The Real Jesus of the Four GospelsAtwater, John Birdseye
Religion
The Real Jesus of the Four Gospels
Atwater, John Birdseye
Jesus Christ -- Biography
Luke relates that Jesus spent a considerable portion of one day with two
of the disciples, and joined them at their evening meal. But they did
not recognize Him until He blessed some bread, brake it, and gave to
them, and then "He vanished out of their sight" (Luke XXIV:13-31). On
His first appearance in the midst of the apostles, "they were terrified
and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit." Even after He
showed them His hands and feet, their doubts were not dissipated, and,
although He ate a piece of fish and some honey comb, it is not
explicitly stated that this removed all their uncertainty (Luke
XXIV:36-43).
According to John, Mary Magdalene, who was well acquainted with Jesus in
His lifetime, when she saw this apparition, "knew not that it was
Jesus." She spoke to Him, "supposing Him to be the gardener." He gives
her a message to His disciples, and it is implied in the narrative that
she then recognizes Him as Jesus, although it is not explained how this
change came about (John XX:14-17). On His appearance to the apostles, He
shows them His hands and feet, as though that were necessary to confirm
their recognition of His identity. Thomas, apparently, will not trust to
the story of the other apostles; nor even to the personal appearance of
Jesus, until he has put his fingers into the prints on Jesus' hands and
feet (John XX:19-28). If Jesus had worn His earthly form these prints,
which the apostles had never before seen, could not have aided in His
identification.
The account in John, Chap. XXI, shows that the seven assembled at the
sea of Tiberias did not at first recognize Jesus, although one of them
was Thomas, who had already identified Him in Jerusalem. "But the
disciples knew not that it was Jesus" (John XXI:4). A little later it is
said: "And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art Thou? Knowing
that it was the Lord" (John XXI:12). No explanation is given as to how
this knowledge finally came to them.
Out of this welter of confusion and contradictions, it is impossible to
select any one coherent, authoritative story. With equal warrant of
authority it may be asserted that He appeared to the apostles only in
Galilee (Matt.) or never in Galilee, but only in Jerusalem (Mark, Luke,
Acts); that Jesus' first appearance was to the two Marys (Matthew), or
was to Mary Magdalene alone (Mark, John), or that He did not appear to
them at all, but two men "in shining garments" gave them the message to
the apostles (Luke); that He made a special appearance to two of the
apostles (Mark, Luke), or that He did not make this appearance (Matthew,
John); that He never appeared to the apostles but once (in Galilee
according to Matthew, in Jerusalem, according to Mark and Luke), or that
He appeared to them twice in Jerusalem (John XX) and once in Galilee
(John XXI), or that He was with the apostles in Jerusalem for forty
days, apparently in frequent communication with them (Acts I).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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