Bible Commentaries
Luke 24

Verses 1-12

Luk 24:1-12

Commentary On Luke 24:1-12

Galen Doughty

Luke 24:1-8 - Very early on Sunday morning, the first day of the Jewish week, the women who had seen Joseph and Nicodemus lay Jesus’ body in the tomb went to the tomb to anoint the body and finish their duties to Jesus’ body and the burial of their friend. Sunday was a work day for the Jews and so it was natural after the Sabbath was finished for the women to go to the tomb. They would not have gone Saturday night even though the Sabbath was over because they needed time to prepare the spices. Mark’s gospel reports that the women had to buy the spices, which points to shopping for them Saturday night. John’s gospel says that Joseph and Nicodemus had brought 75 pounds worth of myrrh and aloes, expensive spices and an extravagant amount used for the burial of a king. Yet the women brought spices too. Perhaps they came to finish Joseph and Nicodemus’ work or more likely they wanted to contribute their own offering to Jesus’ burial and so they brought the spices they had prepared for Jesus’ body. They were the ones who had cared for him and taken care of his needs all throughout his Galilean ministry. Why would we expect it to be any different at his death?

When they arrived at the tomb however they found the large stone that sealed the tomb already rolled away from the entrance. When they went in they did not see Jesus’ body. Luke says they were wondering about this. John’s gospel says Mary Magdalene thought someone had stolen the body. The women at the tomb did not remember Jesus’ prophecy of his resurrection. They have to be reminded by the angels. This shows that the resurrection was a shock and a surprise to them all. They were not expecting Jesus to rise again, especially after having witnessed his crucifixion!

While they are wondering about where Jesus’ body has been taken and what is going on two men in bright clothing that gleamed like lightning stand beside them. These are angels but Luke describes them as men. Mark says there was a young man at the tomb that spoke to them. Matthew also says there was one angel. John does not mention any angels at the empty tomb.

Luke is the only gospel writer who also includes the angel’s question to the women, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen. The women are afraid and bow down before the angels. They reassure them and remind them how Jesus had told them all of this when he was with them in Galilee. They reiterate his prophecy that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. When they remind the women of Jesus’ words they finally remember them and it all clicks into place.

In Luke 24:7 the verb be raised again is in the passive voice. Jesus didn’t simply wake up or raise himself. God did it to him. Paul states in Romans 1:4 that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus and in Romans 4 that God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus doesn’t do this to himself just like we do not baptize ourselves. It is done to us.

Luke 24:9-12 - The women come back from the tomb and tell the disciples and everyone else what they have seen and heard. The “everyone else” could be many people. It could be Mary and some of Jesus’ family. It could be some of the other disciples, representatives of the 70 Jesus had sent out earlier. It could also be the other women who followed Jesus who did not go to the tomb early that morning. We know it was a mixed group of people who were with Jesus even at the end. The Eleven (the Twelve) are Jesus’ handpicked apostles. That Sunday morning they were probably wondering what they had been chosen for and what they should do now.

Luke reports that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them told this to the apostles. The “others with them” accounts for the discrepancy in some of the names of the women who went to the tomb. Luke singles out these three. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four gospels as being present at the tomb Easter morning. Joanna is mentioned in 8:1-3 as the wife of Cuza the manager or steward of Herod Antipas’ household and one of the women who helped provide for Jesus and his disciples’ needs. Mary the mother of James could be the mother of James and John or James the Son of Alphaeus, another of Jesus’ disciples. It is probably not Mary, Jesus’ mother although that possibility cannot be ruled out. However, there is not even an ancient Catholic or Orthodox tradition that puts Mary at the tomb on Easter morning so I think it highly unlikely. Plus Luke never hesitates to name Mary Jesus’ mother, so why change now? The more likely candidate is James and John’s mother who came to Jesus in Mark 10, asking for positions of power for her sons when Jesus came to his Messianic throne.

Why mention the women? Luke has a special focus on the role of women in Jesus’ ministry and he wants to give them credit for being the first witnesses to the resurrection, or at least the empty tomb. The apostles and all the others with them did not believe the women’s testimony, because it seemed to them as nonsense. People don’t rise from the dead on their own!

Luke does two things with that statement. First he shows how the disciples were not looking for signs of Jesus rising. Instead they were crushed by his crucifixion. Second, it is a great testimony for the authenticity of Luke’s account because a woman’s word was not admissible in court as eye witness testimony. It was thought women could not be trusted to get the story right. If Luke was fabricating his gospel it is highly unlikely that he would have chosen the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus to be women. He is once again trying to show Theophilus of the trustworthiness of his account.

Peter hears their testimony and runs to the tomb to check out the story. He bends down to look into the tomb and he sees the strips of linen cloth lying by themselves but he does not see Jesus’ body or Jesus. John’s gospel says that Peter and John ran to the tomb that morning. Peter sees the empty tomb but he goes back to the upper room wondering what it all means. He does not yet understand what has occurred. Sometime later that day Jesus appears to Peter, the first of all of the apostles to see Jesus risen. The disciples tell the Emmaus disciples that Jesus has appeared to Simon in Luke 24:34 when they return from Emmaus with their story of seeing the risen Jesus.

Note: the guides at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem go to great lengths to try and tie their tomb to the gospel accounts and say their site fits everything the gospels tell us about the tomb. But this little detail in Luke’s account, that Peter had to bend down to see into to the tomb works against the Garden Tomb as Jesus’ burial site. One has to bend down to enter the tomb because the top of the door is low. But if there is no stone in the way you do not have to bend down to see in. You look directly at where Jesus’ body is said to have rested. The guides are so enthusiastic in trying to convince you of their site as the right site and that it dovetails with the details of the gospels yet in the case of Luke 24:12 it does not.

Verses 13-35

Luk 24:13-35

Commentary On Luke 24:13-35

Galen Doughty

Luke 24:13-16 - Two disciples, one named Cleopas, are walking to Emmaus that Sunday, a village about 7 miles from Jerusalem. The village cannot be placed with any certainty. The most likely possibilities are too far away for Luke’s description. Luke also does not give any reason for why Cleopas and his companion were leaving Jerusalem and walking to Emmaus on that Sunday. The time is uncertain, but it must have been the middle of the day because evening is approaching by the time the men reach the village. The two men are part of the larger circle of the disciples, perhaps part of the 70 Jesus had sent out ahead of him in mission. They are not of the Eleven but were probably part of the 120 who were in the Upper Room at Pentecost. Luke’s source for this incident is probably Cleopas or his companion.

They are talking as they journey on the road about all the events surrounding Jesus and his death. They had already heard the reports of the women that morning, which also lends credibility to their journey taking place Easter afternoon. As they are talking Jesus himself joins them on the road. The two Greek infinitives used to describe their conversation imply more than just talking; they were examining what had taken place, questioning and debating together what it all meant. Jesus joins them as they walk but Luke says they were kept from recognizing him. The verb literally means to hold something or have power over it. In other words Jesus had the power to keep them from perceiving who he was. He shielded his identity from them. Luke implies this was a direct action by Jesus on their minds and not some sort of disguise by Jesus or an ability to alter his appearance. Jesus clouds their perception of him in order to shield his identity for the time being. He is going to test them. As far as we know, Jesus still looks like Jesus. This almost sounds like some Jedi mind trick from Star Wars!

Luke 24:17-19 - Jesus joins their conversation and plays dumb. What are you all talking about? Cleopas answers with his own question, as if it should have been obvious to Jesus what they were talking about! Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and don’t know what has been happening? Cleopas’ question implies they are still close to Jerusalem. This also fits the rest of the story since Jesus has to have at least several hours to teach them all the Scriptures concerning himself along the road. Perhaps they were still within sight of the city. It is unclear. Once again Jesus plays dumb and it’s almost humorous; what things? Their attitude is downcast, depressed, sorrowful and confused. Their answer shows their hopes have been dashed and they too were not predisposed to believe Jesus was going to rise from the dead. Even though Jesus had told them all he was going to be raised, the disciples were not looking for it. The resurrection came as a surprise; an interruption; news that was too good to be true!

Luke 24:19-24 - Cleopas now answers Jesus’ question. They have been talking about Jesus of Nazareth, whom he names a prophet who had great power from God. The chief priests and the Sanhedrin handed him over to be crucified. Notice the way Cleopas implicates the Jewish rulers and not the Romans. Pilate crucified Jesus and Cleopas does not say the chief priests did it but the implication is they bear the chief blame for Jesus’ death and not the Roman authorities. Was Luke shaping Cleopas’ testimony here to shield Roman officials from blame for Jesus’ death? Is he trying to soften Pilate’s responsibility to shield Theophilus? Or is that me just reading into the text imagined motives from Luke?

Cleopas goes on and states that "we", probably meaning all Jesus’ followers, had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel, meaning they had hoped he was more than a prophet, but was the Messiah himself! Cleopas then explains it is the third day since of all of this has taken place, namely Jesus’ crucifixion. It is obvious from what he says that their hopes about Jesus being the Messiah have been completely smashed. He is dead; therefore he cannot be the Christ! He then describes the testimony of the women who found the tomb empty that morning but did not find his body. Cleopas corroborates John and Luke’s descriptions of Peter and John going to the tomb to check out the women’s story, finding the tomb empty but the body of Jesus gone. It is clear from Cleopas’ description of the events surrounding Jesus’ death and the testimony of the women and their vision of angels and Peter and John’s running to the tomb, that the empty tomb did not convince Jesus’ followers of his resurrection it only confused them. Even with the evidence before them that something extraordinary had happened they were still not connecting the dots between the events of early Easter morning and Jesus’ prophecies of his death and resurrection. What proved to them Jesus was alive was not the empty tomb but the appearances to them of the risen Christ!

Luke 24:25-27 - Jesus now responds in a way that I don’t think they anticipated at all! He scolds them not for their lack of faith in the evidence of the empty tomb or doubting the women’s story. He scolds them for not believing the Scriptures and what was written in them concerning the Messiah. Jesus was constantly referring back to the Scriptures concerning himself. He had prophesied what would happen and said it was all written beforehand and must all be fulfilled. Now he tells them again that it was written that the Messiah had to suffer and then enter his glory. He had to die before he could be resurrected and victorious! Then Jesus gives the greatest Bible study ever given. He starts with Moses and goes through all the prophets showing them how the Scriptures had pointed to all these things and had to be fulfilled. He shows them in the Old Testament all the Scriptures that point to Jesus and his mission. His teaching the two disciples here on the Emmaus Road and later during his forty days with the Eleven and all the disciples before the resurrection formed the basis for the preaching of the apostles after Pentecost and their use of the Scriptures to prove Jesus was the Christ.

Even so, one only comes to Christ by faith. Jews today who know the Scriptures and all the prophecies of the Messiah, can be shown the same passages that Jesus taught Cleopas and his companion that Easter afternoon on the Emmaus Road and they will still not believe, because their hearts are closed to God’s Word and the testimony about Jesus. It still takes faith and not logic to come to Christ. Reason and logic play a role but faith is a matter of the surrender of one’s self and will to Jesus. Apologetics are crucial, they are necessary but they are not sufficient. The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord can only be received by faith.

It also shows that it takes a personal encounter with Jesus to produce faith. They knew the evidence of the empty tomb and Peter and John’s testimony that the body of the Lord Jesus was gone but that did not convince them. They had heard Jesus teach them all the Scriptures that pointed to him but that did not convince them. They needed Jesus to reveal himself to them personally which only came when he broke bread with them. The gospel carries the power today for Jesus to reveal himself to us, but that is the only necessary and sufficient thing that will produce faith in us. Nothing else will suffice!

Luke 24:28-29 - The three men are approaching Emmaus and it is getting late. Jesus acts like he is going farther and they beg him to stay with them. It was dark and dangerous on the road after sundown and Cleopas and his friend are concerned about Jesus traveling further so they implore him to accept their hospitality. Jesus finally relents.

Luke 24:30-32 - Jesus reclines at table with them for a meal. In good Middle Eastern fashion they offer him, their guest, the opportunity to bless the bread to begin the meal. Jesus takes the bread as he had done so many times with them, gives thanks for it, breaks it and hands it to them. These are the very actions he had done at the Passover meal with them the previous Thursday night and had changed the words, giving them the Lord’s Supper. It is at this moment that Jesus withdraws the veil he has put over their minds and their eyes are opened so that they can now recognize him. As soon as they do he disappears from their sight!

Jesus’ resurrection body was similar yet different from ours. He could hide his identity or reveal his identity at will. This implies a power of the mind and perception that we do not have. Luke never even hints that this was some sort of disguise. His implication was that Jesus had direct power to control the perception of the people around him in order to conceal his real identity. Jesus looked real, he had a physical presence, and thus he could pick up the bread, break it and hand it to them. He was not an apparition without physical abilities. He was not a ghost. He could vanish from their sight at will and remove himself from a room or location and then appear at a different one seemingly at will. He could speak and carry on a conversation as well just as he always had and Luke does not even hint that Cleopas and his friend thought Jesus sounded weird or different. He sounded like he always sounded. Finally Jesus remembered everything that had happened to him. There were no gaps in his memory as if his resurrection removed his memory and perception of the events of his earthly life. He recalled them all.

When Jesus disappears the two disciples exclaim to each other that they knew something was going on when Jesus had been teaching them from the Scriptures. They simply didn’t understand how it all related and they did not connect the dots that it was Jesus who was speaking to them. Now they are convinced he is risen. It was his appearance to them and revealing himself to them in the breaking of the bread that convinced them. That experience was so powerful and cemented the fact of Jesus’ ongoing fellowship with them that the "breaking of the bread" becomes another name for the Lord’s Supper and communion. Luke uses it that way at the end of Acts 2 to describe the activity of the early church.

Luke 24:33-35 - As soon as Jesus disappears they get up and run back to Jerusalem even though it is now evening. Their concern for safety on the roads is overridden by their joy and amazement at knowing the Lord Jesus is alive! They find the Eleven and the rest of the disciples gathered together, probably in the Upper Room. Before they can even get their story out the people there exclaim that it’s all true, the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon, meaning Peter. Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 15 , that the first of the apostles to see Jesus risen was Peter. We do not have that appearance in the gospel accounts and it is possible that if the ending to Mark’s gospel has been lost he intended to include it as the close to his gospel but we do not know.

The two friends them tell the assembled disciples, both men and women, what had happened on the road and how Jesus had revealed himself to them in the breaking of the bread.

A picture of the resurrection and the faith of the disciples in the risen Jesus begins to emerge from Luke’s account, coupled with the other gospels. At the beginning of the morning when the women went to the tomb they did not believe. The empty tomb did not convince them that Jesus was risen. It was only after he appeared to Peter and the Emmaus’ disciples, along with Mary Magdalene, that the disciples began to understand the incredible truth. Even then it took Thomas another week before he would believe. The facts are it was the appearance of the risen Christ that convinced them. The empty tomb did not, it only confused them. Physical evidence is not enough for faith. Even now it takes a personal encounter with the risen Jesus to produce faith in us. We experience that through the preaching of the gospel, through events, and through the Lord’s Table. The Holy Spirit takes all of these things and uses them to convince us that Jesus is alive so that believing in him we might be forgiven and saved!

Verses 36-43

Luk 24:36-43

Commentary On Luke 24:36-43

Galen Doughty

Luke 24:36-43 - While the Emmaus disciples are relating their story about the Lord’s appearance to them and how he disappeared at the breaking of the bread, Jesus himself suddenly stands among them and says, peace be with you. Shalom! They are startled and frightened thinking they are seeing a ghost, an apparition. Jesus responds immediately to allay their fears. He questions them as to why they are troubled and doubts arise within their minds. As a follow up he asks them to examine his hands and feet. It is I myself he tells them. He invites them to touch his hands and feet and reminds them that a ghost does not have flesh and bone as he does. While they are still too overwhelmed to believe it he asks if they have anything to eat. They give him some fish and he eats it in front of them. This scene is almost comical in nature You can picture the disciples watching Jesus eat the fish to see if the fish disappears or if it falls to the floor uneaten as it would if Jesus were simply an apparition or a figment of their imaginations. Even now they are still skeptical of his resurrection. They are surprised and shocked by it. They have no frame of reference within which to put it. All of the resurrection miracles that Jesus did during his ministry are simply restoring life to someone. Jesus is alive but he is different! Something more is going on here that the disciples have not as yet understood. They do not know that Jesus now belongs body and spirit to the Age to Come! He is the first fruits of the great resurrection at the last day! He is the example of what we will all be like.

One wonders whether Peter, Mary Magdalene and Cleopas and his friend had a different reaction to Jesus popping into the Upper Room Easter night. They had already seen him, while the other apostles and disciples had not. Undoubtedly they too were surprised by his sudden appearance but I don’t think they still thought of him as a ghost. I think the four of them were grinning ear to ear with an "I told you so" look on their faces, overjoyed to see the Lord again.

Jesus invites them to touch him and see if he is real. He eats some fish in their presence to prove he is not a ghost. He says he has flesh and bones as they do yet he is transformed because he simply appears in their presence. He can move at will from place to place without taking time to physically journey there. John’s gospel reports that the doors to the Upper Room where they were meeting were locked and yet Jesus doesn’t knock or enter through the door; he simply appears inside a locked room! He shows them his hands and feet, meaning he still carries the scars of his crucifixion like a badge of honor. The scars of his scourging are gone, but the scars of his sacrifice for us he will always bear to confirm that the crucified one is risen!

This incident raises some interesting questions. Jesus eats in front of them and obviously has a physical presence. Does he need to eat, or does the action of eating simply give him pleasure and fellowship with the disciples? He is now immortal and my guess is his former physical bodily functions are no longer necessary. He does not require food to live nor sleep to recuperate energy and strength. His existence is defined by immortality as God’s is. He eats to enjoy the food and to prove to the disciples that he is in fact real. But the fish didn’t digest and go through his digestive track to be consumed and then eliminated as our bodies would do. It is simply consumed and disappears because of the immortal energy Jesus’ body possessed. He has a corporeal presence that can be touched and yet he can appear and disappear at will, including enter a room that is locked without coming through the door. From a scientific standpoint there is no way to explain how his body worked. He is no longer bound by time and space or the laws of this physical universe. Perhaps Jesus’ body is now able to access multiple dimensions at the same time enabling him to come and go at will. This all sounds like something out of Star Trek and is total speculation but it is fun!

The other more profound issue that Jesus’ resurrected body raises is evidence of his crucifixion. There is no hint here that Jesus looked disfigured, with scars on his head from the crown of thorns or bruising around his face from the beating he took from the guards or scars or cuts from his scourging. Yet he shows them the marks of the nails in his hands and feet and they are still visible! The implication is in our resurrected state all evidence of physical trauma will be erased. We will be perfect in body and spirit. If our physical bodies died in a terrible accident or a war or wasted away from cancer, our resurrected bodies will not show that. All effects of sin, death and its consequences, the work of Satan in the world, will be erased. Jesus alone will bear the marks of his death in heaven for all eternity as a testimony of the sacrifice of the Son of God for us. Just as God the Father will take all our grief and bear it for eternity so God the Son will always display the marks of the awful cost of human sin and the overwhelming love of God which paid the price for us.

Verses 44-49

Luk 24:44-49

Commentary On Luke 24:44-49

Galen Doughty

Luke 24:44-49 - Jesus then reminds them that while he was with them he taught them that everything written in the Scriptures about him must be fulfilled. He says everything written in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. Those are the three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures, what we know as the Old Testament. Jesus is saying it all points to him. This is exactly the same lesson that Jesus was teaching Cleopas and his friend on the Road to Emmaus. The Hebrew Scriptures point to Jesus, which is a fundamental understanding of the Christian faith. Jesus is the prophesied Messiah of Israel, the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah who will bear the sins of humanity and the heavenly Son of Man who will rule the universe in the Kingdom of God and the Age to Come. There is an already and not yet component to this fulfillment. Much has been fulfilled, much yet remains to come to fulfillment. The resurrection is the fulcrum, proving that what remains will come to pass because so much that speaks of Jesus has already been confirmed. Jesus’ resurrection is God’s seal proving his Messiahship. That means his Second Coming that has yet to occur will come to pass so that everything written about him will be fulfilled. As Paul says, all the promises of God find their yes in Jesus Christ!

Jesus then opens their minds to understand the Scriptures, teaching them like he taught the Emmaus disciples. The Holy Spirit now teaches us and reminds us of everything Jesus said and did. It took Jesus’ help for the disciples to understand how he fulfills Scripture and it takes the Spirit’s help for us to understand as well. Even though when you do see how Jesus fulfills the prophecies it is plain yet a non-believer simply does not see it as obvious. When and if they begin to see and understand it is a sign of the Spirit’s work in their lives and that the Lord Jesus is seeking them.

Jesus summarizes what the Scriptures teach about him; the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Everything that had happened had occurred just as it had been written about him! The immediate result is that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. The already part of God’s plan and Kingdom is the way is now clear for people to come to God and be reconciled to him through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sins is offered to all who will come. God’s ultimate sacrifice has been given in Jesus and the offer is to all nations not just the Jews. But that offer will be first proclaimed and announced in Jerusalem to the Jews because Jesus is first the Messiah of Israel.

The apostles and disciples are Jesus’ witnesses of all these things. He then tells them that he is going to send them what the Father has promised, namely the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit living in all of them. They are to stay in the city until they have been clothed with power from on high just as Jesus was at his baptism. They are to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is the next step in the outworking of God’s salvation plan and is absolutely necessary in order for it to be carried out. The Holy Spirit will be the ultimate evidence of already and not yet and a further sign that the crucified-risen one is the Messiah promised by the prophets of Israel!

Luke makes it seem as if the disciples stayed in Jerusalem the entire 40 days before the ascension. We know there were appearances in Galilee and Jesus had told them to go there and they would see him. There must have been travel back and forth between Jerusalem and home in Galilee. Luke’s emphasis is setting up the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.

Verses 50-53

Luk 24:50-53

Commentary On Luke 24:50-53

Galen Doughty

Luke 24:50-53 - Luke closes his gospel with a short description of the ascension. He says Jesus and the disciples went out to the vicinity of Bethany, on the backside of the Mt. of Olives. Acts 1 specifically says it was the Mt. of Olives. There he lifts up his hands and blesses them. This was a priestly action because Jesus is now the great high priest in the order of Melchizidek according to Psalms 110. While he was blessing them Luke says he was taken up into heaven, leaving them. They returned to Jerusalem and were continually in the temple praising God. Acts 1 reports that they gathered in the Upper Room to pray and wait for Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost they were in the temple day by day praising God. Luke condenses and summarizes his accounts here setting up Volume 2 for Theophilus. The point is they worshipped Jesus as God and they were no longer in hiding. They publicly were proclaiming and living the fact that Jesus was the Messiah!

Why was the ascension necessary? Jesus now belonged body and spirit to the Age to Come. He did not belong to this earth any longer. His existence was not bound to this present age and the world of sin. He belonged to the future of God that he would send. Plus Jesus had told his disciples that if he returned to heaven it would be to their advantage because now he could send the Spirit in fulfillment of the Messianic Age and he would dwell with all of them no matter where they went. Jesus would no longer be limited, even as the resurrected Jesus, to one place and time. Wherever his people went all over the world bearing witness to him there he would be in the person and presence of the Holy Spirit. The ascension guarantees the coming of the Spirit and marks Jesus taking up his Messianic authority in heaven. The already is complete. Now we wait for the not yet. The age of the church is about to begin!

Final Note: Luke’s gospel is a condensed account for Theophilus’ sake and our sakes of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. Think of how much he includes but also how much he leaves out. If Jesus’ ministry is around three years that means it was 1095 days or close to 1100 days long. Yet in Luke’s gospel he only reports some 120 incidents and teachings during Jesus’ life and 45 incidents or teachings during Holy Week. That is a total of 165 different teachings and events in Jesus’ life out of a possible 1100 days. Plus many of these things happened during the same day. That is only a maximum of 15% of the total days of Jesus’ ministry. Even if only one teaching or event happened a day one can see there are so many things Luke and the other gospel writers leave out. These are simply the highlights. The gospels give us a truncated view of Jesus’ life and make it sound as if everywhere he went he was doing miracles every day. That is simply not the case. There must have been months when he was simply traveling from place to place, teaching and sometime healing and casting out demons. What we have, just as in the Book of Acts is only the highlights, the incidents that make the 6 o’clock news that Luke and the other gospel writers believed were necessary for us to believe that Jesus was the Christ and in believing finding the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. As John says at the end of his gospel, these things are written that we might believe in the Son of God and believing have life in his name. He also comments that if everything Jesus did and said were written down the world would not have enough space to contain all the books that would be written. That is a perspective that we need to have, which also helps explain the differences in the gospels, especially John and the Synoptics. The Holy Spirit caused the writers of the gospels to write down the necessary and sufficient stories of Jesus for our salvation. Plus books were expensive and cumbersome to copy and distribute. It would have been almost unthinkable for someone in the ancient Roman world to write a 3000 page history of Jesus like Shelby Foote did of the Civil War. We forget the context within which the gospels were written and judge them by our modern historical standards rather than taking them for what they are, summaries of Jesus’ life and ministry and narratives of his Passion and resurrection so that we might believe the gospel and be saved!

Questions by E.M. Zerr For Luke Chapter Twenty-Four

1. Who are “they” of first verse?

2. For what reason did they come to the sepulchre

3. What did they find had occurred ?

4. Entering, what was discovered?

5. Who explained their perplexity?

6. State the question asked.

7. Explain “living among the dead.”

8. What information was given them?

9. Was this altogether news to them?

10. How were they reminded of all this?

11. Why just eleven in the ninth verse?

12. How did their words seem?

13. What did Peter do?

14. Tell what he saw when he arrived.

15. How was he impressed?

16. Who journeyed toward Emmaus?

17. On what day was it?

18. Of what did they talk?

19. Who joined them in the way?

20. Did they recognize him?

21. What did he ask them?

22. Tell what surprised them.

23. Then what event did they relate ?

24. What disappointment did they mention?

25. How many days since the crucifixion?

26. What astonishing news reached them?

27. Did they give a truthful account to Jesus?

28. Of what did he then accuse them?

29. What ought to have taken place ?

30. From what source did Jesus instruct them?

31. Concerning whom did he instruct them ?

32. Did they recognize him?

33. Why did they insist on hospitality to him ?

34. When did they recognize him?

35. What did he do then?

36. Relate their conversation after this.

37. Where did they go?

38. What did they find there ?

39. On what subject were they talking?

40. While they were talking what happened?

41. Tell what he said.

42. How were they affected?

43. What did they suppose?

44. How did he convince them otherwise?

45. For what did he call?

46. While eating what did he say must be done?

47. To what three divisions of writing did he refer ?

48. What assistance did he then give them?

49. What was necessary, because it was written ?

50. Tell what was to be preached.

51. In what name?

52. Where preached?

53. State the place of beginning.

54. What were these hearers to dc in this matter?

55. Tell what he promised to send.

56. Why must they tarry in Jerusalem?

57. To what place did he lead them?

58. When there what did he do for them?

59. While doing this what happened to him ?

60. How did they pass the time afterward?

Luke Chapter Twenty-Four

By Ralph L. Starling

The “day of rest” is past, the first day had come

With spices for the body they rushed to the tomb

The stone was rolled away and Jesus was gone

Two men said, “Remember He said this would come?”

Fearfully they reported what they had seen

They sounded like idle tales and were not believed

Peter ran to the Tomb, saw the clothes by themselves

He left the tomb wondering and puzzled within himself

The same day two of the went to Emmaus

As they talked together Jesus came into sight

They did not know Him but He asked why were they sad

The said, “Are you a stranger, no know what is so bad?”

They told Him about Christ’s death and this the third day

Women had visited the tomb but He had been taken away

“Oh foolish ones and slow to believe what the prophets have spoken

Christ would rise from the dead and enter His glory.”

They asked him to stay and eat for He was welcomed

When He blessed and broke the bread their eyes opened

When they recognized Him He vanished from them

They quickly went to Jerusalem to find the eleven

As they talked about their amazing experience

Jesus appeared standing in their midst

So frightened they thought it was a spirit

He said, “Look at my wounds and that will clear it.”

While eating He explained all that had occurred

Fulfilling Moses, the Psalms, the Prophet’s word

And that they were to be witnesses and go preach

Repentance and remission of sins to the whole world

He said His Father would send the Promise to them

For them to tarry6 for that power in Jerusalem

At Bethany he blessed them and ascended into Heaven

They returned with joy and peace to Jerusalem