By Raufu Spagnoletta
When Jesus died on the cross, His disciples were not expecting to see Him again. For this reason the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus: visible, physical and audible, were designed to convince the disciples that Jesus Himself had risen. The two disciples on the road to Emmanus did not recognize Jesus until He blessed the meal in their home. After this encounter, they said one to another, “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?”
The disciples rose up at that late hour and returned to Jerusalem, found the eleven disciples and told them of having seen Jesus, who had also appeared to Simon. As they spoke Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said, “Peace be unto you”. Because the disciples were terrified, supposing they had seen a spirit, Jesus said, “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.” To assure them that what they saw was real, Jesus ate a piece of broiled fish, and honeycomb before them.
Jesus knew that His disciples would need more than His appearance to convince others; so He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, so they could witness both on the basis of experience and the Word. “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.” Now the disciples were equipped to be witnesses to the world that in Jesus Christ is the forgiveness of sin. Jesus told His disciples, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
RELATED SCRIPTURES
Luke 24:1-31; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23
Luke 24:1-31- Early in the morning following the crucifixion of Jesus, the women came bringing spices to anoint the body of Jesus, and found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and no body of the Lord Jesus inside. The women were perplexed and afraid, then two men in shining garments, said to them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” The women told the disciples these things, but they believed them not; so Peter rose and ran into the sepulchre and saw the linen clothes but no body. Later in the evening, two disciples on the road to Emmanus encountered Jesus, although they did not recognize Him immediately, their eyes were opened when He sat at meat with them, and blessed the bread.
We see in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Paul told the Corinthians they were saved by the gospel which was delivered unto him by Jesus Christ. Who when He was risen, was seen of Cephas and the disciples, seen of over five hundred brethren at once, seen of James and all the apostles, and last of all seen of him. “And last of all He was seen of me also, as one born out of time. For I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am…”
Ephesians 1:17-23, records Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him in at His own right hand in the heavenly places…”
PRACTICAL POINT
We cannot physically touch Jesus today, but we know that He is real…
Although we cannot physically touch Jesus, we know that Jesus is real because we continuously experience His transformative power which is our personal testimony and that cannot be refuted or denied. When we couple our experiences with the Word we bear witness that Jesus is alive.
