Reading for Today:

1 Samuel 20:1–21:15Psalm 59:1-5Proverbs 15:31-33Luke 24:36-53

Notes:

1 Samuel 21:2 The king has ordered me. David, fearing someone might tell Saul where he was, deceived Ahimelech the priest into thinking that he was on official business for the king. He supposed, as many do, that it is excusable to lie for the purpose of saving one’s life. But what is essentially sinful can never, because of circumstances, change its immoral character (see Ps. 119:29). David’s lying led tragically to the deaths of the priests (22:9–18).

1 Samuel 21:5, 6 bread…common. Since that bread was no longer on the Lord’s table, having been replaced by hot bread, it was to be eaten by the priests and in these exigencies, by David under the law of necessity and mercy. The removal of the old bread and the replacing with new was done on the Sabbath (Lev. 24:8).

1 Samuel 21:13 changed his behavior. David feared for his life, lacked trust in God to deliver him, and feigned insanity to persuade Achish to send him away. See the titles of Psalms 34 and 56. Drooling in one’s beard was considered in the East an intolerable indignity, as was spitting in another’s beard.

Luke 24:45 opened their understanding. He undoubtedly taught them from the Old Testament, as He had on the road to Emmaus. But the gist of the expression also seems to convey a supernatural opening of their minds to receive the truths He unfolded. Whereas their understanding was once dull (9:45), they finally saw clearly (see Ps. 119:18; Is. 29:18, 19; 2 Cor. 3:14–16).

DAY 9: What was the resurrected body of Christ like?

In Luke 24:31, it tells us that after the two men had traveled with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, “their eyes were opened,” i.e., by God. They had been sovereignly kept from recognizing Him until this point (v. 16). His resurrection body was glorified and altered from its previous appearance (see John’s description in Rev. 1:13–16), and this surely explains why even Mary did not recognize Him at first (John 20:14–16). But in this case, God actively intervened to keep them from recognizing Him until it was time for Him to depart.

“He vanished from their sight.” His resurrection body, though real and tangible (John 20:27)—and even capable of ingesting earthly food (vv. 42, 43)—nonetheless possessed certain properties that indicate it was glorified, altered in a mysterious way (1 Cor. 15:35–54; Phil. 3:21). Christ could appear and disappear bodily, as seen in this text. His body could pass through solid objects—such as the grave clothes (v. 12) or the walls and doors of a closed room (John 20:19, 26). He could apparently travel great distances in a moment, for by the time these disciples returned to Jerusalem, Christ had already appeared to Peter (v. 34).The fact that He ascended into heaven bodily demonstrated that His resurrection body was already fit for heaven. Yet it was His body, the same one that was missing from the tomb, even retaining identifying features such as the nail wounds (John 20:25–27). He was no ghost or phantom.