Thus, the evidence for an appearance to Peter is good. The saying quoted by Paul refers to it, and so does Luke, whose source may be as old as Paul’s. Moreover, Paul himself, who spoke with Peter in Jerusalem six years after the event, assures us that Jesus appeared to Peter. At the very least, we must say that Peter experienced something, which he referred to as Jesus’ appearing to him. It is futile to try to dismiss this as legend. The question is, What did Peter see?
b) The appearance to the Twelve. The second appearance listed is the appearance to the Twelve. This appearance to the twelve disciples is the best supported appearance of Jesus. It is referred to here in the old Christian saying and is confirmed by Paul, who had personal contact with the twelve disciples. Furthermore, we have stories of this event in both Luke and John:
Luke 24:36-43, Phillips*
John 20:19-20, Phillips
And while they were still talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you all!”
But they shrank back in terror, for they thought they were seeing a ghost.
“Why are you so worried?” said Jesus, “and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet—it is really I myself! Feel me and see; ghosts have no flesh or bones as you can see that I have.”
But while they still could not believe it through sheer joy and were quite be wildered, Jesus said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples had met together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood right in the middle of them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord the disciples were overjoyed.
We have here two independent accounts of the same incident; their remarkable agreement lends weight to their historical credibility. They agree that on the evening of the day on which the empty tomb was discovered, Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples in a room in Jerusalem, greeted them, and displayed His wounds to them. The disciples were then filled with joy. Jesus’ showing the disciples the crucifixion scars is a striking feature of this appearance. The purpose was to show that the appearance was physical and that the same Jesus who appeared was the one who had been killed. So we have here independent claims that the appearance to the Twelve, mentioned in the Christian saying and referred to by Paul, was a physical appearance of Jesus to the disciples. That claim will merit further examination later.
c) The appearance to the five hundred. Here there is a break in the saying quoted by Paul, and a new sentence begins. This may indicate that the saying ended here and that Paul now begins to list additional witnesses known to him. It does not mean that these appearances are any less reliable, for Paul still received the information about them from the earliest witnesses, probably during his Jerusalem visit.
The next appearance listed by Paul is remarkable: Jesus appeared to over five hundred people at once. This appearance is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament, and therefore one is inclined at first to be somewhat skeptical about its occurrence. Yet the source of information for the appearance goes back to the earliest Christian fellowship in Jerusalem, and Paul, who had ample opportunity to confirm whether it occurred or not, refers confidently to the event. To make the situation even more amazing, Paul adds his own personal comment that most of these people are still alive, though some have died. This shows that he had personal knowledge of the people present at this appearance and that the appearance was not just a meaningless number on a list for him. Thus, despite first impressions, one cannot dismiss this appearance as a mere legend, for Paul personally knew of people who had been at the appearance and could give first-hand testimony about it. C. H. Dodd observes, “There can hardly be any purpose in mentioning the fact that most of the five hundred are still alive, unless Paul is saying, in effect, ‘the witnesses are there to be questioned.’”1 Paul could never have said that if the event had not actually occurred. Therefore, it is nearly indisputable that this appearance took place.
The event is not related in the gospels, I believe, because it took place in Galilee after the disciples had returned from Jerusalem. Galilee is a region of Israel far to the north of Jerusalem, by the Sea of Galilee, where some of the disciples had been fishermen. As one puts together the various strands of historical information in the gospels, it seems that the disciples, having seen Jesus in Jerusalem, went according to His command back to Galilee, where He again appeared to them. Although Luke does not relate any of the appearances in Galilee, he tells us that Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days (Acts 1:3). Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, where Jesus appeared to them a final time, commanding them not to leave the city until they were given God’s Spirit. The appearance to the five hundred probably occurred during the period of Galilean appearances. A meeting of five hundred persons would have to be in the open air, perhaps on a hillside. It was in Galilee that thousands had flocked to hear Jesus teach, and hence a gathering of five hundred believers is not impossible. Although we are apt to picture Galilee as a rural land of sleepy, little villages, according to the contemporary Jewish historian Josephus, there were many towns in Galilee, the least of which possessed fifteen thousand inhabitants.2 In the vicinity of such a village a meeting of five hundred people is quite conceivable. In any case, wherever the appearance took place, the evidence of Paul indicates firmly that such an event did in fact occur and that hundreds of people still living could tell what happened.
d) The appearance to James. The fourth appearance is another remarkable surprise: He appeared to James, who was, according to information elsewhere in the New Testament, Jesus’ own earthly brother. Unfortunately, the gospels do not tell the story of this appearance. But Paul states that during his two-week visit to Jerusalem, he personally met James, the Lord’s brother (Galatians 1:19). Thus, the information about this appearance no doubt came from James himself. There can be little doubt that James did see an appearance of Jesus.
What is really amazing about this is that none of Jesus’ younger brothers, including James, believed in Jesus during His lifetime (Mark 3:21, 31-35; John 7:1-10). John tells a rather ugly story of how Jesus’ brothers tried to goad Him into a death trap by showing Himself publicly at the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem when the authorities were looking for Him. We do not hear much more about them until to our surprise they are found in the Christian fellowship in Jerusalem shortly after the resurrection (Acts 1:14)! There is no further mention of them until Acts 12:17, which records Peter’s deliverance from prison. James seems to have gained a place of prominence among the believers, for Peter says, “Report these things to James.” Paul also reports that when he visited Jerusalem three years after his conversion, he “did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19), which seems to imply that James was also being reckoned as an apostle. Later when Paul and Barnabas returned from their missionary work among the pagans, it was James who decided how pagan converts should be treated (Acts 15:13). Paul says that fourteen years after his first visit, he went to Jerusalem to see the “pillars” of the Jerusalem fellowship: Peter, John, and James (Galatians 2:9). It is interesting that when some time later a delegation from the Jerusalem fellowship came to Antioch, where Paul was working, he referred to them as “men . . . from James” (Galatians 2:12). Finally in Acts 21:18, James appears to be the sole head of the Jerusalem fellowship and of the council of elders. We hear no more about James in the New Testament, but the Jewish historian Josephus records that the Jews illegally and brutally stoned James to death for his faith in Jesus Christ sometime around A.D. 60.3