He is risen: the empty tomb, Emmaus and the opened Scriptures in Luke 24

Luke 24 closes the Gospel of Luke, the first volume of a two-part work that continues in Acts. The author does not name himself. Christian tradition from the second century assigns the work to Luke, the physician who traveled with Paul (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11), and the 'we' sections of Acts fit that. Some modern scholars question whether the author knew Paul personally. All agree that he was a skilled writer addressing a Gentile audience, named in the opening as Theophilus, and that he intended to give an orderly account based on eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4). The date is debated. Those who read the ending of Acts as a sign that Paul's Roman imprisonment was still going on put it in the early 60s AD, and many critical scholars date it between AD 70 and 90.

The chapter draws on what scholars call the synoptic problem, the question of how the first three Gospels relate. Most scholars hold that Luke used Mark and other sources, though Mark's own account ends differently. The oldest manuscripts of Mark end at 16:8 with the women afraid at the empty tomb, and the longer ending (16:9-20) is probably a later addition. Matthew has the angel direct the disciples to Galilee, where Jesus meets them (Matthew 28:7, 16-20). John has appearances in Jerusalem and a later one in Galilee (John 20 and 21). Luke places everything in and around Jerusalem. The events begin early on the first day of the week, the Sunday after the crucifixion, and end on the Mount of Olives near Bethany.

The resurrection was not the expected ending of a crucified Messiah's story. Pharisees believed in a resurrection at the end of the age (Luke 20:39; Acts 23:8), but no one expected one man to rise in the middle of history. Many scholars argue that the disciples' reaction in Luke 24 (confusion, fear, disbelief, joy) does not read like invention. Luke writes the chapter to show Theophilus that the risen Jesus is a real man with a real body, that the Scriptures foretold this, and that the mission to the nations starts from Jerusalem.

Luke 24 is historical narrative, told in three scenes that move from the morning to the evening of a single day. Each scene follows the same pattern: confusion or sorrow, a word from the Scriptures or from heaven, recognition, and then joyful witness. The reader should notice the pattern, because it explains Luke's purpose. He is teaching how people come to see the risen Lord: through his word, through the Scriptures, and through his presence at table.

Narrative rules matter here. Luke gives the dialogue at length and often through irony. The two disciples on the road tell Jesus the whole story of Jesus, and they do not know to whom they speak. The reader knows and is meant to feel the gap. Another rule is to read the chapter as the end of a book that has been preparing for it. Jesus has said three times that the Son of Man would be killed and rise on the third day (9:22; 18:31-33), and the angels remind the women of that (24:6-7). The chapter also closes where the Gospel began, in the temple (1:8-23; 24:53).

Finally, there is the difficulty of how to read the resurrection itself. Luke writes as one reporting events that happened in space and time, with bodies, food, and a tomb. Some critical scholars have read the resurrection as a way of speaking about the disciples' renewed faith. The class follows the plain meaning of the text, which presents it as an act of God, and notes this is also how the New Testament writers, including Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, understood it.

Verses 1–12

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee come to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They find the stone rolled away and the body gone. Two men in dazzling clothes stand beside them, and the women bow down in fear. The question is direct: why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen. They are told to remember what he said while still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, crucified and raised on the third day. The word 'must' (dei) recurs through the chapter and means divine necessity. The women remember his words, go back and tell the Eleven and the rest. They are named: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others. To the apostles it seems like nonsense, and they do not believe them. Peter runs to the tomb, stoops, sees the linen cloths alone and goes home wondering. Verse 12 is missing from a few manuscripts, but most scholars keep it.

Verses 13–27

That same day two disciples are walking to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem (the Greek has sixty stadia, and the site is uncertain). One is named Cleopas. Jesus comes alongside them, but they are kept from recognizing him. He asks what they are discussing, and they stop, looking sad. Cleopas answers that Jesus is the only visitor to Jerusalem not to know. They summarize the story: a prophet mighty in deed and word, handed over by the chief priests and rulers to be crucified. They say they had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel, which shows what they believed and what they had lost. It is the third day, and some women have reported an empty tomb and a vision of angels. Some of their company checked the tomb and found it as the women said, but they did not see him. Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart to believe all the prophets said. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory? Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explains in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Verses 28–35

They urge him to stay, since the day is nearly over. At table he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them. Their eyes are opened and they recognize him, and he vanishes. They say to each other that their hearts were burning within them while he talked with them on the road and opened the Scriptures. They return at once to Jerusalem and find the Eleven and the others gathered, saying that the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. The two then tell what happened and how he was known in the breaking of the bread. The four actions echo the feeding of the five thousand (9:16) and the Last Supper (22:19).

Verses 36–43

While they are talking, Jesus himself stands among them and speaks peace to them. They are startled and think they see a ghost. He asks why they are troubled, tells them to look at his hands and feet and to touch him: a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as he does. They still cannot believe for joy, and he asks for food. They give him a piece of broiled fish and he eats it before them. Luke stresses the bodily reality of the risen Lord, against any idea that it was only a vision.

Verses 44–49

Jesus reminds them that everything written about him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. This threefold division matches the divisions of the Hebrew Bible. He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures: the Christ is to suffer and rise on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. They are witnesses of these things. He will send the promise of the Father, and they are to wait in the city until they are clothed with power from on high. This points to Pentecost (Acts 2).

Verses 50–53

Jesus leads them out to Bethany, lifts his hands and blesses them. While he blesses them he parts from them and is carried up into heaven. A few manuscripts lack the words about being carried up into heaven, but most include them, and Acts 1:9-11 describes the same event. The disciples worship him, return to Jerusalem with great joy and are continually in the temple blessing God. Acts 1:3 speaks of forty days of appearances, and Luke's Gospel gives the sequence without marking the interval.

The resurrection is the central event of the Christian faith, and Luke 24 states several truths that the New Testament builds on.

• First, it is a bodily resurrection. The risen Jesus has hands and feet, flesh and bones, and eats fish, yet he is also changed: he is not recognized at first and he vanishes from sight. Paul calls the resurrection body a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44), meaning a body renewed by the Spirit, not one without substance.
• Second, the resurrection is the vindication of the crucified. The disciples lost hope at the cross, and the empty tomb proves that God has accepted his sacrifice (Romans 4:25).

• Third, the chapter teaches that the whole Old Testament speaks of Christ. This is a basic principle of the New Testament's own reading of the Old, and it is not an allegorical device: the Scriptures speak of a Messiah who suffers and then enters his glory (compare 1 Peter 1:10-11).
• Fourth, the chapter gives the mission of the church. Repentance and forgiveness are to be preached to all nations, in the power of the Spirit, starting at Jerusalem, and this is what Acts tells.
• Fifth, the chapter ends with the ascension, which is the enthronement of Christ in heaven. Acts and the letters take it up (Acts 2:33; Ephesians 1:20-23; Hebrews 4:14).

Luke 24 presents Jesus as the one in whom the whole Old Testament is fulfilled. He says that all the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled in him. The chapter does not list the passages he used, so any list is an inference. Likely examples are the promised prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22), the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the righteous sufferer of Psalm 22, the stone of Psalm 118:22, the Lord of Psalm 110 and the Son of Man of Daniel 7. Peter's sermons in Acts and Paul's in Acts 13 give a sense of how the first Christians read these texts.

The chapter also shows who Jesus is as the risen Lord. He is the same Jesus: the wounds in his hands and feet identify him. He is the host at table, breaking bread as he did at the Supper, and the one who sends his disciples with the Father's promise. When he is carried up into heaven the disciples worship him, which Luke records without comment. Some manuscripts lack the word 'worshiped', but most have it. As a gentler echo, Jesus lifts his hands to bless his disciples, as the high priest Aaron lifted his hands to bless Israel (Leviticus 9:22), and this suits a Gospel that begins with a priest and ends with a blessing.