“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 showed them His hands and his feet.” Luke 24: 36-40.
We have been left on record in this part of God’s word what took place on the resurrection day, when the Saviour broke asunder the bands of death and of the grave; when He rose triumphant over death and the grave. He did that not only for Himself but also for His people. For it is in virtue of Christ’s resurrection that His people shall rise in the last day to a glorious resurrection.
As we see from what is recorded here, the disciples were very slow to believe the truth concerning the rising again from the dead of the Son of man. They were witnesses of the awful events that had taken place when He was delivered into the hands of wicked men to be crucified and slain.
There were those of them who had taken the body from the cross, and had carried it to the sepulchre and laid it there. The women who came very early on the first day of the week, came expecting to find, not a risen Christ, but the body of the Saviour, for them came to anoint the body. But the body had already been anointed to the burial, when the woman came and poured upon His head an alabaster box of very precious ointment. They had come too late, for the Saviour was now alive, as He is alive for evermore and has the keys of hell and of death (Rev. 1: 18). This was the message of the angels to the women. They put this question to them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” The message for them was, “He is not here, but is risen; remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee” (v. 5).
The Saviour Himself had foretold the events that had now taken place, that on the third day He was to rise again from the dead. Yet they were very slow to believe, as we see in connection with Peter, when he came to the sepulchre. “He departed wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.” (v.12)
The two who went to Emmaus, as they spoke of the things that had taken place, said to the One whom they knew not, who had joined them there as they walked by the way. “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel, and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.” (v.21)
The Saviour then revealed Himself to one and another of His disciples and His followers. There is the instance that is brought before us here in the 36th verse, when we read of the disciples that they were gathered together. “Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”
The Message
We would seek to notice first of all the message with which the Saviour greeted them at this time. Here was their risen Lord, their Saviour, their Redeemer, the One in whom their hope was. The message He had for them was this message: “Peace be unto you”.
The Effect of His Appearance
Then secondly we may go on to notice the effect of His appearance among them at this time. We are told that “they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit”. The Saviour Himself reveals what was in their hearts when He says to them, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?”
The Assurance Given
Then last of all, the assurance that He gives to them, or the evidence that He gives to them, that He is indeed alive. That was by saying to them, “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 showed them His hands and His feet”. And as the Saviour did this on this occasion for His disciples, in order that they might be confirmed in the belief of His resurrection, and that it was indeed Himself, their Saviour, their Redeemer, — “He showed them His hands and His feet,” — so He can do it at all times to His people for their encouragement: manifest Himself to them in such a way that they behold His hands and His feet, as the disciples did here when they saw the marks of the nails that were in His hands and in His feet, giving evidence that this was indeed the One who had suffered on the accursed tree of Calvary.
The message then first of all that the Saviour has for His disciples and followers at this time is one of comfort indeed, when He has to say to them as their risen Lord, “Peace be unto you”. The word of God makes it very plain that it is a very different word that God is speaking to sinners who go on in sin. It is not peace that God is speaking to such, but He is declaring that there is no peace to the wicked. “There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked.” (Isa. 57: 21). As long as sinners go on in unbelief, as long as sinners go on in the broad way that leads to destruction, then there is no message for such, “Peace be unto you”. That is not the road of peace; that is not the road of blessing.
It is to those who enter by the strait gate into the narrow way that the Lord speaks in this manner, saying, “Peace be unto you”. That was the comforting word that the Saviour had for His disciples after His resurrection, as it was the word that He had for them, before He suffered, when He spoke to them in the upper chamber at Jerusalem. (John 14, 27.) He had many words of comfort to speak to His people there, in view of the solemn transactions that were shortly to be fulfilled, when He would engage in that great work that was given Him to do, making an end of sin, and bringing in everlasting righteousness. Before He suffered, He poured into the hearts of His disciples words of comfort. He had to say to them, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14, 1). And He had this to say to them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. (John 14, 27.)
Here is One then, speaking words of peace to the tried, sorely tempted hearts of His children, that they might be comforted with the comfort wherewith the Lord alone can comfort His people. The One who is speaking peace here to his followers is the One to whom the name belongs “The Prince of peace”. He is the One who made peace between God and man, peace through the blood of His cross.
It is very clear from the word of God that sinners are not at peace with God. God is not at peace with sinners as they go on in the ways of sin, and as long as we go in these ways of sin and death, there is no peace between us and God. God is angry with the wicked every day. There is no peace to such.
Sinners must be reconciled to God if there is to be peace between God and them, and if they are to enter into peace, and enter into the rest that is to be found in Jesus Christ for sinners such as we are. Christ came to make peace through the blood of His cross. He was to pour out His soul unto death on the accursed tree of Calvary, in order that sinners might be reconciled to God, through the atonement that He made on the accursed tree; for that was the end that Christ had in view, in giving His life a ransom for many, that sinners might be reconciled to God, and that they might experience the peace that is spoken of here, when He said to them, “Peace be unto you”. “The peace of God which passeth all understanding” (Phil 4, 7) — that is the peace which the soul needs; that is the peace that our souls need on our way to eternity, that we would be reconciled to God through the blood of the cross. That is the only way of reconciliation between God and man. Apart from the great work of redemption, wrought out by Christ, there is no hope for a sinner, but a sinner continues under the curse of the broken law, and remains exposed to divine wrath and judgment.
But here the Saviour, as the risen Lord, has a message for His disciples, when He has to say to them as He comes unto their midst, “Peace be unto you”. This is the One who can speak peace to the needy soul. Here is the One who wrought out the great work of redemption, and who paid the redemption price in His own blood on Calvary’s accursed tree. Now He is saying to His disciples, His followers, as He said before He suffered, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.” Now He is to say to them on His resurrection, in revealing Himself to them once more, “Peace be unto you”. Peace was to be theirs on the basis of what Christ had accomplished, for there could not be any peace for them, apart from what the Saviour had accomplished on the tree of Calvary.
As that was true concerning them, so it is true concerning ourselves: there is no peace for us but peace through the blood. The blood that was shed on Calvary is the peace-seeking blood of Emmanuel: it speaks peace to the guilty soul because it has effected reconciliation between God and man, through the one offering that was made on Calvary for sin, when Christ suffered there and made an end of sin by the sacrifice of Himself, when He gave His life a ransom for many. (Matt 20, 28.) What a message of comfort this should have been to the disciples on this occasion when the Saviour spoke to them. What comfort they should have drawn from it, as the Saviour Himself spake these words unto them, “Peace be unto you!” what a comfort this would be to a guilty soul, a soul seeking reconciliation through the blood that was shed on Calvary, coming to God through Jesus Christ who is the Way unto the Father, for that soul to know in their own experience this message given to them, “Peace be unto you.” “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee.” What comfort, what consolation that would mean for that soul, a soul now at peace with God, reconciled to God, a soul at peace with God as to his state, a soul at peace with God in the enjoyment of the peace which passeth all understanding.
Surely we are to ask ourselves what we know of this peace in our own spiritual experience, whether we have ever come into this peace, to enjoy this peace in our own experience, to enjoy the favour of God and the love of God, for there can be no peace where love is not. These two things go together; peace and love, love and peace. When the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, then that soul knows peace, “the peace of God which passeth all understanding.” God is spoken of as “the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.” (Heb 13, 20.) What a blessing then for any poor sinner to be brought into a reconciled state with God, on the basis of the finished work of Emmanuel.
Peace through His blood! How precious is that blood to the soul that is reconciled to God on the ground of that shed blood, the “fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” (Zech 13, 1.) That is what we need, each one, in our own spiritual experience, to be reconciled to God, to be delivered from being under the curse of the broken law, to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. If we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, through faith in His name, then Christ will be precious to us. “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” (1 Pet 2, 7.) Christ was a precious Saviour to His believing people, to His followers, at this time. He was the One in whom their hope was. All their expectation was in Him. Although that hope was tried, severely tried, because of the events that had taken place, yet here was the One in whom their hope was. And the message that He had for them was, “Peace be unto you”.
Let us then ask ourselves what we know of the sweetness of this peace, and of reconciliation in our own souls. Surely there is nothing more precious than this, to know in our own spiritual experience what it is to taste of this peace and in tasting of this peace taste of the love of God in Jesus Christ.
But we must go on to notice that when the Saviour appeared on this occasion we read of His followers, of His disciples, “They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” He shows what was in their heart when He says, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” Instead of being filled with joy, “they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit”. They did not take in at the beginning that this was the Saviour Himself, that He had risen indeed and that He was now their risen Lord; that the One whom they were looking on was not a spirit without flesh and bones; for the Saviour said “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Christ’s arrival was so sudden amongst them. He appeared suddenly in their midst — stood in the midst of them: they thought it was a spirit. They had not yet taken in the reality of His resurrection, that He was indeed alive; that He was alive for evermore; that He had the keys of hell and of death. (Rev. 1, 18.)
Notwithstanding all that He had told them beforehand, they were very slow to lay these things to heart. The enemies of Christ remembered that He had said He would rise the third day. His disciples had forgotten these things. They had to be reminded by the angels that He had said to them, when He was yet in Galilee, “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (v 7.) Here we find fear taking possession of the hearts of the disciples at this time: they were troubled; thoughts were arising in their hearts as to what this appearance was — was it a spirit that had come among in them, one without body, without flesh and bones? That is what it seemed to them. Was this the appearance of an angel, like the two men that stood by them in shining garments at the sepulchre? What was it that was here? It was too much for them; they were unable to take in that this was their Saviour, their Redeemer, their Lord.
How slow the children of God are to take in those things that God is revealing in His word. We know this with regard to the promises of God’s word — and how full and how overflowing these promises are! Yet how slow on many occasions the children of God are to embrace these promises, as though there was no substance in them whatsoever. And this is reality: where the promises are, they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus (11 Cor 1, 20), and are assured to all the saints. Yet through the power of unbelief, how slow the people of God are on many an occasion to lay hold upon the precious promises of God’s word! So they have no reality for them, just as the appearance of the Saviour here did not seem to have any reality for the disciples at this time, thinking it was a spirit that they were beholding when the Saviour appeared in their midst; and as we saw in connection with the two on their way to Emmaus, they did not know the Saviour at that time when He walked with them. The Saviour was walking with them on the way to Emmaus, and they had the presence of the Lord with them, and yet they knew it not. No doubt that is true of the children of God also on many an occasion: the Lord is with them when they know it not. Ah, the Saviour will be with His people in their going out and their coming in, in their lying down and their rising up.
He had to say to His disciples before He left that He would never leave them nor forsake them (Heb 13, 5). Here we have the disciples terrified, affrighted, and supposing that they had seen a spirit. They did not take in that this was the Lord, this was their Saviour who was crucified between two malefactors, who had been laid in the tomb, and now had risen, broken the bands of death and of the grave. He had come forth on the morning of the resurrection, the glorious resurrection. One who is the Saviour and the Deliverer of His people. Here He was coming to comfort, to strengthen and to sustain His disciples. Instead of rejoicing, “they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” Yet the Saviour had to say to them, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” There was no proper ground for being troubled, or for those thoughts arising in their hearts.
So it is with the children of God. How many times they are troubled! How often do thoughts arise in their hearts, unbelieving thoughts, thoughts that are questioning the Saviour’s love to them! Yet the Saviour is saying, “Why are ye troubled?” “Why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” The children of God have not reason in this way to be troubled, or that thoughts should arise in their hearts, as though the love of the Saviour towards them is a changeable thing; that one day His love is set upon them, but that another day He has no love to them. The church was saying that the Lord had forgotten; God had hidden His face from it; but the Lord testifies that it was not so, for He could say: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?” He says, “They may forget; yet will not I forget thee; behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isa 49, 15-16). What reason, then, they have to rejoice in God their Saviour! “Why are ye troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” The One Who manifested His love in times past is the same God still, the same yesterday and today and forever. Where He has embraced a poor needy sinner in His love, He will never cease to embrace that one in the love of His heart. Therefore the Saviour says, “Why are ye troubled? Is it a time for thoughts to arise in your hearts?” “Is it a time to be troubled? Is it a time for thoughts to arise in your hearts?” Surely not! Christ is alive. Christ is risen. As far as we are concerned now, He is at the right hand of power. He is “exalted . . . to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5, 31). “Why then are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?”, Christ says to His followers.
Let us go on to notice the evidence that He gives that it is the Lord Himself. He says to them, “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. When He had thus spoken He showed them His hands and His feet.” What further evidence did they require that this was the Saviour Himself, when He showed to them His hands and His feet, bearing the marks of the crucifixion? The nails were put in His hands and in His feet, showing to them the evidences of what He had wrought for them. For He went forth to Calvary to suffer and to die in the room and stead of the guilty. He had gone forth bearing the load of their sin and of their guilt, to make an end of that sin for ever, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. (Dan 9, 24.) Here was evidence enough for them: the Lord was showing them His hands and His feet. He was showing to them that He was indeed their risen Lord, the One Who had vanquished death in His death, who had made an end of sin and brought in everlasting righteousness, so that all who believe in Him are blessed in Him, and will enjoy all the blessings that are laid up in Him, who is a storehouse of all good for His people. He had the marks of the nails in His hands and His feet, as He had the mark of the spear in His side.
This is the One who went forth to sufferings unto death, who cried, as we were singing in the 22nd Psalm: “They pierced my hands and my feet”, who could say,
“I all my bones may tell; they do
upon me look and stare.”
He could count His bones because of the sufferings that He was enduring on the cross of Calvary
“I all my bones may tell; they do
upon me look and stare.Upon my vesture lots they cast,
and clothes among them share.”
(Ps. 22, 16-18)
Who can understand what Christ had to suffer, not only in the awful agony of His bodily sufferings upon the tree, but in the awful sufferings of His soul, as He suffered, the just in the place of the unjust, as he endured the wrath of God against Him, which caused Him to cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27, 46). So that the Saviour could say now to His disciples. ‘Behold my hands and my feet.’ “I have finished the work that was given me to do” (John 17, 4), and your peace is now a fruit of the dispeace that was mine, as I suffered upon the tree. There is peace through my blood. I have reconciled you to God through the blood of my cross. Therefore peace is yours. “Peace I give unto you,” the Saviour could say to them even before He suffered, in view of the certainty of His finishing that work that was given Him to do.
“He showed them His hands and His feet.” What a blessed experience for a poor sinner here in this world, to get a view of the crucified One, to behold the Lamb of God bearing the wrath of God against sin, to see in that One the Divine Redeemer, suffering in our nature on the accursed tree of Calvary. What a blessed experience for the soul, beholding the Lamb of God by faith, beholding Him bearing their own sin, and making an end of their own sin for ever, in the great work that He accomplished when He gave His life a ransom for many.
“He showed them His hands and His feet.” What an overwhelming matter that would be, if we obtained a faith’s view of the suffering Lamb of God! What a melting experience that would be, through the love of God shed abroad in our hearts! For this is where the greatest display of the love of God is, in the giving of His own Son, His beloved Son, over unto death, even the accursed death of the cross, in order that a number whom no man can number of this fallen race of ours might be delivered from death and from hell.
We are told that they believed not for joy. They were brought to this now, to rejoice in this One, yet though their hearts were filled with joy, they still were left with doubt, while they yet believed not for joy.
What a robber unbelief is! Whenever unbelief comes it must rob the people of God of much of their comfort and of the consolations of the gospel. Therefore we are to seek to be delivered from the power of unbelief, that unbelief would not in this way rob us of the comfort that is set before us in the truth of God’s word, but that with believing hearts we would come to that word, and embrace the word, and embrace Christ, who is the centre and substance of that word, to find there consolation for our own souls, and blessing for our own souls on our way to eternity. What could give more comfort to the souls of these disciples, these followers of Christ, than this message “The Lord is risen indeed.” (Luk 24, 34.) Christ is alive! He is alive: the grave has no longer any power over Him. He is now risen, and soon He was to ascend to the right hand of power (Matt 26, 26), where He is now and shall be until He will come “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt 24, 30).
Our hope must be in One who is not now still here on earth, but who is exalted at God’s right hand. Our hope must be in the ever living One at God’s right hand, and in Him we will find life and salvation, for He has wrought out eternal redemption through His cross, and He bears in heaven itself, in His glorified humanity, the marks of that great work, in His hands and in His feet and in His side.
There followed a concluding prayer for the removal of the darkness of unbelief, and for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 85 was sung in conclusion, beginning from v 8.