Luke 24:39
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. 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.
On the evening of His resurrection Jesus stood suddenly among His disciples behind shut doors, and as they were terrified supposing they had seen a spirit He held out His hands and feet to show He was the same Jesus who had been crucified. By bidding them to behold, handle and see He proved He was bodily present in a real, tangible body of flesh and bones that could be touched, and not a spirit without substance. The prints of the nails still in His hands and feet, with His wounded side, divine countenance and familiar voice, made Him known even to those who had never seen Him before, and turned fear, sorrow and unbelief into recognition, faith, peace and inexpressible joy. His offered hands and feet point to His work of taking away sin and ransoming men, so that peace and salvation are to be found by looking to Jesus alone as the overcoming Mediator and not by human works, and He carried those wounds with Him to heaven where He pleads the merits of His blood as remembrance of the price paid. His resurrection was victory over death by which those who sleep in Jesus will be raised to glorious immortality, so heaven is no longer an indefinite region tenanted by intangible spirits but a personal home connected with Jesus whom they knew and loved, whom those who recognized Him hastened to worship.
Risen Body Recognized
On the evening of the resurrection day at Jerusalem Jesus suddenly stood among the disciples in the upper chamber behind doors shut for fear of the Jews, while they were hearing the report of those who had journeyed to Emmaus, with hands uplifted in blessing. They were terrified and frightened, supposing they had seen a spirit. He appeared to them there in the upper room twice and told them to remain in Jerusalem for a time.
He was the same Jesus who had been crucified, and His hands and feet still bore the prints and marks of the nails, with His wounded side also shown and His divine countenance and familiar voice confirming Him. By those marks the disciples recognized Him as their risen Lord, so that there was no room for unbelief in the minds of the eleven about His identity. Even many who had never before seen Him knew Him by those wounded and pierced hands and feet and hastened to pay Him homage, including believers later gathered in Galilee who recognized Him at once when He stood suddenly in their midst.
By inviting them to behold, handle, and see His hands and feet, He proved He had a real, tangible body of flesh and bones that could be touched and examined. He was bodily present and not a spirit without substance, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones and has no physical body. His wounds and tangible form helped them believe that He had truly risen bodily and was He Himself alive again.
Further proof was given in that they saw Him and talked and journeyed with Him, and watched Him eat a piece of bread and honeycomb and drink before them. His body had not seen corruption, and their testimony of encountering Him together with the empty tomb and the shroud and napkin left behind gave clear evidence He was alive again and truly risen from the dead. The marks of the nails identified Him as the crucified Jesus, and seeing Him and watching Him eat helped turn doubt into faith and joy and left the eleven without doubt, although some other followers were only partly convinced.
He allowed them to touch Him after He had ascended to His Father and returned, having received power from His Father. His return and physical presence, which they could see and touch, confirmed He was the same Jesus risen bodily and not a spirit.
The sight dispelled fear and sorrow and turned doubt and unbelief into recognition, believing faith, comfort, peace and inexpressible joy as they acknowledged their risen Saviour. Yet they were joyful and hardly believed, and lack of faith kept them from fully enjoying the surprise. Some other followers were only partly convinced, and some doubted.
Salvation Hope Worship
The hands and feet He holds out bear the wounds that show He Himself has taken away sin and ransomed His people, bringing them peace. The call to behold them is a call to look to Jesus alone, for as Mediator He has overcome and gives peace to those who believe the gospel. Peace and salvation come through Christ's work and not through human works. True faith in that finished work then appears in a holy life and in useful service to others.
He keeps His wounded hands and feet and carried those wounds with Him to heaven. There His sympathies are unchanged, and He identifies Himself with suffering humanity. He receives the prayers of His people and pleads before God the merits of His own precious blood, showing His wounded hands and feet as a remembrance of the price He paid for His redeemed. His resurrection was a victory over death, and those who sleep in Jesus will also be raised to glorious immortality.
The same Jesus who spoke on earth as never man spoke continued after His resurrection as educator to the disciples in the upper chamber and at Emmaus. He opened to them the Scriptures concerning Himself and laid open the straight chain of prophecy about Himself. He thus bound their hearts with holy, new and sacred hope and joy, leaving no room for unbelief about His identity in those who fully received it, though others believed only partly. He was seen and talked with, His body had not seen corruption, and together with the empty tomb and the shroud and napkin left behind this gave abundant, clear evidence that His resurrection was certain. That uncontroverted evidence made of none effect the falsehood of the Jewish priests and established Christianity.
Because the disciples conversed and journeyed with Him and handled Him even in His resurrected body, He was proved not to be a spirit without substance. This changed all their views and contemplations of heaven. Heaven could no longer appear as an indefinite, incomprehensible space, a region of unlimited space tenanted by spirits without substance and filled with intangible spirits. Heaven became personal and was connected with the thought of Jesus whom they had known and loved and reverenced, and was looked upon as their future home.
Those who recognized Him by the marks of the nails hastened to pay Him homage and worshiped Him, even many who had never seen Him before knowing Him by those marks. His divine countenance together with His hands and feet still wounded and pierced identified Him as He Himself, the Saviour, to believers gathered both in Jerusalem and in Galilee. Yet some doubted, showing that people may resist faith and lose blessing through unbelief. Choosing hope and courage rather than spreading doubt brings greater happiness and helpfulness.