St. Luke 24:36-47

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Our text takes place on the same day as the Resurrection. Remember, that the angel in the tomb had told the bewildered women not to be afraid, they’d come looking for Jesus; but He wasn’t there, He’d risen. They were to tell the disciples that He was going before them to Galilee. There they’d see Him just as He’d said (Mark 16:6-7). So, on the evening of that same day (Easter Day), Jesus joins the disciples as they’re presently locked up in a room (afraid of being hunted down as Jesus’ followers).

And it’s interesting how it all goes. In our Gospel lesson we have St. John’s account of the same evening (our text is St. Luke’s account). St. John includes the detail, that one of the disciples, Thomas, hadn’t been there with the others when Jesus appeared to them. He’d been reluctant, then, to believe they’d really seen Him as they’d said (He’d doubted). Thomas is often referred to that way—fairly or not— as Doubting Thomas. Of course, Jesus had appeared again the next week when Thomas was present with the others, and had said to him, Do not disbelieve, but believe. Most of what people know about Thomas is this, that he doubted that it could be true that Jesus was really alive, not having seen it for himself.

Him being so famous for that is why it’s interesting how it all goes in our text. The disciples have been there in the room, waiting for Jesus (as the angel had told them to do). Jesus appears to them, greeting them with the words, Peace to you.

Again, considering how famous Thomas is for having doubted, we might expect to find these other disciples had been been pillars of faith in the similar moment, right? They must have jumped for joy at seeing the LORD because they weren’t hesitant at all to believe they were seeing Jesus standing in front of them, raised.

But that isn’t what our text says. Isn’t it true, that Jesus is having to do the same convincing with them that our Gospel lesson says He had to do with Thomas the following week? St. Luke tells us they were startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a spirit. Jesus says to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? And then, He does for them exactly what He will do for Thomas the following week; He shows them His hands and feet (where the nails were). He invites them to touch the places, feeling for themselves that it’s Him. He reasons with them in the same way He will with Thomas: a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones as He has. He even asks for something to eat so that He might demonstrate that function of someone who is in the body (not of any spirit).

We bring this up because the same sort of doubting, the same sort of hesitance when it comes to believing Jesus’ Words tends to apply to us too—just like to Thomas, and to his fellow disciples. Jesus had asked them to believe His Words, to believe that He would rise from death. But people just don’t do that; they don’t rise from death! That’s the sort of difficulty they were having with it. How could it be?

You have the same challenge every Sunday. The pastor holds up before your eyes a wafer of what looks like mere bread and says, (Here’s a piece of bread? No.) This is the true body of Christ. Another comes along and holds up before your eyes a cup or cups containing what looks like mere wine and says, (Here’s a cup of wine? No.) This is the true blood of Christ.

Now, every one of you who communes in our church has been instructed and has confessed that you believe the pastor’s words, you believe that the mere bread and wine—consecrated as they are with Christ’s Words—have been mysteriously joined with His true body and blood for your real benefit (for the remission of your sins, Jesus says). That’s what you’ve been instructed to believe, and have confessed that you believe.

Haven’t you, though, had the same moments of difficulty with it that the disciples have been having anticipating this moment of Christ’s appearance to them risen in the flesh? Haven’t you been tempted like some other Christians have, to rationalize it in some way, to think, Christ must not have meant what He said; He must not have meant that the bread is His body, that the wine is His blood. How could it be?! That just doesn’t happen! He must have meant it can remind you of His body and of His blood, or that it should be taken as a symbol of those.

We can imagine the disciples were thinking the same when they were hearing Jesus say He would rise again from death, right? How could He mean that? He must mean something else. And seeing Him, evidently they were thinking, this can’t really be Jesus in the flesh; so it must be a spirit. But Jesus isn’t confirming that sort of thinking when He appears to them in our text. He isn’t saying to them, Yeah, yeah, you’re right; I didn’t really mean what I said. Instead, He shows them His hands and feet. He gives several evidences that indicate He meant exactly what He said. What has happened is every bit as amazing as the thing He’d said was going to happen. It doesn’t just look like He’s risen; He really has risen from the dead. He demonstrates in this text, that His Words can be believed—and should always be believed. They should be believed also when He says, This is My body, which is given for you…this is My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins.

But you have the same nature as the disciples, and no doubt, at times, have questioned, How can it be so? How can Jesus’ Words be true? And to you also, He might rightly say as to the disciples in our text, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?—As if to say, Is there anything that’s impossible for God? Is there anything I can’t do? Do I ever speak things that aren’t the truth?

Look how Jesus addresses their sin of doubt in our text: He speaks reassuringly to them. He reminds them of what He has said. He reminds them of what the Scriptures have said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. He opens their minds to understand better. He forgives them for their doubts.

He has done the same for you, dear sinner. He makes Himself present for you here, in Word and Supper every week. He opens your heart to understand better through the work of the Holy Spirit. His Supper is for the very purpose of giving you this sort of reassurance. So, actually, it’s a great blessing to have this opportunity every week, to put your trust in this mysterious, amazing thing He says to you, This is My body, which is given for you…this is My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins—to believe that it means exactly what it says, that there isn’t any need for you to parse it or interpret it in some way according to your corrupted human reason (all that does is remove all the joy in it anyway). Christ’s Words were reliable for the disciples when He told them He would rise from death—He demonstrates that in our text. They’re reliable for you as well.

One more thing about this text: Jesus’ words at seeing the disciples, Peace to you!—are more than a mere greeting, more than a mere wish (though, when other people say those words, that’s what they are). Jesus is the One Who brings peace about. Those words from Him are connected to what the angel said to the shepherd when announcing His birth in Bethlehem, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Those words meant the One Who’s born there has been sent to bring about the only thing that could reestablish peace between God and His fallen creation, the atoning sacrifice of His only-begotten Son.

It makes perfect sense, then, for Him to greet His disciples that way following the Resurrection; because in overcoming death, He has established finally and completely, that this peace with God has been brought about. It is for the disciples, who are hearing the Words from Him in our text. It is for you, who hear them this morning as presented in our text. You have peace with God in Christ. Your sins are forgiven in Him. There is no need for you to be troubled. This One Who has never doubted or sinned in any other way has been put in your place, and you in His. God be praised. Amen.

Other Lessons from today:

Job 19:25-27

I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 John 5:4-10

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

St. John 20:19-31

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.