Post Resurrection Appearances
Jesus appeared 5 separate times on Resurrection Sunday. And then for the rest of the week – which was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, no one saw Him.
🤔 Where do you suppose He was?
☝️🤓 Maybe He was there but invisible!
Oh hi! Welcome back guys. Haven’t seen you for a while. Where have you been?
🤓 We were here. We were just invisible. Like Jesus.
😐 What the dork here means to say is that we thought we’d stay quiet during the Passion Week. That was some pretty heavy stuff.
Yes. It was. And now we’ve come to the end of the Gospels. And the final appearances of Jesus on earth before He ascends to heaven.
🤔 Is that where He was during the week when no one saw Him? Heaven?
I don’t know. Scripture is silent on that. I think John 20:17 suggests that He certainly could’ve gone back and forth between heaven and earth all He wanted to. But Jesus could’ve been hanging out on an island in the Caribbean just resting and enjoying fresh fruit and sunshine for all we know.
🏝️🍹🌴🌴🌴
So let’s bust out the…
Resurrected Jesus Encounter Tracker…
6️⃣ THOMAS SEES JESUS (THE 11)
Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them on Resurrection Sunday afternoon.
☝️🤓 Maybe he was hunting Easter Eggs.
🙄 Don’t be a dufus.
Then on the following Sunday – “the eighth day” is the also the first day of the week and all the commentaries and resources I checked agreed on this point – Jesus appears among His disciples again.
I don’t think it’s random that Jesus is establishing a pattern of meeting with His followers on Sundays.
😏 Thomas skipped church last week so He didn’t see Jesus when everyone else did.
Exactly. When believers gather in the name of the Lord, He is among us.
☝️🤓 But invisible!
Right. And if we aren’t gathering with other believers in the Lord’s name, then we could miss out being with Jesus too.
And here’s something important. They weren’t just gathering to sing, pray, hear a sermon and stare at the back of the heads in front of them. Look what they’re doing:
“Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.”
Mark 16:14 ESV
Mark is talking about this second Sunday visit from Jesus because all 11 were there. And they are sharing a MEAL.
This was a HUGE component of the gatherings of the early church. I will even go so far as to say this:
If they only did one thing when they gathered, it wasn’t listening to a sermon or singing songs or going to Sunday school classes. If the earliest Christians could only do one thing together, it was share a MEAL.
They are sitting around a table just like at Passover. They are very likely having unleavened bread and wine. Communion. Some scholars believe they were still staying in the same upper room, so they may have been sitting around the exact same table where Jesus had broken the bread 10 days earlier. And Jesus shows up at the table.
Think about that.
Jesus chose to reveal Himself in the context of the gathered disciples around a table.
And I don’t think He has changed.
7️⃣ JESUS ON A MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE
When the women saw the angel at the tomb, he said:
“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.””
Mark 16:7 ESV (Also Mt. 28:7)
So at some point probably fairly soon after the “2nd Sunday” when Jesus appeared to all of them with Thomas, the disciples go to Galilee. And there are 2 encounters with Jesus. We’re most familiar with the one on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus makes breakfast. But that was only with 7 disciples. There’s also THIS text:
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:16-20 ESV
I’ve seen film and theatrical adaptations that have these words (which we call “The Great Commission”) spoken by Jesus just before or even as He ascends into Heaven. There’s a big problem with that. Jesus didn’t ascend to Heaven from Galilee. So this is a separate encounter.
Keep in mind that the 3 spring feasts of Passover, First Fruits, Unleavened Bread are over. Everyone is returning home from Jerusalem. And most of the disciples are from Galilee. So was Jesus Himself.
8️⃣ JESUS AT THE SEA OF GALILEE
Seven of the disciples are fishing together in Galilee. And as the song I learned as a child says, “They fished all night but they caught no fishes.”
At dawn they head toward shore.
The text doesn’t say, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a Sunday morning.
There’s a man standing on shore asking if they have any fish.
“No.”
“He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”
John 21:6 ESV
When they pull in a net chock-full of fish, John is the one who realizes that the man on shore must be Jesus.
🤔 Did Jesus not look like Jesus?
🤓 Yeah, how come they didn’t recognize Him?
They were pretty far from shore and it was barely light. So in this instance, we might suppose it was only that. But it wasn’t. Even when they got to shore John records this odd inclination to ask the man who He was…
“Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.”
John 21:12 ESV
Why doesn’t it just say, “They got up close and could see clearly that it was Jesus”? Perhaps all this strangeness around recognizing Jesus is meant to make us think.
Do we sometimes fail to recognize Jesus?
🤔 What do you mean? Isn’t He in Heaven now? When do we ever see Jesus?
Oh. Jesus already explained that.
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Matthew 25:37-40 ESV
I find it interesting that so many people have difficulty recognizing Jesus or after His resurrection. I don’t know if He looked a little different or if was some kind of supernatural thing Jesus was doing to their perception to teach them something…
I love that Mary Magdalene instantly recognized Jesus the moment that He spoke her name.
John recognizes that the man on the shore is Jesus. And Jesus has a cozy fire going with skewers of fresh fish cooking over it and flat cakes of bread baking in the coals. The disciples were likely bone tired, cold, wet, and hungry. A meal around a fire was just the thing. (And here’s another instance of Jesus being present as they gather for a shared meal.)
They have been toiling to earn their bread all night and had not caught a thing until Jesus gave them instructions. And all the while, He had a meal prepared for them.
It’s the same meal – loaves and fish – that the disciples has seen Jesus use to feed a multitude on that same lake shore. Twice.
I think Jesus is teaching them to trust Him for provision; to remind them that even though He is risen and things are changing, He’s their same Master who takes care of hungry people.
THE RESTORATION OF PETER
After breakfast, Jesus and Peter go on a little walk. Jesus asks him“Do you love me more than these?” The “these” Jesus is referring to are probably the other disciples. So like, “Simon Peter, do you love me more than the rest of these guys do?”
Peter had been quite confident and vocal at the Last Supper about being more devoted to Jesus than all the rest.
“Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.””
Mark 14:29 ESV
Peter had found out that it wasn’t true. He did fall away. He wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. He did not yet have the dunamis power needed to be courageous in the face of persecution. And now, Jesus tests him to help him and everyone else see that he has learned his lesson. Gone is the swagger. In its place is humility and a recognition of his need for the mercy of God.
For each of the 3 denials, Jesus gives Peter an opportunity to testify of his devotion. Each time he does, Jesus tells him to feed His flock. And Peter will pass this commission on to the next generation:
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV
John is tagging along like the pesky little brother he probably was.
“Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.””
John 21:21-22 NLT
Don’t worry about the other people following Jesus. His plans for them are none of your business. If He wants to use them on a national platform or give them talents that make them famous, “what is that to you?” Your ministry and service for Christ do not have to look the same as others’.
“As for you, follow me.” – Jesus
9️⃣ THE CROWD OF OVER 500
We only know about this post-resurrection appearance of Jesus because of Paul.
In listing the proofs for the Gospel, Paul says that Jesus was seen by Peter and the 12…
“Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV
This is incredible! And it just reminds us that the Bible did not record everything Jesus did. John even exclaims that there aren’t enough books in the whole world to do that. These 500+ unnamed people were likely…
- The 11 Apostles and their families
- The family of Jesus
- The 70 Disciples and their families
- Additional disciples like Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, Lazarus’s Family, Matthias, Joseph (Justus) Bar-Sabbas
- Possibly others who believed like the man born blind, Zacchaeus, etc.
We don’t know where this appearance happened. My guess would be Galilee. But we do have an idea of when it happened. It would’ve been more than 1 week after the Resurrection but not more than about a month after that first week.
Luke gives us that info:
“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
Acts 1:3 ESV
Some might suppose that this huge group appearance would’ve been at the Ascension. But as far as we can tell from the text, the only person to encounter the bodily resurrected Jesus after the Ascension was Paul. And Paul records 2 more post-resurrection appearances of Jesus before Jesus appeared to him.
1️⃣0️⃣ & 1️⃣1️⃣
“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”
1 Corinthians 15:7 ESV
I don’t think the James mentioned here is the son of Zebedee. I think this is Jesus’ half-brother.
Just about 6 months prior, in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles, John records this about Jesus’ brothers:
“For not even his brothers believed in him.”
John 7:5 ESV
But in the book of Acts, (uh…spoiler alert), James the son of Zebedee gets killed pretty early on, (Acts 12:1-2). The James that writes the letter bearing his name and who is one of the main leaders in the church in Jerusalem is James the brother of Jesus.
In about 6 months, James goes from believing his older brother is a nut to believing his older brother is the Son of God. And this little verse in 1 Corinthians explains that transformation. His resurrected brother appeared to him.
This text is also a helpful reminder that “the 12” were not the only apostles. Not by a long shot. The 12 were special, but the 70 were also called “apostles.” This appearance to “all the apostles” may have been (and probably was) at the Ascension.
There is only one more post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. But, Number 12 won’t happen for about another 2-7 YEARS.
😲 2-7 YEARS?!
Don’t worry. We’ll be there next week.
We slowed WAY down for the ministry of Jesus, and especially the final week. We’re going to feel the change in tempo soon when we start sailing through years of events in the book of Acts.
But first, Jesus ascends to Heaven and the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost. Up next…
