NOTES for Luk 24:36-53

In describing the risen Jesus’ appearances to His disciples, Luke wants to show his listeners that the Lord who stood before the Apostles on Easter morning was truly real. He immediately puts aside their idea that what was happening was merely “spiritual.” If He is real, if He has truly returned alive, with flesh and bones, from the realm of death, then everything He had told them throughout those years is true; then the Kingdom of God has truly come, death no longer has power, and hell no longer has victory! The disciples therefore take leave of Him with joy, knowing that a new life is beginning, life in the reality of the Kingdom, filled with His invisible presence. We too become participants in this life, believing in spirit in His bodily Resurrection and knowing that Jesus has conquered death and that soon we shall see Him as He is.