Verse By Verse Through Luke
Chapter Twenty-Four
Luke 24:1 “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”
- Before this occurs, note what Matthew recorded (Matthew 27:62-66).
- “They” are Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James (Luke 24:10; cf. Matthew 28:1 and Mark 16:1).
- Note that Luke records “certain others with them” (cf. Matthew 27:55-56 and Mark 15:40).
- They had prepared these spices (Luke 23:55-56).
Luke 24:2 “And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.”
- As they came, they were wondering how they’d get to the body of Jesus (Mark 16:3-4).
- How the stone was rolled away (Matthew 28:2).
Luke 24:3 “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.”
- cf. Luke 24:22-23
- John records a lot of different details that may not be in chronological order, but certainly has more than what we read here and forward (John 20:1-18).
Luke 24:4-5 “And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?”
- Matthew records an angel (Matthew 28:2-7). Mark records “a young man” (Mark 16:5). John also records two (John 20:12).
- Angels described as men (Acts 10:3 and Acts 10:30).
- Fear in the presence of an angel (Luke 1:12-13, Luke 1:26-30, and Luke 2:8-10).
- Jesus is RISEN (I Corinthians 15:1-4)! Notice the very next verse!
Luke 24:6-7 “He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
- As Jesus had told them in Galilee (Matthew 17:22-23, Mark 9:30-32, and Luke 18:31-34 [apparently in Galilee; Luke 17:10-11]).
- He told them other times too (Matthew 12:38-42, Matthew 16:21, Matthew 20:18-19, Mark 10:32-34, and Luke 9:22).
Luke 24:8-10 “And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.”
- Like other things (John 12:16), clarity arises when memories are jogged (cf. II Peter 3:1-2).
- They ran off to do the reporting they were told to do (Matthew 28:7-8 and Mark 16:7-10).
Luke 24:11 “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
- Their words seemed to be nonsense. Think back to Lot warning his sons in law (Genesis 19:14) or when Peter was set free from prison (Acts 12:6-17).
- Simply put, the Apostles didn’t believe the report (Mark 16:11).
Luke 24:12 “Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”
- As noted when we looked at verse three, John records a lot of different details that may not be in chronological order from what we are seeing here (John 20:1-18).
- Jesus is going to show Himself multiple times to the Apostles. We will read of some of that here in the context to come. We see John’s extensive accounts (John 20:1-21:25).
- Still, there were doubts (Matthew 28:17 and Mark 16:14).
Luke 24:13 “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.”
- Threescore is 60. A furlong was a space or distance of about 600 feet (Strong’s # 4712). So, about 6.8 miles.
- One of them was named Cleopas (Luke 24:18).
- cf. Mark 16:12-13
Luke 24:14-16 “And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.”
- They reasoned together. In other words, they questioned (Mark 1:27 and Mark 9:10) or reasoned together (Mark 12:28) (Strong’s # 4802).
- They did not know Jesus when they saw Him because their eyes were “holden.” Just as the word states, it means their eyes were laid hold on, took, or similarly translated. That is how this word is often translated (Matthew 14:3, Matthew 21:46, Matthew 26:48, Matthew 26:57, etc.; Strong’s # 2902).
- Jesus had appeared in another form according to Mark (Mark 16:12).
Luke 24:17 “And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?”
- Jesus foretold His disciples of what they would be going through at this time (John 16:16-20).
Luke 24:18 “And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”
- This is the only time we read of Cleopas [Κλεόπας].
- We read of the wife of Cleophas (John 19:25). That does not mean this that same person.
- What happened to Jesus was not done in secret (Acts 26:22-26).
Luke 24:19-20 “And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.”
- They aren’t wrong, per se (Acts 10:38).
- Jesus was a prophet (John 4:44; cf. Matthew 23:37-24:34 and John 13:18-19).
- He was known as a prophet (Matthew 21:1-11 and Luke 7:11-17).
- Yet, this is part of a major misunderstanding (i.e. John 7:40-42).
- He was/is MUCH MORE than just a prophet (Matthew 1:23, Romans 9:1-5, II Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 3:1, I John 4:14, etc.).
- The chief priests and rulers delivered Jesus to be condemned to death (Matthew 27:1-2).
- They were not the only one’s responsible though (Matthew 27:24-26 and Acts 3:12-15).
Luke 24:21 “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.”
- In the English here we see a past tense word “trusted.” One might conclude from that that all hope was lost. However, the Greek is not to be understood in this way. Consider how this Greek word [ἐλπίζω; Strong’s # 1679] is translated in other verses in the KJV: “trust” (Matthew 12:21, John 5:45, Romans 15:12, Romans 15:24, etc.), “hope” (Luke 6:34, Acts 26:7, etc.), “hoped” (Luke 23:8 and Acts 24:26), “hope for” (Romans 8:24), “hopeth” (I Corinthians 13:7), and like terms going forward. This could just as easily be translated: “we trust it is...” “Had been” [Strong’s # 2076] is sometimes translated “is” (cf. Matthew 6:21 and Luke 6:36).
- While the disciples did not collectively understand and did not have certain faith (Mark 16:14 and Acts 1:1-8), let’s just be cautious with how we understand the wording of this verse.
- What did Jesus tell His disciples about the third day (Matthew 17:23)?
- He will rebuke them for being “slow to believe” (Luke 24:25-26).
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