Luke 24:36 ¶ And as they
thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them,
Peace be unto you. 37 But they
were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye
troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I
myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he
shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and
wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish,
and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it,
and did eat before them. 44 And he said
unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, 46
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I send the promise of my
Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with
power from on high.
Again, Jesus appears to
His followers. Standing in the midst of them He says Peace be unto you. This
may not be just a wish but a declaration of peace between God and man through Christ
and these disciples. In speaking of Jew and Gentile Paul said;
Ephesians
2:14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15
Having abolished in his flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were
afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father.
They are afraid that
they are seeing a ghost, the passing figure of someone they loved who was so
mercilessly taken from them, of whom they had high expectations. But, Christ
points out that He has a physical body that can be touched and can eat with
them, a resurrection body.
He again repeats what
they have not understood, His mission and the necessity of their Messiah to
suffer and die for mankind. It is now their task to preach to people to turn
from their sins and be forgiven of them by God through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The seal of this command, this commission, will be the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, promised to come on them as they wait in Jerusalem.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
Christ gives this
command more fully, as reported by Luke in Acts.
Acts 1:1 ¶ The former
treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and
teach, 2 Until the day in which he was
taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the
apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom
also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God: 4 And, being assembled together
with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith he, ye have heard
of me. 5 For John truly baptized with
water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 ¶ When they therefore were come together, they
asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his
own power. 8 But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth. 9 And when he had
spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received
him out of their sight. 10 And while
they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by
them in white apparel; 11 Which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven.
Then, the promised gift
from heaven that empowered them.
Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day
of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. [Note
the two types of tongues in the context here, one of a form or appearance and
one of another discernible human language.]
24:50 ¶ And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and
he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and
carried up into heaven. 52 And they
worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising
and blessing God. Amen.
So ends Luke’s Gospel.
He will continue his reporting of these historical events in Acts.
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