Chapter 24

  And, on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices they had prepared.

  But they found the stone rolled back from the tomb,

  and on entering they found that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there.

  At this they were in great perplexity, when suddenly there stood by them two men whose raiment flashed like lightning.

  The women were terrified; but, as they stood with their faces bowed to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you search among the dead for Him who is living?

  He is not here. He has come back to life. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,

  when He told you that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.'

  Then they remembered His words,

  and returning from the tomb they reported all this to the Eleven and to all the rest.

  The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; and they and the rest of the women related all this to the Apostles.

  But the whole story seemed to them an idle tale; they could not believe the women.

  Peter, however, rose and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw nothing but the linen cloths: so he went away to his own home, wondering at what had happened.

  On that same day two of the disciples were walking to Emmaus, a village seven or eight miles from Jerusalem,

  and were conversing about all these recent events;

  and, in the midst of their conversation and discussion, Jesus Himself came and joined them,

  though they were prevented from recognizing Him.

  'What is the subject,' He asked them, 'on which you are talking so earnestly, as you walk?' And they stood still, looking full of sorrow.

  Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered, 'Are you a stranger lodging alone in Jerusalem, that you have known nothing of the things that have lately happened in the city?'

  'What things?' He asked. 'The things about Jesus the Nazarene,' they said, 'who was a Prophet powerful in work and word before God and all the people;

  and how our High Priests and Rulers delivered Him up to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him.

  But we were hoping that it was He who was about to ransom Israel. Yes, and moreover it was the day before yesterday that these things happened.

  And, besides, some of the women of our company have amazed us. They went to the tomb at daybreak,

  and, finding that His body was not there, they came and declared to us that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.

  Thereupon some of our party went to the tomb and found things just as the women had said; but Jesus Himself they did not see.'

  'O dull-witted men,' He replied, 'with minds so slow to believe all that the Prophets have spoken!

  Was there not a necessity for the Christ thus to suffer, and then enter into His glory?'

  And, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them the passages in Scripture which refer to Himself.

  When they had come near the village to which they were going, He appeared to be going further.

  But they pressed Him to remain with them. 'Because,' said they, 'it is getting towards evening, and the day is nearly over.' So He went in to stay with them.

  But as soon as He had sat down with them, and had taken the bread and had blessed and broken it, and was handing it to them,

  their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. But He vanished from them.

  'Were not our hearts,' they said to one another, 'burning within us while He talked to us on the way and explained the Scriptures to us?'

  So they rose and without an hour's delay returned to Jerusalem, and found the Eleven and the rest met together, who said to them,

  'Yes, it is true: the Master has come back to life. He has been seen by Simon.'

  Then they related what had happened on the way, and how He had been recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

  While they were thus talking, He Himself stood in their midst and said, 'Peace be to you!'

  Startled, and in the utmost alarm, they thought they were looking at a spirit;

  but He said to them, 'Why such alarm? And why are there such questionings in your minds?

  See my hands and my feet--it is my very self. Feel me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have.'

  And then He showed them His hands and His feet.

  But, while they still could not believe it for joy and were full of astonishment, He asked them, 'Have you any food here?'

  And they gave Him a piece of roasted fish,

  and He took it and ate it in their presence.

  And He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you--that everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me.'

  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

  and He said, 'Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from among the dead;

  and that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

  You are witnesses as to these things.

  And remember that I am about to send out my Father's promised gift to rest upon you. But, as for you, wait patiently in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.'

  And He brought them out to within view of Bethany, and then lifted up His hands and blessed them.

  And while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into Heaven.

  They worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

  Afterwards they were continually in attendance at the Temple, blessing God.