The Tuesday within the Octave of the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord
Posted on April 7, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 24:36-47 (NKJV)
24:36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He took it and ate in their presence.
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Devotion
“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”
Our Lord appears to His disciples on the day of His resurrection. He puts them in mind of all that He had said to them previously, emphasizing that He is the fulfillment of all that is written in “the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms,” which is to say, all that is written about Him in the Old Testament, which was their whole Bible at the time.
Then comes the words of our devotion: “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” We learn two very important things from this: 1. The Old Testament is all about Christ. Whenever it does not seem that way, we are reading it wrong. 2. The ability to see Christ throughout the Old Testament is a spiritual aptitude. Christ had to open their minds (and ours) to comprehend the Scriptures. Plenty of people can read the Old Testament and not see Jesus being proclaimed. Be not like them. As you read the Old Testament, ask the right question: how is this text pointing me forward to the holy life, the innocent death, and the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is there, and Christ will open your understanding so that you can see it.
Collect: Almighty God, Who, through Thine Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life: We humbly beseech Thee, that, as Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by Thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
