Post-Resurrection Appearances

The event

In the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension, Jesus appears to his followers repeatedly and in strikingly ordinary settings, underscoring that this was bodily, tangible reality and not a vision or a ghost. On the road to Emmaus, a village outside Jerusalem, two downcast disciples walk alongside the risen Jesus without recognizing him until he breaks bread with them at the table, at which point "their eyes were opened."

Back in Jerusalem, Jesus appears to the gathered disciples behind locked doors, shows them his hands and side, and eats a piece of broiled fish in their presence to prove he is no mere spirit. A week later Thomas, absent the first time and openly skeptical, is invited to touch the wounds himself and responds with one of the highest confessions in the Gospels: "My Lord and my God!"

By the Sea of Galilee, Jesus provides another miraculous catch of fish and shares breakfast with several disciples, then turns to Peter — who had denied him three times — and restores him with a threefold question, "Do you love me?", answered each time with a fresh commission: "Feed my sheep." These appearances, John notes, are only a selection of many, "which are not written in this book," offered as sufficient, sturdy evidence "that you may believe."

Dating

Spans the forty days between resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:3), c. AD 30.

Scripture references

• Luke 24:13-49
• John 20:19-21:23
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8