In this message we shall continue to consider the resurrection of the Man-Savior, and then we shall go on to consider His ascension. We have seen that the case of the Lord’s appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (vv. 13-35) is helpful and practical for our experience. It is difficult to say whether the two disciples went back to Jerusalem with the Lord or He went with them. In either case, they all journeyed together. When they left Jerusalem for Emmaus, the Savior went with them. Likewise, when they went back to Jerusalem, He went back with them.
In verses 36 through 49 we have the Man-Savior’s appearing to the disciples and His commissioning of them. Luke 24:36 and 37 say, “And as they were speaking these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, Peace to you! But they were startled and became frightened and thought they beheld a spirit.” The disciples, including Peter, were troubled by the Man-Savior’s appearing. They could not understand how He could suddenly appear in the room. The door was closed, and no one opened it. Nevertheless, the Lord appeared with a physical body.
The Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “Why are you troubled, and why are reasonings arising in your heart? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you behold Me having” (vv. 38-39). Then He showed them His hands and feet. Here we see the Man-Savior’s resurrected body, which is spiritual (1 Cor. 15:44) and a body of glory (Phil 3:21).
The Lord’s appearing was very mysterious, and we cannot understand it fully. He came into the room as the Spirit, yet with a physical, touchable body. The prints of the nails could still be seen. The place in His side that had been pierced with a spear could still be seen and touched. Not only was the Lord’s body visible and touchable, but He was able to eat food. “And while they still did not believe for joy and were marveling, He said to them, Do you have anything to eat here? And they handed Him part of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate before them” (vv. 41-43). We do not understand how the Lord Jesus as One with a spiritual body was still able to eat material food.
Just as the Man-Savior had opened the Scriptures to the disciples on the way to Emmaus, He now opened the Word to those gathered in the room. He also opened their minds to understand the Scriptures: “And He said to them, These are my words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all the things must be fulfilled which have been written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me. Then He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (vv. 44-45). The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and Psalms are the three sections of the entire Old Testament, that is, all the Scriptures (v. 27). The Savior’s word here unveils that the entire Old Testament was a revelation of Him and that He was its center and content. The fact that He opened the mind of the disciples indicates that in order to understand the Scriptures our mind needs to be opened by the Lord Spirit through His enlightening (Eph. 1:18).
In verse 46 the Man-Savior went on to say to the disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise up from the dead on the third day.” Here the Lord seems to be saying, “When we were in Galilee, I told you that I would die and then be raised up on the third day. But you did not understand what I was talking about. Now I am opening up the Word to you, and I am also opening your eyes.”
I believe that it was from the time of this appearing of the Lord that Peter began to be transformed. At least he began to understand the Word. Therefore, in chapter one of Acts Peter could stand up among the one hundred and twenty and interpret the Scriptures in the right way. In Acts 1 we do not see a natural Peter as we do in Luke 22. Instead, we see another Peter, a regenerated and transformed Peter. That was the situation of all the disciples in Acts 1.