Amy C Walters

Jesus Appears to His Disciples | Luke 24:36-53

Finally, at the very end of Resurrection Day, Jesus appears to his disciples. But they still fear and doubt. Instead of getting frustrated or turning them away, Jesus invites them to experience his aliveness.

This story jumps right into the middle of the previous story–the Road to Emmaus. Two of Jesus’ followers were on their way to Emmaus, a village about seven miles away. And Jesus appears and walks with them, but at first they don’t recognize him. When they finally realize it’s him, they immediately go back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples. They say, “It’s true! Jesus is risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then they tell them all about what Jesus taught them and how they recognized him.

That’s when today’s story interrupts. It’s as the disciples are discussing this that Jesus himself appears to them all. And the disciples start joyfully celebrating, right?

No, they’re terrified! They think they’ve seen a ghost. 

What does this reaction tell us? It tells us that the disciples still don’t believe that Jesus is alive. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but by this point, I’m starting to get really frustrated with the disciples and their persistent doubt. Why don’t they believe yet? They’ve just heard from Cleopas and the other traveler who saw Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They also mentioned that Simon, that’s Peter, has seen Jesus. They’ve heard from the women who saw angels who told them that Jesus was alive. Several of them have seen the empty tomb, and Jesus is now standing there in the flesh with them.

And they still doubt. It’s crazy. 

But let’s take a moment to try to think about this from the disciples’ perspective. This is now very late in the day, and the disciples had not yet seen Jesus for themselves. They’d heard from others who’d had encounters, but so far, Jesus seemed to be avoiding them. 

This has got to be hard for them. They were Jesus’ closest followers who had spent years with him. I can imagine them thinking, “Jesus, what about us? When are you going to show up for us? Why do they get to see you and we don’t?” 

Have you ever felt that way? Like God seems to be showing up for everyone else but you? That’s a difficult place to be in. It can lead to doubt and blind you to when God actually does show up. 

Or maybe you think that you’re okay living vicariously through other people’s experiences with God. You’re trying to live off of someone else’s faith. 

For the disciples, that wasn’t enough. They needed to see Jesus themselves. And he does show up. He suddenly appears standing there with them. 

I love how Jesus responds to the disciples’ doubt. He doesn’t get mad at them or criticize them or leave to find better disciples. Instead, he shows himself to them. Notice all the times the words “see” and “look” and “show” and even “touch” happen in this story.

• “Look at my hands and feet.” 
• “Touch me and see.” 
• “A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” 
• “When he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.”

Jesus invites the disciples to experience his aliveness. 

But even with all this, they still doubt. At this point, they’re thinking that it’s too good to be true.

But Jesus does not give up. He asks for food and eats some fish right in front of them. He devises his own ghost test. It’s a great idea if you ever run into a ghost, have them eat something!

But who is pushing this encounter along? Who is moving things forward here? It’s not the disciples demanding evidence. It’s Jesus offering it. 

Our key truth for today is that Jesus invites us to experience him.

Sometimes we can be afraid to admit our doubt because we think God is going to be disappointed in us or abandon us. But he’s not put off by it. He’s not scared of it. He wants us to pursue understanding and belief. 

Remember, too, that it does you no good to try to hide your doubts. When the disciples at first respond by being startled and frightened, Jesus asks them, “Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?” Jesus knows what’s going on in their minds. And he knows your mind as well. So it’s far better to admit that doubt and take it to him.

We see this invitation throughout Scripture. David writes in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Experience God’s goodness.

Now, you may say, the disciples had Jesus there physically present with them. They could touch him. We don’t have that option today. And that is true. 

But we have other things. We have Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17. He prays for all of us who believe in him through the disciples’ message. He prays for our unity and that we would know his love for us. 

We have Jesus’ blessing. In John 20, where John describes Jesus’ appearance to the disciples, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” 

We have the church. It’s called the body of Christ because through that, we can experience community and love and forgiveness and acceptance.

We have baptism and communion, physical reminders of what Jesus has done for us. 

And we have Jesus’ words, which we’ll talk more about in the next blog post.

But it’s important for you to experience Jesus through these things that he’s given us. You cannot have a vicarious faith. It’s not enough to know about Jesus. You need to know Jesus. 

And when you do, you’ll respond like the disciples did. They didn’t stay in that place of unbelief. They finally do experience Jesus, and it turns their doubt into praise.