Luke 24 Round Two: The Return of the King

A stone rolled back before sunrise. A table where bread breaks and eyes open. A quiet room electrified by peace as scarred hands reach out and ask for fish. We close Luke’s Gospel at full stride—with resurrection that feels shockingly material, Scripture that suddenly makes sense, and a mission that still presses on us today.

We walk through the empty tomb with the women who first carried the news, then pace the seven miles to Emmaus with two discouraged followers who find their hearts catching fire as Jesus threads Moses and the Prophets into a single story of suffering and glory. Recognition doesn’t arrive with spectacle but in the ordinary act of a meal, echoing the upper room and revealing a Savior who knows how to meet us at the table. Back in Jerusalem, Jesus stands among the disciples, invites touch, eats in front of them, and anchors their faith in reality—not a ghost, not a metaphor, but the risen Lord who turns fear into witness.

From there, the horizon widens: repentance and forgiveness will be proclaimed to all nations, starting in Jerusalem. He opens their minds, promises the Holy Spirit’s power, and blesses them as he ascends. We connect Luke to Acts, trace how this careful, physician-historian builds confidence for Theophilus and for us, and draw out simple practices—reading the Bible with Christ at the center, journaling with SOAP, and living on mission with open hands. If you’ve ever wondered how head and heart meet, how doubt becomes joy, or how ordinary people carry an extraordinary message, this conversation will give you language, courage, and a next step.

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Got a moment that moved you—empty tomb, Emmaus road, or upper room? Tell us what lit the fire for you.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome, Setup, and Callouts
• 0:55 Context: Luke’s Purpose and Finale
• 2:13 The Empty Tomb and Angelic Message
• 3:33 Why Resurrection Surprised Everyone
• 4:38 The Road to Emmaus Explained
• 7:12 Hearts Burn as Scripture Opens
• 8:19 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
• 10:05 Commission, Spirit Promise, Ascension
• 11:03 Linking Luke to Acts and Today
• 12:02 SOAP Application and Reflection
• 13:34 Two Big Takeaways from Luke

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello and welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast, man. This is the one. This is the final chapter in the Gospel of Luke. We are going to end this thing with a bang. But before we do that, once again, welcome. This is Pastor Brandon. And if you would like for us to send you the daily Bible reading, make sure you text RLC Bible to 94,000. Also, you can go to my blog and you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter where I send out more information. And if you are watching this on YouTube, please make sure to like and subscribe to the channel. If you're listening to this as a podcast, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, like and review. It helps us get the word out there to everybody. Man, let's get into this. This is going to be so good, so exciting. And don't forget, this is the final chapter of someone named Theopolis who has commissioned Luke, who is trained as a physician. He is an educated man, and he has sent Theopolis has sent Luke out into the wild, out into the Judean countryside, and he said, Go and see if you can confirm all the things that we have heard about Jesus. And Luke is writing back, yes, everything we knew about Jesus is confirmed. I've interviewed the people, I've done the things, I've I've taken the steps, and it's all true. Not only is it true, but he lays it out for us in an orderly account. And now is the grand finale. And so I hope you got your Bibles with you. You got your coffee with you. We're going to jump into this. We're going to read the first 12 verses is going to be all about the resurrection of Jesus. And then only in the Gospel of Luke does it record what happens next on something called the walk to Emmaus. And so we're going to look at that and then we're going to read the grand ending. And then don't forget that this is written by the same person who wrote Acts. And so as soon as we finish Luke chapter 24, you could pick right back up in Acts chapter 1 and just keep going with the narrative. So here we go. We're going to read chapter 24 first. So we got your NLT Bibles opened, got your Bible journals ready. Let's dive into this. Chapter 24, verse 1. But very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. Remember before, by the way, they had prepared the spices, but they weren't able to get it done before sundown, so they had to wait until after the Sabbath. So now that here they are. They found the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. Then the men asks, Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn't there. He is risen from the dead. Remember that he told you back in Galilee that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day. Then they remembered that he had said this, so they rushed back from the tomb to tell the eleven disciples and everyone else what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Johanna, Mary, the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he appeared, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings, and then went home again, wondering what had happened. And so what happens is, is the women go to anoint the body. Because what would happen in those contexts is that the body would start to decay almost immediately because they didn't do any of the embalming and all this kind of stuff. And so they would anoint the body so that the smell would not overwhelm while the body was decaying. And then just to be gruesome, what would happen is they would wait a year after that. And after that, at that point, all that would really be left was the bones. And then they would take the bones and they would go in and put it in another place. And so they were just going through the process. But then as they get there, they see that Jesus has rose again. And there's two angels there telling them. But here's the thing that everybody thought that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn't realize that the Messiah was going to rise from the dead. And so they thought that they'd kill the Messiah. Everything else. You know, this is why we can't have nice things. You know, bad people, you know, hurt all the good things in life, right? That's what they thought. They didn't realize just exactly who Jesus was. He wasn't just the Messiah, he's God. And so when it happened, it just seemed too impossible to believe. So let's pick back up. Verse 13. That same day, two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along, they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him. They asked them, or he asked them, What are you discussing so intently as you walk along? They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopus, replied, You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened here the past few days. What things? Jesus asked. The things that happened to Jesus, the son or the man from Nazareth, they said. He was a prophet who did powerful things, and he was might, a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and the other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped that he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. All this happened three days ago. Then some women from our group, this of his followers, were at the tomb earlier this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing and that he had they had seen angels who told them that Jesus is alive. Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said. And then Jesus said to them, Okay, Jesus is about to get real, okay? You foolish people? You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory? That Jesus took, and then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And by the time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey, Jesus acted as if he were going to go on. But they begged him, Stay the night with us, since it's getting late. So he went home with them, and they sat down to eat. And he took the bread and he blessed it, and he broke it, and he gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and at that moment he disappeared. He said to each other, Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road, explaining the scriptures to us? And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven disciples and the others, and they gathered with them, and said, The Lord had really has risen, and he appeared to Peter. And so this is amazing. This is the only account of this. And I I wonder so much who they who Luke talked to that told him this story. That these two of the of the twelve, these two of the eleven now, because Jesus, um, he's gone, um, they they go, and Jesus appears to them, and he's veiled from them. And there, I mean, you get to hear a little bit. What I love about this is you get to hear what they really thought about Jesus. They hoped that he was the Messiah. They hoped that he was going to bring change to the nation of Jerusalem or Israel, but they didn't really know who he was. And then the Bible said that Jesus just got real. Hey, hey, why are you being so foolish? Why are you just hoping? Do you not really know who Jesus is? And then he opened up the scripture and let them see who he really is. And then it was in the breaking of the bread, which may have reminded them of that communion moment just a couple days before him when he said, Take and eat, for this is my body, that their eyes were opened, and they saw Jesus for who he really is, and then he disappeared. So it's a powerful, powerful moment when they truly began to see Jesus for who he is. All right, verse 35. Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them and they were walking as they were walking along the road and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself suddenly standing there among them. Peace be with you, he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost. Why are you frightened? he asked. Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it's really me. Touch me and make sure that I'm not a ghost, because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do. And as he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. And so he asked them, Do you have anything here I can eat? And they gave him a piece of boil, royal fish, and he ate it as they watched. Then he said, When I was with you before I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said, Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. There is forgiveness for sins for all who repent. You are my witnesses of all these things. And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my father promised, to stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven. Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he left them as he was taken up to heaven, and they worshipped him, and they returned to Jerusalem, filled with great joy, and they spent all their time in the temple praising God. This amazing moment where Jesus actually shows up in their company and says, Hey guys, I'm here. And it must have terrified them. I mean, it says it did, but you imagine they saw Jesus die, well, from a distance. And now here he is. And they so didn't believe that he had to eat something in front of them. And then he's like, Hey, look, see, I can eat this, okay? I'm actually here. Touch me. I'm not a hologram. Yeah, you can touch me. And then he says, Everything I told you, does it make sense now? Well, not only did I tell you that, but I also told you that I had a mission for you to do. And that is to go into all the world and to preach the gospel and to proclaim the good news. And so not only does he prove himself, but he says everything else I say is true as well. What an amazing end to the gospel, but it doesn't end there. Open up to Acts chapter 1 and you see that the Holy Spirit descends upon the church in Acts chapter 2, and then the gospel starts to go into all the known world. And you and I are recipients of them going into all the world. We are part of that, those nations yet to be born that we're going to hear the gospel. So I hope you've enjoyed Luke chapter 24. I hope you enjoyed the gospel of Luke. Man, I love reading God's word together. I love geeking out about this. And before we even go, I want you to make sure to take your Bible journals and I want you to soap through this chapter. What scripture stood out to you? What observation did you gain? What application can you apply? And what prayer do you need to pray based on what we have looked at today? And I'm telling you, the more you dig, the more you find when it comes to God's word. And overall, one of the things I like to do as I finish a book of the Bible is to take a moment and just think about the gospel overall as a text, as one big text. What is it about this gospel that brings me hope? What can I apply and what can I learn? A couple that I can learn from this overall is number one, is at this point the gospel of Mark has already been written. All these other things are happening, but that didn't stop Luke from saying it seemed right to me to also add, you know, what how God has made me to make a difference. And so here's the thing. Yes, there are great preachers, and yes, there are great people doing this, that, and the other, but what does God put inside of you to do? How can you add value to the kingdom of God because of the gifts, talents, abilities, opportunities that God has given you? The second thing I love about this is I love how Jesus, he knew that the cross was coming, yet he kept moving forward. And what that means is that there's bad seasons that's going to come in our life. But Jesus never leaves us, he keeps moving forward with us. And then what I love is that the Bible says there that they went back to Jerusalem with great joy because of what God has done and what they expected God was going to do. What a great joy that we can have too by what God has already done and by what we know that God is going to do. I love you so much. It's just a joy to read through the Bible together. If you are following with us in chronological order, up next is the book of Numbers, which is going to be fun. There's uh it's called Numbers for a Reason. So I want you to get ready for that. But let me pray for you. And then uh I'm just excited about what God's doing in our community. Let me pray. God, thank you so much for the gospel of Luke. Thank you, God, that the story of your life is the story that we can continue to draw from. Lord, not only to see how we can pattern our lives after you, but to see how you walk with us. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you will move in our lives. Holy Spirit, just as you fell on the church in Acts chapter 1 and Acts chapter 2, I know that you are still with us now. So I pray you will fill us, Holy Spirit, every day to live out the gospel in our life and to share it with others. We thank you in the strong, powerful name of Jesus. Amen. All right, I love you. I'll see you next time for Numbers chapter one.