Luke 24:37

But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. BUT THEY WERE TERRIFIED AND AFFRIGHTED, AND SUPPOSED THAT THEY HAD SEEN A SPIRIT - the ghost of their dead Lord rather than Himself in the body. (See the note at ; and .)...

37._And they were terrified and affrighted. _John does not mention this terror; but as he also says that Christ showed his hands and sides to the disciples, we may conjecture that some circumstance had been omitted by him. Nor is it at all unusual with the Evangelists, when they aim at brevity, to glance only at a part of the facts. From Luke, too, we learn that the terror excited in them by the strangeness of the spectacle was such, that they dare not trust their eyes. But a little ago, they had come to the conclusion that _the Lord was risen, _(verse 34,) and had spoken of it unhesitatingly as a matter fully ascertained; and now, when they behold him with their eyes, their senses are struck with astonishment, so that they think he is _a spirit. _Though this error, which arose from weakness, was not free from blame, still they did not so far forget themselves as to be afraid of enchantm...

36-49 Jesus appeared in a miraculous manner, assuring the disciples of his peace, though they had so lately forsaken him, and promising spiritual peace with every blessing. Many troublesome thoughts which disquiet our minds, rise from mistakes concerning Christ. All the troublesome thoughts which rise in our hearts at any time, are known to the Lord Jesus, and are displeasing to him. He spake with them on their unreasonable unbelief. Nothing had passed but what was foretold by the prophets, and necessary for the salvation of sinners. And now all men should be taught the nature and necessity of repentance, in order to the forgiveness of their sins. And these blessings were to be sought for, by faith in the name of Jesus. Christ by his Spirit works on the minds of men. Even good men need to have their understandings opened. But that we may have right thoughts of Christ, there needs no more...

Verse 37. _AND SUPPOSED THAT THEY HAD SEEN A SPIRIT._] But if there be no such thing as a _disembodied spirit_, would not our Lord have shown them their error? Instead of this, he confirms them in their opinion, by saying, _A spirit hath not flesh and bones as you_ _see me have_, Luke 24:39; therefore he says, _handle me and see me_. They probably imagined that it was the _soul_ only of our blessed Lord which they saw; but they were soon fully convinced of the identity of his person, and the reality of his resurrection; for, 1. They _saw_ his body. 2. They _heard_ him speak. 3. They _handled_ him. 4. They saw him _eat_ a piece of broiled fish and honeycomb, which they gave him. In these things it was impossible for them to have been deceived....

JESUS STOOD IN THE MIDST OF THEM - This was when the apostles were assembled, and when they had closed the doors for fear of the Jews, John 20:19. It was this fact, as well as his sudden and unexpected appearance, that alarmed them. The doors were shut, and the suddenness of his appearance led them to suppose they had seen a spirit. PEACE BE UNTO YOU - This was a form of salutation among the Hebrews denoting a wish of peace and prosperity. See Genesis 43:23. It was especially appropriate for Jesus, as he had said before his death that he left “his peace” with them as their inheritance John 14:27, and as they were now alarmed and fearful at their state, and

EXPOSITION LUKE 24:1 THE RESURRECTION. All the four evangelists give an account of the Resurrection. None of the four, however, attempt to give a _history _of_ _it simply from a human point of sight. Each Gospel probably reproduces the special points dwelt on in certain great centres of Christian teaching, in what we should now term different schools of thought. (Attempts have been made by theological scholars to _classify _these as Jewish, Gentile, Greek, Roman; but only with indifferent success). The teaching which St. Matthew's Gospel represents, evidently in the Resurrection preaching dwelt with peculiar insistence on the great Galilaean appearance of the Risen. St. Luke confines himself exclusively to the appearance, in Judaea. St. John chooses for his Resurrection instruction scenes which h

BUT THEY WERE TERRIFIED AND AFFRIGHTED,.... At the sight of him, and at his sudden appearance among them, without being heard, or seen before, and the doors shut and bolted; they could not tell how to account for it, that it should be Jesus himself risen from the dead in his own body, though they had been just speaking of his resurrection, and had had a confirmation of it from the disciples that went to Emmaus: AND SUPPOSED THAT THEY HAD SEEN A SPIRIT; that what they saw was a phantom, or apparition, or a spirit, that had assumed, and appeared in, the shape of Jesus, and was not he himself....

Luke 24:1. _Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:_ Brethren, they might have been much more perplexed if they had found the body of Jesus there, for then his promises would not have been fulfilled, and all their hopes would have been blighted forever. Unbelief is often the mother of needless perplexity. The resurrection of Christ is plain enough to us now; but to those who had seen him die, and whose faith was so very weak, it was a cause for perplexity that they could not find his dead body. They meant to embalm it, they had brou

LUKE 24:37 pneu/ma Instead of pneu/ma, which is read by the overwhelming majority of witnesses, Codex Bezae reads fa,ntasma (“they thought they saw _a ghost_”), a reading which, according to Tertullian, was in Marcion’s New Testament....

VII. HIS RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION CHAPTER 24 _ 1. The Resurrection. (Luke 24:1)_ 2. The Walk to Emmaus; the Appearance of the Risen Son of Man. (Luke 24:13) 3. The Appearance to the Eleven. (Luke 24:36) 4. The Commission. (Luke 24:46) 5. The Ascension. (Luke 24:49 .) The account of the Resurrection in Luke's Gospel has also its characteristic features. He alone reports the full account of the walk to Emmaus. It is a precious story showing forth the fact that the risen One is the same tender, loving, sympathizing f