‘And He rose again from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures.  . .’

Christ is risen from the dead! This is the main proclamation of the Christian faith and the heart of Christian belief. It forms the heart of the Church’s preaching, Core of our worship, and the hope of our spiritual life. “. . . if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15: 14). Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was alive on this earth for forty days after His Resurrection and before His Ascension to heaven. During that period, Jesus Christ must have appeared to several hundreds of people.  Here are thirteen of His appearances that are recorded for us in the Bible in chronological order. 

Prior to His post-resurrection appearances, none of Jesus’ disciples believed that He would rise from the dead until they had personally seen Him at His post-resurrection appearances (Mt 28: 16-17; Mk 16: 9-13; Lu 24: 1-11; Jn 20: 24-29). Through His appearance He strengthened the faith of all people, and through His appearance He proved to the world the fact that He is God Himself. This gave His followers eternal confirmation, and through His appearance He also opened a phase of His work in the new age.  Had the risen Christ not appeared to His disciples and others prior to His ascension to Heaven, His resurrection could never have been proved and Christianity would have ended with His death on the cross. The absolute centrality of the bodily resurrection of Christ as the foundation of Christian faith in Jesus.

1. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, first (Mk. 16:9-11; Jn. 20: 11-18). 

Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, first after His Resurrection. For she was one of the most grateful, to Jesus for what He had done for her. He delivered seven demons out of her; and from that time on she became, she became a faithful disciple of Jesus and stayed close to Him, ministering to Him (Lk. 8: 2), until His last days. She is named as standing at the foot of the cross (Mk. 15:40; Matt. 27:56; Jn. 19:25; Lk. 23:49). She saw Christ being crucified on the Cross, witnessed His burial in the tomb and she was the first to record the witness of His Resurrection, as she was the first to encounter Jesus after His resurrection. At the time of His greatest suffering, while He hung on the Cross and when even His apostles had abandoned Him, Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the Cross during those long, fateful hours at Calvary, together with the Mother of God and the Lord’s beloved disciple, John. They mourned and wept, but even in their weeping they comforted the Saviour with their undying love and the knowledge that He had not been utterly forsaken.

Early in the morning, third day after Jesus’ death, on the first day of the week, early Sunday morning while it was still dark, two other women and Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre (tomb), where He lay carrying the ointments. Hence, the Church calls her ‘Myrrh-bearer’. But they found that the tomb was empty, she broke down and wept. Other Mary and Salome ran to tell the disciples. When Peter and John heard the news, they ran to the tomb to see for themselves. Sure enough, the body of Jesus was not there! They were confused and wondered what happened to their Lord and they went home.

But Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb and was crying. Mary was weeping for the suffering of Jesus, for His death, for the loss of her Master, because she could not find His body. Mary was crying because she thought the body of the Master had been stolen. Mary, now alone and grief-stricken, did not leave the tomb with the others but stooped to see inside. She did not know the Lord had risen, the victory won, and that this would soon become a glorious event. Just then she glanced over her shoulder and saw someone she thought was a gardener.  “Why are you crying?” He asked her.  “Who are you looking for?” Mary said, “Do you know where Jesus is?  Have you taken Him away?” “Mary!” Jesus said. Mary then recognized Him, and cried out ‘Rabboni’ (My Teacher) and she ran and told the other disciples the good news that He was alive and ‘I have seen the Risen, Triumphant Lord‘

2.  Jesus appeared to the other two women who were with Mary Magdalene – Salome and other Mary (Matthew 28: 9-10). At first all three women were together, but apparently Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb of Christ.  As these two women were going to tell the disciples that the body of Jesus was missing, Jesus suddenly appeared to them and greeted them.  Unlike Mary Magdalene, they knew Him right away, probably by His usual greeting.  They ran to Him, held His feet, and worshiped Him!

3.  Jesus appeared to Peter (Luke 24: 34).  There are no details of this appearance, only that when the two on the road to Emmaus came back to Jerusalem the disciples gave them the news that Jesus appeared to Simon Peter. When they found the eleven, they were also celebrating saying, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon Peter!” “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon on the Sunday of His Resurrection.” So, Peter is the third on the list to see Jesus (1 Cor. 15: 4-8). The Lord had ‘turned and looked’ on Peter with a glance of tender and sorrowful reproof, in the courtyard of Caiaphas’ Palace early Good Friday morning, when Jesus had been arrested and was being questioned, and then the cock crowed the third time! (Luke 22: 61).

4.  Jesus appeared to two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-32).  Since Jesus Resurrection at sunrise, He appeared to two men traveling eastward to the village of Emmaus. We are not told how He appeared to them, He just suddenly appeared. The two, Cleopas and an unnamed person, were not startled, as Jesus joined into their conversation, but the men did not recognize Him. God kept it from them. They were talking about how sad and disappointed they were in Jesus’ death and how they thought for sure He was their Messiah.

Well, still being unrecognized, Jesus reminded them from the scriptures about how Jesus would have to suffer before entering His time of glory.  And He explained to them from Moses and the prophets about who Jesus was. When they sat down to eat, as soon as Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it, suddenly they recognized Him!  And at that moment He disappeared! Within the hour they returned to Jerusalem and were happily greeted with the repot that Jesus had risen and appeared to Peter.  But they had similar news to tell of their own!

5.  Jesus appeared to the apostles, except for Thomas (Luke 24: 36-43; John 20: 19-25).  When the two men from Emmaus arrived in Jerusalem where the apostles were staying, it was Sunday evening. They probably immediately began to tell their story. But just as they were getting into it, Jesus appeared and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  They were terrified and thought He was a ghost. But Jesus tried to convince them that He was not. He said to them, “Look at my hands and feet and side and touch me.” And He asked them to give Him something to eat, and He ate a piece of fish in front of them. (indicates to me that in our resurrected bodies we will be able to eat food and enjoy it.)

6. Jesus appeared to the apostles with Thomas (John 20: 26-29). Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them on Sunday evening, and when he heard that Jesus had appeared to them, he did not believe it. He told them that he would not believe it unless he saw the nail wounds in His hands and wound in His side. Well, eight days later, on a Monday, Jesus appeared to them again, this time with Thomas present.  Jesus again greeted them with, “Peace be with you.”  And He gave Thomas a great opportunity to believe. He said to him, “Put your fingers here on the wounds in my hands and touch the wound here in my side.” Then Thomas believed and said, “My Lord and my God!”

7.  Jesus appeared to seven of His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-25).  Sometime after Jesus appeared to His disciples in Jerusalem, a few days later Jesus appeared to seven of His disciples beside the Sea of Galilee—Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the two sons of Zebedee, and two others.  As it happened, they were fishing in a boat not far from shore, and they fished all night without a catch.  The next morning Jesus appeared on the shore.  They saw Him but they didn’t recognize that it was Him. 

He said to them, “Have you caught any fish?” They said no. Then Jesus said, “Throw your nets on the other side of the boat and you will catch plenty.” We know the rest of the story. They indeed caught fish—153 of them, big ones!  Peter was the first to recognize Jesus, and he was so excited to see Him that he jumped out of the boat and swam to shore to meet Him. There on the shore they all had fish for breakfast. And Jesus was the cook!   

8. Jesus appeared to the apostles on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16: 15-18).  This appearance was not unexpected like the others. It seemed a pre-arranged meeting, yet an important one.  I think it was the meeting that was spoken about by the angels and by Jesus on the very first day of His resurrection (Matt. 28: 10); He also told them about this meeting at the last supper (Matt. 26: 32).  We call the contents of this meeting the Great Commission. There on the mountain, overlooking miles of country, Jesus commissioned them to go out into all nations and make disciples.

9.  Jesus appeared to over 500 brethren (1 Cor. 15: 6). Paul tells us that Jesus was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, then by over 500 brethren at once.  Thus, it seems logical that this group would have seen Him sometime after the meeting on the mountain with the eleven (Paul refers to the apostles as the twelve, because at this time there were eleven).

10.  Jesus appeared to His brother James (1 Cor. 15: 7).  The place is not mentioned, but if James still lived in Nazareth perhaps it was there.

11.  Jesus appeared to the apostles, on the Day of His Ascension (Acts 1: 3-8; Luke 24: 44-49).  Acts 1: 3 tells us that during the forty days after His crucifixion Jesus appeared to the apostles from time to time to convince them in many ways that He was alive.  On this particular day, it was the very day of His ascension. And He opened their minds to understand the scriptures about Him.  He told them that after He left, He would send to them the Holy Spirit and that they should stay in Jerusalem and wait until He came to them and filled them.

12.  Jesus meets Eleven Disciples on His Ascension (Acts 1: 9-12; Mark 16: 19-20; Luke 24: 50-53).  After the meal He had with His apostles in Jerusalem, he led them to the place where He would ascend—which was in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. It was a Sabbath Days walk, from the city. He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. “He lifted His hands and blessed them. And while He did this He was taken up to heaven.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Ascension Day (Swargarohana Perrunnal – Suloqo) is joyful, not only because Christ is glorified, but also because we are glorified with Him. We are joyful because He goes to “prepare a place” for us and because He is forever present before the Father to intercede for us.

13.  Jesus appeared to Paul (Acts 9: 1–19; 18: 9-10; 22: 6–16; and 26: 12–23; 1 Cor. 5: 8). Jesus appeared to Paul three different times and these appearance to Paul may have been different in character from Christ’s pre-ascension appearances. he did not see the stone that had been rolled away nor did he did not hear the angelic announcement, “He is not here, for he has risen!” He did not peer into the empty tomb.  This encounter with Paul was no merely subjective vision, as both Jesus’ voice (Acts 9: 7) and the bright light (Acts 22:9) were perceived by Paul’s traveling companions.

1) On the road to Damascus he saw His presence as a very bright light that temporarily blinded Him, and he heard His voice. This event which changed Saul’s life entirely has great importance in history and theology.  This episode marks the death of ‘Saul the Pharisee’ and the birth of ‘Paul the Apostle’.
2) He saw Him in a vision.
3) The night before he was taken to Rome, Jesus stood by him and encouraged him.

However, the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to Paul transformed him from a sceptic to a passionate communicator of Christian truth. This episode marks the death of ‘Saul the Pharisee’ and the birth of ‘Paul the Apostle’. We can see the picture of the destroyer turning to be the builder, a persecutor of Christ turning to be persecuted for Christ.