^24:44Then¹¹¹ he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me¹¹² in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms¹¹³ must be fulfilled.” ^24:45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures,¹¹⁴^24:46and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ¹¹⁵ would suffer¹¹⁶ and would rise from the dead on the third day, ^24:47and repentance¹¹⁷ for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed¹¹⁸ in his name to all nations,¹¹⁹ beginning from Jerusalem.¹²⁰^24:48You are witnesses¹²¹ of these things. ^24:49And look, I am sending you¹²² what my Father promised.¹²³ But stay in the city¹²⁴ until you have been clothed with power¹²⁵ from on high.”

Jesus’ Departure

^24:50Then¹²⁶ Jesus¹²⁷ led them out as far as Bethany,¹²⁸ and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ^24:51Now¹²⁹ during the blessing¹³⁰ he departed¹³¹ and was taken up into heaven.¹³²^24:52So¹³³ they worshiped¹³⁴ him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,¹³⁵^24:53and were continually in the temple courts¹³⁶ blessing¹³⁷ God.¹³⁸

Read in Logos

Luke 24:52–53: And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Footnotes

111 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
112 Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.
113 For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to , lines 8–10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to , line 10.
114 Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.
115 Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
116 Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer, (2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain, would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.
117 This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.
118 Or “preached,” “announced.”
119 To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta ethnē) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.
120 Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts. For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
121 You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.
122 Grk “sending on you.”
123 Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15–18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.
124 The city refers to Jerusalem.
125 Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11–12; 21:12–15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54–62 with Acts 2:14–41).
126 Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
127 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
128 Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.
129 Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
130 Grk “while he blessed them.”
131 Grk “he departed from them.”
132 The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sys, but it is found in 𝔓75 and the rest of the tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see . For the translation of ἀνεφέρετο (anephereto) as “was taken up” see ἀναφέρω 1. There is great debate whether this event equals Acts 1:9–11 so that Luke has telescoped something here that he describes in more detail later. The text can be read in this way because the temporal marker in v. 50 is vague.
133 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ ascension and the concluding summary of Luke’s Gospel.
134 The reference to worship is lacking in the Western D, its last major omission in this Gospel.
135 Joy is another key theme for Luke: 1:14; 2:10; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7, 10; 24:41.
136 Grk “in the temple.” Luke’s gospel story proper ends where it began, in the temple courts (Luke 1:4–22). The conclusion is open-ended, because the story continues in Acts with what happened from Jerusalem onwards, once the promise of the Father (v. 49) came.
137 The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainountes, “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian (𝔓75 א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogountes, “blessing”). Most , especially the later Byzantine , evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C2 W Θ Ψ f1, 13 33 𝔐 lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.
138 The majority of Greek , some of which are important witnesses (A B C2 Θ Ψ f13 𝔐 lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (𝔓75 א C* D L W 1 33 it co), it is evidently not original.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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 Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the 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.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven. After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple praising God.

NLTNew Living Translation

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 of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things.

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But 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. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything that is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending out what was promised by my Father upon you, but you stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it happened that while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple courts praising God.

KJV 1900King James Version

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

Public Domain