On this third week of Easter, the gospel lesson narrates the third appearance of the resurrected Jesus. Having first appeared to the women at the tomb and then to two Emmaus road travelers, Jesus now at last appears to all his gathered disciples. It is in this final appearance that the central theme that has run throughout Luke's gospel is once again made explicit. This risen Christ, the Messiah, is the fulfillment of God's plan and promise.

The first verse claims a unique pedigree shared by only a small number of other texts in Luke's works. Luke 24:36, along with Luke 24:40, are among nine verses that until fairly recently had been thought to be "short versions" in their most original Greek form. First elaborated in 1881 by B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort in their two-volume work The New T…