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The Gospel of Luke Chapter 24
Commentary by Timothy H. Burdick
The resurrection is of utmost
importance to the church. In fact it is what our faith
hinges on. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17,
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the
dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection
of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then
not even Christ has been raised. If Christ has not been
raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
If our belief in Him is less than
what is stated in that passage, we are then found to be
false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God
that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise
Him if in fact the dead are not raised. if the dead are not
raised, then Christ has not been raised either. If Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in
your sins.
Although we are studying the Gospel
of Luke, we will be looking at some of the things the other
writers have said. Just like modern newspaper writers, they
all covered the story a little differently. In these first
12 Verses, we see the huge role that women have played.
Often to the shame of the church, they have been treated as
inferior, but nothing could be further from the truth. The
Bible certainly doesn’t teach this either. Look at Galatians
3:28. 28 - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” So in
light of this Scripture, let’s examine these verses in Luke
24.
The Resurrection
Luke 24: 1-2 --- “But on the first
day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took
the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”
Many people want to know, why many
Christians don’t keep the Sabbath. One answer can be found
right here. It was the first day of the week, the day we
call “Sunday,” when these women came to the tomb and found
that Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus is the God-man
who fulfilled the law, and we now celebrate His resurrection
in our worship on the first day of the week. Is it wrong to
worship on Saturday? No it is not - “Let each (of us) be
fully convinced in (our) own mind” (Romans 14:5).
Luke 24:2-5 --- “They found the
stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they
did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were
wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that
gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright
the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the
men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the
dead?’”
For some added detail, look at
Matthew 28:2-5 –
"There was a violent earthquake, for
an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the
tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance
was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The
guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like
dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid,
for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was
crucified.’”
Before going on, let’s look at the
effect that fear had on these people. Luke tells us that
they bowed in fear, while Matthew tells us the guards were
so afraid that they shook and actually fainted. The angel
said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you
are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.”
Notice that Matthew says that the
guards were terrified, but the angels told the women not to
be afraid. As believers, we don’t have to be afraid of God.
This may sound illogical, but I have met people who are
afraid to pray. You have probably heard the saying, “Be
careful what you pray for, you just might get it.” But the
Bible doesn’t teach fear. It says in 2 Timothy: 1 7, - “For
God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of
power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Luke continues in Verses 6-8 --- “He
is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while
he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be
delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on
the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his
words.’”
In the gospel accounts the angels
are always seen as pointing to Jesus. They are never objects
of worship. From time to time, we hear of angels being the
center of worship in certain groups, but this is not
Scriptural at all. This is part of what is meant in Exodus
20:3, when it says, "You shall have no other gods before
Me.”
Luke tells us in Verses 9-12 ---
“When they came back from the tomb, they told all these
things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary
Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others
with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not
believe the women, because their words seemed to them like
nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.
Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by
themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had
happened.”
We often fault Peter for being
impulsive, while not fixing our attention on the things he
did right. Peter, while he didn’t understand fully what was
going on, was willing to listen to these women. I think that
this is important because in overlooking the role of women
in the church, many have ignored the words of Paul where He
says, “Do not put out the Spirit's fire” (1 Thessalonians
5:19).
Now, let’s look at Matthew’s account
in Matthew 28:8-10, so that we can see a larger picture of
that day --- “So the women hurried away from the tomb,
afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ He said. They came to
Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to
them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to
Galilee; there they will see Me.’"
Jesus was FORCING His male disciples
to finally understand that women in the Church are just as
gifted as the men and they must be listened to.
While we see that the women were
still filled with fear and amazement, they were also filled
with joy. Joy is something that to often is missing from the
Christian experience. No matter what your circumstances may
be today, God wants you to be filled with joy. In whatever
you are going through keep the words of John 15:11 close to
you’re heart. I can tell you from personal experience that
they have helped me --- “I have told you this so that my joy
may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Mathew’s
is the only account where we see Jesus talking to the women.
In that account we see them clinging to Jesus and Jesus
reassuring them, just as He longs to reassure you that He is
alive and is with you.
Now compare what it says in Luke
24:12 with John 20:3-9 --- “So Peter and the other disciple
started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent
over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but
did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived
and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying
there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around
Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate
from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached
the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. They
still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to
rise from the dead.”
Luke does not tell us about the
account where Jesus appeared to Mary. So we will look at it
in both Mark and John. First look with me at Mark 15:9-11
--- “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he
appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven
seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him
and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that
Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not
believe it.”
Now John 20:10-18, will fill Mark’s
narrative in. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene --- “Then the
disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside
the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the
tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body
had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They
asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my
Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don't know where they have put
him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing
there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘Woman,"
He said, "Why are you crying? Who is it you are looking
for?’ Thinking He was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you
have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I
will get Him. Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward
Him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means
Teacher). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to Me, for I have not
yet returned to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and
tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to
My God and your God.' Mary Magdalene went to the disciples
with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them
that He had said these things to her.”
On the Road to Emmaus
Luke 24:13-16 --- “Now that same day
two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about
seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each
other about everything that had happened. As they talked and
discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came
up and walked along with them; but they were kept from
recognizing Him.”
Can you imagine the confusion and
grief that these two men felt? They would have been
traveling a hot dusty road. We think nothing of driving
seven miles, but walking! There were probably very few
places to stop off for refreshment and possibly no such
places at all. To top it all off, the water was bad in many
places along that road.
I recently thought about this story
in a new way. I heard someone read it and as they talked
about it, it came alive. Just as God allowed the men walking
on that road to have their eyes opened, so my eyes were
opened to its truth - I wondered, how many times had I been
caught up in my own little world and didn’t recognize Jesus
as He came up and walked beside me.
The Bible says that these men were
“kept from recognizing Him.” But the question is, were they
kept from it by God or because of a fixation with the
circumstances at hand? Did their grief blind them to the
presence of the Lord? I wonder just how many times our view
point about the circumstances of life keep us from God’s
best? In Verse 17,He asked them, "What are you discussing
together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces
downcast. In Verse 18, we see that “One of them, named
Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and
do not know the things that have happened there in these
days?””
In Luke 24:19 we see that Jesus asked, "What things?"
"’About Jesus of Nazareth,’” they
replied, and in Verese 20-21, they continued, “‘He was a
prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the
people. The chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to
be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him; but we had
hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel.
And what is more, it is the third day since all this took
place.”
Before going on with these events,
notice that the men described Jesus as being a mighty
prophet in the sight of God and man. They had not yet come
to the knowledge of Him as the Son of God. Furthermore, they
said that they were in hopes that He would “redeem Israel.”
They still didn’t understand His suffering, but thought that
He would conquer Rome and rule the world from a restored
Israel.
Now back to Luke 24:22-27 --- “In
addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb
early this morning, but didn't find His body. They came and
told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said He
was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and
found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not
see.’ He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not
the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His
glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He
explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning Himself.
Jesus listened to what these men had
to say. There is an important concept here. How often do we
really listen to someone’s pain and grief? I think that
Jesus did much more than just play dumb, He listened to what
they were really saying.
After listening intently, He pointed
out from Moses and the Prophets who He was. Like Jesus, we
need to point people to God’s Word. But in addition, we need
to show them who He is from the Old Testament as well as the
New. So before going on, let’s look at 1 Timothy 2:16-17 ---
”All Scripture (including the Old Testament) is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Luke now says in Luke 24:28-35, “As
they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus
acted as if He were going farther. But they urged Him
strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day
is almost over.’ So He went in to stay with them. When He
was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks,
broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were
opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from
their sight. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts
burning within us while He talked with us on the road and
opened the Scriptures to us?’ They got up and returned at
once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those
with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The
Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then the two told
what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized
by them when He broke the bread.”
Hospitality was highly esteemed in
that culture. Notice that the text makes it clear that they
compelled Him to stay with them. In fact, we have a Biblical
injunction concerning this in Hebrews13:2 --- “Do not forget
to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have
entertained angels without knowing it.”
Many times I think that we take The
Lord’s Supper too casually. For it was not until Jesus broke
the bread that their eyes were opened. In the same way, when
we break bread with Christ, I think He wants to open our
eyes, letting us see even more clearly who He is.
Just as Jesus disappeared from the
disciples, He disappears from us. He does so that we will
search His Word and come into closer fellowship with Him
than we could if He were physically present. He wants to
cultivate an excitement for the Word, so that our hearts
“burn with passion, and compassion for others.”
Jesus appears to the disciples ---
“While they were still talking about
this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
‘Peace be with you.’” (Luke 24:36)
Compare this verse in Luke with John
20:19 --- “On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for
fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you!"
Many times, just as He did then,
Jesus shows up at the most unexpected times. Think about how
much His greeting must have meant to them. They were still
afraid and confused and John tells us that they were hiding
behind locked doors.
Just like those early followers,
Jesus wants to give you peace. The Bible is a book of peace.
Have you found peace with God?
Now Luke tells us in Verses 37-39
--- “They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a
ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do
doubts rise in your minds? Look at My hands and My feet. It
is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh
and bones, as you see I have.”
The disciples must have wondered
what was next, for after everything else, they thought they
had seen a ghost. Many times, we are very much like them,
not listening to what God is trying to tell us. But just as
Jesus showed Himself to His followers then, He intends to
show Himself to us today.
He invited His disciples to
literally handle His body. He wanted them to see that He was
flesh and bone. Notice that there is nothing said about
blood because His blood was shed on the cross for our sins.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
“And while they still did not
believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them in
Verses 41-43, “‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave
Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in
their presence.”
I can imagine these men as they
almost danced for joy, for they had been shaking with fear.
For they had been experiencing what they thought was a
hopeless situation. They had given up their own lives to
follow their Leader, and they had seen their Leader die.
Luke 24:44-48 --- “He said to them,
‘This is what I told you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the
Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then He opened
their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told
them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and
rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things.’”
Jesus must have wept many times as
He tried to convey truth to His disciples. Referring to the
Old Testament again, He says that truth about Him is not
only contained in Moses and the prophets, but in the Psalms
as well. In the Old Testament, there are 300 prophecies that
Jesus Christ fulfilled to a “T.” There is no one else who
has ever done anything even remotely what He did.
As He opened the minds of the men on
that road long ago, so He had to open up the understanding
of the people in that room. Just as he opened the mind of
those early disciples, He opens the minds of His disciples
today also. For the Bible says in 1 Corinthians2: 14, ---
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that
come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to
him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.”
Before I became a Christian, the
Bible meant little to me. I would try to read it and fall
asleep. But when I came into a personal relationship with
Christ, His Word began to make sense. It’s true for us all –
We need the Spirit of God in order to understand the Word of
God.
No back to Luke 24:49 – “I am going
to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the
city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Now He told them directly about the
coming of the Holy Spirit. Compare this Verse with Matthew
28:18 --- “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.’”
Now please look at Acts 2:17-21 ---
“In the last days, God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on
all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your
young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my
Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show
wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned
to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the
great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
The Ascension
Luke continues in Luke 24:50-53 ---
“When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He
lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing
them, He left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they
worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And
they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”
Notice in reaction to His blessing
they worshiped Him. The next step was that they were filled
with joy. True worship always leads to joy. Being
continually in God’s presence speaks to me of faithfulness.
They didn’t know what to do, so they waited on God. But this
wasn’t passive waiting. Their worship and praise were
active. Because of this lifestyle, they over-flowed with the
joy that the Scriptures spoke about above.
If you want to live a victorious
life in Christ, worship God in truth. From your worship will
flow joy and praise. To see what I mean, look at John 16:33
--- “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may
have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.”
Thank you for reading this.
Pastor Timothy.
Friday Study Ministries
The First Church On The Net
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchOnTheNet.org
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
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