Luke 24 v 36. “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
It is Easter Sunday, late in the evening. Ten of the disciples are gathered in a house, somewhere in Jerusalem. The men from Emmaus were with them and perhaps some others were there too. In John 20 verse 19 we are told the door is locked for fear of the Jews. All of a sudden Jesus is standing right in their midst. How he entered, we do not know. Jesus puts them immediately at rest with his words, “Peace be with you”. This is a reference to the peace which he has now obtained for them by his death on the Cross [Ephesians 2 verses 14-18, Philippians 4 verse 7].
We read that the men were “startled and frightened thinking they were seeing a ghost”. Well, wouldn’t you have been? All this was overwhelming. Remember the two men from Emmaus had already seen Jesus, and earlier that day Jesus had appeared to Peter. So at least three of the party had already seen the risen Lord, still they were all startled when he suddenly appeared. They were also frightened. It was probably his sudden appearance and the fact that he seemed to materialise from nothing that shocked them. They thought it was a ghost, so Jesus hastens to show them that it is really He – their Lord and Master. How does he do this? By showing them his hands and his feet. John’s Gospel mentions his side. This is unmistakably the marks of the crucifixion and he tells them to touch him.
All this is of course, hard for us to understand because we do not yet possess our resurrection bodies. But here we see that the resurrection body of Jesus was, on the one hand, so unlike our bodies that he was able to enter a room without opening a door or a window, and yet on the other hand, his body is so similar to our bodies that the very scars resulting from his crucifixion were still showing.
See how he comforts them (verse 39). “It is I myself! Touch me and see: a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Then he ate with them. So here we see something about the resurrection body, at least as it pertains to Jesus, and then by extension to us. Real, unlimited, flesh and bone, able to be touched and able to eat.
These are amazing things to ponder, but ponder them we must, because one day when Jesus returns and we receive our resurrection bodies – we will be like him.
O Glorious Day!