Luke 24

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.

2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

3 They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.

4 While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.

5 Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. The men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

6 He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,

7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”

8 They remembered his words,

9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles.

11 These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.

12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.

13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem.

14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened.

15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”

18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”

19 He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;

20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb;

23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

24 Some of us went to the tomb and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

25 He said to them, “Foolish people, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”

27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 They came near to the village where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.

29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.

30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them.

31 Their eyes were opened and they recognized him; then he vanished out of their sight.

32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”

33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,

34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?

39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.

43 He took them, and ate in front of them.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”

45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.

46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

50 He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

51 While he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.

52 They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

53 and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

Around Luke 24

Book context

LukeEditorial draft

Luke begins with a short preface: many had already written accounts, and the author, having traced everything carefully, writes an orderly account for “most excellent Theophilus” so that he may know the certainty of what he was taught (1:1 to 4). The Gospel pays close attention to people others overlooked and sums up Jesus’ mission as seeking and saving the lost (19:10). The author is not named; church tradition attributes the book to Luke, a companion of Paul. Acts is also addressed to Theophilus (Acts 1:1), and the two books are widely read as one work in two parts.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Luke 24 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

At dawn on the first day of the week, women come to the tomb with spices and find the stone rolled away and no body inside. Two men in dazzling clothing ask why they seek the living among the dead. The eleven think the women's story is nonsense.

That day two disciples walk to Emmaus, sad and talking. A stranger joins them, and their eyes are kept from knowing him. They tell him of a hope that seemed to have died. He opens the Scriptures to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets. At the table he takes bread and gives thanks, they know him, and he is gone. They say, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us” as he spoke.

They hurry back to Jerusalem, and Jesus stands among the gathered disciples, shows his hands and feet and eats broiled fish. Then he blesses them and is carried up, and they return with great joy.

Background

This is the end of Luke's Gospel, and Acts begins by picking up the same thread; see Acts 1. Luke tells that the first witnesses were women whose word was not believed at first. The chapter is built around the Scriptures: Jesus reads the story of his own suffering back through Moses, the prophets and the psalms. Emmaus is named as sixty stadia from Jerusalem, and its exact site is debated. Christians have long drawn a link between the breaking of bread here and the meal in chapter 22. Compare the resurrection accounts in Matthew 28, Mark 16 and John 20.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 14 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about Luke 24

World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes