Today I read Luke 24, the last chapter of Luke which includes the story of the resurrection. Also in this chapter is the story of the two disciples as they were walking to Emmaus and walked with Jesus for a while. This chapter teaches us a few things about resurrected beings. For example, Jesus appeared to the two disciples as just a regular person, and not as a person in glory. So from this we can see that resurrected persons have the ability to mask, or hide their glory. We know from Joseph Smith's account where he saw both God the Father and Jesus Christ, as well as later seeing Moroni, that resurrected persons have a certain amount of light and glory if you will about their persons. But in this chapter obviously that was lacking when Jesus appeared to the disciples or they would have known Him instantly for a resurrected person.
This chapter also teaches us that resurrected persons can eat food. I would assume that they don't need to, but they are able to since this is one of the ways Jesus convinced His Apostles that He was not a spirit. He ate a piece of fish an a honeycomb in front of them after they had touched the wounds in His hands and feet. To my knowledge, this is the only recorded instance of a resurrected person eating food that we have in all of the scriptures.
The final thing that we learn about resurrected persons from this chapter is that resurrected persons have the ability to move through space, and presumably time as well. When Jesus was talking to the two disciples, He came into the house with them and brake bread with them and as soon as they recognized Him it says that He disappeared from their view. Again, later, as the 10 Apostles, all minus Thomas, were gathered together all the doors and windows were closed and locked, and yet suddenly Jesus was standing there in the midst of them. Now, we had already learned this principle from Joseph Smith's visit with Moroni but this chapter is also a perfect example of this principle.
Aside from learning about resurrected beings in this chapter, this chapter is the only one of the Gospels to contain the stories of Jesus with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and Jesus eating the food to prove He was not a spirit. I personally prefer the account written by John of His resurrection, but Luke is the only one to add these two important parts of the story. Again, the common thought is that Luke is writing to the Gentiles, most specifically the Greeks who are known for their philosophy and great thinkers and so Luke includes things that would appeal to the "rational" mind. So it makes sense to me that Luke would include the part about Jesus eating food as part of the proof that He was not a spirit.
I can only imagine what it must have been like in those days, to have Jesus, the one you had assumed was the promised Messiah, killed before your very eyes, then to have Him return 3 days later. Jesus had told them several times, as had the prophets before Him, that this had to happen, but they had not understood what He meant and had apparently been too embarrassed or something to ask Him what He meant. But these lucky men and women were personal witnesses to the greatest event in mankind's history. It must have been amazing beyond description. Of course we will all see the Savior ourselves someday, hopefully we are living the kind of life that we will not be ashamed to talk about it with Him.
It is a testament to how much He loves us that Heavenly Father lets us live the kind of life we choose here on the earth. He does not interfere very often without us requesting us and He almost never interferes with our personal choices. Even in the case of Alma the Younger, the angel was sent by way of answer to prayer, not to entice Alma the Younger to repent. But whatever life we are choosing to live, we will have to account for it some day. And thanks to Jesus, we will all be resurrected someday too and receive a degree of glory based on who we have become. And we will be pleased with it I am sure because it will suite us and who we have become perfectly. This is the time to choose who you are and what you want to become, because when you have died, it is too late! Choose now and live your life the way you want to. Until tomorrow.
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