Jesus’ Resurrection Certified by Appearances
1. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-17)
a. He is the same Lord Jesus after His resurrection, that she served before His crucifixion. “He is near to all who have a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18). She grieves over the Lord Jesus’ death.
b. He is the same Lord Jesus: He spoke her name the same as He had previously. After He opened her eyes, she recognized him as the same person she had known before. Her opinion: He is the same Person but is the resurrected Lord.
c. The same Person doing exactly what He foretold (John 14:21-23,)[1] coming to Mary and revealing Himself to her.
d. The same Person being known now after the resurrection and not after the flesh (John 20:17[2]; 2 Corinthians 5:16)[3]It is exactly what Christians should expect after He rose from the dead. He is the same Lord in a spiritual body.
2. Jesus appeared to the women as they returned to the tomb (Matthew 28:9-10[4]).
a. The same Person saying the same “fear not” as He had previously.
b. The same Person – with resurrected but graspable feet. Though He forbade Mary Magdalene to touch Him,[5] these women could do so. Multiple people recognizing Him while He still treats them as individuals.
c. Opinion of the two Mary’s, Joanna, Salome, Susanna, and other women: He is the same person as before but He resurrected from the dead.
d. The same Lord Jesus – still treating the humble ones first.
3. Jesus appeared to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34[6]; 1 Corinthians 15:5).
a. The same Person – Simon is still the chief among Jesus’ equal Apostles. Peter is the first of the men to see Jesus resurrected.
b. The same Person – Instead of judgment for his sin, Peter received comfort, forgiveness and restoring grace. In Peter’s opinion Jesus has resurrected and is the same Lord.
4. Jesus appeared to two disciples on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:13-35; Mark 16:12, 13).
a. The same Person – appearing to these men in a different form (They grieve like the despondent Mary Magdalene.) Jesus is near to those who have a broken heart, like He was before the resurrection.
b. The same Messiah – Like the walking on the water before His resurrection, He concealed His identity from them until the right time. There was a pattern.
c. The same Person – He is now with them in a different sense, as He had prophesied (John 14:21-23).
d. The same Jesus – The same dealing with common people.
e. The same Person – Taking Cleopas and his friend through the entire Old Testament, showing them all the written things about Him.
f. The same Lord – He taught and vanished, as He did throughout the Old Testament as the Angel of Yahweh.[7]
g. In Cleopas’ and friend’s opinion: Jesus is the same Lord but now resurrected (Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-43). They were despondent and disappointed, but the Lord proved His resurrection to them.[8]
5. Jesus appeared to ten disciples (except Thomas) (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-23).
a. The same Person – He showed them the wounds that He received at His crucifixion. (John 20:20[9]).
b. The same Person – His disciples saw His same face, hands, and side. They heard the same voice and words.
c. The same Person – who predicted that they would rejoice when they see Him again (John 16:22[10]; 20:20)
d. The same Person – same teaching
e. The testimony of Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Lebbaeus Thaddaeus, and Simon (the Canaanite): Jesus is The same Person but resurrected.
6. Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples (including Thomas) about a week later (John 20:24-29).
a. The same Person – There are a variety of witnesses to His resurrection. Thomas denies the resurrection for about a week. He is trying not to believe.
b. The same Lord Jesus – Thomas was self-willed and wants Jesus to prove it to him in Thomas’ way. Jesus let him doubt for a week. Jesus was always this way prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. He was reluctant to give signs[11] to those who lacked faith.[12]
c. The same Person – Since Thomas’ sin was not rebellious but was a sin of weakness, Jesus blessed him with proof.
d. The same Messiah – The eleven disciples agreed that Jesus was The same Lord as before, but resurrected.
7. Jesus appeared to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-23) (Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others).
a. The same Person – Similar fishing scene as prior to resurrection (Luke 5:4-6[13]), but identical Lord.
b. The same Lord Jesus Christ – Now 7 disciples again agree that He is the same Lord.
c. The same Person – He reinstates Simon Peter.
d. The same Son of God – No one even dared ask Him who He was. It was so clearly true that He was the same Lord.
8. Jesus appeared to 500 brethren in Galilee (1 Corinthians 15:6).
a. The same Person – None of these people said He was not the same one.
b. The same Master – Gathering His sheep.
9. Jesus appeared to James, his half-brother according to the flesh.
a. The same Lord – He did not treat His natural family as special. (See Matthew 12:46-50.[14]) James, His half-brother did not see Jesus resurrected until His 9th appearance.
b. The same Person – Half-brothers are difficult to convince. James was an unbeliever (John 7:3-5[15]), and believed Jesus had “lost His senses” (Mark 3:21[16])
c. The same Immanuel – Jesus’ resurrection overcame the bias of an unbelieving half-brother.[17] James knew that Jesus was the resurrected Messiah. James, Jesus’ half-brother spent the rest of his life testifying to that fact. This same James became a major leader in the Jerusalem Church. He presided at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. He wrote the Epistle of James. By his life he shows that he believed in the resurrection of his infinitely greater Half-Brother.
10. Jesus appeared to eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee and gave them the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 15:15-18).
a. The same Person – who predicted His death, resurrection, and meeting with the disciples in Galilee (Matthew 26:31-32[18])
b. The Same Lord Jesus – who obeyed His Father perfectly[19] and received the reward of obedience.[20]
c. The same Person – He turned the world upside down through them. They would not have testified if they had not believed that He was The same Lord and that He had resurrected from the dead.
d. The same Lord Jesus Christ – who assured the disciples of His functional presence, and who energized them after His resurrection. Their miraculous lives prove His resurrection power. (The greatest proof of what one believes is that to which he totally dedicates himself.)
11. Jesus showed Himself alive to His Apostles for 40 consecutive days after His resurrection. (Acts 1:3[21])
a. The same Person – The apostles believed that He, spending 40 days with them, was The same Person as He was before His crucifixion and resurrection.
b. The same King of the Jews – He ascended back into Heaven as the Apostles watched.[22] He had the same powers as before.
c. The same Lord Jesus was with them for 40 days, and that, after appearance #5, 6, 7, and 10 being specifically to them.
d. John the Apostle said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. 2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.
“3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write these things so that our joy may be complete.”
12. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as evidence that He is the exalted Lord who sent the Spirit (Acts 2:31-36). And all genuine Christians since then, have received of His power. As the song says, “You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart.” And out of these appearances come the following:
a. The change of the day of worship from the last day of the week to the first day.
b. The writing of the most powerful document in human history, the New Testament.
c. The existence of the Christian Church, as including both Jews and Gentiles on an equal footing.
d. The testimonies of the godly lives of both the eyewitnesses and of all their converts.
e. The expansion of Christianity to much of the known world within the first 40 years after His resurrection (Colossians 1:6).[23]
f. Clarification of many otherwise obscure matters in the Old Testament.
g. The high ethics which the Apostles believed and taught throughout their lives. Men and women like these would not lie about their Savior’s resurrection.
NOTES
[1] John 14:21-23 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" 23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
[2] John 20:17 “Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.”
[3] 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
[4] Matthew 28:9-10 “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
[5] Jesus was weaning Mary Magdalene away from knowing Him after the flesh. She was learning to know Him as glorified. But these ladies did not need that weaning.
[6] Luke 24:34 “saying, "The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”
[7] Judges 6:11-21
[8] Luke 24:37-43 says, “But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39"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." 40And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41While they still could not believe [it] because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43and He took it and ate [it] before them.
[9] John 20:20 “And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”
[10] John 16:22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one [will] take your joy away from you.”
[11] Matthew 16:9 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.”
[12] Luke 7:32 “They are like children who sit in the market-place and call to one another, and they say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep”
[13] Luke 5:4-6 “When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say [and] let down the nets." 6When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets [began] to break;”
[14] Matthew 12:46-50 “While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You." 48But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" 49And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers! 50"For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
[15] John 7:3-5 “Therefore His brothers said to Him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4"For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be [known] publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." 5For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”
[16] Mark 3:21 “When His own people heard [of] [this], they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses”
[17] Matthew 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”
[18] Matthew 26:31, 32 “Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.' 32"But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
[19] John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him”
[20] Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
[21] Acts 1:3 “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over [a period of] forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Note: the word “convincing” is the Greek word tekmerion in the original language. It means “unmistakable”
[22] Acts 1:9-11 “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
[23] Colossians 1:6 says, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.”
