Luke 24:36-43

Jesus Appears To The Eleven (24:36-43).

We now come to the climax to which all that has gone before is building up, the appearance of the risen Jesus to His Apostles and His ascension into Heaven. For Luke it is the ultimate moment. He is being revealed as the Son of the Most High.

In this passage He comes to them, shows them His hands, (which would include the wrists, the word can mean both), and His feet, eats with them and makes clear to them the genuine reality of His resurrection. It is the final earthly evidence of Who He is, which would gradually come home to their hearts as it did so vividly to Thomas in John 20:28. This is a parallel account to John 20:19 although the differences make clear that one is not just an extract from the other. Compare also Mark 16:14 which similarly contains tradition not mentioned by Luke. That too would appear to be from a separate source.

Just as at Jesus' baptism Luke had made clear that the Holy Spirit descended in  bodily  form (Luke 3:22), so now does he make clear that Jesus really did appear in His real resurrected body. It was a body that could be felt and touched. It thus consisted, in some sense, of flesh and bones (the mention of blood is noticeably absent). Here was the ultimate evidence of the resurrection.

Here as elsewhere the manuscript D omits one or two phrases. But as they are included in p75, Alpha, B, A, W, etc we have included them. There seems no good reason for not doing so as they fit the context, in general agree with John without just being copied from there, and we know that D is not always reliable, being influenced by d and the other Old Latin versions.

Analysis.

a As they spoke these things, He himself stood in the midst of them, and says to them, “Peace be to you” (Luke 24:36).

b But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they saw a ghost (Luke 24:37).

c And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And for what reason do questionings arise in your heart?” (Luke 24:38).

d “See My hands and My feet, that it is I myself. Handle Me, and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you behold Me having” (Luke 24:39).

c And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet (Luke 24:40).

b And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said to them, “Have you here anything to eat?” (Luke 24:41).

a And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish. And He took it, and ate before them (Luke 24:42).

Note that in ‘a' He stood among them and wished them ‘peace' in order to demonstrate that He was risen, and in the parallel He ate a piece of fish in front of them for the same purpose. In ‘b' they were terrified and frightened, and in the parallel they ‘disbelieved for joy' and were filled with wonder. In ‘c' He asked them why they were questioning and in the parallel showed them His hands and feet so as to resolve their doubts. Centrally in ‘d' He allows them to handle Him to see that He really is flesh and bones, and not a ghost.