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Easter Season · Third Sunday of Easter · Year B

Luke 24:36b-48

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

April 11, 2027

Christ’s First Apparition to the Disciples, Peter Paul Rubens
Christ’s First Apparition to the Disciples, Peter Paul Rubens, about 1613Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Very close in and almost dark. Christ turns and holds out his hands, palms up, and four disciples lean in over his shoulder to look at them, one of them reaching to touch.Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?Peter Paul RubensRubens, in the middle panel of the altarpiece he painted for Nicolaas Rockox, keeping the whole picture inside arm’s length.Royal Museum of Fine Arts, AntwerpThe Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 24:36b-48Lk 24:36b-48
Epistle1 John 3:1-71 Jn 3:1-7
Old TestamentActs 3:12-19
PsalterPs. 4Ps 4

Overview & Insights

“Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see.” (Luke 24:39)

This passage not only brings Luke’s Gospel narrative, and especially its developing resurrection motif, to a triumphant conclusion, but also prepares for the taking up of the story in Luke’s second volume, Acts. The summary of the gospel message in 24:46–48, the cryptic promise of “power from on high” in 24:49, Jesus’s ascension in 24:51 (more fully narrated in Acts 1:1–11), and the communal life of the believers in Jerusalem in 24:52–53) will be developed in the early chapters of Acts. The story of Jesus is now becoming the story of the Jesus movement. The most obvious difference between these verses and Acts is the lack here of any indication of the passage of time (forty days [Acts 1:3]) between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. In bringing his Gospel to an appropriately “orderly” (1:3) literary conclusion, Luke apparently feels no need to be pedantic about the chronological data.

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Take it further: Luke 24:36b-48

Commentary

Commentary on Luke 24:36b-48Commentary on Lk 24:36b-48 Working Preacher

Luther Seminary scholar reads the risen Jesus eating fish and opening the disciples' minds to Scripture, the day's exegetical anchor.

Luke 24 Commentary: The Resurrected Jesus, Verse by VerseLk 24 Commentary: The Resurrected Jesus, Verse by Verse Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik walks the whole resurrection chapter verse by verse, giving preachers a running evangelical read of the appearance.

Luke 24:36 CommentariesLk 24:36 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregates classic commentators (Barnes, Gill, Meyer, Ellicott) on the peace greeting and the physical resurrection.

Luke 24 CommentaryLk 24 Commentary Precept Austin

A deep verse-by-verse resource collating multiple commentators and word notes on the Emmaus aftermath and commissioning.

Faith and Doubt: SALT's Lectionary Commentary for Easter 3 SALT Project

An ecumenical reflection on how the resurrection stories move from wonder toward intimacy with God and mission.

Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle B Loyola Press · Sunday Connection

Catholic Sunday Connection with a homily starter and family reflection on Jesus' peace and the disciples' fear.

Background & Word Study

Luke 24:36 InterlinearLk 24:36 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek word-by-word view of the peace greeting and the terms for touch, flesh, and bones that ground the bodily resurrection.

Gospel of Luke Summary: Overview Video (Part 2)Gospel of Lk Summary: Overview Video (Part 2) BibleProject

Animated overview of Luke chapters 10 to 24, placing the resurrection appearances within the book's larger design.

The Church Fathers

Luke 24, Catena Bible and CommentariesLk 24, Catena Bible and Commentaries Catena

Verse-linked patristic comment from the early church on the risen Christ's appearance and the opening of the Scriptures.

Worship & Prayers

Third Sunday of Easter, Year B, Liturgical Resources UMC Discipleship

Full worship-planning notes (prayers, calls to worship, themes) for the whole Sunday.

Podcast

#960: Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024 Working Preacher

Sermon Brainwave hosts discuss all the Year B readings for this Sunday, sparking sermon ideas.

Art & Music

Art in the Christian Tradition Vanderbilt

Searchable image collection for artwork on the risen Christ appearing to the disciples and the meal of fish.

Study Hub

Luke 24:13-49Lk 24:13-49 Textweek

A curated hub of commentaries, sermons, and study links gathered for this passage in one place.

Questions preachers ask

Why does the risen Jesus eat fish in front of the disciples?

To show that his resurrection is bodily and real, not a ghost or vision. He invites them to touch his wounded hands and feet, eats a piece of broiled fish before them, then opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and names them witnesses.

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