Hands, Feet and Food

While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing 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. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them. Luke 24:36-43

"They:" the men from Emmaus. They had returned to Jerusalem, to the gathering of disciples, to tell them of the visit they had with the resurrected Jesus. Then Jesus Himself suddenly joined the gathering, with a pleasant greeting. What a shock! This must be a spirit.

What is it with you people? There are those hands again; the ones they've seen heal and help and comfort. The ones they've seen break bread and distribute it to the thousands of hungry followers. The ones they've seen serve them at table for the Passover meal. The ones with the nail scars. His feet bore scars, too. He was a man of flesh and bones, as they could plainly see. They would have been ecstatic, wouldn't we? They would be so overwhelmed with excitement they wouldn't know how to respond; what to say to Him. How do you converse with One who was dead and now lives in your midst? How do you actually believe such a thing is really happening? Yes, He had told them and told them, but it just never became reality in their minds, having never happened before. But here He was. "And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD." John 20:20. He asked for food. Probably not because He was hungry, but to demonstrate His physical reality, He ate the fish in their presence. Spirits don't eat, do they?

Here we have a glimpse of what the resurrected body of Jesus Christ is like, and we are told elsewhere in scripture that we will be like Him. It is a physical body of flesh and bone (no mention of blood). It can appear and disappear through various dimensions. It has all the characteristics of the original physical body of the individual, but is superior and eternal. It can consume and metabolize food. (I'm really happy to know about the food. I hope to be able to eat lots of good food, without the negative consequences.) Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is, I John 3:2. who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself, Philippians 3:21.

And Jesus' unique body still bears the scars of the crucifixion, which brand Him forever as our One and Only Savior.