Luke 24:39 Meaning: The Risen Christ Has Flesh and Bones

The Greek word translated “touch” or “handle” is pselaphao. It means more than a brush of the fingers. It suggests feeling an object to learn its nature, like groping for something in the dark. Jesus invites them to do more than look: He wants them to know by touch that He is solid, real. The word for “spirit” is pneuma, breath or wind, something without substance. And He pointedly says He has “flesh and bones” (sarx and ostea). The phrase is careful. He does not say “flesh and blood,” because blood belongs to mortal life that cannot inherit the Kingdom. Flesh and bones speak of a real body, but one that has passed through death into a new kind of life. Every word He chooses matters: He is no ghost, no vision. He is the same yet transformed, and He wants His people to know it with their own hands.

Christians across traditions have treasured this verse for what it says about the resurrection body. Early writers like Ignatius of Antioch used it to counter those who said Jesus only seemed to be human (a view called docetism). For him, the flesh and bones were proof that the incarnation was real. Protestant commentators such as Barnes and Matthew Henry emphasize Christ’s patient care for the disciples’ weak faith; He did not scold their doubts but gave them evidence. John Calvin pointed to this verse when arguing against the idea that Christ’s body could be physically present in the bread of Communion, saying that a real body cannot be in more than one place at once. Others note that Jesus says “flesh and bones,” not “flesh and blood,” suggesting a transformed body fitted for eternal life. Each tradition reads the same words and finds here assurance that the resurrection is not a spiritual metaphor but a bodily reality.

Some readers think that when Jesus says “a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones,” He is denying that spirits exist at all. In fact, He affirms their existence by comparing Himself to one. The point is not that spirits are imaginary but that He is not one. He is a living, risen man with a real body. The mistake would turn a statement of identity into a denial of the spiritual realm, which Scripture elsewhere affirms.

When fear or doubt visits you this week, remember how Jesus met His disciples. He did not say, “You should have believed faster.” He opened His hands and offered Himself to their touch. You cannot see His wounds or feel His side, but you can look to the same Jesus in the pages of Scripture, in the breaking of bread with His people, and in the quiet assurance that He is alive. Let the reality of His risen body anchor you when your own heart trembles. He is not a distant idea or a comforting story. He is the Lord with flesh and bones, and He stands among you still.