ate it before them.
Luke 24:40–43 (NASB95)
If that isn’t enough for the people He is with, He asks them if they have anything to eat, and they serve Him. The point here is that the physical food they gave Him is consumed and goes away. A ghost doesn’t eat fish. People eat fish. Jesus was a resurrected person in a physical body interacting with the world in a physical way.
44Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:44 (NASB95)
Here is another piece of scripture this passage in Luke relates to.
17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17–19 (NASB95)
Jesus is about setting creation right. He is the justifying sacrifice, the conduit through which everything fallen can be reconciled to God. Jesus isn’t an option or a path to God. He is the necessary and the solitary way to God.
45Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Luke 24:45 (NASB95)
Wouldn’t this be great if we could get this one switch flipped? No contradictions in the faith. No misunderstandings. All those men and women suddenly had a perfect understanding of God’s Holy Word, and all disputes among them ceased. How cool would that be in your or my local church but look out, here comes that word again from Jesus’ own mouth that church doesn’t like to say or preach about.
46and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:46–47 (NASB95)
“…repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name….” That’s not a maybe. That’s not an if we feel like it. That’s how it is. You don’t get the one without the other. We go through Jesus to get to God but not carrying the baggage of our sinful nature. We have to divest ourselves of that baggage, and the mechanism to do that is to ask Jesus to forgive us, which He willingly does. Once He does that, then He escorts us to God. It’s all about Him and not anything at all to do with us, our works, or our righteous behavior.
48“You are witnesses of these things.
49“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:48–49 (NASB95)
Jesus will send them the Holy Spirit, and He just asked them to wait where they are until that happens. Can you imagine the passionate conversations that take place between this moment and that one? We get to see a brief summary of what they do, culminating in a final verse that hints at the future of the church.
50And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
51While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
52And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53and were continually in the temple praising God.
Luke 24:50–53 (NASB95)
These men and women saw the bodily resurrected Christ preach, lead them, bless them, and then get taken up into Heaven. He had a physical form that “…was carried up into heaven.” How amazing was that? Of course, after that, they “…worshiping Him…” with “…great joy…” but can you imagine the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Lawyers in the temple as this mass of common, everyday folks flowed into the temple and began praising God for what He has done for Jesus? Those guys thought they’d solved their problem when Jesus died. They got three days of relief before their world began to crumble. It might not have fully collapsed for a long time, but their power structure was done the moment Jesus rose, and his followers flooded into the temple, proclaiming, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” God bless you, and Godspeed. Have a happy Easter.