Resurrection Appearances of Jesus

The major Resurrection appearances of Jesus in the canonical gospels (and to a lesser extent other books of the New Testament) are reported to have occurred after his death, burial and resurrection, but prior to his ascension. Among these primary sources, most scholars believe First Corinthians was written first, authored by Apostle Paul along with Sosthenes c. AD 55. Finally, the apocryphal Gospel of the Hebrews recounts the resurrection appearance to James the brother of Jesus.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and another Mary at his empty tomb. Later, eleven of the disciples (minus Judas Iscariot) go to a mountain in Galilee to meet Jesus, who appears to them and commissions them to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to make disciples of all people, referred to as the Great Commission.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus appears to the disciples and eats with them, demonstrating that he is flesh and bones, not a ghost. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the start of their mission to the world, and then he ascends into the heavens. In Acts, written by the same author as Luke, Jesus appears to his disciples after his death and stays with them for 40 days before ascending to heaven. Acts also describes Jesus' appearance to Paul, in which a voice speaks to Paul and a light blinds him while he's on the road to Damascus. In the Gospel of John, Mary alone finds Jesus at the empty tomb, and he tells her not to touch him because he has not yet ascended to the Father. Later, he appears to the disciples. He moves through a closed door and has "doubting Thomas" touch his wounds to demonstrate that he is flesh and bones. In a later appearance, Jesus assigns Peter the role of tending to Jesus' sheep, that is, leading Jesus' followers. The traditional ending of Mark summarizes resurrection appearances from Matthew and Luke.