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.