From Unbelief to Illumination
“Even when they didn’t recognize Him, He walked the road with them.”
Luke 24 moves through a crescendo of evidence and revelation, beginning with an empty tomb, then unfolding into physical appearances of Jesus, and finally culminating in the disciples’ understanding of Scripture as fulfilled in Christ. The women at the tomb come with grief and spices but leave with perplexity and angelic news: “He is not here, but has risen.” Yet, even with the empty tomb and angelic reminder of Jesus’ words, the Eleven remain uncertain—showing us that signs and facts alone do not birth belief.
Next, Jesus joins two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Their hearts ache with crushed hopes—Jesus, the prophet they trusted to redeem Israel, was crucified. But Jesus reframes everything through the lens of Scripture, showing that the Messiah had to suffer before entering His glory. Their hearts burn, but only at the breaking of bread are their eyes opened. They rush back to Jerusalem, testifying that Jesus is alive.
Then Jesus appears to the disciples. He addresses their fear with grace, proving that He is not a ghost by inviting them to touch Him and even watching Him eat fish. It’s not just a spiritual resurrection—it’s physical, tangible, real. He opens their minds to understand the Law, Prophets, and Psalms as all pointing to Himself, and He commissions them to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to the nations, promising the power of the Spirit.
The point of this chapter isn’t only to establish the fact of the resurrection. It’s to illuminate the purpose behind it—God’s redemptive plan, revealed in Scripture and fulfilled in Christ, to be proclaimed by those who have been awakened to its glory.
Personalized Journal Entry in the Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture:
I was with them at the tomb, when sorrow blinded them to joy and spices were carried to preserve what had already been made eternal. I rolled away the stone not for Jesus to escape, but for them to enter and see that He was not there. Why seek the living among the dead? He is risen, just as He told you.
I walked beside them on the road, hearing their disappointment and drawing near in their disillusionment. Though their eyes were kept from recognizing Me, their hearts began to burn as the Scriptures were opened. I showed them how from Moses to the prophets, the Christ was always meant to suffer before entering into glory.
In the breaking of bread, their eyes were opened. They ran—not walked—back to proclaim what they now knew: the Lord had risen indeed. I breathed on their fear in the upper room and stood in their midst, not as a memory or a vision, but flesh and bone. I invited them to touch, to see, to share a meal, that doubt might dissolve in the presence of Truth.
I opened their minds to understand. The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms—each a thread woven into the tapestry of redemption—now complete in Me. The Scriptures had always pointed to this: the suffering, the resurrection, and the message of forgiveness for all peoples.
You are not merely observers of this story. You are witnesses. And I clothe you with power from on high, not that you may strive, but that you may rest in My ability to work through you. I am alive in you now, as surely as I stood before them then.
(Luke 24:1–8, 13–32, 36–49)
Prayer:
Father, thank You that I no longer need to seek the living among the dead places of my understanding. You have opened my eyes, not just to the empty tomb, but to the risen Christ revealed in all of Scripture and alive within me. I rest tonight not as one trying to grasp resurrection truth, but as one who is already held by it. My heart burns with joy, not from striving to believe, but from knowing You have already given me eyes to see and a mind renewed by Your Spirit. The risen Christ lives in me—this is not my hope, it is my reality. I trust You to continue revealing Christ in me and through me, even when I walk roads I don’t yet understand. You’ve already shown that You walk those roads with me and in me.
Amen.
Devotional Credit:
Insights drawn from the Grace and Truth Study Bible (Zondervan, 2021).
Photo Credit: Image suggestion from Unsplash.com