Luke 24:25 kjv
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Luke 24:25 nkjv
Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:25 niv
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:25 esv
And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:25 nlt
Then Jesus said to them, "You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.
Luke 24 25 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Luke 24:25 | "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets... | Fulfills OT prophetic expectation |
| Luke 24:45 | Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. | Explains the disciples' blindness |
| John 1:10-11 | He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. | Connects to unbelief in Jesus' own |
| Acts 1:3 | to whom he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs... | Confirmation of resurrection |
| Romans 10:14-17 | ... how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? ... faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. | Emphasizes need for divine revelation |
| 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 | ... Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, | Links death and resurrection to Scripture |
| Galatians 3:1 | O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?... | Uses similar reproach |
| Deuteronomy 18:15 | "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him." | OT basis for Jesus as prophet |
| Isaiah 53:1-12 | Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has suffered... | Describes the Suffering Servant |
| Psalm 22:1-31 | My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? | Prophecies of suffering and exaltation |
| Acts 2:23 | this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed... | Divine plan behind crucifixion |
| Acts 3:18 | But what God foretold by the mouth of all his prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. | Christ's suffering foretold by all prophets |
| Acts 7:51-53 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you." | Connects to persistent unbelief |
| John 14:26 | But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things... | Role of the Spirit in understanding |
| 2 Timothy 3:15-17 | and how from childhood you have been trained in the holy Scriptures... | Importance of Scripture |
| Romans 1:3 | concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh... | Fulfillment of Davidic lineage |
| Isaiah 11:1-10 | Out of the stump of Jesse shall come forth a shoot... | Messianic prophecy |
| 1 Peter 1:10-12 | Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to come to you searched and inquired carefully, | Prophets sought understanding |
| Psalm 119:130 | The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. | Light and understanding from God's word |
| Luke 24:49 | And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. | Empowerment for mission |
| John 3:18 | Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. | Condemnation for unbelief |
Luke 24 verses
Luke 24 25 Meaning
This verse highlights the foolishness and slowness of heart of Jesus' disciples to believe the testimonies of the prophets and Jesus' own words about His suffering and resurrection. They were slow to grasp the divine plan unfolding.
Luke 24 25 Context
This verse is spoken by Jesus to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They are dejected because Jesus, whom they had hoped would redeem Israel, has been crucified. They have not yet recognized Him, and they recount their sorrowful experiences and the report of His resurrection. Jesus gently rebukes their lack of faith, attributing it to their being foolish and slow of heart to believe everything the prophets wrote about the Messiah. This incident occurs on the same day as Jesus' resurrection, after the women have reported seeing angels and Jesus Himself.
Luke 24 25 Word analysis
- "O foolish ones" (NIV: "How foolish you are")
- NIDD (New Testament Greek Lexicon): anoētos (ἀνόητος) - unthinking, foolish, stupid, lacking intelligence or discernment.
- This is a gentle but firm rebuke, implying a lack of proper understanding or reasoning based on available evidence.
- "and slow of heart" (NIV: "how slow you are to believe")
- Lexical-Conceptual analysis: brady“s (βραδύς) means slow. kardia (καρδία) means heart, referring to the inner person, the seat of understanding, will, and emotions.
- The phrase "slow of heart" signifies not just intellectual slowness, but a deep-seated resistance or inertia in their affections and will, hindering their full acceptance of the truth. It points to an emotional unwillingness to embrace the reality of the Messiah's suffering as integral to God's plan.
- "to believe" (NIV: "to believe")
- Greek: pisteuein (πιστεύειν) - to believe, trust, have faith in. It implies entrusting oneself to something or someone.
- "all that the prophets have spoken"
- Greek: panta (πάντα) - all, every.
- This refers to the totality of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.
- The emphasis is on all, indicating a comprehensive understanding was available, not selective belief.
- NID: Prophetic witness to Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection was widespread throughout the Old Testament, but often misunderstood.
words-group by words-group analysis
- "foolish ones, and slow of heart": This pairing highlights that their lack of belief is not due to lack of evidence but a deeper issue within their understanding and inner disposition. Their hearts are "slow" to process and accept the truth the prophets proclaimed. This isn't an intellectual deficit alone, but a spiritual or emotional impediment.
- "to believe all that the prophets have spoken": The core of Jesus' gentle rebuke is their failure to integrate the entire prophetic picture of the Messiah. They accepted prophecies of glory but struggled with those predicting suffering. This shows a selective interpretation that missed the divinely ordained path to glory through suffering, as extensively outlined in the Old Testament.
Luke 24 25 Bonus section
The concept of "slow of heart" is not unique to these disciples. Many passages throughout Scripture show God’s people struggling with faith and understanding, requiring divine intervention to enlighten them (e.g., the Israelites in the wilderness). This verse prepares the way for Jesus opening their minds to understand the Scriptures in verse 45, demonstrating that spiritual understanding is a gift from God, prompted by His Word. The "prophets" mentioned include figures like Isaiah, who vividly foretold the suffering servant.
Luke 24 25 Commentary
Jesus confronts the disciples’ dim-wittedness and spiritual inertia. They had heard credible testimonies of His resurrection, yet they clung to their misunderstanding. Their “slowness of heart” points to a reluctance of their inner being to embrace the concept of a suffering Messiah, despite the clear prophetic witness. The Old Testament thoroughly documented the Messiah's suffering as a prerequisite to glory. Their failure lay in not synthesizing these scriptural truths. Jesus begins to rectify this by systematically explaining how the Messiah had to suffer and then enter His glory, using the Scriptures as the foundation for this revelation. This teaching underscores that genuine faith is rooted in understanding and assenting to the entirety of God’s Word concerning Christ.
- Believers today can be "slow of heart" when circumstances conflict with their expectations of God's promises, leading to doubt rather than faith.
- A consistent study of all of Scripture, not just favorite passages, is vital to understanding God's plan.