24
Luke

The Empty Tomb and the Women's Report

Luke 24:1-12
1Then on the first of the Sabbaths at deep dawn they came to the tomb bearing the spices that they had made ready. 2They found the stone rolled away from the grave. 3When they entered they did not find the body. 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men in flashing clothing stood beside them. 5As they became afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee. 7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day." 8They remembered his declarations. 9They returned from the grave and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the others with them were telling these things to the apostles. 11These declarations seemed to them like nonsense, and they did not believe them. 12Peter arose and ran to the grave. He stooped and saw only the bandages, then went away marveling at what had happened.

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The women's discovery of the displaced stone and absent body meets perplexity rather than recognition, which the two figures address by shifting attention from the empty space to words Jesus had spoken earlier. Their announcement presents the absence as the appointed end of a fixed sequence of delivery, crucifixion, and rising on the third day. When the report reaches the eleven and the rest, however, it registers as nonsense, leaving the claim suspended between the women's recollection and the men's refusal. Peter's solitary inspection of the bandages registers a different level of engagement without closing the gap. The unit therefore presents resurrection testimony as data that still requires testing by those who hear it.

What is The Empty Tomb and the Women's Report about?

The scene opens at the tomb before full daylight on the first day after the Sabbath. A group of women arrives carrying the spices they had prepared, only to discover the entrance stone already displaced and the body no longer inside. Their immediate response is confusion rather than recognition, and this confusion is met by two figures whose single question reframes the entire situation: why look for the living among the dead?

The central tension lies in the gap between what the women have seen and what the male disciples are prepared to accept when the report reaches them. The empty space inside the tomb and the announcement attached to it create an unresolved claim that must now be tested by further action and further testimony. Because this unit stands directly after the hurried burial on the eve of the Sabbath, it functions as the first movement in the reversal of that burial, shifting attention from the finality of the grave to the question of where Jesus is now to be found.

Where does this passage sit in Luke?

This unit sits immediately after the burial account that closes chapter 23. The women who had prepared spices and then rested through the Sabbath now move at the first opportunity, their action forming the direct sequel to the hurried entombment before sunset. The narrative therefore advances from stillness and ritual observance to renewed movement at dawn, with the rolled-away stone marking the shift from closure to open possibility.

Within the larger sequence of chapter 24, the passage supplies the initial report that the remaining units test and expand. The women’s return and announcement to the eleven and the rest creates an immediate audience inside the story; the mixed response of dismissal as nonsense followed by Peter’s solitary dash to the tomb leaves the claim unresolved. That partial verification sets up the longer journey of recognition on the road to Emmaus, where two disciples rehearse the same report before their own eyes are opened.

Luke’s earlier passion predictions supply the thread the two figures invoke when they direct the women back to words spoken in Galilee. The reminder that the Son of Man must be delivered, crucified, and raised on the third day echoes the pattern already traced in 9:22 and 18:31–34, so the empty tomb is presented not as an isolated surprise but as the expected next step in a sequence the disciples had heard yet not grasped. The women’s remembering and the men’s initial refusal thus dramatize the uneven reception of those earlier sayings.

By ending with Peter’s marveling departure, the passage hands forward a single figure whose action anticipates further appearances. The tension between testimony and belief remains open, requiring the subsequent scenes to supply the fuller confirmation that moves the group from perplexity toward shared witness.

How is the passage structured?

The unit opens with the women’s arrival and the three-step discovery that structures the first half: they reach the tomb, observe the displaced stone, and enter to find the body absent. This sequence halts at their perplexity, which the sudden appearance of the two men interrupts without any preparatory action on the women’s part. The men’s question then redirects attention from the empty space to a prior set of words spoken in Galilee, and the brief citation of those words supplies the only extended speech in the passage. The women’s response is compressed into a single clause of recollection, after which the narrative pivots outward as they leave the tomb and carry the report to the eleven and the larger group. The report itself is presented twice—once in summary and once with the women’s names attached—before the text records the apostles’ outright dismissal. That rejection is not left as the final note; instead the account narrows to Peter’s solitary movement, his stooping inspection of the bandages, and his departure while still weighing what he has seen. The architecture therefore moves from collective discovery through angelic reorientation and failed transmission to one disciple’s inconclusive verification, leaving the larger circle’s response unresolved.

What is the historical background?

The phrase “first of the Sabbaths” in verse 1 marks the day after the weekly Sabbath, the point at which work such as handling spices could resume. Jewish custom required the body to be prepared before sunset on Friday, so the women’s earlier preparations had been interrupted by the Sabbath rest; their return at deep dawn reflects both the legal limit on activity and the practical desire to complete the burial rites promptly. The spices themselves were aromatic oils and resins applied to slow decay and honor the deceased, a standard Judean practice for any family that could afford them.

Tombs in the region were typically cut into limestone hillsides and sealed with a large, wheel-shaped stone set in a groove; rolling it away required several men, which explains why the women notice its displacement immediately upon arrival. Inside, bodies were wrapped in strips of linen, often with additional cloths around the head, leaving the bandages visible once the corpse was removed. Verse 12’s mention of these wrappings alone therefore signals an empty but orderly space rather than a scene of robbery or disturbance.

The appearance of two men in flashing clothing draws on longstanding Jewish traditions of heavenly messengers whose garments reflect divine glory. Their question in verse 5 assumes a cultural distinction between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead that the tomb itself was meant to maintain. When the women later report to “the eleven and to all the rest,” the detail underscores that testimony from women, while admissible in ordinary conversation, carried limited weight in formal or legal settings of the period; the men’s initial dismissal of the report as nonsense aligns with that social assumption.

Peter’s decision to run and stoop for a closer look reflects both personal urgency and the low entrance typical of such tombs, which forced visitors to bend at the waist. No political or Roman legal apparatus is invoked in the passage itself; the focus remains on the internal Jewish practices surrounding Sabbath observance, burial preparation, and the credibility of witnesses.

What does this passage teach about God?

The two figures at the tomb frame the absence of the body as the direct consequence of a prior divine necessity rather than an unexplained disappearance. Their statement that the Son of Man must be delivered, crucified, and rise ties the event to the same pattern of suffering and vindication Jesus had already announced in Galilee. The resurrection therefore appears not as an interruption of his mission but as its appointed completion, with the empty space inside the tomb serving as visible confirmation that the sequence has reached its third-day term.

Human response in the unit underscores the distance between announcement and recognition. The women move from perplexity over the missing body to fear at the appearance of the two men, then to recollection of Jesus' words once the question is posed. Their return and report to the eleven and the others shows that the testimony originates with those who first handled the spices and entered the tomb, yet the declarations register as nonsense to the larger group. The text records no immediate acceptance, only the fact that the report was given and initially set aside.

Peter's separate action of running to the grave and stooping to inspect the bandages left behind registers a different register of engagement. He sees the same physical evidence the women had seen, yet the narrative closes on his marveling rather than on any stated conclusion. The passage thereby presents resurrection faith as something that begins with the word of the risen one being remembered and attested, even while the full weight of that testimony remains subject to further testing by those who hear it.

The contrast drawn between seeking the living among the dead and the actual state of affairs locates the initiative with God, who has already acted to reverse the outcome of crucifixion. The mission of Jesus is thereby shown to include both the necessity of death at the hands of sinful men and the subsequent rising that places him beyond the reach of the tomb.

What are the interpretive difficulties?

The apostles’ reaction to the women’s report leaves several motives unclear. The text states that the declarations “seemed to them like nonsense, and they did not believe them,” yet it supplies no further indication whether this judgment arose from the source of the testimony, the content of the announcement itself, or prior expectations shaped by the events of the preceding days. The women are identified by name in verse 10, and the narrative records that they spoke “to the eleven and to all the rest,” but the passage offers no additional detail on how the report was phrased or whether any part of the angelic question was repeated verbatim.

Peter’s decision to run to the tomb while the others remain behind introduces a further point of tension. The account notes only that he “stooped and saw only the bandages, then went away marveling at what had happened.” Nothing is said about whether this inspection altered his earlier stance or simply deepened his perplexity. The narrative silence here is consistent with the larger pattern in the unit: the empty space inside the tomb and the claim attached to it are presented as data that still require testing rather than as evidence that immediately persuades every hearer.

A related question concerns the extent of the women’s recollection. Verse 8 states that “they remembered his declarations,” and the angelic speech in verses 6–7 recalls the Son of Man’s earlier words about being delivered, crucified, and rising on the third day. The text does not specify how fully this sequence was conveyed when the women returned, nor does it indicate whether the apostles recognized any connection between the present scene and those earlier statements. The passage therefore does not settle whether the report failed because the claim was inherently incredible or because the link to prior teaching remained unmade in the telling.

These unresolved elements keep the focus on the distance between the women’s experience at the tomb and the reception their words receive. The unit records the initial announcement and the first attempt to transmit it, but it stops short of showing how that transmission will eventually be received or confirmed.

Movement by movement

Arrival at the Tomb24:1-3

The women reach the tomb at deep dawn carrying the spices they had made ready, their arrival marking the first permitted moment after the Sabbath rest. The narrative records a straightforward sequence of actions: they come, they find the stone rolled away from the grave, and upon entering they do not find the body. This three-step discovery unfolds without any reported expectation or prior hint of change, so the absence registers first as simple fact rather than immediate meaning. The phrasing “at deep dawn” situates the moment before full daylight, preserving the sense of an early, deliberate resumption of unfinished burial care. Because the text has already noted their earlier preparations interrupted by the Sabbath, the return now appears as the direct continuation of that interrupted task rather than a new initiative. The rolled stone and missing body therefore interrupt an errand of honor, leaving the women with an empty space where the body had been placed. This initial movement halts at the fact of absence, setting the stage for the perplexity that follows without yet supplying any explanation or announcement.

The Two Men Appear24:4-5

While they were perplexed about this, the text places two men in flashing clothing directly beside the women without any preceding sound or movement on their part. The suddenness of the appearance interrupts the moment of confusion that followed the discovery of the empty space inside the tomb. Fear follows at once, expressed in the physical act of bowing faces to the earth, a response that registers the figures as more than ordinary visitors. The single question they pose, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?, does not supply new information about the missing body but instead challenges the assumption that guided the women's errand. By addressing the search itself rather than the absence, the question shifts attention from what is missing to the category in which the women have placed Jesus. The narrative records no reply from the women at this point, leaving the force of the address to stand on its own before any further explanation arrives.

The Resurrection Announced24:6-8

The two figures move at once from their opening question to the plain statement “He is not here, but he has risen.” The announcement stands without further description of the empty space; instead the men redirect the women to words Jesus had spoken earlier in Galilee. Those words are summarized as a single necessity: the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day." The phrasing presents the sequence as already fixed rather than as an unexpected reversal. The women’s response is recorded in one terse sentence: they remembered his declarations. That act of recollection supplies the only human action inside the movement and immediately precedes their departure from the tomb. The narrative therefore treats the resurrection not as an isolated discovery but as the visible end of a pattern the women now recognize they had already heard. No detail is given about how fully they grasped the claim at that moment, only that the prior sayings returned to mind once the men had spoken.

Report to the Eleven24:9-10

The women return from the grave and report all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Their movement carries the sequence begun at deep dawn directly into the circle of remaining disciples, transmitting both the discovery of the empty space and the words spoken by the two men in flashing clothing. The text identifies the speakers by name—Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the others with them—as they address the apostles. This naming anchors the announcement in particular witnesses who had prepared the spices and stood inside the tomb, rather than leaving the report unattributed. What they convey is summarized as these things, a phrase that gathers the rolled-away stone, the absent body, the question about seeking the living among the dead, and the reminder of the Son of Man’s necessary path through crucifixion to rising on the third day. The narrative therefore moves the message from the site of the tomb to the ears of the eleven without yet describing any response, preserving the report itself as the immediate sequel to the women’s recollection of Jesus’ earlier declarations.

Disbelief and Peter's Response24:11-12

The apostles receive the women's account of the empty tomb and the words of the two men as nonsense. The text gives no further clue whether this dismissal stems from the fact that women brought the news, from the sheer unexpectedness of resurrection, or from lingering shock after the crucifixion. Their refusal to believe stands in direct contrast to the women's own remembering of Jesus' earlier declarations.

Peter, however, does not remain with the group. He gets up and runs to the grave. Stooping to look inside, he sees only the bandages lying there. The detail of the abandoned wrappings suggests that whatever has occurred has left the body-cloths behind in an orderly state rather than scattered by theft or removal. Peter then departs, marveling at what had happened, yet the narrative stops short of saying that he believed the report outright.

This sequence keeps the tension between testimony and acceptance alive. The single disciple's movement toward the tomb marks the first individual response, but his marveling leaves open whether he has yet connected the empty space with the promise of rising on the third day.

Notes accompany the Anselm Project Bible, an AI translation from the original languages. Tap any verse above for the committee's word-level decisions.

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