Luke 24 explained: The Empty Tomb and the Risen Jesus

The empty tomb (vv. 1-12)

At dawn on Sunday, women who had followed Jesus brought spices to care for his body, as was the burial custom, but found the tomb empty and two shining messengers reminding them he had said he would rise on the third day. The men dismissed their report as nonsense, though Peter ran to look and saw only the linen burial cloths.

On the road to Emmaus (vv. 13-27)

Two followers, one named Cleopas, walking from Jerusalem to a nearby village, meet Jesus without recognizing him and share their crushed hope that he would set Israel free. He tells them the Messiah, God's promised king, had to suffer before entering his glory, and explains this from the Jewish scriptures, starting with Moses.

Recognized at the table (vv. 28-35)

At the evening meal he gives thanks and breaks the bread, and in that moment they recognize him before he vanishes; many readers hear an echo of his last supper here, though the text does not say so directly. They hurry back to Jerusalem and learn he has also appeared to Simon Peter, who had denied knowing him.

Not a ghost (vv. 36-43)

Jesus appears among the gathered followers, who are terrified and think he is a ghost. He shows his wounded hands and feet and eats fish in front of them, which stresses that he is physically real, not a spirit or a vision.

The scriptures and a mission (vv. 44-49)

Jesus says all three parts of the Jewish scriptures, the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, point to his suffering and rising, and that a call to turn back to God and be forgiven will go to every nation, starting in Jerusalem. They are to wait in the city for "power from on high," which Luke's second book, Acts, describes as the coming of God's Spirit.

Taken up to heaven (vv. 50-53)

Near Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, Jesus blesses his followers and is taken up into heaven. Luke's gospel opened in the temple and closes there too, with his followers full of joy and praising God.

Key verse: Luke 24:6

Where Christians differ

Most Christians read these appearances as a literal bodily resurrection, while some more liberal Christians understand them as real experiences of Jesus' living presence that need not mean a revived physical body.

Something to think about

Why do you think the people closest to Jesus found this news so hard to believe, and what kind of evidence would matter most to you in their place?