Luke 24:37

37 Startled, and in the utmost alarm, they thought they were looking at a spirit;

Luke 24:37 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 24:37

But they were terrified and affrighted
At the sight of him, and at his sudden appearance among them, without being heard, or seen before, and the doors shut and bolted; they could not tell how to account for it, that it should be Jesus himself risen from the dead in his own body, though they had been just speaking of his resurrection, and had had a confirmation of it from the disciples that went to Emmaus: and supposed that they had seen a spirit;
that what they saw was a phantom, or apparition, or a spirit, that had assumed, and appeared in, the shape of Jesus, and was not he himself.

Luke 24:37 In-Context

35 Then they related what had happened on the way, and how He had been recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

36 While they were thus talking, He Himself stood in their midst and said, "Peace be to you!"

37 Startled, and in the utmost alarm, they thought they were looking at a spirit;

38 but He said to them, "Why such alarm? And why are there such questionings in your minds?

39 See my hands and my feet--it is my very self. Feel me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have."