The Story

The disciples were together in Jerusalem and the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. The Lord had appeared to Simon. The two from Emmaus had come in and told how He had walked with them. And as they thus spoke, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, "Peace be unto you." At first they were terrified and frightened and supposed that they had seen a spirit. But He said, "Why are ye troubled?" And He showed them His hands and His feet to make them sure that it was really Himself. "Have ye here anything to eat?" He asked. And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and of a honey-comb, and He took it and did eat before them.

Then He talked with them as He had talked with the two on the way to Emmaus, and reminded them how He had told them before that these things should be. Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, and showed them how Moses and the prophets and the Psalms all told of Him. One Psalm, the twenty-second, tells so plainly of the sad day when the Lord was crucified: "They pierced My hands and My feet." "They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." (See verses 1, 7, 8, 16, 18.) Read on to the peaceful Psalm that follows: "The Lord is my shepherd"; and to the next grand Psalm of triumph: "Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." Perhaps these were among the words which the disciples began to understand as the Lord talked with them that Easter night. We must sometime learn to read in all the Psalms the story of the Lord's life.

Turn also to Isaiah 53. "He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. . Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." No Scripture speaks more plainly of the Lord's trials. But at its close the chapter is triumphant. We may wonder whether this Psalm and this chapter of Isaiah were among the Scriptures which the Lord opened to the disciples on Easter Day, and brought them comfort. In truth the whole Scripture is about the Lord, His victories and His redeeming work.

Nor was this all the joy that came to them that day, for as they were telling the disciples in the room in Jerusalem of their experience, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said, "Peace be unto you." And again He showed them how His trials and His glorious victory had been foretold in Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. He lived; He was with them still, and He would be with them as He sent them out into all the world to call all people to repent and to tell them about the Lord. It was a glad day for the disciples, and it is a glad day for us, when we know that the Lord is with us in our trials, our work, our joys.

Forty days had passed since the Easter morning (Acts 1:3), and the Lord had appeared many times to the disciples, to take away their fears, and to teach them surely that He was still alive and with them. Once more the disciples were in Jerusalem, and the Lord appeared to them for the last time. He bade them tarry in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. How many the disciples had gone with the Lord out to the Mount of Olives, and over the hill to the little town, the home of Mary and Martha. It was beautiful that this should be the last walk on earth with the disciples, and that He should be with them again in Bethany where He had been so dearly loved. "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven."

1. Who saw the Lord on Easter Day?

2. When and where did He come to the company disciples?

3. How did He make them sure that it was He?

4. What last walk did they take with Him? Was it the last? (Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:20)

Spiritual Study

The great lesson for the disciples to learn on Easter Day and for us to learn from our study of the story is that the Lord did not leave the world at His crucifixion and resurrection, but is with us always according to His promise in the last words of the Gospel of Matthew. He did not leave us even in the sense that our friends leave us when they die. They do leave the natural plane of life and are present with us inwardly. The Lord did not leave the natural plane of life, but glorified it in Himself. His glorification consisted in the casting out of what was finite and imperfect, and the bringing down of the Divine in all fullness. This process of glorification extended, we are taught, to His very body, so that He is present with us forever even on the plane of physical life. This is meant by His saying to the disciples, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have." (L. 3 5 ; E. 513) Several passages helpful to a careful study of the subject are brought together in "Correspondence School Notes" to T. 109.

He showed them His hands and His feet. Do our hands and feet represent our interior, secret thoughts, or our outward acts? The Lord's hands and feet represent His natural life in which He is with us in this world. When the Lord was crucified and rose, the fear of the disciples that they should lose this close natural presence is represented by the women lovingly holding the Lord by the feet. (Matthew 28:9) And to teach us that He would not leave us, but is with us still in our natural life, He showed His hands and His feet. (R. 49; E. 513)

The Lord also ate before the disciples as another proof that He was really present. Fishes, the birds of the water, represent our interest in natural thought and knowledge, and honey represents the pleasantness of good natural affections. The Lord shares with us these things of natural life. (E. 513; A. 5620)

We share the Easter story and the Easter gladness with the children, and for study we may think further of the relation of the Old Testament Scriptures to the Lord and to His glorification and His redeeming work. Every part of the Divine Word in its deepest sense is about the Lord. His coming and His redemption are foretold in the Old Testament more fully than we know. This was a strength to angels and men during the long years before the Lord came. It was also a necessary help to Him in living the perfect life; and it makes the Old Testament for us a storehouse of deeper knowledge of the Lord's life which does not appear in the letter of the Gospels. Remember the lesson of the Transfiguration when Moses and Elias appeared with the Lord in glory and spoke of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30, 31) The whole Old Testament history and prophecy is about the Lord and His glorification.

At another time the Lord said, "Search the Scriptures…. They are they which testify of me…. Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me." (John 5:39-47) Where did Moses write of the Lord? You will think at once of the story of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is opened in the "Arcana" in its relation to the Lord especially to His development in childhood. This gives us knowledge of the deeper experiences of the silent years of the Lord's life in Nazareth and of experiences which could not be revealed to the disciples. Other passages of Moses come to mind. The earliest prediction of the Lord's coming is the saying that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Both victory and suffering are suggested, for it is added, "Thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15) The brazen serpent the Lord Himself declared to be prophetic of His victory and saving power. (Numbers 21:9)

Swedenborg's "Exposition of the Prophets and Psalms" indicates the relation of these Scriptures to the Lord's life. The Psalms, the Divine songs, reveal affections of the Lord's heart in states the Lord's coming in the prophets. You will recall many predictions of the Lord’s coming in the prophets. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6, 7; Malachi 3:1; 4:2) Notice how many of the prophecies join with the Lord's triumph mention of His suffering through which the triumph would be gained. The meek Sufferer, Isaiah 50:6. Bearing our griefs, Isaiah 53. See also many Old Testament passages cited in Doctrine of the Lord 11.

The Old Testament supplements the Gospel and gives us deeper knowledge of the Lord's life and of His love than can be given in literal teaching. The effect of this deeper opening of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms should be a burning in our hearts of deeper love for the Lord and of firmer purpose and courage to do His will in loyal Christian life. (A. 5620, 7933)

The Lord's ascension into the cloud reminds us of the bright cloud which overshadowed the disciples when He was transfigured. They could not bear the fullness of His Divine glory, but it must be veiled and interpreted to them by simple forms of thought, such as those of the letter of the Word. But as we become able to understand something of the spiritual truth within the letter of the Word, which is all about the Lord, the cloud opens and reveals Him. The Lord Himself meant this, which is fulfilled in the opening of His Word to the New Church, when He predicted that He would come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Mark 13:26; 14:62; R. 642, 820)

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