JESUS FIRST
APPARITION
36As they were
talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them,
“PEACE TO YOU!”
37But they were
startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
38And he said to
them, “WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED, AND WHY DO DOUBTS ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS? 39SEE 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.”
40And when he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41And while they
still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “HAVE YOU
ANYTHING HERE TO EAT?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took
it and ate before them.
44Then he said to
them, “THESE ARE MY WORDS THAT I SPOKE TO YOU WHILE I WAS STILL WITH YOU, THAT
EVERYTHING WRITTEN ABOUT ME IN THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE PROPHETS AND THE PSALMS
MUST BE FULFILLED.”
45Then he opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, “THUS IT IS
WRITTEN, THAT THE CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER AND ON THE THIRD DAY RISE FROM THE DEAD,
47AND THAT REPENTANCE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS SHOULD BE PROCLAIMED IN HIS
NAME TO ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING FROM JERUSALEM.
48YOU ARE WITNESSES
OF THESE THINGS. 49AND BEHOLD, I AM SENDING THE PROMISE OF MY FATHER UPON YOU.
BUT STAY IN THE CITY
UNTIL YOU ARE CLOTHED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH.”
LUKE 24:36-49
COMMENTARY
This narrative is the
Lukan version of the first apparition of our Lord to the eleven apostles, and
other disciples at the upper room, also mentioned in other gospels (Mark
16:14-18; John 20:19-23).
Lord Jesus appeared
to more than just the 10 Apostles (Judas Iscariot was dead, and Thomas was not
present at this occasion - John 20:24), He appeared to a group of disciples
residents in Jerusalem, all together with the Apostles, under closed doors, in
fear of the Jews (John 20:19).
He presented Himself
physically, not only spiritually. He reassured of this to the present, since He
trespassed the closed doors and walls entering the place (John 20:19; Luke
24:37), so that they had the impression that that was a ghostly apparition.
Lord Jesus had to show his body, the marks of the nails in his hands and feet,
and even eat, to demonstrate not only that He was alive, but also that He was
physically resurrected. This is openly obvious, against heresies that sustain
that Jesus was only a spirit at that moment, and that his body and eating, were
an illusion provided to the disciples.
Jesus opened through
his own divine power, the faculty of understanding the Scriptures, to the men,
women and children there present. In the same manner the Holy Spirit guides us
to knowledge and discernment of the Scripture and Will of God today. And Lord Jesus said another very important thing.
He commissioned his
disciples, all of them, not only the 10 Apostles, to announce ‘Repentance for
the forgiveness of sins’.
To repent, it is necessary
first, to have knowledge and acceptance of guilt, which in turn, is born from our
faith in God, who provides the guide of what is right and wrong.
To have knowledge of
God and pursuit his Will, implicates a pre-existing Faith and submission to his
authority, which also in turn, moves us to repentance, and the subsequent forgiveness
of sins.
This is important to
notice, against the wrong idea that only faith, without repentance, is
necessary for forgiveness and salvation.
Repentance means
acknowledge of sinfulness, and this is impossible to attain without faith, but
it is the moment of repentance, when we receive that forgiveness promised by
Lord Jesus. This is what makes us different from demons and other ‘believing’
sinners, and which James speaks about in his epistle (James 2:17, 19).
Finally, Lord Jesus
prevents his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, so that they
will be constituted Children of God, Church of Christ, Royal Priesthood, and
with this authority in them, be endowed with divine power. Power that resides
in all true believers in virtue of the divine seed planted in our persons by God,
the Holy Spirit.
Omar Flores.
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