2. The appearances to the disciples in Jerusalem 24:36-49

Luke arranged his accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to give the impression that an ever increasing audience learned of this great event. First, he recorded an announcement of it with no witnesses (vv. 1-12). Then he told of Jesus appearing to two disciples (vv. 13-35). Next he presented Jesus materializing in the presence of the Eleven minus Thomas (cf. Mark 16:14; John 20:24). Perhaps he meant this presentation to represent the ever widening circle of witness that the disciples were to give in the world. The arrangement does suggest this to the reader especially since the third incident contains Luke's version of the Great Commission.

Luke's account apparently combines two post-resurrection appearances into one. The writer evidently conflated them to give Jesus' instructions to His disciples continuity. This section is the basis for Luke's apologetic for Jesus' bodily resurrection in Acts 1:3-4 and Peter's witness to Cornelius in Acts 10:40-43.

 The proof of Jesus' bodily resurrection 24:36-43 (cf. Mark 16:14-18; John 20:19-23)

The emphasis here is on the physical reality of Jesus' body after His resurrection whereas in the previous pericope the stress was on His supernatural nature. The incident clarifies that the One who rose from the dead was indeed Jesus of Nazareth, a real man.

24:36-37 This incident followed the preceding one immediately. As Jesus had disappeared (v. 31), so He now appeared. The doors to the room were shut (John 20:19). Luke stressed that it was indeed Jesus by writing, "He Himselfstood in their midst."

Some translations include the disputed reading "And He said to them, Peace be with you"(e.g., NIV). A scribe who was familiar with John 20:19 may have included this sentence in a later copy of this Gospel. It has strong textual support in John but not in Luke.

24:37-38 Jesus' sudden and unexpected appearance terrified the disciples (cf. 1:12). They apparently thought that Jesus was an apparition (Gr. pneuma, a person lacking corporeal existence), not an angel, since He appeared as He did (cf. v. 39; Acts 23:8-9). Jesus' questions implied that they should have recognized that it was He. Since they had questions and doubted the reality of His presence it is unlikely that they projected their hope that He was alive and only imagined that He arose.

24:39 Anyone wishing to prove his real presence might offer his hands and feet for inspection as Jesus did. However the Roman soldiers had pierced Jesus' hands and feet with nails so the wounds would have identified Him as Jesus (John 20:25-27). Jesus claimed, "It is I Myself"(Gr. ego eimi autos, cf. ego eimi, which John recorded Jesus saying frequently in his Gospel). He encouraged His followers to touch Him as well as to look at Him and to satisfy their senses that His body was real. His human body had flesh and bones, which ghosts do not have. The phrase "flesh and blood"is a similar expression that also describes a physical body (cf. 1 Cor. 15:50).

24:40 This verse is probably authentic. It has questionable textual support and is similar to, but not identical to, John 20:20. However, the differences with John 20:20 and the textual support favor inclusion in our versions. Evidently Jesus offered the disciples His hands, feet, and side for them to examine as further proof that His body was real.

Docetism was a heresy in the early history of the church that denied that Jesus' body was genuinely human. These verses would have helped the early Christians combat this error. However these statements are not the strongest proofs of Jesus' humanity since everyone agrees that Jesus' resurrection body was different from His pre-resurrection body. Better proof consists of the evidences of Jesus' true humanity before His resurrection. Luke gave his original Greek readers many such proofs in this Gospel.

24:41-43 The disciples could no longer disbelieve because of lack of evidence. However, they still had trouble accepting Jesus' resurrection because it seemed too good to be true. Luke's joy motif surfaces again here. Jesus gave them further proof by eating a piece of cooked fish that was convenient. We should not extrapolate from this that His resurrection body depended on physical food for nourishment (cf. Gen. 18:8; 19:3). Jesus' resurrection body was immortal (1 Cor. 15:35-49).

Luke omitted Mark's reference to Jesus upbraiding the disciples on this occasion for their unbelief (Mark 16:14). This is typical of Luke who usually did not discourage his disciple readers with references to Jesus criticizing His followers.

 The mission of Jesus' disciples 24:44-49 (cf. Acts 1:3-8)

All the Gospels contain instances of Jesus giving the Great Commission to His disciples, but evidently He did not just give it once. The contexts are different suggesting that He repeated these instructions on at least four separate occasions. This fact obviously reflects the importance of this instruction. The charge that Luke recorded here and in Acts 1:8 was apparently the last one that Jesus gave.⁵²⁶It occurred just before Jesus' ascension into heaven.

24:44 Jesus reminded the disciples that He had previously taught them that He would fulfill everything written about the Messiah in the Old Testament. The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms were the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible in Jesus' day. Fulfillment was a divine necessity (Gr. dei).

24:45-46 Then He proceeded to open their understanding (cf. v. 31) showing them first how He had done this so far (cf. v. 27). He explained how His sufferings and resurrection, the great psychological barriers to the Jews of Jesus' day, had fulfilled biblical prophecy. We have seen how the disciples failed to grasp these things as Jesus taught them before His passion. Luke again stressed the importance of Scripture in understanding God's program. As Jesus opened the Scriptures, God opened the disciples' minds.

24:47 Next Jesus proceeded to show them how the Old Testament also predicted that the gospel should go to everyone, all the nations or Gentiles, beginning from Jerusalem (e.g., Isa. 2:2-3; 42:6; 49:6; 60:3; Joel 2:1; Mic. 4:1-2). This was also teaching that the Jews of Jesus' day resisted strongly. The theme of Gentile evangelism is strong in Luke (Luke 10), and it carries over into Acts (Acts 10; et al.). Likewise Luke featured Jerusalem as Jesus' city of destiny throughout his Gospel. Now it was to become the hub from which the gospel would go out into all the world. Thus this verse is a kind of strait in which the main emphases in Luke converge and through which they pass to Acts. It is Luke's mission statement for the church.

24:48 Evangelism was a key motif in Luke's Gospel, and it, too, continues in Acts. The phrase "these things"evidently refers to the messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. The disciples were witnesses to the fact that Messiah had come as predicted. The Scriptures predicting the evangelization of the nations could only attain fulfillment if the disciples bore witness. We see again the blending of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in Jesus' explanation.

When God created man, He gave him a cultural mandate (Gen. 1:28). Essentially this was to rule over the earth. This involves the advancement of civilization. This is the responsibility of every human being. When Jesus arose from the dead, He gave His disciples another mandate. Essentially this was to evangelize the world. This involves the advancement of Christianity. This is the responsibility of every Christian.

24:49 Having explained the disciples' responsibility, Jesus next announced what He would do. The promise of the Father refers to the Holy Spirit that God promised in the Old Testament to pour out on His people (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; cf. John 14:16-17). These Old Testament prophecies are of an outpouring of the Spirit in the kingdom, as the contexts indicate, but a similar outpouring of the same Spirit came on Pentecost (Acts 1:4-5; 2:16). It was perhaps this promise of the Spirit's outpouring that led the disciples to view it as inaugurating the kingdom (Acts 1:6). Jesus corrected their misunderstanding (Acts 1:7).

Finally Jesus instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit clothed them (Acts 1:8). This was a common figure of the Spirit's enabling presence and power in the Old Testament (e.g., Num. 11:25, 29; Judg. 3:10; 14:19; 1 Sam. 11:6; et al.). This "power from the Most High"has been evident through this Gospel (e.g., 1:35; et al), and it is very evident in Acts as well.

". . . Jesus' words in Luke 24:46-49 not only provide a bridge to the early part of Acts but fit with a series of statements describing the missions of key characters, from the summary of John the Baptist's mission early in Luke to the summary of Paul's mission late in Acts."⁵²⁷

". . . Luke not only presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the Isaianic Servant, but also worded his version of the commission to depict the disciples as those who were to take up the Servant's mission after Jesus' departure."⁵²⁸