Luke 24:39
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.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Jesus points to his hands and feet, not just to prove it's Him, but to highlight the tangible reality of His body. He's emphasizing that His resurrected form, though able to appear and disappear, is not a mere ghost but a physical body with flesh and bones, capable of being touched. This is His way of directly addressing their fear and confusion, reassuring them that His suffering and death were real, and His resurrection is equally so.
Jesus has just miraculously appeared to his disciples, who are terrified, thinking they've seen a ghost. To quell their fear and prove He is truly alive and not a disembodied spirit, Jesus invites them to look closely at His hands and feet, pointing out the very wounds from His crucifixion. He then urges them to physically touch Him, emphasizing that spirits don't have the solid flesh and bones they can feel.
The disciples were terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. How did Jesus convince them He was truly alive?
Jesus understood their fear and confusion. He knew they needed more than just words; they needed proof that He was not a disembodied spirit. He invited them to use their senses: 'See my hands and my feet... Touch me, and see.' This wasn't a trick or an illusion. He was presenting His physical body, bearing the marks of His crucifixion, as evidence. He explicitly stated that a spirit does not have flesh and bones like He did, emphasizing the tangible reality of His resurrected form.
If it was Jesus' body, why did He appear and disappear so suddenly? Was it the same body?
Jesus' resurrected body was indeed the same physical body that was crucified, yet it was also transformed. He pointed to His hands and feet, the very places wounded by the nails, confirming His identity. However, His ability to appear and disappear at will, passing through locked doors, shows that this new body operated under different laws. It was a physical body, capable of being touched and eating, but also a spiritual body, no longer bound by the limitations of our earthly existence. This wasn't just about proving He was alive; it was about revealing the nature of the 'new creation' He inaugurated.
Understand the original words
sarx · Greek Noun
Physical matter; the bodily substance that constitutes human nature, emphasizing the reality and physical continuity of Christ's resurrected body.
This verse immediately follows Jesus' appearance to His disciples, who were terrified and thought they saw a spirit. Jesus' invitation to 'handle me, and see' was a crucial, tangible demonstration to counter their fear and confirm the physical reality of His resurrection body, distinguishing it from a disembodied spirit.
c. AD 30
Crucifixion and Burial of Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth is crucified by Roman authorities and laid in a tomb.
c. AD 30 (Sunday morning)
Resurrection of Jesus
Jesus is raised from the dead, with women discovering the empty tomb.
c. AD 30 (Sunday afternoon)— this verse
Appearance to Disciples in Jerusalem
Jesus appears to His fearful disciples, who initially mistake Him for a spirit.
c. AD 30 (Later Sunday)
Appearance to Thomas
Jesus appears again to the disciples, including Thomas, who is invited to touch His wounds.
c. AD 30-33
This passage echoes Jesus' invitation to touch Him, with John stating they 'had seen with their eyes, had looked upon and their hands had touched' the Word of Life, emphasizing the tangible reality of Jesus' resurrected body.
John 20:27Similar to Luke's account, Jesus directly invites Thomas to 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and reach out your hand, and put it into my side,' providing tactile evidence to combat disbelief.
1 Corinthians 15:44This verse contrasts the physical body with the resurrected body, stating one is 'sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body,' which helps explain Jesus' physicality while also hinting at the transformed nature of His resurrected form.
Philippians 3:21Paul speaks of Christ 'who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body,' underscoring that Jesus' resurrected body, though real and tangible, was also a transformed, glorious body unlike their earthly one.
vincentLuke 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."
Handle (ψηλαφήσατε)Compare 1 John 1:1. The word occurs also Acts 17:27; Hebrews 12:18. "It never expresses the so handling an object as to exercise a moulding, modifying influence upon it, but at most a feeling of its surface; this, it may be, with the intention of learning its composition (Genesis 27:12, Genesis 27:21, Genesis 27:22); while, not seldom,…
ellicottLuke 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."
(39) Behold my hands and my feet. —The test thus offered to the disciples, like that afterwards given to Thomas, was to be to them a proof that they were not looking on a spectre from the shadow-world of the dead. The Resurrection was a reality, not an appearance. In St. John’s words, “which our hands have handled” ( 1John 1:1 ), we have an interesting co…
Jesus points to his hands and feet, not just to prove it's Him, but to highlight the tangible reality of His body. He's emphasizing that His resurrected form, though able to appear and disappear, is not a mere ghost but a physical body with flesh and bones, capable of being touched. This is His way of directly addressing their fear and confusion, reassuring them that His suffering and death were real, and His resurrection is equally so.
Jesus has just miraculously appeared to his disciples, who are terrified, thinking they've seen a ghost. To quell their fear and prove He is truly alive and not a disembodied spirit, Jesus invites them to look closely at His hands and feet, pointing out the very wounds from His crucifixion. He then urges them to physically touch Him, emphasizing that spirits don't have the solid flesh and bones they can feel.
Jesus has just miraculously appeared to his disciples, who are terrified, thinking they've seen a ghost. To quell their fear and prove He is truly alive and not a disembodied spirit, Jesus invites them to look closely at His hands and feet, pointing out the very wounds from His crucifixion. He then urges them to physically touch Him, emphasizing that spirits don't have the solid flesh and bones they can feel.
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Post-Resurrection Appearances
Jesus continues to appear to His followers over a period of 40 days, proving His resurrection.
c. AD 60-62
Writing of Luke's Gospel
Luke the physician writes his account of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for Theophilus.
"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.”" — Jesus points to his hands and feet, not just to prove it's Him, but to highlight the tangible reality of His body. He's emphasizing that His resurrected form, though able to appear and disappear, is…
