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Luke Chapter 24

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Luke 24 Outline:
24:01-10 The women visit the tomb early Sunday morning.
24:11-12 Peter and John visit the tomb.
24:13-35 Jesus appears to two disciples on the road.
24:36-43 Jesus appears to His disciples.
24:44-49 The fulfillment of scripture.
24:50-53 Jesus ascends to heaven.

Fun Facts:
— Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord Jesus (Mark 16:9).

— One of the disciples on the road to Emmaus was named Cleopas (Luke 24:18).

Study Notes:
Luke 24:1 The sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, ended at sunset on Saturday. The first day of the week would have been on what we know as Sunday. So the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee rose at the crack of dawn on Sunday and went to the tomb with the spices they had made to complete the burial of Jesus.

Mark tells us that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were there (Mark 16:1). While on the way, they discussed who would roll the stone away for them, but when they arrived, they saw that it had already been rolled away (Mark 16:4).

Matthew tells us who moved the stone. An angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled the stone back, and sat on it (Matt. 28:2). The angel appeared very much like the one that Daniel described, (like the appearance of lightning) (Daniel 10:6). The guards at the tomb could not stand in his presence, just as in Daniel 10:7-9, and Revelation 1:17. This was a very powerful angel with all the majesty of God, and mortals could not stand before him.

Luke tells us that while they stood there perplexed, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. Matthew tells us of one angel that rolled the stone away (Matt. 28:2). Mark tells us of a young man in a white robe they saw after entering the tomb (Mark 16:5). John mentions two angels in white that spoke to Mary Magdalene (John 20:12). In summary, there were several angels there at the tomb that morning.

The angels asked the women why they sought the living among the dead, meaning that Jesus was alive. They reminded them that He had already told them this would happen (Luke 9:22).

Luke 24:9 The women went and told the eleven apostles what they had seen and heard but they did not believe them. They were very sceptic and it would take more than words to convince them.

Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord Jesus (Mark 16:9) as she stood outside the tomb weeping (John 20:11). At first, Mary thought He was the gardener and she did not recognize Him. Apparently Jesus in His resurrected body, looked different or through some supernatural cloaking, they could not recognize Him. Mary did not recognize Him, nor the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:16), nor the apostles when they were fishing near the beach (John 21:4).

Mary thought that the gardener had removed the body of Jesus and asked him where he had put it so that she could give Him a proper burial, which tells us that Mary Magdalene was a woman of substance (See Luke 8:2). When Jesus called Mary by her name, she immediately recognized Him. The Shepherd called His sheep by name and they recognized His voice (John 10:3). Jesus then appeared to the other women as well (Matt. 28:9).

After Jesus revealed that it was Him, Mary went and told Peter and John, then they ran to the tomb to see for themselves (John 20:2). They only saw that the tomb was indeed empty.

When the soldiers who were guarding the tomb reported what had happened to the chief priests, they gave them a considerable amount of money to lie and say that they fell a sleep and the disciples had quietly stolen the body of Jesus. Sleeping on watch duty was a serious offense, so they offered to keep them out of trouble.

The story was not that well thought out because it is highly unlikely that someone could roll away the giant stone and steal the body without waking them up. Also they were saying that they knew what had happened while they were sleeping, but to the priests, anything was better than the truth. The soldiers took the money and did as they were told.

Luke 24:13 Two unnamed disciples were walking to Emmaus, which is about seven miles from Jerusalem. Jesus “drew near” to them, meaning that they were probably heading in the same direction and He overtook them. They did not recognize Him. There are several occasions where the risen Christ was not recognized (Matt. 28:17, John 20:14, John 21:24) but this time it appears that it was the disciples who were blinded to His presence. In the same way, Jesus can be walking right beside us and we will not recognize Him unless He reveals Himself to us.

Jesus asks them what they are talking about and they stop to explain. One of them is revealed to be named “Cleopas” which means “The whole glory” and is only mentioned here in the Bible. They explained to Jesus what had been happening and He then explained how all of this was necessary throughout the scriptures. “O foolish ones” is probably better translated today as “How dull you are!” but it was certainly not a compliment.

Some believe that Cleopas’ companion was Luke himself, but we really do not know. Jesus explains that the prophets had written it all out plainly, but that the disciples had not grasped the meaning of the scriptures. I still find that every day when a verse is suddenly illuminated in a new light. We really see through a glass darkly (1Cor. 13:12).

Luke 24:28 When they got near the village and it was getting close to sunset, Jesus would have continued on, but they were impressed with His knowledge of scripture and invited Him to stay with them. If they had not invited Him, He would have left them. He was not “play-acting.” They probably entered one of their homes. When Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized that was Jesus sitting with them at the table.

Jesus vanished. Poof He was gone. All the arguments they had used to get Jesus to stay with them because it was so late, the road was dangerous, were now thrown out. They left the same hour and returned to Jerusalem to tell the others, even though it was now night. They told the disciples of their walk with Jesus and how He had become known to them in the breaking of bread.

Luke 24:26 As the disciples were at the table talking about these things, Jesus appeared among them (Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36, John 20:19). They were startled. Jesus greets them with “Peace be with you” and shows them the nail marks on His body. Jesus asked for something to eat and they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and Jesus ate it before them.

Jesus was not a ghost, but had a physical body bearing the nail marks. He still ate food (Luke 24:42) and He could appear and disappear at will (Luke 24:31), and pass through locked doors (John 20:26). All I can say is that He is God and He does what He wants. When He was alive, He walked on water and raised the dead. Now that He is walking in resurrection power, the question is what can He not do?

The disciples felt that it was too good to be true and “disbelieved for joy.” Thomas was not with them when Jesus appeared and when he heard about it, he said that unless he put his finger into the nail marks, that he would not believe. Eight days later, Jesus appears to the disciples again and Thomas is with them (John 20:26). He tells Thomas to put his fingers into the holes and place it in His side where He was pierced, and believe.

Peter decided that he was going fishing and some of the other disciples went with him (John 21:3). They fished all night but caught nothing and as the day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore but again, they did not recognize Him. He told them to cast on the right side of the boat and when they did so, they were not able to haul the net in due to the large number of fish. It was common for cast-net fisherman to work naked, so Peter probably wrapped a loin cloth around him and jumped into the water to swim to Jesus on the shore.

The other disciples brought the boat and the fish. When they got to the shore, they found a charcoal fire burning with fish and bread laid out on it. Then they had breakfast with the Lord Jesus on the beach. Charcoal grilled fish and bread is apparently the breakfast of champions. They had caught 153 large fish but the net had not broken. If there is symbolism in the number of 153, I do not know it and it may be simply used to demonstrate a miracle catch of large fish.

John mentions that this is the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. The first time without Thomas (John 20:19). Then a second time with Thomas present (John 20:26). Then this third time here on the shore of the sea of galilee (John 21:14).

Matthew 28:16 tells us that the eleven disciples went to Galilee, and there they saw Jesus and worshipped Him. There Jesus gave them the great commission (Matt. 26:16, Mark 16:15). Paul wrote that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time (1Cor. 15:6), then to James, then all the apostles, and to Paul as well.

Luke 24:44 Jesus opened the disciples minds to understand the scriptures and told them that He would send the “promise of the Father” upon them. They were to stay in the city until they were “clothed with power from on high.” Acts 1:4 tells us that Jesus told them to wait and not depart from Jerusalem for the “promise of the Father” because they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days later.

Luke 24:50 After His resurrection, Jesus spent forty days on earth and appeared to His disciples multiple times, teaching them many things and speaking about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Then He led the disciples out to Bethany, which was on the slopes of the mount of olives, and He ascended from there.

While they stood staring into the heavens, two angels appeared beside them and asked why they stood staring into the sky, and that Jesus would come back in the same way as they saw Him leaving (Acts 1:11). The disciples returned to Jerusalem in great joy.

The ascension marked the end of the old way. They would see Jesus appear no more as they had previously. Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father, His work completed (Mark 16:19, Acts 2:33). The work would now continue with the Holy Spirit working through His disciples daily.

Thank you for reading this study of the Gospel According to Luke. We plan to continue following Luke’s story into the book of Acts, which he wrote after completing his gospel (Acts 1:1). Together they give a full account from the birth of Jesus right on through the establishment of the first church and were once considered one book called Luke-Acts.

Thought to be the road to Emmaus. 

Study Questions: (if your answers are very long, you may want to type them first in something like Notepad, which doesn't require an Internet connection, then copy and paste (Ctrl-A to select, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste), to prevent mishaps. Also, there is a 3K character limit, so if they are super long, feel free to post more than once, and just answer a couple of questions at a time. You are welcome to post any questions you may have, as well. We look forward to your thoughts!)

1. Why do you think that even the disciples of Jesus could not believe that He had risen, even though they were told ahead of time by Jesus and then heard it reported by several (Luke 24:1-12)?

2. Luke 24:16 tells that Jesus intentionally kept his friends from recognizing him on the road to Emmaus. What do you think His purpose was?

3. On the road to Emmaus, the eyes of the group were opened when Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them, a fact that was proclaimed when they shared the testimony later. Why do you think Jesus revealed Himself to them in that way?

4. Jesus, in Luke 24:45, opened the minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures. Why do you think He needed to do so at this time, and not before?