The appearance accounts in the Gospels and Acts

Program / Course 16: Historical Defense / Lesson 5.3

What you will learn

• Summarize the appearance stories in Matthew, Luke, John and Acts, and the ending of Mark.
• Identify the points on which the accounts agree and those on which they differ.
• Explain the main ways scholars interpret the differences.
• State what a careful historian can and cannot conclude from the accounts.

The big idea

The Gospels and Acts tell stories of the risen Jesus meeting his followers. They agree on a few core points: women discover the empty tomb, Jesus appears to disciples, some doubt, and he sends them out. They differ in where and when the appearances happened, who was present and how physical the encounters were. Scholars read these differences in three main ways: as ordinary variation in independent memories, as evidence of legendary growth, or as the result of different theological aims. The accounts are later than Paul and must be read with his testimony.

Key terms

Appearance narrative

A story in which the risen Jesus is seen or meets one or more followers.

Longer ending of Mark

Mark 16:9-20, not found in the oldest manuscripts and thought by most scholars to be added later.

Galilean and Jerusalem traditions

The two settings of the appearances: Matthew and Mark point to Galilee, Luke to Jerusalem, and John has both.

Doubt motif

The repeated detail in the stories that some followers did not at first believe or recognize Jesus.

Harmonization

Combining the accounts into one sequence of events by placing the stories in order and filling gaps.

Legendary development

The theory that stories grow more elaborate over time as they are retold.

Background

Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians 15 mentions appearances without telling stories. The Gospels and Acts, written later, give narratives. They were not written as a single report, and each writer has his own emphasis. A historian reading them side by side sees a pattern that is neither neat agreement nor complete disagreement.

These accounts have been used both ways. Defenders say that the agreement on the core points is what one would expect from independent memories of a real event. Skeptics say that the differences are what one would expect from stories that grew in telling. This lesson sets out the material and the arguments so that the student can judge.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: What each source reports

Mark in its oldest form ends at 16:8 with the women afraid. A young man tells them that Jesus is going before the disciples into Galilee, where they will see him (16:7). No appearance is narrated. The longer ending (16:9-20) summarizes appearances taken from other Gospels and was added later. Matthew reports that Jesus met the women near the tomb, then that the eleven disciples saw him on a mountain in Galilee, where some doubted, and he sent them to all nations (Matthew 28:9-10, 16-20).

Luke tells of the road to Emmaus, where two disciples do not recognize him until he breaks bread, and of an evening appearance in Jerusalem in which he shows his hands and feet and eats fish (Luke 24:13-49). John reports an appearance to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, an appearance to the disciples behind locked doors, an appearance to Thomas a week later, and a meeting by the Sea of Galilee (John 20-21). Acts 1:3 says that Jesus appeared over forty days.

Step 2: Points of agreement

All accounts agree that Jesus was seen alive after his death, that women were among the first to find the tomb empty and some saw him, and that the male disciples were at first slow to believe. They agree that he commissioned his followers and that the encounters led to a continued mission. Luke, John and Matthew agree that the body had a physical character: he is touched, eats, and bears marks of the wounds, though he is also not at once recognized.

The recurrence of doubt is often noted. It would be unusual to include the doubt of the leaders in a story invented to promote belief. Some scholars argue that this is a sign of authenticity, and others that it is a literary device to answer the doubts of later readers.

Step 3: Points of difference

The accounts differ about place. Mark and Matthew place the main appearances in Galilee, while Luke places them all in and around Jerusalem and has Jesus tell the disciples to stay in the city (Luke 24:49). John has both. They differ about who was at the tomb, how many angels or men were present, and what was said. They differ about the timeline: Luke seems to place the ascension on Easter evening, while Acts places it forty days later.

There are also differences between Paul and the Gospels. Paul lists appearances to Cephas, the Twelve, five hundred, James and all the apostles. The Gospels do not mention the five hundred or James, and Paul does not mention the women. These are not necessarily contradictions, since each writer selects, but they show that the tradition was not uniform.

Step 4: Three ways of reading the differences

Harmonizers, mostly among conservative Christians, reconstruct a sequence in which all stories fit: the women at the tomb early, appearances in Jerusalem on Easter day, a return to Galilee, a later return to Jerusalem. They point out that such arrangements are possible and that apparent contradictions between honest witnesses often disappear when more is known. Critics reply that harmonizations require speculation and ignore the evangelists’ own aims.

Skeptical scholars such as Bart Ehrman argue that the accounts become more physical over time, from Paul’s spiritual body to Luke’s eating fish and John’s touching of wounds, which suggests legendary growth. Defenders reply that Paul’s language does not rule out physical elements and that the physical details counter the claim of a mere vision. A third view, held by many scholars, is that the accounts rest on early memories of real experiences, which the evangelists shaped to their purposes.

Step 5: What can be concluded

The appearance narratives are later and more shaped than Paul’s list, and they cannot be treated as transcripts. Yet some elements are widely held to be early: the women at the tomb, the disciples’ doubt, the Galilean and Jerusalem settings, and the commissioning. A cautious historian can say that the accounts show that the claim of appearances was circulating in several forms by the last quarter of the first century, and that they are consistent with a core of experiences.

What they cannot do is determine the cause of the experiences. They cannot show whether the encounters were visions or physical meetings. They fit the explanations of defenders and skeptics alike, and the decision depends on the wider evidence and on background beliefs.

1. What does each account include that the others omit?
2. Which differences concern details and which concern the main event?
3. Do the differences look like independent memory, or like development over time?
4. How do the accounts compare with Paul’s list?
5. Is the doubt of the disciples more likely to be remembered or created?
6. What do these stories show about the early church, apart from the question of what happened?

Examples

Different perspectives

Conservative Protestants and many Catholics

They tend to hold that the accounts are historically reliable and can be reconciled, with the differences explained by selection, perspective and the multiple appearances over forty days. They stress that Luke and Paul agree on the physical nature of the risen body.

Orthodox

Orthodox Christians read all the accounts together as the witness of the church, and celebrate the order of the myrrh-bearing women and the appearances in the Paschal liturgy. They are not usually concerned to reconstruct a precise chronology.

Critical mainstream scholars

They hold that the accounts are shaped by theology and by the authors’ purposes, include legendary elements, but probably reflect early traditions of women at the tomb and of appearances in Galilee. They accept that the disciples had experiences they interpreted as encounters with the risen Jesus.

Skeptical scholars

They argue that the contradictions among the accounts and the increasing physical emphasis show that the stories developed from visionary experiences. Some regard the narratives as largely legendary.

Jewish scholars

Some Jewish historians accept that the disciples had genuine experiences while leaving the explanation open, and do not accept the Christian interpretation of them. Others argue that the differences among the accounts point to later legend.

Why it matters

The Gospel stories are what most people know about Easter, and they are also the part of the evidence most easily attacked. Reading them with attention to both the agreements and the differences helps a student avoid exaggerated claims in either direction, and prepares for the study of the alternative explanations.

Common misunderstandings

Knowledge check

Think it through

1. Which differences among the accounts trouble you most, and why?
2. How would you tell the difference between variation in memory and invention?
3. What does the doubt of the disciples add to your assessment?
4. Should a historian prefer Paul to the Gospels where they differ? Why?

Independent assignment

A chart of the appearances

In your own notebook, make a chart with columns for Paul, Mark, Matthew, Luke, John and Acts, and rows for who saw Jesus, where, when, and how he is described. Then write 300 words on the pattern you find, and on whether you think the differences point to variation or to development. Do not send this to anyone.

Further study

• N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God Read the chapters on the Gospel accounts and their relation to the Jewish background.
• Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses Read for the argument about eyewitnesses in the Gospels.
• William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics Read his treatment of the appearances and compare it with Wright’s.
• Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Read about the textual problem of the ending of Mark.
• Matthew 28:17 Some doubted.
• Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet.
• John 20:27 Reach hither thy finger.