Touch and See: Witnesses to the Risen Christ

Apr 19, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Scars and Broiled Fish

The disciples huddled in a locked room, hearts racing. Jesus stood among them—alive, yet bearing nail marks. “Touch me,” He said, showing His hands and feet. He ate broiled fish to prove He wasn’t a ghost. Their fear turned to awe as they grasped His physical resurrection. [28:17]

Jesus’ scars weren’t erased by resurrection. They testified to His sacrifice and victory over death. His hunger for fish revealed His humanity wasn’t discarded but glorified. This tangible Savior understands our struggles because He lived in skin and bones.

Many of us treat faith as a vague idea, not a reality that changes how we live. Jesus invites you to engage Him with your senses—through serving the hungry, comforting the hurting, or creating beauty. Where have you reduced Jesus to a concept instead of embracing Him as your living Lord?

“He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’”
(Luke 24:38-39, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to make His presence as real to you today as broiled fish was to the disciples.

Challenge: Eat a meal today mindfully, thanking Jesus for His physical resurrection.

Day 2: Stones Would Shout

Mountains burst into song. Trees clap their hands. Isaiah declared creation itself witnesses God’s glory. Jesus said if His followers stayed silent, stones would cry out. Every rock and hill echoes His praise—creation can’t stay still before its Maker. [14:57]

God designed the world to reflect His power and beauty. When humans ignore Him, creation still points to His majesty. Jesus’ resurrection renews all things—trees, hills, and even stones join the chorus of worship.

You walk past miracles daily: sunlight, breath, a friend’s laugh. What if you saw these as creation’s testimony? How would your gratitude change if you noticed stones straining to shout God’s praise? What ordinary part of creation will you thank God for today?

“Hear what the Lord says: […] Let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.”
(Micah 6:1-2, NIV)

Prayer: Thank God for three specific parts of His creation that declare His glory.

Challenge: Take a 10-minute walk outside today. Name each created thing you see as a “witness” to God.

Day 3: Grab Hold and See

Jesus didn’t whisper, “Maybe I’m real.” He commanded, “Grab hold of me!” The Greek word means to handle roughly—like checking a wound’s depth. Doubting disciples touched scar tissue and sinew. Their faith grew fingers. [37:50]

Resurrection isn’t a metaphor. Jesus’ body was as solid as the fish He ate. He invites us to stop spiritualizing faith and instead ground it in acts of love—feeding mouths, holding hands, rebuilding broken neighborhoods.

You’ll doubt less when your faith gets calluses. Volunteer at a food bank. Forgive that relative. Donate shoes. What tangible action could anchor your belief this week? What “ghost” of abstract faith do you need to replace with hands-on obedience?

“While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in front of them.”
(Luke 24:41-43, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one area where your faith feels disconnected from real life. Ask Jesus to make it tangible.

Challenge: Do one physical act of kindness today (e.g., cook a meal, write a card, fix something broken).

Day 4: Witnesses With Skin On

Jesus told the disciples, “You’re witnesses.” Not “you’ll be” after theology training—right now, with your terror and fish breath. Their flawed humanity became God’s microphone. Scars, hunger, and confusion didn’t disqualify them—they proved God uses real people. [42:50]

Witnesses don’t need perfect answers—just truthful accounts of what they’ve seen. Your struggles make your testimony credible. Like Jesus’ scars, your healed wounds show others resurrection is possible.

Who needs to hear your story of doubt-turned-joy or failure-redeemed? Your neighbor? Coworker? Your own children? What insecurity makes you think God can’t use your ordinary life as evidence of His extraordinary love?

“You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
(Luke 24:48-49, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one person who needs to hear your story of encountering Him.

Challenge: Text or call someone today and share a sentence about how Jesus helped you this week.

Day 5: Hands That Bear the Marks

The risen Jesus still carried scars. His wounds didn’t vanish but became proof of love’s cost. When He said, “Peace be with you,” it wasn’t a greeting—it was a mission. Their peace came from participating in His scarred, world-healing work. [44:14]

God’s kingdom isn’t built by avoiding pain but by entering it. Jesus’ scars commission us to touch others’ wounds. Every meal shared, injustice confronted, or lonely person visited continues His embodied gospel.

Your hands are Christ’s hands now. Will you bandage a wound? Sign a petition? Wipe a tear? What broken place have you avoided that Jesus wants to touch through you? Where is He asking you to trade comfort for healing?

“He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’”
(Luke 24:40-41, NIV)

Prayer: Pray for courage to enter one situation where people are hurting. Ask Jesus to work through your hands.

Challenge: Visit or call someone who’s isolated. Listen for 15 minutes without offering advice.

Sermon Summary

The resurrection narrative centers on a tangible, embodied encounter that transforms fear into commission. Locked-room confusion gives way to a concrete demonstration: the risen one stands among the frightened followers, invites them to touch wounds, and eats a piece of broiled fish to prove bodily life. This scene rejects spiritualized abstractions of faith and insists that the gospel roots itself in ordinary, physical reality—hands, feet, hunger, and presence. By commanding the community to “grab hold” and “see,” the text moves from private wonder to public vocation: those who have touched and seen become authorized witnesses, entrusted to proclaim repentance, forgiveness, and God’s reign beginning in Jerusalem and extending to all nations.

The passage frames witnessing as a performative ordination. Peace greets the assembly, then reality-centered proof follows, and finally a commissioning issues that names followers as witnesses—literally martyrs in the Greek sense—tasked to embody peace, justice, and mercy. The resurrection does not remove scars; it keeps them as marks that demand ethical response. The risen body models a way of being among others: vulnerable, hospitable, and active in the world’s repair. When the community accepts the invitation to touch and see, it discovers a mission that refuses to privatize hope or postpone justice. Instead the community must demonstrate the living Lord through concrete acts of care—feeding the hungry, loosening attachments to wealth, and offering generous presence—so that unbelievers might encounter living proof in the lives of those sent.

Ultimately, the narrative insists that faith anchored in real experience produces public consequences. Witnessing becomes both testimony and practice: a visible, bodily participation in the kingdom now, as well as an announcement of what God is doing across creation.

Key Takeaways

1. Touch and see the risen Christ The invitation to touch and see confronts doubt with embodied proof. Physical contact with the risen one functions as a theological anchor: it rejects purely abstract belief and requires encounter with presence. That encounter reorients memory of failure into commission for compassionate action. [28:17]
2. Resurrection is embodied, not ghostly The risen life retains marks and appetites, showing that new life does not erase past suffering but transforms it. Scars become signposts that call followers toward solidarity with the wounded and marginalized. Embodied resurrection grounds ethical urgency: care for bodies matters to the life proclaimed. [36:13]
3. Witnesses are ordained and sent Peace greets the fearful, then a declarative commissioning names the community as witnesses—performative language that creates identity and duty. Witnessing here means being publicly present, vulnerable, and prepared to testify through acts, not merely words. The ordination links personal encounter to communal mission. [42:27]
4. Mission rooted in tangible reality The insistence on watching the fish eaten reframes mission as attention to concrete needs, not only future hope. Grounded faith resists spiritualizing injustice and compels advocacy, mercy, and sustenance for neighbors now. Authentic witness transforms public life where people live and hunger. [40:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[14:41] - Call to Worship and Invocation
[19:40] - Morning Has Broken (Hymn)
[27:55] - Scripture Readings (Luke 24:36b-48)
[28:17] - "Touch me and see" (Resurrection Proof)
[29:50] - Questions for Reflection
[31:28] - Defining "Witness"
[36:13] - Embodied Resurrection: Hands and Feet
[39:01] - Eating the Fish: Tangible Proof
[42:27] - Commission: "You are my witnesses"
[50:27] - Call to Compassion and Offering
[61:25] - Benediction and Sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 24:36b-48 (ESV)
[Jesus] stood among them and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Observation questions

What physical actions did Jesus perform to prove he was not a ghost? (Luke 24:39-43)
How did the disciples react emotionally when Jesus first appeared, and how did their emotions shift after he spoke and ate? (Luke 24:37-43)
What specific task did Jesus give his followers after proving his resurrection? (Luke 24:47-48)
In the sermon, why was Jesus’ act of eating fish emphasized as critical to understanding resurrection? [39:01]

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Jesus chose to eat fish in front of the disciples instead of just showing his scars? What does this say about how God values physical reality?
Jesus says, “You are witnesses of these things.” In the sermon, witnesses are called to “embody peace, justice, and mercy.” How does physical resurrection connect to ethical action in the world? [42:27]
The sermon mentions that Jesus’ scars are “marks that demand ethical response.” How might Jesus’ wounded body inspire solidarity with people who are suffering today? [36:13]
How does the command to “touch and see” challenge a faith that avoids engaging with real-world problems like hunger or injustice? [40:26]

Application questions

Jesus showed his scars as proof of resurrection. What “scars” (painful experiences or struggles) in your life could become opportunities to connect with others who are hurting? How might you use your story to offer hope?
The risen Christ ate fish to demonstrate his bodily presence. What ordinary, tangible act of care (feeding someone, listening, helping with a need) could you do this week to show God’s love in a practical way?
The sermon says witnessing means “being publicly present, vulnerable, and prepared to testify through acts.” Where in your community do you feel called to be visibly present—not just with words, but with action?
How can your church better address concrete needs (like hunger or injustice) in your neighborhood as a way of embodying resurrection hope? What’s one step your small group could take together? [40:26]
Jesus’ resurrection didn’t erase his scars but transformed them. Is there a past failure or disappointment in your life that God might be inviting you to reorient toward compassionate action? How?
The disciples were commissioned to proclaim repentance and forgiveness. Who in your life needs to hear a message of forgiveness or reconciliation? How could you gently initiate that conversation?

Sermon Clips

44s

#FaithInActionNow

“Well, if we don't start here, if we don't watch that piece of fish being eaten, if we don't grab hold, we won't see. And if we don't see, then we're likely to turn our message into one of only the hereafter, only the sweet by and by and not the here and now. We might even be liable to think that all the resurrected one cares about is getting souls into some spiritualized, idealized heaven somewhere else instead of feeding those who are hungry for breakfast right here in our own neighborhoods.”

30s

#JesusIsReal

“The word made flesh still seeks sustenance among us. So then he asks for something to eat. Like a ventriloquist drinking a glass of water or a magician pulling up his sleeves to show nothing hidden there. This is real, folks. Watch me eat this piece of fish. I'm no ghost. No figment of your imagination or delusion brought on by lack of sleep and constant terror. I'm as real as you.”

41s

#EmbodiedResurrection

“Jesus is not a ghost or a zombie. He's a real person. The resurrected Christ has a body. And even if contemporary believers cannot embrace Jesus as his disciples did, we bear witness to more than a spiritualized demythologized Christ when we preach about Jesus' resurrection. Even as the resurrected Christ, Jesus continued to bear the marks of his suffering for us. Even resurrected, Jesus' body bears witness to a way of being for others. He embodies love.”

38s

#ResurrectionMeansAction

“When Jesus appears to his followers, they think they're seeing a ghost. They're terrified. They're filled with fear. Now this is completely understandable. Dead stuff is supposed to stay dead. And yet, here Jesus is resurrected. In another sense, Jesus' resurrection means that what he said was true. And if he was not bluffing about his resurrection, we have to assume that Jesus really meant what he said about how his followers are to treat others, especially the marginalized.”

39s

#HospitalityInAction

“Grab hold and see as if your life depended on it, as if your hopes would be found in it. Grab hold of the reality of Christ and see not just him, but you too. See your path, your future, your mission, and your reason for being. Then Jesus gives us the opportunity to display hospitality. Very important hospitality. Just as the dying Jesus was thirsty, the risen Christ is hungry.”

38s

#LifeBeyondDeath

“I am here with you, and I am who I said I am, and you are witnesses. Now that's where our text ends this week with this declaration, with the reality of the resurrected Jesus and the promise that life, the life we know, the life we experience is stronger than death. It doesn't avoid death because he didn't avoid death, but it goes beyond death. The implications are as staggering as his appearance was to those cowering followers moments ago.”

40s

#HauntingPresence

“Well, they picked themselves up off the floor, and they wondered if they'd ever know peace again. They were haunted by him, by the idea of him, by the blood of him. They were terrified of their shame, of how they had abandoned him, of how they wouldn't believe in what he had told them before, and how they wouldn't believe in what the woman said they saw. Given those things, perhaps Jesus' presence ought to haunt every fellowship worthy of his name.”

42s

#CalledToWitness

“The culmination of Jesus' words to the disciples, you are my witnesses, is what I call performative language. That is language in which the words do something. This scene is a kind of Lukan ordination. He first names and appoints the disciples as witnesses. Literally, in Greek, that word meant martyrs. Because of its shortness, this sentence, this you are my witnesses, receives strong emphasis, and it's directly addressed to us, to present day listeners. You.”

43s

#CarryGodsPeace

“This ordination ceremony began with the greeting, blessing, and commissioning of peace be with you. We are witnesses to and witnesses of God's peace in the world. The peace and the blessings of God and Jesus Christ transcend racial, ethnic, economic, social, gendered, and heteronormative prejudices. It is good news for everyone without exception. We are called to be carriers of that peace, transmitting it and transforming spaces by it.”

30s

#TouchTheReal

“He decides to ground them in some fleshy reality. He says, look. I've got hands. I've got feet. Touch me. I'm real, he says. I've got flesh and bones. I'm real, like the Velveteen rabbit. No. He didn't really say that, but that's fun to think about. Anyway, he's talking about being flesh and blood like them. This resurrected Christ was no disembodied spirit nor was Jesus merely a resuscitated corpse.”

46s

#KingdomHereNow

“Reliable to think that injustice here doesn't matter because it will all be sorted out one day. Instead of advocating for the oppressed and working for justice in our own communities. That command, take hold of me and see, is about wanting to live in the world that he lived in and bring hope to our reality every day. It is about living in the realm, the kingdom of God right here and right now. We are witnesses compelled to touch and see the world and participate in its transformation into the kingdom of God.”

33s

#GrabHoldOfChrist

“Now, actually, if you dig a little deeper, he doesn't just say, touch me and see. In that language, he says, grab hold of me. Handle me. Even grope around. John says that Jesus says, don't hang on to me when he meets Mary in the garden. But in Luke, Jesus says to the disciples in this room, they're reeling from shock, disciples, grab hold of me. Ground yourselves in me.”

36s

#FacingDoubt

“Why do doubts arise in your hearts? What kind of question was that? Surely, he knew why doubts were rising in their hearts. Surely, he had an inkling of just how incredible this event was. Sure. He had gotten used to the idea. After all, he did have inside information. But they never let themselves actually hope. So they were gasping for air and clutching their chests while he stood there asking them, are you okay?”

36s

#EveryoneGrabHold

“And the verb, the one that is translated as as touch, is a second person plural. So it's all of you. All y'all, grab hold and hang on. Oh, that's right. I'm not in the South anymore. Hey, everybody. Grab hold of me. And behold. The see verb, it is an imperative. That means a command, and it is also second person plural. He's commanding all of them to do this.”

32s

#FaithGroundedInReality

“And here's the point of this text. It is real. It is grounded in the reality in which we live, touch, see. The gospel, the life of faith, has to be grounded in reality. That's why he dwelled on this moment. That's why we can take a breath at this point be before we launch into a life of going to the ends of the earth to tell the story. This is where we start. Why?”

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Touch and See: Witnesses to the Risen Christ

Devotional

Day 1: Scars and Broiled Fish

Day 2: Stones Would Shout

Day 3: Grab Hold and See

Day 4: Witnesses With Skin On

Day 5: Hands That Bear the Marks

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Touch and See: Witnesses to the Risen Christ

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