Luke 24:41

Luk 24:41. Ἀπιστούντων, whilst they were distrusting the evidence of their senses) They no doubt believed at the time, otherwise they would not have rejoiced: but the full exercise of their faith was being retarded by their joy. Strong affection and intent knowledge mutually impede one another.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_24:41-43. Ἔτι] in the sense of still; see Schneider, ad Plat. Rep. p. 449 C.

ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς] on account of the (presently experienced by them, comp. Luk_22:45; Act_12:14; Mat_13:44) joy. That a great and happy surprise keeps back and delays the full conviction of the truth of the happy event itself, is a matter of psychological experience; Liv. xxxix. 49: Vix sibimet ipsi prae nec opinato gaudio credentes.

εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἔχετε κ.τ.λ.] πρὸς πλείονα πίστιν καὶ βεβαιοτέραν ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ μὴ δοκεῖν φάσμ.], Euthymius Zigabenus.

καὶ ἀπὸ μελισσ. κηρίου] and (some) of a bees honeycomb (favus). μελισσίου is added as a distinction from any other kind of honey. The word, however, does not elsewhere occur, but μελισσαῖος (Nicander, Th. 611); 1Sa_14:27 : κηρίον τοῦ μέλιτος. On διδόναι ἀπό, comp. Luk_20:10.

Luk_24:43. ἔφαγεν] in respect of which what had already gone before (Luk_24:39-40) must keep at a distance the idea of a merely apparent eating, such as is attributed to angels, Tob_12:19 (comp. Gen_18:8; Gen_19:3). Comp. Act_10:41.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 24:41 . ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς , a psychological touch quite in Lk.’s manner. Cf. Luk 22:45 : there asleep from grief, here unbelievers from joy. Hahn takes χαρά objectively. τι βρώσιμον , anything eatable, here only in N.T.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

believed not for joy, &c.--They did believe, else they had not rejoiced [BENGEL]. But it seemed too good to be true (Psa 126:1-2).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 41. They - believed not for joy] They were so overcome with the joy of his resurrection, that they did not, for some time, properly receive the evidence that was before them - as we phrase it, they thought the news too good to be true.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(41) While they yet believed not for joy.—We again note St. Luke’s characteristic tendency to psychological analysis. As men sleep for sorrow (Luk_22:45), so they disbelieve for very joy. What is brought before their eyes is too good to be true.

Have ye here any meat?—Literally, anything to eat, any food. Here again there is an agreement with St. John (21:5). A new crucial test is given of the reality of the resurrection-body. It could be no shadow or spectre that thus asked for food. This we all feel; but the further question, whether there was not only the power to receive food, but a life in any sense dependent upon the laws which govern the bodily life of men, leads us into a region of problems which we cannot solve, and on which it is profitless to dwell. What seems suggested is a spiritual existence capable, by an act of volition, of assuming, in greater or less measure, the conditions of corporeal. We note how the Apostles dwelt afterwards on what now occurred as a proof of their Lord’s resurrection. They had “eaten and drunk with Him” (Act_10:41).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. believed not for joy] One of the psychological touches of which St Luke is fond, and profoundly true to nature (comp. Liv. xxxix. 49).

any meat] Rather, anything to eat; see on Luk_3:11, Luk_8:55.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he took it, and did eat before them. That is, he took both the fish, and the honeycomb, and ate of them before them, they looking on all the while; and which was a proof of his being truly risen from the dead, and not a spectre, or apparition, and which they failed not afterwards to make use of; see Act 10:41. The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions add, "he took the rest, or what remained, and gave it to them".

. The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions add, "he took the rest, or what remained, and gave it to them".

Luke 24:44

luk 24:44

luk 24:44

luk 24:44And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you,.... Or this is the substance of them, the sense and meaning of them; for what follows, we do not find any where expressed in so many words:

while I was yet with you; that is, whilst he was in his state of humiliation, whilst he dwelt among them, and had his abode with them; otherwise he was now with them, but not to continue with them; in a short time he was to ascend to his God, and their God, to his Father, and their Father:

that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me: concerning his sufferings, and death, and resurrection from the dead, spoken of in Gen 3:15 Psa 16:10 and in this he refers to what he had said to his disciples in Mat 16:21 and alludes to the usual distinction among the Jews of the books of the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa; among which last stands the book of Psalms, and is put for the whole; a division often to be met with in both their Talmuds (a), and other writings (b).

(a) T. Hieros. Shekalim, fol. 47. 3. T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 15. 1. & 18. 2. & 21. 1. Roshhashana, fol. 32. 1. Taanith, fol. 8. 1. & 16. 1. & 20. 1. & 30. 1. Megilla, fol. 21. 2. & 24. 1. Bava Bathra, fol. 8. 1. & 13. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 106. 1. (b) Zohar in Lev. fol. 39. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

Ver. 41. Believed not for joy] This was partly the joy of faith; and yet through mixture of the flesh, it became some hindrance to their faith. So Abraham laughed, and yet said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old?" &c., Gen 17:17. Strong affections, though from good principles, may possibly miscarry us. Watch therefore.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Believed not for joy; yet if they had not now believed, they doubtless would not have rejoiced, but their faith was the cause of their joy; yet the excess of their joy was the hinderance of their faith; so dangerous are the excessive motions of our affections. Christ here gives them another evidence of the truth of his body, he

did eat before them, though very ordinary country diet, a piece of broiled fish, and of a honey comb; such a meal as we read of that he had at the lake of Tiberius, Joh 21:9. He did not eat to uphold, but only to testify, his life. Thus when he had raised the daughter of Jairus, Luk 8:55, he bid them give her something to eat; and for this end Lazarus sat at meat with the rest, Joh 12:2 and Peter proves the resurrection of Christ from their eating and drinking with him, Act 10:41. Let not profane wits seek knots in bulrushes, inquiring what became of this meat? &c. Let them first tell us what became of the meat the angels did eat with Abraham, Gen 18:8, and learn to believe, that it was easy with the power of God to annihilate again that meat, which was not necessary for the sustentation of the body of Christ, now freed from all the cravings of natural appetite, though he did eat it to satisfy them that he was truly risen from the dead.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

41. Believed not for joy—They believed not at first from the strangeness of the matter; they believed not next from fear; and now they believe not from joy. And yet through all this there was a belief, but not the realizing power.

Any meat—As if to give them one of the most ordinary proofs of bodily existence, he called for food and did eat before them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 41, 42. And while they yet believed not for joy. The awful joy of the disciples now was something too. deep for words, even for calm belief. St. John records it, too, with simple pathos. "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." This was the fulfilment of his promise to them, when, full of sadness, they were listening to him that last solemn Passover evening in the upper room. "Ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you". (Joh_16:22) In after-days, as John preached and taught in his old age, how the remembrance of that hour must have stirred in his heart when he thus wrote of it! Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. The Master would not permit this state of wondering ecstasy to continue; so he changes the current of their thoughts by thus descending into the region of everyday life, at the same time powerfully demonstrating by this further proof that, though changed, his resurrection, body was no mere Docetic semblance, no phantom, but that he could eat if he chose. The next sentence (ver. 43) tells simply how he took the food, and ate before them.

The fish and honeycomb which they gave him no doubt formed the staple of their evening meal. Fish was part of the common food of the disciples we see this from the miracles of the five thousand and the four thousand, and also from the narrative of Joh_21:9. Honey, we know, in Canaan, the laud flowing with milk and honey, was common enough to enter into the diet of the poor. (compare, among many passages, Exo_3:8, 17 Deu_26:9, 15 Jer_11:5 Isa_7:15, 22 Mat_3:4)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

While they believed not for joy - They did in some sense believe: otherwise they would not have rejoiced. But their excess of joy prevented a clear, rational belief.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Further proof of the Risen Savior’s reality:

v. 41. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

v. 42. And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.

v. 43. And He took it and did eat before them.

v. 44. And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me.

v. 45. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,

v. 46. and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;

v. 47. and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

v. 48. And ye are witnesses of these things.

v. 49. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.

Unbelievers from joy: lifted out of the depths of despair, doubt, suspicion, and fear to the very pinnacle of glorious assurance, the reaction proves too much for the weakness of the disciples. They stood there huddled together in wonder and amazement, not knowing whether they dared credit the evidence of their senses or not. Just as a great light which suddenly bursts upon a person in the depths of a dark dungeon blinds him for some time, makes him unable to use his eyes, so it was with the disciples at this time. And therefore Jesus makes use of all patient kindness toward them, giving them time, above all, to get their bearings, and to let the truth gradually penetrate into their understanding. He asked them whether they had anything eatable at hand, and they brought Him a piece of cooked or broiled fish and of a honeycomb. The fact of His eating before them restored the former sense of nearness to them, and they were now ready to listen to Him. Jesus now repeated the sermon of the afternoon, telling them that His suffering and death was in full accord with the words that He had told them while He was with them, while the old relation obtained between them. Not once, but repeatedly He had pointed to the nearness of His Passion, emphasizing incidentally that this was taking place in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, which were to be found not only in the books of Moses, but also in those of the prophets and in the Psalms. The entire Old Testament points forward to the work of Jesus in the redemption of the world. And Jesus was not satisfied with a general statement, but proceeded to open up their mind and understanding, thus enabling them to get the meaning of Scriptures. Once more He emphasized the necessity of the Passion and of the resurrection in accordance with the Scriptures. They had had some idea of the light before, they had believed the Scriptures to be the true Word of God, and they knew that the Messiah was therein promised; but they now learned to apply the Scriptures to their Lord and Master, they understood the work of the Messiah; they made the proper application of the words of the Old Testament to the facts before them. And that was only the first part of the Messiah’s office, that was His personal activity by which He procured redemption for all men. This salvation must now also be brought to men by means of the preaching of repentance and remission of sins. First must come the acknowledgment, the free and full confession of sins; then comes the full and free forgiveness of sins. And this preaching should be done, by God’s will and according to His prophecy, among all nations. Beginning at Jerusalem indeed, in the midst of God’s chosen people, but going out from there, the preaching of the Gospel should reach all nations, it should cover the earth. To bear witness to these facts, to testify of the things that they had seen and heard, that was the special office with which He entrusted them. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the basis of all Christian preaching; without these topics as a foundation there can be no real Gospel proclamation. But this ministry, which was thus once more solemnly given into their care, cannot be carried on properly in, a man’s own strength; and this was true above all in those early days of Gospel-teaching. For that reason Jesus gives the apostles the assurance that He will send the promise of the Father upon them, that He will carry out the prophecies which expressly refer to the sending of the Spirit, Isa 44:1; Joe 2:28. But until that time would come, until the special pouring out of the Spirit upon them would take place, they should quietly and patiently remain at Jerusalem. For they would surely be clothed, be invested, with power from on high. They would receive strength in such unusual measure that they could and should wear it like an armor in doing the Lord’s will and in waging His battles. It is a consolation which should serve for the comfort also of the faithful preachers of the Gospel in our days. The Spirit is in the Word which they proclaim, and that Spirit will both give them strength and exert His power through the Word.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They still could not believe it because of joy

"They were so full of joy that they still could not believe it was really true"

ate it before them

Jesus did this to prove that he had a physical body. Spirits would not be able to eat food. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

before them

"in front of them" or "while they were watching"

translationWords

joy

amazed

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

41. ἀπιστούντων … ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς. One of the psychological touches of which St Luke is fond, and profoundly true to nature (comp. Liv. xxxix. 49, Vix sibimet ipsi prae necopinato gaudio credentes).

τι βρώσμιον. ‘Anything to eat;’ see on Luk 3:11, Luk 8:55.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41.] ἀπὸ τῆς χ., from their joy: the joy which they felt. Wetstein quotes Livy, xxxix. 49, vix sibimet ipsi præ necopinato gaudio credentes.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. ἀπιστούντων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς. A remark, “which, with many similar expressions, we owe to the most profound psychologist among the Evangelists.” Vix sibimet ipsi præ necopinato gaudio credentes (Livy, xxxix. 49). For this use of ἀπό comp. 21:26, 22:45; Act 12:14; Mat 13:44, Mat 14:26, etc.

῎εχετέ τι βρώσιμον ἐνθάδε; The objection that, if Jesus took food in order to convince them that He was no mere spirit, when food was not necessary for the resurrection-body, He was acting deceitfully, does not hold. The alternatives—“either a ghost, or an ordinary body needing food”—is false. There is a third possibility: a glorified body, capable of receiving food. Is there any deceit in taking food, which one does not want, in order to place others, who are needing it, at their ease? With the double sign granted here, the handling and the seeing Him eat, comp. the double sign with Moses’ rod and hand (Exo 4:1-8). and with Gideon’s fleece (Jdg 6:36-40). For βρώσιμον comp. Lev 19:23; Eze 47:12; Neh 9:25: not elsewhere in N.T

ἐνθάδε: rare in LXX,and in N.T., excepting Joh 4:15, Joh 4:16 peculiar to Lk. (Act 10:18, Act 10:16:28, Act 10:17:6, Act 10:25:17, Act 10:24).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meat (brwsimon). Only here in New Testament. Lit., anything eatable. Wyc., anything that shall be eaten. Rev., better, anything to eat, as the word meat has largely lost, in popular usage, its old sense of food in general.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.