Luke 24: 33-53

(Luke 24: 33-53)

And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,  Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.  But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.  And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?  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.  And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

 

Luke 24:36-37 『And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. The disciples thought the resurrected Jesus was a ghost. Although Jesus was visible to the disciples, they thought that Jesus had no body, only a soul, and had passed through the wall at will.

 

Jesus saw the doubts and fears in their hearts. So Jesus asked them, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? , And said the following to turn their doubts into confidence.『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. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 』

 

The resurrected Jesus emphasized that his body has flesh and bones as it was when he was not resurrected. Because, it was to make the disciples believe in the resurrection. The body of Jesus is not a body of flesh, but a body of spirit. So, the body of Jesus can transform and go through the wall. The body of the spirit from which Jesus was resurrected does not die forever, but the people's body must die. That is why he who is born again will wear the body of the spirit. In 1 Corinthians 15:44, “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 』

 

The disciples' doubts were lifted by seeing the living Jesus. Jesus gave the disciples one more clear evidence here, which is the second reason they became witnesses of Jesus. They finally realized the living word.

 

Jesus soon gave them a mission.『 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.』

 

In the eyes of the chief priests and scribes, and experts of the Old Testament at that time, the disciples seemed to be uneducated (Acts 4:13), but the disciples correctly used the prophecy of Christ in the Old Testament, making Jesus the very promise of God. He boldly proved that he was a Christ (Acts 2:36). Stephen knows the history of the Old Testament well, and it was through the history of God's salvation (Acts 7). It was because they knew that the Christ the Bible testifies to is Jesus. This is because Jesus explained the Bible himself. The disciples realized that Jesus was the Christ, whom God sent, and began to come to Jerusalem from Samaria to all Judea and to the ends of the earth, becoming witnesses of Jesus because they finally knew the living Word. Like the words of Jesus, they finally realized that the Bible testifies to Jesus.

 

They clearly knew that they could not be saved by anything other than Jesus. The disciples were eyewitnesses of the living Jesus, and the Bible clearly knew that Jesus was the Savior. But Jesus did not stop here and did one more thing to make them witnesses. He added power to fulfill his role as a witness. It means to remember, expect, and wait for what the Lord will do in the future. It was the promise of God the Father, the Holy Spirit, which Jesus would ask the Father to send to them. Luke 24 emphasizes the resurrection of Jesus over death, and the mission to preach the risen Lord. The witnesses who will preach the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are witnesses, and the disciples who are experienced in the field are worthy, and the fact of the cross and resurrection testifies to the authority of the fulfillment of the Bible prophecy.

 

Understanding the disciples, witnesses of the resurrection, requires an understanding of the resurrection of the early Christians and the perspective of Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke. We can see that Luke is editing his Gospel by summarizing the three characteristics of the early Christianity of the Resurrection as follows: That is, first, the resurrection is Jesus' victory over death. Second, resurrection is a change from human space-time to another world of God. Third, the resurrection is given a new function as the Lord on the kingdom of God and all things in the world. In the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, three characteristics of the resurrection are divided and recorded as separate events in chronological order. In other words, Jesus' resurrection is victory over death, ascension to Jesus' heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God means the moment of Jesus' new status change as Lord.