Resurrection Appearances (Part 2)

The Life and Teachings of Christ — Steve Gregg

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Sea of Galilee, The Great Commission (Part 1)

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Resurrection Appearances (Part 2)

The Life and Teachings of ChristSteve Gregg

Steve Gregg discusses various aspects of Jesus' resurrection appearances in this presentation. He explains that some appearances were not immediately recognized, and that the Sanhedrin paid off guards to spread false rumors about the disciples stealing Jesus' body. Gregg also touches on lesser-known appearances, such as Peter's private appearance with Jesus and the conversation Jesus had with two men on the road to Emmaus. Additionally, he notes that Jesus physically appeared to his disciples and commissioned them to spread the Gospel.

Transcript

...maybe he just opened her eyes. See, all of these occasions where they didn't recognize him could be explained by God supernaturally withholding their recognition until the point that he wanted them to recognize it, too. I mean, it might not have been a natural thing.

It might not have been that he just looked different. We don't know. But prior to this, you might recall that Jesus three times had told his disciples in plain words he was going to die and rise again the third day, and yet we're told that they didn't understand.

Their ears were withheld from understanding and hearing. And so maybe even at this point, Jesus wanted at the crucial moment to be recognized in each case, and they were maybe supernaturally withheld from recognizing him prior to that time. Anyway, after he said, Mary, she turned and said to him, Rabboni, and she knew who he was.

Now, Jesus' statement to her in verse 17 is enigmatic. I think I've given you before what the various interpretations are. He said to her, do not touch me, literally, although the word touch in the Greek can be translated cling, too.

And that's how it's translated here. It's a good translation. But in some translations, it's just don't touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my father.

But go to my brethren and say to them, I'm ascending to my father and to your father, to my God and your God. Now, don't touch me. I've not yet ascended to my father.

Yet later the same day, he allowed and invited people to touch him. And many have felt, well, this is because Jesus, between the time that Mary saw him and the time that other people saw him and were permitted to touch him, he must have ascended to the father and done some business and then came back and he was able to be touched then. That's the guess that some people make, and a lot of scholars even say that.

The suggestion is that he was like the high priest, he had to go into the Holy of Holies. That hadn't happened yet. That was in heaven.

He had to take his blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat in heaven. And when he had done that, then of course he could be touched. But I don't understand it that way.

I appreciate the way the New King James has translated it, because I believe it's the correct translation. Don't cling to me, because I'm leaving again, is what he's basically saying, I think. You think I'm back.

I'm not really back. Don't cling. Don't hold on.

He's not saying that he can't be touched until he goes up into heaven. He's saying, it is not to your advantage to cling to me, because I'm not going to be back. You might think I'm back.

I'm not. I'm just back briefly. I'm going away again.

I have yet to go away permanently, or almost permanently, that is until his second coming. I have not yet ascended to my father. And he had said in the upper room that he was going to ascend to his father.

So he had not yet done that at this point. And he did so, of course, 40 days later. And it recorded in some of the Gospels and the Book of Acts as the ascension of Christ.

So, apparently he was just warning her not to get too attached, not to get too emotionally attached. Having lost him once, she probably thought, he's back. I'll never let him go again.

She was no doubt grabbing him and holding him tight, so he could never get away. And he had to correct her, no, I am going to leave again. I have to ascend to my father.

Don't cling to me now. But he did say, go tell my brethren that I'm ascending to my father and to your father and my God and your God. And that doesn't mean he was going to ascend there that day.

He was going to do it, as he had told them before, but there would be a while before he did so. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. But we know that they didn't believe her.

Now, what happened to the women in the meantime? They had left the tomb, no doubt, before Peter and John arrived. And Peter and John arrived and left. Mary came, saw Jesus and left.

What happened to the women? Well, I presume that it was after this that we come to the events of Matthew 28, verses 9 and following. The women are now en route to tell the disciples about what the angel had told them. The women have not yet seen Jesus, but they've been told by angels that he rose from the dead and that they should tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee.

And so at Matthew 28, verse 9, it says, And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! And they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Now, this was probably only a few moments after Mary had been told, Don't touch me or don't cling to me. And yet, he allowed them to cling to his feet.

Perhaps they were not as much in danger as Mary was of being emotionally addicted to his presence. Perhaps Mary may have loved him in a way that made it more difficult for her to let him go. Anyway, they worshipped him and Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid.

Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee. That's what the angels had said and they were on their way to do it when he intercepted them. He's just confirming the word.

And there they will see me. Now, while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, Tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept.

And if this comes to the governor's ears, which would be bad for the soldiers if they fell asleep on the job, we will appease him and make you secure. We'll pay him off. They haven't spent a lot of money on this deal.

Thirty pieces of silver to Judas. Now they're paying off the guards to tell the wrong story. And they may even have to pay off Pilate if he hears about this story.

But they had plenty of money. They had the tithes. So they took the money and did what they were instructed.

And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews even until this day. That is, at the time that Matthew wrote this, the story was still current. And as we stand here 2,000 years later, the story is still fairly current.

There's still a fair number of people out there who assume the disciples stole the body. But, as we've talked about before, the unlikelihood and, in fact, the impossibility of this. If they had stolen the body, if they had found it possible to do, they could have never concealed it because of the amount of damage they would have had to do to the guards and other factors.

Anyway, only Matthew tells us this sequel about the guards. Yes, Jamie? To move that stone, it would have woken up the guards. Yeah, there's no way.

No way it would have happened. Now, one thing this story tells us is that the Sanhedrin paid off the guards. Now, when you read in the Book of Acts at a later time, the Sanhedrin's trying to silence the apostles who said that Jesus rose from the dead.

The Sanhedrin know darn well that he did because they've already paid off the guards to tell a different story because the guards came and told the Sanhedrin, this angel came out of heaven and moved the stone, and he was as brilliant as the sun, and so forth. And when the disciples later appeared saying Jesus rose from the dead, the Sanhedrin could only put two and two together if they were smart. They knew, but they didn't want anyone else to know.

They were suppressing the truth in their unrighteousness. They knew Jesus rose from the dead, but they were not willing to submit to him. Scary.

Scary stuff. So, we have Jesus appears to the women. And then we come to Luke 20.

Well, let me put it this way. Next, as far as we know, was at private appearance of Christ to Peter. This is not recorded in the Gospels with the exception of by hindsight.

When the two men on the road to Emmaus, whom we have yet to read about, came to the disciples at Jerusalem and said, Hey, Jesus has risen, they already knew it because Jesus had at some point unrecorded prior to this, appeared to Peter. This is stated in Luke 24.34. They're reporting this by hindsight. We don't have the record of him appearing to Peter, but when the men from Emmaus run to Jerusalem and to the disciples, they are told this in Luke 24.34. The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.

Alright? Now, if you'll turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. Is this confusing yet? I'll get one all over the place here. 1 Corinthians 15, in verse 5, verses 4 and 5, it says that Jesus was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and was seen by Cephas, that's Peter, Simon.

Then by the twelve. Now we know that the twelve saw Jesus Sunday night. We get that from John, we'll see that in a moment.

But Paul, and by the way, 1 Corinthians 15 was written earlier than any of the Gospels. 1 Corinthians was an earlier book than any of the Gospels. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 15 gives us the earliest, chronologically earliest record of resurrection appearances.

And Paul doesn't mention Mary Magdalene at all, or the women, but he mentions Peter. Probably because the appearance of Peter became ultimately more significant. But he appeared to Peter, though none of the Gospels record it.

Except, as I say, Luke 24.34, they say he has appeared to Peter. Sometimes back then they were not told in what circumstances. Oh, to the twelve? Excuse me.

The expression the twelve was a... It was actually like a technical term for the apostolic body. Even when Thomas was not present, they were still called the twelve. When Judas was, of course, dead, they were still called the twelve.

It really, in those cases, we have to say what's left of the twelve, or whatever portion of the twelve were there. But the body of the apostle, so the apostolate, was simply technically called the twelve. And that didn't change even when their number was reduced to eleven.

Of course, the twelve was replaced later on in Acts chapter 1. But, yeah, that is an interesting thing. It's good that you said that. I mean, because that's good to point out.

He appeared to the twelve, Judas being dead. No, there were only eleven. But to call them the twelve is not unusual in the scripture.

If any portion, especially a significant number, of the twelve were there, usually it's just referred to as the twelve. They're the apostates. It's sort of another shorthand way of saying the apostates.

Okay, a fair question, certainly. Okay, now he appeared to Peter at some time. We don't know in what circumstances, but it was prior to his appearance to the twelve.

Okay, now we come to Luke 24. We'll spend a little time in Luke 24, because Luke 24 tells us in some detail about a story that the other Gospels do not. Luke 24, 13 through 32.

Luke 24, verses 13 through 32. This is the appearance to two men. One of them is anonymous.

The other is unknown to us. I mean, his name is given, but we don't know him. He's on the road to Emmaus, which is outside Jerusalem a few miles.

Luke 24, verse 13 says, Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all the things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, just these two men among themselves, that Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

Now, did he come out of the bushes or off the side road, or did he kind of appear out of nowhere? He drew near to them, but their eyes were restrained, so they did not know him. Now, their eyes were restrained could mean supernaturally. It's not essential that it means supernaturally.

It could mean when someone's heart is dull and couldn't hear. It doesn't mean it's supernaturally made dull. It could just mean that they weren't seeing right.

They weren't recognizing it. But it could mean supernaturally their eyes were restrained, so they did not know him. And he said to them, What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk along so sad? And one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And have you not known the things which happen there in these days? And he said to them, What things? Being coy.

And they said to him, The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and he was crucified. But we were hoping that it was him, that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.

Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they did not find his body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb, that would be Peter and John, which only John has recorded, and found it just as the women had said.

But him they did not see. Now see, you can see even the accounts that are not included are alluded to sometimes. These two guys say there were a couple of the apostles who went and checked it out.

They do not tell us the story of that, but John and John alone tells us that story in John 20, which we have already read. So there are enough hints in there to know that they all knew the same story, that the gospel writers were just not telling all the details of every part. Now notice this.

They still believed Jesus was a prophet, they still believed he was mighty and worthy, they did not lose their admiration for him, but they were disillusioned. Because they had hoped it was he who was going to redeem Israel. They had hoped, in other words, that he was the messiah who would militarily deliver them from the Roman oppression, but instead he succumbed to the Roman oppression.

The Romans got him and killed him, just like they had the leader of the zealot movement some years earlier, 25 years earlier. So it was another aborted movement, another aborted messiah movement. And they said, we had hoped, which means they no longer had any hope, no one was sad.

And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the messiah to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? He implies that the prophets have written that. Not as clearly as one could wish, although Isaiah 53 becomes pretty clear.

Passages like Psalm 22 and other important passages, Zechariah 11, and some other places like that that speak of the sufferings of Christ, are not all that clear. Except by hindsight. Once they're fulfilled you see it clearly, but before that not so much.

But they had been slow to understand that the messiah was in fact destined to suffer and to enter into his glory. And notice this verse 27, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures of things concerning himself. Imagine that, we just spent nine months going through the Old Testament.

In Moses, that's the Pentateuch, and all the prophets, that would be the early prophets and the latter. The early prophets were of course what we call the historic books. He went through all the books of the Old Testament and expounded on the parts that were about him.

That was a two hour Bible study, so he must not have expounded very extensively. Because there's an awful lot there. But it was a seven mile walk, and that would have probably taken him a little more than two hours.

And he had therefore maybe up to that length of time to expound these things. Perhaps to survey more. It does say all the things, but that could be somewhat of a hyperbole.

It could have been that he gave a very large sampling of the things that were written about him and all the prophets. Wouldn't that be a neat Bible study? Wouldn't you rather be in that two hour session than in this nine months going through the Old Testament? Have Jesus himself expound the Old Testament scriptures about himself? That would be mighty. Verse 28, Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and he indicated that he would have gone farther.

He didn't say he would, but he was acting like he was just going to keep going. Going to see if they would invite him in. You know, there was a time when Jesus was walking on the water to the disciples out of the boat.

And the Bible says he would have gone past them, but they cried out to him. And then he decided to get in the boat. And you know, he kind of waits to be asked.

Of course he wanted to get in the boat. Of course he wanted to eat with these guys. But he wasn't going to invite himself in this case.

He wanted them to initiate. He wanted to maybe see if they were hospitable folks. Testing them.

And so he indicated like he was going to go further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to stay with them.

Now, this could be that they were just hospitable to strangers. But there's something else we learn a little later. They were hanging on his every word.

Their hearts were burning in them as he expounded the scriptures. As they said in a few verses down. They didn't want to see this guy get away.

When this guy speaks the scriptures, it made a, you know, it set their hearts aflame. And they said, hey, why don't you stay for dinner? We could use a little more talk of this kind. And so he went in to stay with them.

Now, it came to pass as he sat at the table with them, that he took bread, blessed and broke it. That's exactly what he did when he fed the multitude. He took the bread, he blessed it, and he broke it.

And then began to give it out. And it says he gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened.

And they knew him. And he vanished from their sight. Just as soon as they recognized who it was.

You're gone. Frustrating. Then their eyes were opened and they knew him.

And he vanished from their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened up the scriptures to us? So they rose up that very hour. As soon as they finished their meal, no doubt, they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven.

And those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon. Now, this saying must not have been the two men, because they would have known that he appeared to Simon. But they were told by the twelve, which of course were eleven, or probably were even just, probably Thomas wasn't even there, since he was a doubter even at this point.

But they found the eleven. Now here, here it is, it says the eleven. There's times when it's accurate, and times when it just uses the technical term, the twelve.

But it says they found the eleven, and those who were with them gathered together, and they, apparently the apostles said, The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon. As we noticed a moment ago. And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread.

That sounds mysterious. It almost has a Eucharistic sound to it, doesn't it? You know, I mean, he was known to them in the breaking of bread. You know, you take communion with the Lord when you break bread, and you know him in a sense, they're mysterious.

It's sort of a mystical sound to it. I don't know if that's intended to be so. It could be.

Okay, now, we have now, this is still the same day, it's still Sunday, the day that Jesus rose. He has appeared to Mary, he has appeared to the women. He has not, now he has appeared to Peter, and to these two men on the road to Emmaus.

And these men, having reached Emmaus, have now turned around, gone the seven miles back to Jerusalem, and it's now no doubt evening in Jerusalem. And these two guys are there with the apostles, or maybe they didn't stay with the apostles, it's possible. Well, it seems like it.

Because in verse 36 it says, Now as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, Peace to you. And they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do your doubts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.

Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe, for joy and marvel, he said to them, Have you any food here? So they gave him a piece of a brood fish, and some honey, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

To demonstrate, of course, that he was physically alive. He ate physical food, and he let them touch his hands and feet. This proves that he was not a spirit.

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus rose physically. They say he rose as a non-material spirit creature. They believe that the actual body of Jesus in the tomb dissolved, and vanished, and just a spirit creature came out of the tomb.

Jesus seems to be at pains to demonstrate that the reverse is true. That he is physical. I am not a spirit.

Spirits do not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. Touch me. Let me eat some food.

I will show you. You still do not believe? Give me some food here. Let me eat some food here.

And so he proves to them that he is risen. Now John gives us more details on this particular appearance than Luke does. There is a little word about this in Mark 16, just so you will see it.

In Mark 16, after it tells about the women and Mary Magdalene, it says in verse 12, After that he appeared in another form to two of them, as they walked and went into the country, that would be on the road to Emmaus. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Now that is strange.

They did not believe them, but we are told in Luke that the disciples themselves said, The Lord is risen indeed. He has appeared to Peter. Now, here is a possibility.

The speakers who said, The Lord is risen indeed. He has appeared to Peter, might not have been the apostles. It might have been the two men.

How would they have known that Jesus had appeared to Peter? Maybe Jesus told them. He talked to them for a couple of hours. Maybe he said, And by the way, Peter has seen him.

He is still talking about Messiah in the third person. And by the way, you know Peter, he has seen him risen from the dead. And then, when they recognized Jesus themselves and knew it was true, they could have run and said, Listen, The Lord is risen and has appeared to Peter.

That would possibly explain why in Luke, which tells that story, it goes on to say, Jesus appeared and they still did not believe, even when he appeared to them. They did not believe for joy. They were having a hard time believing it.

They almost did not want to let themselves hope it. It seemed too impossible. In any case, we are told in Mark that these two men reported to the others what had happened.

And still, they were not quite able to believe it. In verse 14, Mark 16, 14, Afterward, he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and he rebuked their unbelief. Now, here the eleven has almost become a temporary technical term for the twelve because Judas is gone.

But, this particular appearance that is recorded in Mark 16, 14 is probably the one that we are about to read in John where actually Thomas was not present. So, it is ten, not eleven. So, the number, you know, the way they talk about this number is a flexible thing because of the certain technicality of the way that the apostles were spoken of as a group.

So, he says, he appeared at the table or as they sat at the table and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, from this point on, there is actually even from earlier on, from about verse 11 on, there is some manuscript conflicts, but I accept the rest as genuine.

But let me now go to John chapter 20 because this is where the rest of John chapter 20 comes in and is a more full account of this appearance to the disciples to the twelve. There were eleven and there were ten because Thomas was not there. Okay? Verse 19, John 20 and verse 19, Then the same day at evening, this is the first day that Mary Magdalene is on, so it is the resurrection Sunday.

All this happened in one day. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, he makes it very clear, same day, first day of the week, we are not talking about a different day, when the doors were shut and the disciples were assembled. Now, John does not tell us this, but of course, the two men who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus had now come back and they were with the apostles on this occasion.

We presume they were still there. Their doors were locked or shut for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you.

Okay? Now, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. That agrees with Luke's version of this where he said, Touch me, feel me, touch me, see me, my spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have. Same event, same occurrence, different details.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. They were glad, but they hardly believed for joy. It says in Luke, they were so glad they hardly would allow themselves to believe.

And so Luke tells us what John doesn't hear and that is that Jesus kind of rebuked them for their unbelief and proved himself further by eating in their presence. That is left out of John. But John goes on in verse 21.

Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now, this I take to be especially his commission to the apostles.

The apostles as apostles. He gave another commission to the apostles. This is a private meeting of the apostles.

Now, of course, the two guys from Emmaus were there. But John does not indicate that Jesus said these things in such a way as to include those two men. In fact, he doesn't even mention their presence.

John speaks as if this is an appearance to the apostles themselves and the words were spoken to the apostles. That the two men from Emmaus may have been present is not necessary to deny. But the words he spoke here, John indicates, were spoken to the apostles.

And he said, I'm sending you in the same sense that my father sent me. That is, as official spokespersons. Elsewhere, Jesus said that anyone who received their testimony was receiving his.

They were to be officially authorized to speak for Christ. And he breathed on them and gave them a sneak preview, as it were, of the Holy Spirit. He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.

We presume that his breath and his command did bring about the reality that they did receive the Holy Spirit. Now, we know that later, on the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Spirit in the upper room. And we assume, I think, probably on the basis of this, that no other Christians other than the apostles received the Spirit prior to Pentecost.

These disciples were the first to have the privilege of being, to receive the Holy Spirit. Then, he says to them, if your sins, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Now, this is a good text for the Roman Catholics who feel that the Pope is in the direct apostolic succession from Peter, and that when he, bishops and priests and so forth that are under him, sort of our delegated authorities, that you can confess your sins to a priest or whatever, and this apostolic right of forgiveness is theirs. They can forgive you or not. Personally, I do not believe in apostolic succession.

I don't believe that the authority Jesus gave to the twelve ever passed on to any other generations after them. I think that they were the foundation of the church. Paul says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

The church has been under construction for two thousand years, but you don't have to lay the foundation again every generation. The foundation is laid initially, and then the rest is built upon. And so, my impression is that we only needed the apostles to lay the foundation once.

They did so, and we have the scriptures contain their writings so that we know what the truth is. The apostolic truth is there in the scriptures. Such authority as they possessed is not vested, in my opinion, in any man today, or else we'd have to let him write the scriptures, too.

And I don't believe that's intended. The apostles had the right to admit or disallow people into the church, to admit or disallow them to the Lord's table. They were the authorities like Christ himself on the earth.

That doesn't mean that they were like high priests or anything like Jesus was. But he gave them the right to have the final say as to who was and who was not in the church. They were the disciplinarians.

They were the arbiters of those kinds of things. And if they didn't recognize a person's conversion as genuine, that person was not genuinely converted. His sins were retained, not forgiven.

Now, verse 24, But Thomas, called Didymus, which means twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples, therefore, said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see his hands and the print of his nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

And after eight days, his disciples were again inside. Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace to you.

Then he said to Thomas, Reach your finger here. Look at my hands. And reach your hand here.

And put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God.

Those who deny that Jesus is God feel like Thomas was a bit out of line here. That he was using something akin to profanity. They were saying something like, Oh my God.

You know what I mean? But not really meaning it as an address to God. But, of course, Jesus didn't rebuke him for that. And in all likelihood, the wording sounds like he is calling Jesus his Lord and his God.

And Jesus didn't deny that either. That he was God and Lord. Now, whether Thomas took him up on his offer to put his finger in his hands or not, we are not told.

Jesus said, Go ahead. Do it. And we find Thomas rather saying, My Lord and my God.

He came to faith without doing what he said he was going to have to do. And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.

John includes this particular statement of Jesus because John wrote his gospel for us who have never seen. And he testifies so that we might believe and that we might have life through his name. There is a special blessing on those who will believe without seeing.

The apostles weren't in that category. They didn't, except for John, who believed when he saw the grave clothes. The other apostles apparently didn't believe until they saw him.

And, you know, poor Thomas, he had to live with those guys for eight days as a doubter when the other guys had seen Jesus. I mean, they must have been fanatics. You know, I mean, imagine how they'd feel those eight days.

You know, wow, we saw Jesus. Who knows? He might appear again today. Never know when he's going to show up.

And Thomas, since they're doubting the whole thing the whole time, it must have been annoying being around these religious nuts. However, he came around to be one of them, too. And he became a believer.

And Jesus only mildly rebuked him. He says, You believe only because you've seen. But that was true of the other apostles, too.

They didn't believe before they saw either. He says, Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe. Verse 30, And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. And that brings us to an end of the resurrection appearances that took place on Resurrection Sunday and within a week or eight days afterwards. Okay? Now, there are a number of other appearances.

In our next session, we're going to be reading the 21st chapter of John, which is devoted in its entirety to one single appearance of Christ to seven of the apostles. And that occurred in Galilee. So, sure enough, he did meet them in Galilee.

But he met them in Jerusalem first in the upper room. And why they were still there, again, we're not told, except that... And why he appeared there when he said he was going to meet them in Galilee, we can only deduce that because they didn't believe until they saw him. He had to appear to them there and not wait to meet them in Galilee.

But in chapter 21, we read that he did meet them in Galilee. And also, in the closing verses of Matthew and Luke, we have the Great Commission, which also is uttered. The Matthewan form from Matthew was uttered in Galilee, on a mountain in Galilee.

And then another Great Commission was given on Mount of Olives later on before Jesus ascended. So Jesus actually gave the commission to preach more than once in the times that he appeared in. But we will have to take those ones in a later session.

All right? That's it.