On the first day of the week, very early in the morning,
the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the
Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in
clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to
the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the
dead?
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you,
while he was still with you in Galilee:
'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "
Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these
things to the Eleven and to all the others.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James,
and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
But they did not believe the women, because their words
seemed to them like nonsense.
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over,
he saw the strips of linen
lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had
happened.
Now that same day two of them were going to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They were talking with each other about everything
that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself
came up and walked along with them;
but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you
walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a
visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in
these days?"
"What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they
replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the
people.
The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be
sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to
redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took
place.
In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the
tomb early this morning
but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they
had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.
Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it
just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
He said 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?"
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained
to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
Jesus acted as if he were going farther.
But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is
nearly evening; the day is
almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave
thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he
disappeared from their sight.
They asked each other, "Were not our
hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us?"
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they
found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together
and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has
appeared to Simon."
Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized
by them when he broke the bread.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself
stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a
ghost.
He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts
rise in your minds?
Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and
see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and
feet.
And while they still did not believe it because of joy and
amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still
with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the
Scriptures.
He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
and repentance and forgiveness of sins will
be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but
stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he
lifted up his hands and blessed them.
While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up
into heaven.
Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with
great joy.
And they stayed continually at the temple, praising
God.
