NOTES for Luk 24:1-35
1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. |
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. |
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. |
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: |
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? |
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, |
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. |
8 And they remembered his words, |
9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. |
10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. |
11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. |
12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. |
13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. |
14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. |
15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. |
16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. |
17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? |
18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass therein these days? |
19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: |
20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. |
21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. |
22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; |
23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. |
24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. |
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: |
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? |
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. |
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. |
29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. |
30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. |
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. |
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? |
33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, |
34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. |
35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. |
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Reading the Gospel accounts of the disciples' meetings and fellowship with the risen Teacher, many people wonder why, having recognized Him at the moment of the breaking of bread, the apostles immediately lose sight of the Savior. It would seem that just a moment ago, as they were walking along the road, they saw Him perfectly clearly; He was beside them, and now He is no longer there, and no one knows how or where He disappeared.
Meanwhile, the nearness of the Kingdom entering the world can explain much here. Even before His death and resurrection, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom having drawn near, of its now being close, of its already entering the world. And after His resurrection He again confirms this thought. But now the situation has changed: after the resurrection Jesus already belongs fully to the Kingdom, and He is present in this world insofar as the Kingdom has entered it. He no longer crosses the boundaries of the Kingdom; He does not touch the fallen world, not physical nature as such, but that part of it which has not yet come into contact with the Kingdom. Meanwhile the apostles still belong precisely to the fallen world, and belong to it entirely. For them the situation will change only after Pentecost, when they come into contact with the Kingdom, feel its breath, and enter it; then they will learn to see the Kingdom as it is, to perceive its infinite depth, where there are no distances and where it is therefore easy and simple to meet Christ: one need only call Him.
For now, before Pentecost, the disciples see only, so to speak, the outskirts of the Kingdom, that boundary by which it touches the still untransfigured world. The boundary itself is transparent; it is easy not to notice it. And the risen Savior, who is on the other side of it, appears to be walking the same road as the apostles. He really is walking the same road, but His part of the road runs on the other side of the boundary that separates the Kingdom from the fallen world.
The disciples, of course, notice no boundary: they are sure that the mysterious Stranger is an inhabitant of their world, not a resident of the Kingdom. And as long as He remains as close to the boundary on His side as His disciples are on theirs, the apostles notice nothing. But then the moment of the breaking of bread comes, and Jesus is where He can only be at that moment: at the center of His Kingdom, as befits the King. From the boundary of the Kingdom He goes into its depths.
And, naturally, He becomes invisible to the apostles, because they cannot yet look that far into the depths of the Kingdom. It appears to them that the Teacher disappeared precisely at the moment when they finally guessed Who was before them. In reality, of course, Jesus had not disappeared anywhere: if the apostles had been able to see the Kingdom as it is, they would have seen their Teacher there in glory. But their time had not yet come. Pentecost was still ahead. For now, the apostles could only wonder and guess why their Teacher appeared so unexpectedly and disappeared from sight just as unexpectedly.
Readings for 1 September 2025
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