On the first day of the week, at deep dawn, they came to the tomb carrying the spices they had prepared.[1] 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 and when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they stood there at a loss about this, suddenly two men in clothes that flashed like lightning stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here — he has been raised. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be handed over into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words.
9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the messengers. 11 But these words seemed to them like nonsense, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping down, he sees only the linen cloths. And he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
13 Now that same day, two of them were traveling to a village about seven miles from Jerusalem, named Emmaus,[2] 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are these words you are tossing back and forth as you walk?” And they stood still, their faces downcast.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet powerful in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was the one about to set Israel free. And besides all this, this is the third day since these things happened.[3] 22 But also, some women from among us amazed us. They went to the tomb early in the morning 23 and, not finding his body, came back saying they had even seen a vision of angels, who said he is alive. 24 Some of those with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow in heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Anointed One to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what all the Scriptures said about him.
28 They drew near the village where they were going, and he acted as though he would travel farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is toward evening and the day is already far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 And when he reclined at table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.[4] 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him — and he vanished from them. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us on the road, as he opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 And rising that very hour, they returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven gathered together, along with those with them, 34 saying, “The Lord really has been raised, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they described what had happened on the road, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
36 While they were saying these things, he himself stood in the middle of them. 37 But they were startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet — it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.[5] 41 While they still could not believe it for sheer joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in front of them.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”[6] 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “This is what is written: that the Anointed One would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that a change of heart and forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look — I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.[7] 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,[8] 53 and they were continually in the temple, blessing God.
Notes
Note 1. The Greek here is literally “on the first of the sabbaths” — the same noun, σάββατον, does double duty for both “Sabbath” and “week.” So the day is reckoned by counting from the Sabbath: the first day after it, which is Sunday. ↩
Note 2. The Greek measures sixty stadia, roughly seven miles. Where exactly Emmaus stood is still disputed: the ancient site of Emmaus-Nicopolis is a strong candidate historically but sits about nineteen miles from Jerusalem — far more than Luke’s figure — while other proposed sites are closer. No location has been settled with certainty. ↩
Note 3. The count is inclusive, the ordinary Jewish way of reckoning: the day of the crucifixion counts as one, so Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together make “the third day.” ↩
Note 4. These four actions — took, blessed, broke, gave — are the ordinary gestures of a Jewish host beginning a meal, not anything peculiar to Passover. Luke uses the very same sequence at the feeding of the crowd and at the last supper. ↩
Note 5. Verse 40 (“he showed them his hands and his feet”) is missing from Codex Bezae, several Old Latin copies, and two Syriac witnesses. The other Greek manuscripts have it. ↩
Note 6. This names the three traditional divisions of the Hebrew scriptures — the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. The Psalms is the opening and largest book of that third section, and here it stands in for the whole of it, so the phrase means the entire body of scripture. ↩
Note 7. The words “and was carried up into heaven” are missing from Codex Bezae, several Old Latin copies, and the first hand of Codex Sinaiticus. P75 and most other witnesses have them. ↩
Note 8. The words “knelt and worshiped him” are missing from Codex Bezae and several Old Latin copies. The great majority of Greek manuscripts have them. ↩