Lk. 24:31. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.
When He wills it, then their eyes are opened, and they recognize Him. This also signifies something else, namely: that those who partake of the blessed bread have their eyes opened to behold Him. For the flesh of the Lord possesses great and ineffable power.
Lk. 24:31. But He became invisible to them.
He becomes invisible to them, because He no longer had such a body as to remain with them bodily for a long time, and also in order that by such an action He might strengthen their love even more.
Lk. 24:32. And they said to one another: Did not our heart burn within us while He spoke to us on the road and while He explained the Scriptures to us?
Lk. 24:33. And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven Apostles gathered together, and those who were with them,
Lk. 24:34. Who said: the Lord truly rose and appeared to Simon.
Lk. 24:35. And they told of what had happened on the way, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of bread.
They were so overjoyed that "in the same hour, they rose and returned to Jerusalem," though they did not return in the same hour, for they rose in that very hour, but returned after as much time as they needed to cover the distance of sixty stadia. During these hours, of course, the Lord also appeared to Simon, while these two men were making their way back to Jerusalem.
Their "heart" was "burning" either from the fire of the Lord's words, when through the Lord's explanation they were inwardly inflamed and agreed with His words as true, or, when He explained the Scriptures to them, their heart was beating and inwardly saying: This very One Who is explaining to us is the Lord.
Lk. 24:36. While they were speaking about these things, Jesus Himself stood in their midst and said to them: Peace to you.
Lk. 24:37. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they were seeing a spirit.
The Lord, arranging all things for our salvation, stands in the midst of the disciples, with the intention of assuring them of the resurrection. And first, by the customary greeting of peace He calms their agitation, and then He shows that He Himself is their Teacher, who loves this greeting and who armed them with this greeting when He sent them out to preach (Matt. 10:12; Luke 10:5). But since this word did not quiet the agitation of their souls, He shows them in another way that He is the Son of God, who knows the hearts.
Lk. 24:38. But He said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do such thoughts enter into your hearts?
And it is acknowledged by all that to know hearts belongs to God alone (Ps. 139). He adds yet another proof as well – the touching of the hands and feet.
Lk. 24:39. 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.
Lk. 24:40. And having said this, He showed them His hands and feet.
"You," He says, "consider Me a spirit or an apparition, such as commonly appear from the dead, especially at tombs. But know that a spirit has neither flesh nor bones, whereas I have both flesh and bones, albeit most divine and spiritual. For the Lord's body, though it was not a spirit, was 'spiritual,' that is, free from all material coarseness and governed by the spirit. The body that we now have is 'natural,' that is, it is governed by the soul and animated by natural and psychic properties and powers. But the body as it will be after the resurrection, Paul calls spiritual (1 Cor. 15:44), that is, it is animated and governed by the Spirit of God, not by the soul, having been ineffably and spiritually re-created for incorruption and preserved in it. This is how one must think of the Lord's body after the resurrection: namely, as spiritual, subtle, free from all coarseness, needing neither food nor anything else, although the Lord did eat for the sake of assurance. For if He ate, He ate not according to the nature of His body, but by a special dispensation, namely, to show that the very same body that had suffered had risen. But it was in the nature of this body to pass through closed doors and to move effortlessly from place to place."
Lk. 24:41. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Lk. 24:42. They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.
Lk. 24:43. Taking it, He ate before them.
Lk. 24:44. And 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 about Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms.
When the disciples still did not believe and were not convinced even by touch, the Lord added yet another proof — the partaking of food, consuming what was eaten by a certain divine power. For everything that is naturally eaten by the mouth passes out through the bowels, but He, as we have said, partakes not according to the law of nature, but by a special dispensation.
The foods He consumed seem to have a certain hidden meaning as well. By eating "a piece of broiled fish," the Lord indicates that by the fire of His Divinity He broiled our nature, which was swimming in the salt sea of this life, dried up all the moisture clinging to it from the deep waters, and especially from the waves, and thus made it divine food, rendering what was formerly unclean into a morsel pleasing to God. This is signified by the honeycomb, that is, the present sweetness of our nature, which was formerly rejected. Or, I also think that "broiled fish" signifies the active life, which by means of the coals of the desert and of silence destroys in us the excess of moisture and fatness, while "honeycomb" signifies knowledge or contemplation, since the words of God are sweet (Ps. 19:10). However, there is the honey of drones — pagan wisdom, and there is the honey of bees — divine wisdom, and the bee is Christ. Although it is small in size, for the word is brief and weak in power, since Paul preaches not with wisdom of words, lest the cross be made void (1 Cor. 1:17), nevertheless it is beloved by kings and common people alike, who use its labors for the health of their souls.
Lk. 24:45. Then He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures.