After His resurrection, Jesus had a real body for He said to the disciples, “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” (Luke 24:39). Jesus first offered sensory evidence of three kinds in order to convince the disciples that He was a real, material being even after His resurrection. These were: sight, hearing, and the sense of touch. These evidences were given to provide an assurance that He was a real being and not an apparition or a figment of an overworked imagination.
Jesus offered them fourth proof that He is still a real being. He asked for food. And they gave Him broiled fish and honey. And to convince the disciples that He was still a material being, He ate in front of them. The disciples at first thought He was a spirit when He appeared suddenly to them, but after they felt Him and watched Him eat (Luke 24:40-43), they were convinced beyond doubt that He was real.
Forty days later, Jesus led them out to Bethany and ascended to heaven in front of the disciples (Luke 24:50, 51). The angels who appeared to the disciples said to them, “This same Jesus [of flesh and bones] … shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). And it was this very confidence in the reality of the bodily resurrection that imparted convincing power to the message the apostles bore to the world.
The apostle John testified saying, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life…” (1 John 1:1, 2 also 1 John 5:20; Luke 24:48). The disciples saw Jesus with their eyes and touched His body with their hands.
When Jesus came to this earth He did not divest Himself of His divine nature. The apostle John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And when He returned to the Father, He bore with Him the likeness of humanity. He ascended to heaven, with His body bearing a sanctified holy humanity.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
