The Lord Jesus Appears to His Disciples
Dearly beloved of God, when the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus realized that the stranger eating with them was the Lord Jesus he vanished right before their eyes.
Luke 24:33 and 34
And they [Cleopas and the other disciple] rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
When the two disciples returned to Jerusalem they found the eleven gathered together (Thomas was absent), along with other disciples, hearing reports that the Lord was risen. Reports had been coming in throughout the day, but they did not believe them.
This is the only mention in the gospels that the Lord appeared to Peter; he appeared to him sometime after his second visit to the sepulchre. I Corinthians 15:5 verifies that the Lord was seen of Peter.
Luke 24:35
And they [Cleopas and the other disciple] told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
The disciples were getting multiple reports from eye witnesses that confirmed that Jesus was indeed risen from the dead, and now the two on the Road to Emmaus confirmed it, but as Mark 16:12 and 13 tell us, “neither believed they them.” What will it take to get them to believe that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead?
John 20:19
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week [our Sunday], when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Not only did the disciples not believe the reports, they were full of fear.
Luke 24: 36-39
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.
They were terrified and afraid about all that had occurred. Jesus had completed his offering to the Father so he now let them touch him and observe his hands and feet.
Luke 24:40-43
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
He ate with them, and did all he could to comfort them and to relieve their fear and anxiety.
Luke 24: 44 and 45
And he said unto them, 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.
After the Lord talked with them and let them touch him, he opened God’s Word and showed them that he had fulfilled all that was written of him.
Luke 24:45-48
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
The Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly took his disciples back to the testimony of God’s Word to open their understanding to the significance of the events that had occurred.
Dearly beloved, God made the same Jesus that the religious leaders had crucified both Lord and Christ. God made him the Lord both of the living and the dead.
God raised Jesus Christ out from among all the dead people that were corrupting in their graves. Jesus was not forsaken in the state of death, neither did his flesh see corruption. This same Jesus God raised up. He had been dead, but now he is alive and lives forever.
Jesus Christ was the first fruit of them that slept. God gave the Lord Jesus Christ the victory over sin and death, and we have the victory through him. Rejoice forevermore; he is coming!