But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
Job 4:14-16 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake…
thinking they had seen a spirit
The disciples' assumption that they had seen a spirit reflects common first-century Jewish beliefs about the afterlife and spirits. At that time, there was a prevalent belief in ghosts or spirits of the dead, which is evident in other biblical passages like Matthew 14:26, where the disciples thought Jesus walking on water was a ghost. This misunderstanding highlights their struggle to comprehend the physical resurrection of Jesus, a cornerstone of Christian faith. The resurrection was not merely spiritual but physical, fulfilling prophecies such as Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53:10-12, which speak of the Messiah's victory over death. Jesus' bodily resurrection is a type of the future resurrection of believers, as described in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.
– “But they were startled…” (Luke 24:37) follows immediately after Jesus suddenly stood among the disciples in the locked room (Luke 24:36; John 20:19).
– Even the most devoted followers were taken off guard when the risen Lord appeared without warning.
– Scripture frequently records godly people jolted by an unexpected encounter with the supernatural:
• Zechariah in the temple (Luke 1:12)
• The shepherds at Christ’s birth (Luke 2:9)
• The women at the empty tomb (Mark 16:5)
– These instances remind us that God’s interventions often arrive unannounced, overturning normal expectations and underscoring His sovereignty.
– The disciples moved from surprise to fear. “Frightened” captures a deeper, almost paralyzing alarm (cf. Matthew 14:26 when the twelve saw Jesus walking on the sea).
– Their fear highlights humanity’s instinctive reaction to the holy. When Isaiah beheld the Lord, he cried, “Woe to me!” (Isaiah 6:5). When Ezekiel saw the glory, he fell facedown (Ezekiel 1:28).
– Fear also exposed their lingering unbelief. Earlier, Jesus had repeatedly foretold His resurrection (Luke 9:22; 18:33). Their terror shows how slowly truth can migrate from mind to heart.
– Yet Christ did not scold them first; He offered peace (Luke 24:36) and proof (Luke 24:39-40). His gentle response models how the Lord meets frail faith with reassurance.
– First-century Jews acknowledged a spiritual realm of angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). Lacking a category for bodily resurrection in everyday experience, they defaulted to “ghost.”
– Jesus answered their misconception by displaying tangible, physical evidence:
• “Touch Me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).
• He ate broiled fish in their presence (Luke 24:41-43).
– By inviting touch and sharing a meal, the Lord affirmed His literal, bodily resurrection, fulfilling Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53:10-12.
– Their initial misinterpretation actually strengthens our confidence: eyewitnesses did not invent a resurrection they expected; they testified to what overturned their assumptions (Acts 1:3).
Luke 24:37 captures the raw honesty of the disciples’ first reaction to the risen Christ—startled surprise, fearful awe, and a mistaken conclusion. Their human frailty magnifies the certainty of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, for the Lord patiently replaced panic with peace and conjecture with concrete evidence. The verse therefore underscores both the reliability of the eyewitness accounts and the gracious condescension of the Savior who turns fear into unshakable faith.
(37) Supposed that they had seen a spirit.--More accurately, supposed that they were looking on . . . For the use of the word "spirit "in this sense, see Acts 23:8-9; Hebrews 12:23.Verse 37. - But they were terrified and affrighted. They spoke one to another of the Master; they discussed the empty sepulchre, the angelic vision, the recital by Peter of his interview with the Risen, and were listening to the details of the quiet Emmaus meeting, all hoping for something more; but this sudden, mysterious appearance of their crucified Master in their midst was not, after all, what they had looked for. It terrified them. And supposed that they had seen a spirit. How else could they explain his presence in their midst, when the doors were shut? The evangelists make no attempt to explain his sudden appearance. He was simply there as they spoke of him. It is clear that his presence could be accounted for in no ordinary, natural way. His disciples felt that; hence their supposition that they were looking on a spirit. We can, with our present limited knowledge, form no adequate conception of this resurrection-body of the Lord. It was a reality, no phantasm or appearance; of that the scene about to be described gives us ample evidence. Still, it is clear that his resurrection-body was not bound by the present conditions of material existence of which we are conscious. Epiphanius ascribes to the body of the risen Lord λεπτότης πνευματική, "a spiritual subtilty," Euthymius uses similar language when he speaks of "his body being now subtile, thin, and unmixed." He could come into a closed, barred room. He could be visible or invisible, known or unknown, as he pleased and when he pleased.