36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw 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 disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,1 43 and he took it and ate before them.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything 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 said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for2 the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all 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 stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Section Overview
As the disciples gather and swap stories, Jesus suddenly stands among them, declaring peace. The disciples are frightened and think Jesus to be a spirit or a ghost. They are still suffering from doubts, and thus Jesus shows them his hands and feet and invites them to touch him. His resurrected body is tangible; it consists of flesh and bones. Jesus’ resurrection is amazing to the disciples; it seems too good to be true. Jesus verifies his physical presence by eating a fish before them, since a spirit cannot eat a fish!
Jesus then reminds them that everything that has happened is in fulfillment of the Scriptures. He opens the disciples’ minds so that they comprehend the Scriptures, which predict both the suffering and the resurrection of Christ. The disciples are commissioned as Jesus’ witnesses to preach repentance for forgiveness to all nations. They must wait in Jerusalem until they are empowered with the Spirit to carry out their ministry. The Gospel ends in Bethany with Jesus lifting his hands and blessing his disciples. As he blesses them, he ascends into heaven. The Gospel ends where it began: in Jerusalem, at the temple. The disciples worship Jesus in Jerusalem, and they continue praising God in the temple.
Section Outline
V. Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem (19:28–24:53) . . .
G. Resurrection: Scripture Fulfilled (24:1–24:53) . . .
3. Commission of Disciples (24:36–53)
Response
Doubts arise in the disciples’ hearts as to whether Jesus is truly risen from the dead, and doubts can rise in our own hearts today as well. The claim that Jesus has been raised from the dead is astonishing. Our faith is strengthened when we realize that the first disciples are skeptics too at first. They do not naively believe that Jesus has conquered death. When they first hear about the resurrection, they doubt it could be so. But Jesus gives them concrete evidence that he has truly risen. He appeals to their commonsense observation of the world, inviting them to see his hands and feet and their scars from his wounds. And Jesus does not stop at the sense of sight. The disciples could be hallucinating, so he invites them to go a step further. He tells them to touch and handle him. Imagine someone sees a piano sitting in a room but cannot believe it is a piano. But if he starts to bang on the keys and play a melody, he can hardly doubt it is a piano! Jesus emphasizes that he is no mere spirit. He truly has a physical resurrection body, for he has flesh and bones.
Jesus’ resurrection is like a dream come true for the disciples. It is so great that Luke tells us that they are “disbelieving for joy” (24:41). It is like being so excited about something that one has to pinch himself to see if it is really happening, and even then he cannot quite believe it. That is the state of the disciples. Still, they have not lost their rationality. They wonder if they are dreaming and making it all up precisely because they are so excited. Hence Jesus asks them if they have anything to eat. They give him a piece of broiled fish, and he eats it in their presence. Maybe someone could say that the disciples made up the story about Jesus suddenly being in the room. And maybe someone could say they were hallucinating about seeing Jesus. And maybe someone could say that they were deluded when they touched him. But what happened to that piece of fish? They give Jesus the piece of fish, and it disappears. Hallucinations do not eat fish. A piece of fish does not just disappear. It disappears because the risen Jesus with a real body eats it.
What does Jesus’ resurrection have to do with being empowered to spread the good news? We are strengthened to spread the good news when we are indwelt by the Spirit and are convinced that the good news we preach is true. We preach not fairy tales but something that has truly happened in history.
I do not proclaim the good news that I saw Elvis Presley recently in Memphis. The reason for this is because Elvis is dead. If anyone thinks Elvis is still alive, we all agree that person is a fool. But we can be filled with confidence that the good news we preach is true. Jesus is truly risen from the dead, and he gives his disciples good reasons to believe in his resurrection.
We are to proclaim the gospel to all nations. Jesus does not say, “Do not proclaim the gospel if some people group or nation already has a religion.” He does not say, “Do not proclaim the gospel if the nation or people group does not like to hear the gospel.” We are to herald the gospel to all nations, to all people groups. And we are to call them to repent and turn from their sins. All people everywhere have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Hence, all people everywhere need to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. No nation or people is so good that it does not need to repent to be saved. And no nation is so bad that we can ignore it and say it does not even deserve to hear the gospel. We realize that we cannot share the gospel with all peoples in our own strength. We need the Holy Spirit; we need power from on high.
As we look back on church history, we realize that God has fulfilled his promises. His gospel has gone to all peoples through the Holy Spirit, who has equipped the church for mission, and we ask that same Spirit to use us today to bring the gospel to all peoples everywhere. We no longer need to wait in Jerusalem or anywhere else to receive the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is in each one of us who belongs to Jesus Christ. Jesus has not promised to save us from physical death, but he has promised to strengthen us with his Spirit and to give us boldness to preach the good news of salvation. He has not promised that we will be spared from a terrorist attack, but he has promised that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. He has not promised that everyone to whom we proclaim the gospel will believe, but he has promised that he has purchased some from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).