What is the meaning of Luke 24:1? On the first day of the week • Luke 24:1 opens: “On the first day of the week….” The narrative plants us on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath. • Every Gospel writer highlights the same timing (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; John 20:1), underscoring its historical certainty. • This is the day the risen Lord will reveal Himself. Later believers gathered on this very day to break bread and worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; cf. Revelation 1:10). • The empty tomb transforms an ordinary work-day into the ongoing weekly reminder that Christ is alive. very early in the morning • Still in darkness or first light, the women hurry to the grave. Mark 16:2 notes “just after sunrise,” while John 20:1 says “while it was still dark.” • Their eagerness echoes Psalm 5:3—“In the morning, LORD, You hear my voice.” Commitment shows up when others sleep (see also Mark 1:35, where Jesus Himself sought the Father before dawn). • Dawn becomes the stage for God’s greatest revelation since creation; light steps over darkness once more (Genesis 1:3; John 1:5). the women came to the tomb • Luke previously named Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others (Luke 23:55–56). These faithful followers had watched the burial and now retrace their steps. • Women, whose testimony was undervalued in that culture, are chosen as the first eyewitnesses—a divine stamp on their worth and on the truthfulness of the account (cf. John 20:11–18; Mark 16:9). • Their courage contrasts with most male disciples who are hiding (Luke 22:56–62; 24:9). God often uses the overlooked to display His power (1 Corinthians 1:27). bringing the spices they had prepared • Spices honored the dead and curbed decay (John 19:39–40; 2 Chronicles 16:14). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had started the process on Friday; the women now intend to finish it (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56). • Their actions show love and realism: they expected a lifeless body. Ironically, the One they plan to embalm has already defeated death (Romans 6:9). • God meets them in their simple obedience; their routine service turns into world-changing discovery. summary Sunday dawns, devoted women walk, spices in hand, expecting to honor a dead friend. Instead they encounter the turning point of history: an empty tomb. Luke 24:1 sets the stage for the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ—an event so certain that the earliest believers reordered their week around it. Their early-morning faithfulness invites us to live every day in the light of the risen Lord. |
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