36 Now while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But being startled and frightened, they were thinking that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 And while they still were not believing because of their joy and were still marveling, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, 43 and He took it and ate it before them.
44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. 51 And it happened that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24: 36-53 LSB
Luke 24: 36-53
See My hands and My feet - Dr. Luke goes through the proofs of Jesus' physical resurrection, that it is not an aberration before them. Look, would a spirit have flesh and bones, could you touch it? They had seen Him raise others from the dead, but Who can raise themselves? In John we see the risen Savior go straight to the heart of doubting Thomas's reservations, to which Thomas replies, "My Lord and my God."
…26Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”…
29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.… John 20: 26-31
…20But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Philippians 3: 20-21
V. 41 Have you anything here to eat - He eats a piece of fish before them to show that He is not a ghost, that He has an actual body that can do these normal things. They're still struggling, it still seems too good to be true, as they stand in a city, that sits on a globe, that spins on it's axis as it travels around the sun, and none of that is the product of their imaginations. He is so gentle and patient in this, as is His grace, when one comes out of the bubble of vain thinking, it is all a miracle.
If you should see tomorrow a heavy shower of rain, you would not believe, I suppose, that it was made with a watering-can; and if you saw the Thames swollen to its banks from a great flood, you would not believe that the London waterworks had filled it to the brim. ‘No,’ say you, ‘this is God at work in nature. The greatness of the work proves that God is here.’ If you were ever in Cambridge, you might have seen a little mountain which is so small nobody knows how it was made. Some say it is artificial; some say it is natural. Now, I have never heard any dispute about the Alps; nobody ever said that they were artificial. I never heard of any disputation about the Himalayas; no one ever conjectured that human hands piled them up to the skies and clothed them with their hoary snows. So, when I read of the mercies of God in Christ, reaching up like mountains to heaven, I am sure they must be divine. I am certain the revelation must come from God; it must be true; it is self-evidential. I might enlarge this argument by showing that God’s works in creation are very great, and therefore it would be idle to think that there would be no great works in grace. Two works which have been made by the same artist always have some characteristics which enable you to see that the same artist made them. In like manner, to us there is one God; creation and redemption have but one author; the same eternal power and Godhead are legibly inscribed on both. Now when I look at the sea, and hear it roaring in the fulness thereof, I see a great artist there. And when my soul surveys the ocean of grace, and listens to the echoes of its motion as the sound of many waters, I see the same Almighty artist. When I see a great sinner saved, then I think I see the same Master-hand which first formed man. - C. H. Spurgeon
They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish - Literal physical food to a literal Jesus. Even as He ascended as a literal being, He is now in Heaven as a glorified Being, the difference being that now His body manifests the scars (prints) of His crucifixion, scars that will endure eternally as testimony to His everlasting covenant of peace with all who have entered that new covenant by grace through faith. Hallelujah. - Precept Austin
John MacArthur adds "From its inception on the Day of Pentecost, the church’s triumphant message has been that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and is alive forevermore (Acts 2:22-32; 3:14-15, 26; 4:10-12; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 33-37). Erich Sauer writes, “The message of the cross is at the same time a message of the resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32). In this lies its invincibility” (The Triumph of the Crucified [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951], 40). The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was necessary for at least three reasons. First, it demonstrated Christ’s complete victory over sin. Sin brought spiritual death and physical death. If He only conquered spiritual death, He did not fully conquer sin. If He had not risen bodily, those who are His would not rise either. There would never be a restoration of the earth in millennial glory. Second, Christ’s bodily resurrection is necessary to demonstrate the purpose of God in humanity. Men and women were created to give glory to God. Their bodily resurrection, which is dependent on Christ’s, is necessary so that men and women in some bodily form may give glory to God as they were originally intended to do. Finally, and most significantly, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ offers visible proof that God was satisfied with His sacrifice. Saving faith comes when one acknowledges Jesus as Lord, affirming that God raised Him from the dead, and thus demonstrated His approval of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. If the story of Jesus ended at the cross, the disciples’ hopes would have been shattered. They needed to know not only that He died, but also that He rose from the dead. The only way they would know that is to see Him in His physical, visible resurrected body. If they had not seen Jesus alive from the dead, they would not have carried the message any further. They would never have proclaimed the message of a dead, disappointing teacher. No one would have believed the Lord Jesus was the Redeemer, Savior, Son of God, and Lord if He hadn’t visibly risen from the dead." (See Luke Commentary) - Precept Austin
V. 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures - It is the same approach as on the road to Emmaus, Christ reveals Himself through all that was written about Him, from the time of the Creation onward. Interesting that so much joy and doubt can be in the same room, and that Jesus has to open their minds. It is the same in every age with all who believe, it was not by degree, that you established everything by your own mind, cause and effect. Listen, if you figured it out, if you think that you looked at all the evidence and decided for Jesus because you are just so smart and such a truth seeker, well, if that is the case then I suppose you made yourself too. Jesus performed the counterpart physical miracle to this as well when He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and raised the dead.
10“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”… Exodus 4: 10-12
…15In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds, 16 He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings 17to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,… Job 33: 15-17
…17Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. 18Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law. 19I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.… Psalm 119: 17-19
17In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. 19The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.… Isaiah 29: 17-19
…14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.…
…17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3: 14-18
…14Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. Acts 16: 14-15
…17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’ 19So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.… Acts 26: 17-19
V. 49 I am sending the promise of My Father upon you - When you think of this, think of the temple, and the Shekinah, God's glory departing from the temple. Now it is not a temple made with hands, our bodies, the bodies of those who believe, are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
…20“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD. 21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD. Isaiah 59: 20-21
…16And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.… John 14: 16-18
18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.… 1 Corinthians 6: 18-20
V. 52 And they, after worshiping Him - The Bible never condemns the worship of Jesus, only things that are not God, like men, angels, idols, money, power, animals, these we do not worship, but Christ we do, because He is God.
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