Text -- Luke 24:1-21 (NET)

The Resurrection

24:1 Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared. 24:2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, 24:3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 24:4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. 24:5 The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 24:6 He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 24:7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 24:8 Then the women remembered his words, 24:9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 24:10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. 24:11 But these words seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they did not believe them. 24:12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth; then he went home, wondering what had happened.

Jesus Walks the Road to Emmaus

24:13 Now that very day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 24:14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 24:15 While they were talking and debating these things, Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them 24:16 (but their eyes were kept from recognizing him). 24:17 Then he said to them, “What are these matters you are discussing so intently as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking sad. 24:18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days?” 24:19 He said to them, “What things?” “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied, “a man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people; 24:20 and how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 24:21 But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 24:1

¹ sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.

² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.

NET Notes: Luk 24:2

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn Luke tells the story of the empty tomb with little drama. He simply notes that when they arrived the stone had been rolled away in a position where the tomb could be entered. This large stone was often placed in a channel so that it could be easily moved by rolling it aside. The other possibility is that it was merely placed over the opening in a position from which it had now been moved.

NET Notes: Luk 24:3

¹ tc The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {Ì⁷⁵ א A B C L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 700 Ï}), rather than simply “the body” (found in D it) or “the body of Jesus” (found in 579 1241 pc). Further, although this is the only time that “Lord Jesus” occurs in Luke, it seems to be Luke’s normal designation for the Lord after his resurrection (note the many references to Christ in this manner in Acts, e.g., 1:21; 4:33; 7:59; 8:16; 11:17; 15:11; 16:31; 19:5; 20:21; 28:31). Although such a longer reading as this would normally be suspect, in this case some scribes, accustomed to Luke’s more abbreviated style, did not take the resurrection into account.

sn What they found was not what they expected – an empty tomb.

NET Notes: Luk 24:4

¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.

³ tn Grk “behold.”

⁴ sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).

NET Notes: Luk 24:5

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).

³ tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”

⁴ sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.

⁵ sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.

NET Notes: Luk 24:6

¹ tc The phrase “He is not here, but has been raised” is omitted by a few mss (D it), but it has wide ms support and differs slightly from the similar statement in Matt 28:6 and Mark 16:6. Although NA²⁷ places the phrase at the beginning of v. 6, as do most modern English translations, it is omitted from the RSV and placed at the end of v. 5 in the NRSV.

tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God, and such activity by God is a consistent Lukan theological emphasis: Luke 20:37; 24:34; Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 37. A passive construction is also used to refer to Jesus’ exaltation: Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11, 22.

² sn While he was still in Galilee looks back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. So the point is that this was announced long ago, and should come as no surprise.

NET Notes: Luk 24:7

¹ tn Grk “saying that,” but this would be redundant in English. Although the translation represents this sentence as indirect discourse, the Greek could equally be taken as direct discourse: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee: ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”

² tn See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.

³ tn Because in the historical context the individuals who were primarily responsible for the death of Jesus (the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in Luke’s view [see Luke 9:22]) would have been men, the translation “sinful men” for ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτωλῶν (anqrwpwn Jamartwlwn) is retained here.

⁴ sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.

⁵ tn Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anasthnai) is active rather than passive.

NET Notes: Luk 24:8

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

² sn On his words see Luke 9:22.

NET Notes: Luk 24:9

¹ sn Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.

NET Notes: Luk 24:10

¹ sn Mary Magdalene is always noted first in the appearance lists in the gospels. It is unusual that the first appearance would involve women as in this culture their role as witnesses would not be well accepted. It is a sign of the veracity of the account, because if an ancient were to create such a story he would never have it start with women.

² sn On Joanna see Luke 8:1-3.

NET Notes: Luk 24:11

¹ sn The term pure nonsense can describe idle talk or a tale. The point is important, since the disciples reacted with disbelief that a resurrection was possible. Sometimes it is thought the ancients were gullible enough to believe anything. But these disciples needed convincing about the resurrection.

NET Notes: Luk 24:12

¹ sn While the others dismissed the report of the women, Peter got up and ran to the tomb, for he had learned to believe in what the Lord had said.

² sn In most instances the entrance to such tombs was less than 3 ft (1 m) high, so that an adult would have to bend down and practically crawl inside.

³ tn In the NT this term is used only for strips of cloth used to wrap a body for burial (LN 6.154; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνιον).

⁴ tn Or “went away, wondering to himself.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros Jeauton) can be understood with the preceding verb ἀπῆλθεν (aphlqen) or with the following participle θαυμάζων (qaumazwn), but it more likely belongs with the former (cf. John 20:10, where the phrase can only refer to the verb).

⁵ sn Peter’s wondering was not a lack of faith, but struggling in an attempt to understand what could have happened.

⁶ tc Some Western mss (D it) lack 24:12. The verse has been called a Western noninterpolation, meaning that it reflects a shorter authentic reading in D and other Western witnesses. Many regard all such shorter readings as original (the verse is omitted in the RSV), but the ms evidence for omission is far too slight for the verse to be rejected as secondary. It is included in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition.

NET Notes: Luk 24:13

¹ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

² tn These are disciples as they know about the empty tomb and do not know what to make of it all.

³ tn Grk “sixty stades” or about 11 kilometers. A stade (στάδιον, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (187 meters) long.

⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: Luk 24:14

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

NET Notes: Luk 24:15

¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn This term suggests emotional dialogue and can thus be translated “debated.”

³ tn The phrase “these things” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

NET Notes: Luk 24:16

¹ sn The two disciples will not be allowed to recognize Jesus until v. 31.

² tn This is an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive in Greek.

³ sn This parenthetical remark by the author is necessary so the reader will understand the account.

NET Notes: Luk 24:17

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

² tn Grk “words,” but the term λόγος (logos) can refer to “matters” rather than only “words” (BDAG 600 s.v. 1.a.ε).

³ tn “Discussing so intently” translates the reciprocal idea conveyed by πρὸς ἀλλήλους (pro" allhlou"). The term ἀντιβάλλω (antiballw), used only here in the NT, has the nuance of “arguing” or “debating” a point (the English idiom “to exchange words” also comes close).

NET Notes: Luk 24:18

¹ tn Grk “answering him, said.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

² sn There is irony and almost a sense of mocking disbelief as the question “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days?” comes to Jesus; but, of course, the readers know what the travelers do not.

³ tn Grk “in it” (referring to the city of Jerusalem).

NET Notes: Luk 24:19

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn This translates the Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr).

³ sn The role of Jesus as prophet is a function Luke frequently mentions: 4:25-27; 9:35; 13:31-35.

NET Notes: Luk 24:20

¹ sn Handed him over is another summary of the passion like Luke 9:22.

² sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.

NET Notes: Luk 24:21

¹ tn The imperfect verb looks back to the view that they held during Jesus’ past ministry.

² sn Their messianic hope concerning Jesus is expressed by the phrase who was going to redeem Israel.