Introduction: On Resurrection Day, the Lord Jesus Christ had walked with Cleopas and another disciple from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The Lord not only walked with them, He also explained the Scriptures about Himself to them and shared a meal with them. After this, He vanished out of their sight and the two disciples returned to Jerusalem. While they were telling the story, Jesus Himself appeared to all of them gathered together!
Even with that, most of the disciples still didn’t believe Jesus was alive until they saw something that nobody could possibly deny.
1 The Lord appeared to the disciples
Text, Luke 24:36-37, KJV: 36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Cleopas and his companion were still talking about their journey to Emmaus and other things when Jesus appeared, standing “in the midst” of them. This could mean the disciples were sitting in a circle or partial circle, listening to Cleopas speak but no matter how they were arranged, Jesus appeared to them. Just as He had disappeared maybe an hour or so before, now He appears to them in an instant, and said “Peace be unto you!”
None of them were expecting this!
And when He, the Lord, appeared to them, they didn’t experience peace. They were all “terrified and affrighted”, as Luke stated. That wasn’t unusual, as several times before, people had experienced a great fear when they saw the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament (such as Gideon and Samson’s parents in the Book of Judges). Luke also wrote that the shepherds were “sore afraid” when the angels (the heavenly host) appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-14). Why else would the angels say “Fear not” unless the people who saw them were already afraid?
Besides this, the disciples thought they had seen a ghost! How much knowledge they had about spirits, good or bad, is debatable but they had seen the Lord cast out evil spirits. Surely they knew, also, about angels and how they had ministered to people. But this was different, in that they had never seen a spirit or ghost before and now—a Personality was standing in their midst and they really didn’t know what to do!
Fortunately, the Lord knew exactly what to do. And He did it.
2 The Lord appealed to the disciples
Text, Luke 24:38-40, KJV: 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
The disciples were terrified when Jesus appeared out of nowhere and spoke to them. No doubt they were speechless—and who wouldn’t be, once they had seen something as unusual as that. So the Lord not only spoke peace but began to offer peace. He asked, “Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” with “thoughts”, here, most likely meaning worries or concerns. The Lord had said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to “take no thought” about life and other things (specifically, Matt. 6:25-33).
After this, He said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself”. They had walked with the Lord for three years and surely would have known what He looked like. Apparently they had not looked at His hands or His feet at that time; otherwise, the Lord would not have appealed to them to do this. Earlier that day, Mary Magdalene had grabbed His feet—maybe holding on for dear life, as some might say—such that the Lord had to tell her, “Stop clinging to Me” or “Let Me go, Mary!” Later, Cleopas and his companion had walked, talked, and had a meal with Him before He vanished from their sight, but there was no record He told these two disciples to look at any part of His body.
Wouldn’t they have noticed the wounds in His hands when He had shared the meal with them, just a few hours before?
Then He knew they thought they had seen a ghost because He said, “Handle Me and see for yourselves that it’s really Me! A spirit or ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, like I do!” After this, He showed them His hands and feet.
One can only imagine the flood of memories that came to each of the disciples. Some had seen the Lord go into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and, later, be arrested. They also had to remember running away and leaving Jesus behind when Judas led the mob to the Garden. And they all most likely remembered either seeing or hearing about the crucifixion and burial. John, at least, saw and heard the Lord’s last hours and also saw a soldier pierce the Lord’s body, seeing “blood and water” flow from that wound.
They knew Jesus had died.
But they couldn’t accept the fact that JESUS WAS ALIVE! So the Lord tried to put their minds at ease by showing them His hands and feet (and, no doubt, the still visible wounds) and by encouraging them to actually feel His body for proof. Most likely He had not shown or demonstrated His hands or His feet by this time but now they were available if anyone wanted to see for themselves He was alive and well.
And while they were still processing this, the Lord gave them one more undeniable proof.
3 The Lord ate some food with them
Text, Luke 24:41-43, KJV: 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luke says here that the disciples couldn’t believe it for joy that Jesus was truly alive! They had either seen (John, chapter 19) or heard that the Lord had been crucified and that His body had been placed in a tomb. They also either knew or heard that Nicodemus had mixed 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes (at 12 ounces to the pound, per several commentaries) then placed it in the burial garments for the Lord’s body (John 19:39-40), and that a group of women had brought their own supply of spices for the Lord’s body to the tomb early that morning.
They also had heard at least two reports that the tomb was empty, and they had heard from Cleopas and his companion that they had seen and spoken with the Lord.
But they still did not believe.
Even now, the Lord had appeared to them and had appealed to them, giving them the invitation to actually touch His body and feel the flesh and bones.
They still couldn’t believe it—but this time, it was for joy. They had seen people rise from the dead before, such as the son of the widow of Nain, where the boy rose up from the coffin (Luke 7:11-16); and when Jesus had raised the daughter of Jairus, when her body was still in the house (Mark 8); and most of all, they had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Surely there would have been joy when the deceased was reunited with the living—but they had never seen anything like this.
And now Jesus gave them one more proof that nobody could deny. He asked for something to eat! How long He and they had been observing each other is not specified but my guess is that the silence wasn’t just deafening, it was awkward. Here is the Risen Lord, showing in the best way He could that He was alive, but the disciples still didn’t—then couldn’t—believe what they saw for joy.
The Lord had already explained that a spirit or ghost didn’t have flesh or bones, but He had both. Maybe to prove once and for all He was really (!) alive, as mentioned, He asked them if they had anything to eat. Being God, He of course knew what they had but wanted, perhaps, to give them the opportunity to become involved personally. After all, there is no record that a spirit ever ate anything, but now the Risen Lord is going to prove He was real by eating something.
That something was probably very precious to the disciples, because all they had for Him was a piece of broiled fish and part of a honeycomb. Did they not have any other food? I also remember part of an Easter movie aired many years ago, having this very scene near the end. Jesus asked if they had anything for Him to eat, and the actor playing the role of Simon Peter, perhaps, said, “You heard! Get the Master some food!” But I doubt Jesus would be that demanding. After all, He simply asked if there was something to eat.
Not only did they provide Him with something to eat, He then ate the food “before them” or in their presence. Cleopas and his companion had seen something like this earlier that day, when the Lord had broken bread with them in Emmaus. Did they remember? I’d like to think they did.
And I’d like to think that the disciples remembered the other times Jesus had provided for them. During the Lord’s earthly ministry, He had provided food for many people: 5000 men (John 6, plus all three other gospels) and for 4000 men plus women and children (Matthew 15:32-38). They also probably remembered when they grabbed grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-6). Now, they watched the Risen Lord take part of another meal with His disciples.
What more proof would they need that Jesus was really alive?
Apparently this was enough for them. Luke would add in Acts 1 that Jesus presented Himself alive by many proofs. But even as Jesus told Thomas, “You believed I’m alive because you saw Me. Blessed are those who haven’t seen, but yet believed anyway (John 20:30)”, so too can you and I and anyone find salvation through Jesus Christ, Who died for us and rose again from the dead. Oh, how He loves us!
Conclusion:
The Lord appeared out of nowhere, and then appealed to the disciples to touch His body for proof He was really alive and had a real body of flesh and bones. To further prove He was alive, He asked for and ate some food which they had given Him. This was enough proof for them. Even though they had flat-out refused to believe, and then couldn’t believe these facts for joy, they came to realize JESUS WAS TRULY ALIVE!
I hope you too can experience this joy of knowing we have a Lord who lives and a Savior Who loves us more than
we can ever understand. Accept His love today!
Scripture quotations were taken from the King James Version of the Bible
