“Have ye here any meat?”
The full verse · Luke 24:41 · KJV
while believed , , he unto , Have ?
Asked by
Jesus: the risen Lord, who had just shown the disciples His hands and His feet (Luke 24:40)
Asked to
Disciples: "the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them" (Luke 24:33), the eleven and a wider group of followers in Jerusalem. He had shown them "his hands and his feet," and they "yet believed not for joy, and wondered" (Luke 24:40-41).
The Scene
In Jerusalem, after Jesus has shown His hands and feet, the disciples still cannot quite believe it "for joy," and stand there wondering (Luke 24:40-41).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus asked for food not because He was hungry but to give one more proof that He was really there in a real body. Gill says He asked not from hunger but to give them further proof that He was not a spirit. The problem now was not fear but overwhelming joy. Barnes says their joy was so great and His appearing so sudden that they were bewildered, like people who say, "The news is too good to be true." Gill agrees: "the news was so good, and the favour and benefit so great, that they could scarcely believe their own senses." So Jesus did something ordinary that no spirit could do.
The Response
What Scripture records"They gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them" (Luke 24:42-43). He ate in plain sight, and then He taught them: "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you" (Luke 24:44). Later Peter pointed to meals like this, speaking of witnesses "who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead" (Acts 10:41).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsIn 1611 English, "meat" meant food of any kind, not only flesh. Barnes notes the word means anything to eat. The Greek is brosimon, "eatable," which Thayer's lexicon lists only here in the New Testament.
The phrase "believed not for joy" is literally "disbelieving from the joy": joy itself was holding them back. Barnes suggests that the fish and honeycomb were probably just their own common food, already at hand. The KJV includes "and of an honeycomb" (Luke 24:42); the ESV mentions only the fish.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows how patient Jesus is with slow faith. He had already shown His wounds. When joy still left them stunned, He did not rebuke their joy. He asked for supper. The risen Lord made His resurrection plain through the most ordinary act there is: eating.
Matthew Henry observes that their unbelief came from joy and wonder, not from any contempt of the evidence, and that their slowness to believe makes their witness more credible, since they were not people eager to imagine a resurrection. Gill notes that this eating became part of the apostles' testimony, citing Peter's words in Acts 10:41, and he calls the hands and feet Jesus had just shown them the proofs by which He "shewed himself alive" (Acts 1:3).
Look Closer
Why were the disciples still not believing when Jesus asked for food?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord Jesus, when Your goodness seems too good to be true, how are You showing me that You are real and near?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The disciples struggled to believe because of joy, not sorrow. What makes good news from God hard for you to receive?
- Jesus used an ordinary meal to strengthen faith. Share an everyday moment when God's reality became clearer to you.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is that God's good news is really true for you. Jesus was patient with disciples who could not take it in, and He met them with something as simple as a meal.
Your faith rests on a real event. The risen Jesus was seen, invited them to handle Him, and ate before them (Luke 24:39-43). When your faith feels thin, go back to that witness.
This does not mean you must have a sign before you believe. These disciples were the chosen eyewitnesses (Acts 10:41). You receive their testimony through the Scriptures they left, the same Scriptures Jesus opened to them that night (Luke 24:44-45).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources