24:1 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. |
24:2 They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, |
24:3 so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. |
24:4 They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them. |
24:5 Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, "Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? |
24:6 He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: |
24:7 'The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.' " |
24:8 Then the women remembered his words, |
24:9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest. |
24:10 The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles. |
24:11 But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them. |
24:12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the grave cloths but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened. |
24:13 On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, |
24:14 and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. |
24:15 As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; |
24:16 they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. |
24:17 Jesus said to them, "What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?" They stood still, with sad faces. |
24:18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?" |
24:19 "What things?" he asked. "The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. |
24:20 Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. |
24:21 And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. |
24:22 Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, |
24:23 but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. |
24:24 Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him." |
24:25 Then Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! |
24:26 Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?" |
24:27 And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets. |
24:28 As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; |
24:29 but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark." So he went in to stay with them. |
24:30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. |
24:31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. |
24:32 They said to each other, "Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" |
24:33 They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others |
24:34 and saying, "The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!" |
24:35 The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread. |
24:36 While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." |
24:37 They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. |
24:38 But he said to them, "Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? |
24:39 Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones, as you can see I have." |
24:40 He said this and showed them his hands and his feet. |
24:41 They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" |
24:42 They gave him a piece of cooked fish, |
24:43 which he took and ate in their presence. |
24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true." |
24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, |
24:46 and said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, |
24:47 and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. |
24:48 You are witnesses of these things. |
24:49 And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you." |
24:50 Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them. |
24:51 As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven. |
24:52 They worshiped him and went back into Jerusalem, filled with great joy, |
24:53 and spent all their time in the Temple giving thanks to God. |