New Testament · Gospel

Luke 24:25

The Road to Emmaus

Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Luke 24:25 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Luke 24:25, in plain English

Then Jesus said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow your hearts are to believe everything the prophets said!'

Why it's here

Jesus didn't scold them for being dumb — He was lovingly frustrated that they hadn't connected what Scripture already told them.

Who's speaking

Jesus gently but firmly challenges their failure to trust God's Word.

Where it sits in the story

He called them slow-hearted, not hard-hearted. There's a difference. Jesus wasn't angry — He was eager for them to see what was right in front of them.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Jesus responds by calling them 'foolish' (Greek: anoētoi, 'without understanding') and 'slow of heart' (bradeis tē kardia) to believe what the prophets declared.

Language and setting

The rebuke targets not intellectual deficiency but spiritual sluggishness — their hearts failed to connect the prophetic Scriptures with the events they witnessed.

Voice

Jesus addresses the two disciples with a direct but redemptive rebuke about their failure to believe the prophets.

Significance

Jesus' rebuke reframes the problem: the issue is not insufficient evidence but insufficient engagement with Scripture. The prophets had already provided the interpretive framework.

In context

Luke 24:23–27

23but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive.

24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.”

25Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”

27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

Read all of Luke 24 — Two disciples walking home in despair meet a stranger who opens the Scriptures. Their hearts burn. And then they recognize Him.

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