CHAPTER 24

(A.D. 33)

THE RESURRECTION

¹Now upon the first day of the week (Sunday), very early in the morning (before the rising of the sun), they came unto the sepulchre (speaks of the women of Verse 55 of the previous Chapter), bringing the spices which they had prepared (proclaims that none of these women, or the Disciples, or anyone for that matter, believed that Jesus would rise from the dead; had they believed, they would not have been coming to the tomb with spices for the corpse), and certain others with them (who they were, we arent told).

²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre (this stone weighed several hundred pounds, thereby requiring at least several men to roll it away from the door where it had been placed; so, the stone being rolled away was, no doubt, very strange to them).

³And they entered in (entered the tomb), and found not the body of the Lord Jesus (His Resurrection Title is, Lord Jesus).

⁴And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout (they did not know what to make of the situation), behold, two men stood by them in shining garments (these were Angels, and their shining garments were literally unlike anything these women had ever seen, regarding glory):

⁵And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth (implying that the appearance of these Angels was so dazzling that it blinded their eyes, causing them to look downward), they said unto them (the Angels spoke to the women), Why seek ye the living among the dead? (Notes a mild rebuke, with a touch of sarcasm.)

⁶He is not here, but is risen (this phrase, or a derivative, became the watchword of the Early Church; He is Risen): remember how He spoke unto you when He was yet in Galilee (proclaims the Angels drawing these women back to the Words of Christ, when He had related to them and the Disciples how He would be killed in Jerusalem, and would rise from the dead; He had even told them how long He would be in the tomb [Mat. 12:40]),

⁷Saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again ([Lk. 18:32-33] the Angels referred to the religious leaders of Israel and the Romans as sinful men).

⁸And they remembered His words (recollection is more important than information),

THE TESTIMONY

⁹And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the Eleven, and to all the rest (records the fact that women were the first Preachers of the Resurrection).

¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna (the wife of Chuza, Herods steward [Lk. 8:3]), and Mary the mother of James (James and John), and other women who were with them, which told these things unto the Apostles.

¹¹And their words seemed to them as idle tales (means in the Greek, silly nonsense), and they believed them not (the reason for their unbelief, resulting in their demeanor, was a departure from the Word of God; every wrongdoing and wrong direction are always, and without exception, a departure from the Word; the persistence of the Apostles in Preaching the Resurrection everywhere after Pentecost proves that the Resurrection was a fact; for if not a fact, how could they confidently affirm to be true that which they had steadfastly refused to believe?).

¹²Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre (he was accompanied by John [Jn. 20:3]); and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves (this proved that His Body had not been stolen; if such had been the case, the thief certainly would not have stopped to take all the time to unwrap the linen from around the corpse; as well, this linen wrapping was neatly folded and laid to the side, which no thieves would have done), and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass (presents the beginning of Faith, but yet very weak).

THE TWO DISCIPLES

¹³And, behold, two of them (one was Cleopas, the father of James the Less and husband of Mary, the sister of the Mother of Jesus [Jn. 19:25]; we are not told who the other man was; many ancient scholars hold that it was Luke himself, and they further say that he was one of the Seventy, and the reason he did not mention himself was that he was the writer of this account) went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs (about seven miles).

¹⁴And they talked together of all these things which had happened (pertaining to the Crucifixion and, as well, to the testimonies of the women concerning the appearance of Angels, etc.).

¹⁵And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned (they were deep in thought), Jesus himself drew near, and went with them (this would not of itself have occasioned surprise; the roads in those days were heavily trafficked with pedestrians, and someone doing this would not have been out of the ordinary).

¹⁶But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him (was done purposely by the Lord so they would not recognize Him; He would not reveal Himself to these two Disciples until He had brought them into a fitting condition of soul).

¹⁷And He said unto them, What manner of communications are these that you have one to another, as you walk, and are sad? (Many modern Christians are uselessly sad, even as here, because of unbelief!)

¹⁸And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him (had He known this was Jesus, He would have conducted himself quite differently), Are You only a stranger in Jerusalem, and have not known the things which are come to pass therein these days? (This is asked with some sarcasm!)

¹⁹And He said unto them, What things? (The question is asked solely for the purpose of drawing them out.) And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people (if it is to be noticed, Cleopas did not mention Jesus being the Messiah; while they had once believed this, their faith was now shaken):

²⁰And how the Chief Priests and our Rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him (organized religion did this!).

²¹But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel (they had confined their Bible study to that which the Scriptures promised respecting the Messiahs Glory and Kingdom, but they had been blind to the multitude of Types and Prophecies foretelling His Sufferings as an Atoning Saviour): and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done (they dwelt on the third day, and rightly so).

²²Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre (speaks of their testimony of the tomb being empty);

²³And when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of Angels, which said that He was alive.

²⁴And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre (Peter and John), and found it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw not (the last phrase carries an element of doubt).

²⁵Then He said unto them, O fools (should have been translated, foolish men!), and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken (proclaims the fact that the Lord concludes as very foolish those who do not make His Word as the basis for all actions and decisions; He pulls them back to the Bible; It alone is the criteria for all things):

²⁶Ought not Christ to have suffered these things (means the Bible predicted His Sufferings, which should have been obvious to His followers and would have been had they only devoted time and attention to the Word of God), and to enter into His Glory? (Proclaims that the Bible does outline the coming Kingdom of Glory, hence, the Triumphant Messiah; however, it must be preceded by the mission of the Suffering Messiah.)

²⁷And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets (the Lord here makes two declarations respecting the Bible: 1. It is the supreme authority as to Faith and Doctrine because it is inspired; and, 2. Its subject are the sufferings and glories of Christ His Sufferings as sin-bearer and His glories as sin-purger [Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 1:3]), He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (it may truly be said that Christ went into death Bible in hand, and that He came out from among the dead Bible in hand; He insisted that it predicted His Death and Resurrection in relation to sin and its judgment).

²⁸And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went (Emmaus): and He made as though He would have gone further (how many are there to whom He has drawn near, but with whom He has not tarried because they have allowed Him to go away).

²⁹But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us (they insisted, and strongly!): for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to tarry with them (He will tarry with any and all who sincerely desire Him to do so).

³⁰And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and break, and gave to them (symbolic of what He does with us; He takes us, and then blesses us, and then breaks us, for the flesh must ultimately be broken, and then gives us to the Church; if this pattern is not followed, we will be of no blessing whatsoever).

³¹And their eyes were opened (He now allowed them to truly see), and they knew Him (what joy must have filled their hearts; Jesus is alive!); and He vanished out of their sight (but only after He had revealed Himself to them).

³²And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures? (The business of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is to help us understand the Word of God.)

³³And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem (presents a joy they could not contain, and no wonder), and found the Eleven gathered together, and them who were with them (presents a meeting that will quickly change from despair to great joy; admittedly, they had to arrive at this place by stages, but were on their way; praise God!),

³⁴Saying, The Lord is risen indeed (presents a conversation of victory, in fact, the greatest victory ever recorded in human history), and has appeared to Simon (the Scripture does not give us the account of this appearance, but the likelihood is that Peter was the first man to see Jesus after His Resurrection).

³⁵And they told what things were done in the way (an excited presentation), and how He was known of them in breaking of bread.

JESUS APPEARS

³⁶And as they thus spoke, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them (refers to an instant appearance and Revelation; John added that the doors were shut), and said unto them, Peace be unto you (presents His first words to them as a group after the Resurrection).

³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted (speaks to the suddenness of the event, and the manner in which it was done; one moment He is not there, and the next moment He is!), and supposed that they had seen a spirit (this shows that they still didnt understand the Resurrection; they did not doubt the appearances, but did not really recognize these appearances for what they actually were).

³⁸And He said unto them, Why are you troubled? (Being troubled robs us of peace.) and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? (This pertains to fear, doubt, discouragement, and even despair, all brought on by lack of Faith in Gods Word. We should, as well, take the questions to heart.)

³⁹Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see (they will now understand what His Resurrection really was); for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see Me have (in other words, Jesus was telling them that He was not a disembodied spirit; He, in fact, had a physical body of flesh and bones; no blood is mentioned because the Glorified Body has no blood; whereas now the life of the flesh is in the blood, then, when our bodies are Glorified, the life will be in the Spirit, i.e., Holy Spirit).

⁴⁰And when He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet (John also adds that He had invited them, as well, to see the wound in His Side; in fact, He will retain these wounds forever [Zech. 13:6; Rev. 5:6]).

⁴¹And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered (indicates that their faith was still weak; we have a tendency to correct them, but would we have done any better?), He said unto them, Have you here any meat? (This is meant to further portray to them the fact that He still retained a human body, albeit Glorified, and that as such He could partake of food. A spirit does not have flesh and bones, and likewise does not eat.)

⁴²And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb (it is speculated that this was in the home of John Mark, who wrote the Book of Mark).

⁴³And He took it, and did eat before them (if it is to be noticed, Jesus did not ask His Disciples to believe anything that was contrary to their senses).

⁴⁴And He said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me (the Jews divided the Old Testament into three parts the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which consisted of the Wisdom Books; the entire story of the Old Testament is the Story of Jesus and the Cross, and what the Cross affords; in fact, if we do not understand that, we cannot fully understand the Word of God; as is made plainly obvious here, Christ and Him Crucified is the key to all understanding).

⁴⁵Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures (he who doesnt understand the Scriptures, understands little or nothing; let us say it again: Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, is the Story of the Bible; every Doctrine must be built upon that Foundation, which constitutes the house built upon the Rock; otherwise, its a house built upon sand),

THE GREAT COMMISSION

⁴⁶And said unto them, Thus it is written (proves what I have just stated concerning Christ and the Cross), and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day (let us say it again, this is the Story of the Bible):

⁴⁷And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name (presents Gods method of proclaiming His Word, and carrying out His Work; any other method is unscriptural) among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Gods Plan of Salvation is identical for all regarding race, color, or culture; it is for the whole world).

⁴⁸And you are witnesses of these things (Christianity was not begun as the result of an enlightened philosophy, as with all religions; it was begun by men and women who literally witnessed the incarnate Son of God in all His earthly Ministry, as well as His Death and Resurrection; consequently, they could say, we have seen, and do testify).

⁴⁹And, behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you (the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, which would come on the Day of Pentecost [Acts 1:4-5]): but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem (this was where the Temple was located, and where the Day of Pentecost was always celebrated, which would occasion the outpouring of the Spirit; this was only for the initial outpouring; since then, Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Spirit wherever the person might be [Acts, Chpts. 8-10, 19]), until you be endued with power from on high (this is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is always accompanied by the speaking with other tongues [Acts 2:4]; without being thus endued, the Believer and the Church are of little worth to the Kingdom of God).

THE ASCENSION

⁵⁰And He led them out as far as to Bethany (this little village was located on the far side of the Mount of Olives, and is actually a suburb of Jerusalem; it was the home of Jesus beloved friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus), and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them (proclaims Him as Israels High Priest, having made Atonement, consequently lifting up His Hands and blessing the people, which the High Priests of Israel had done for nearly 1,600 years; all is a Type of what He would ultimately do; but let it be understood that His Blessing is for all, and not merely the Jews).

⁵¹And it came to pass, while He blessed them (implies continued blessing, which means that it continues even unto this hour, and will, in fact, continue forever), He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven (pertains to the Ascension; He hastened to the Cross in order to Atone for His Peoples sins, but He did not hasten to Glory, for He was reluctant to leave His Beloved Sheep).

⁵²And they worshipped Him (means His Presence was still with them, even though He had already ascended), and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (signaled a different group of people, at least regarding faith, spirit, and emotions, than at the Crucifixion; then all was darkness; now all is light):

⁵³And were continually in the Temple, praising and blessing God (due to the Promise of the Father being made real in our hearts, we now are the Temple [I Cor. 3:16] and should praise the Lord continually). Amen (all of the four Gospels close with the word Amen, which means Truth).