LUKE 24:1 – 53: THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST
© Rosemary Bardsley 2025
Luke reports four post-resurrection events.
A. THE EMPTY TOMB – Luke 24:1 – 12
The women came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body as planned. But things did not go as planned. The sealed and guarded tomb, which would have been a problem, was open. The body was not there. As they wondered about this, ‘two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning’ (angels) stood before them and spoke to them.
Answer these questions:
What did the angels call Jesus in verse 5?
Why should the women have expected Jesus to be alive?
How did Jesus’ followers react to the women’s news about Jesus?
How did Peter respond?
Suggest why the news of Jesus’ resurrection was hard to believe.
How do you think you would have reacted if you had been there?
B. ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS AND BACK AGAIN – Luke 24:13 - 35
Have you ever wondered what Jesus was thinking, and how he was feeling, as he joined the two walking to Emmaus? I think, perhaps, he would have been filled with joy – he had accomplished his Father’s purpose planned before time began; he had opened up the way back to God for sinners who would acknowledge him, diverting the just wrath of God away from them and onto himself; he had triumphed over sin, death and Satan. And now he was alive for evermore. And I think, perhaps, that he was smiling to himself as he joined these two disciples, but kept his identity hidden from them, anticipating their surprise, their joy when he finally made himself known to them.
So, like any stranger might, he asked ‘What are you talking about?’ – as if he didn’t already know. So, surprised by his seeming ignorance, they told him about the things that had happened to Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem.
And they said ‘but we had hoped ...’
The messages and the miracles of Jesus had led his hearers and his followers to assume that he was the one spoken of by the prophets hundreds of years previously:
The long expected king, who would lead Israel to victory just as his ancestor, King David, had led his people to resounding victory against their enemies and unified the tribes of Israel.
The Messiah – the Christ – the One anointed and appointed by God to be a national, political leader and liberator.
Chafing under the political and military domination of the Roman government the people of Israel longed for the coming of this Liberator. So the two walking home to Emmaus on the third day said ‘We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.’
‘We had hoped .....’
Into this devastated hope, into these shattered dreams, the now-risen Jesus spoke 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?’
They had believed the prophets in a superficial, earth-bound way. In their earnest desire for the political liberation of Israel they had overlooked the whole world’s need for spiritual liberation. In their longing for earthy peace in Israel they had ignored the many prophecies that spoke of a Saviour who would bring God’s message of spiritual peace to people all around the whole world. Locked into physical/political expectations of the Messiah they had failed to understand not only the Scriptures, but also Jesus’ teaching when he told them in advance about his purpose and his death.
So here on the road to Emmaus Jesus showed them the truth about his death from all the Scriptures. From the Psalms, from ‘the Prophets’, which, for the Jews included what we would call ‘history’ – everything from Joshua to 2Kings was called ‘the former prophets’, and everything from Isaiah to Malachi ‘the latter prophets’. And not just from ‘the Psalm and the Prophets’, but also ‘from all the Scriptures.’
He showed them that this death was planned by God, this death was a substitutionary death, a ransom, that fully paid the debt of our sin, that bought redemption, liberation –not from earthly political tyrannies, but from the tyranny of Satan, sin and separation from God; and that his kingdom was not ruled from an earthly throne, but from his glorious eternal throne in heaven.
From their despairing earth-bound ‘we had hoped’ he lifted their minds to spiritual certainty: That by this death, eternal life comes. That because of this one man’s suffering, salvation is offered to many.
Read 24:25 – 35. Answer these questions:
What had the two disciples failed to do that made Jesus call them ‘foolish’ and ‘slow of heart’?
What should they have known?
According to the Scriptures, was Jesus’ death necessary or optional?
Which parts of the Old Testament did Jesus use to explain the truth about himself?
How did they finally recognize that the stranger was Jesus?
How had they felt about his teaching as they walked along the road?
When they returned to Jerusalem to tell the others (‘the Eleven and those with them’) what had happened, they were told that Jesus had also appeared to Peter. None of the other gospel writers mention this meeting, but it impresses us with the love and compassion of Jesus towards Peter, who was not only grieving Jesus’ death, but his own weakness and failure.
C. ANOTHER POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCE – Luke 24:36 – 49
But it seems that ‘the Eleven’ and those with them were still afraid to believe Jesus had risen from the dead. When Jesus suddenly appeared in the room with them, a number of things happened that displayed their doubts, and Jesus set about proving to them that it was really him, in a real, physical body.
Answer these questions:
How do these verses make it clear that the people in the room did not believe Jesus had risen?
24:37
24:38:
24:39, 40:
24:41 – 43:
What had Jesus told them about his death during the three years they had followed him?
Luke 9:22
Luke 9:44
Luke 11:29
Luke 13:32, 33
Luke 17:25
Luke 18:31 – 33
Luke 20:9 – 19
Luke 22:19 – 22
How did Jesus prove that he was alive in a real physical body?
Read 1Corinthians 15:12 – 19. Why is the real physical resurrection of Christ important?
How did Jesus help them to understand what had happened in his death and resurrection? (24:44 – 46)
What had to happen as a result of his death and resurrection? (24:47)
Because they had seen his death and resurrection, what did he call them? (24:48)
How would they be enabled to engage in that role? (24:49)
Where do you see yourself in relation to the commission Jesus gave to these apostles?
Note:
Luke does not report all of the reported post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. You can find a list and discussion about this webpage.
C.1 The critical importance of the real, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ
The physical resurrection of Jesus is a critical part of Christian faith. It was a key part of the apostles’ message – they testified about his resurrection – see Acts 4:2, 33. Christ’s real resurrection proves both his deity (the truth that he is God) and the validity of his death as our substitute under the judgement of God. Had Jesus stayed dead he would have been proved to be nothing more than a sinner – guilty of blasphemy as the Jews maintained, and we would not be saved. Without the resurrection Jesus is just a human being. Paul addresses this critical nature of the resurrection in 1Corinthians 15:12 – 58. Paul’s teaching on assurance of salvation is grounded on the power of God demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ – Ephesians 1:18 – 2:10.
Answer these questions:
How did Peter focus on the resurrection in his sermons and other speeches in Acts?
Acts 2:24 – 32:
Acts 3:15, 36:
Acts 4:10:
Acts 5:30:
Acts 10:40:
How did Paul include the resurrection of Christ in his messages in Acts?
Acts 13:30 – 37:
Acts 17:18, 31, 32:
What did the apostles teach about the resurrection of Christ in their letters?
Romans 1:4:
Romans 4:24, 25:
Romans 6:4 – 11:
Romans 8:10, 11:
Romans 10:9:
1Corinthians 15:12 – 58:
2Corinthians 4:14:
Ephesians 1:18 – 2:10:
Colossians 2:12:
1Peter 1:3:
1Peter 1:21:
What does Revelation teach about the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Revelation 1:18:
Revelation 2:8:
D.THE ASCENSION – Luke 24:50 – 53
Luke’s report of the ascension is very brief. For additional information read these texts:
Matthew 28:16 – 20:
Acts 1:3 – 11:
[Note: Mark 16:9 – 19 is not included in the oldest manuscripts of Mark’s gospels, indicating that it was most likely not part of Mark’s original, but added at some later date. Some of the inclusions are obviously true, as we read of them in other gospels, but it is wise to be cautious about some of the things included in these verses. ]