Why did the disciples not recognize Him after He rose?
A number of the resurrection accounts tell us that the risen Jesus was not immediately recognized: the two on the road, Mary, the disciples on the shore. He was always the same Jesus, now risen and glorious, and recognition came as He revealed Himself, by His word, at the breaking of bread, in calling a name. The appearances teach us that we recognize our risen Lord by faith, through the means He has given, not by sight alone.
This question arose from studying Did Jesus really rise from the dead? and Where is Jesus now?.
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What the Scripture says
The accounts are honest: sometimes He was not recognized at first
The witnesses do not hide it. The two on the road to Emmaus 'were kept from recognizing him.' Mary stood before the risen Jesus and 'didn't know that it was Jesus.' The disciples on the shore 'didn't know that it was Jesus,' and in the upper room they were terrified, thinking they saw a spirit. Whatever the reason, it was the disciples' eyes and minds that failed to see at first, not the reality of the risen Lord before them.
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.
But when day had already come, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus.
But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Yet it was always the same Jesus, now risen and glorious
The risen Jesus insisted on continuity with the crucified One. He showed them His hands and feet: 'See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.' He ate with them, and He offered His wounds to Thomas. The glory did not erase His identity; it fulfilled it. He is the same Lord, risen, bodily, and present.
See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He took them, and ate in front of them.
Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”
Recognition came as He revealed Himself
In every case, the blindness was lifted when Jesus acted. On the road, it was when He took bread, blessed it, and broke it that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. To Mary, it was when He said her name: 'Jesus said to her, Mary.' At the sea, it was the miraculous catch that led John to say, 'It's the Lord.' The disciples did not find Him by their own insight; He made Himself known.
When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave to them. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
He opened their minds through the Scriptures
On the Emmaus road, before their eyes were opened, their hearts were burning as He opened the Scriptures to them; even after the empty tomb, they had not yet understood the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. Later, He 'opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.' The risen Jesus connects His resurrection to the whole word of God, from Moses and all the prophets to everything written about Him. Recognition came through the word He had given, and it still does: He makes Himself known as He opens the Scriptures to His people.
He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
They said one to another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
So we recognize Him by faith, not by sight
Jesus told Thomas, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.' Peter celebrates that those who have not seen Him love Him and rejoice in Him with inexpressible joy, and Paul says we walk by faith, not by sight. The risen Lord is with His people, making Himself known in His word, at His table, and in His care; and like the disciples, we recognize Him not by seeing with our eyes but by believing with our hearts.
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me,you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory—
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of David?→“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”Why did Jesus often tell people not to reveal who He was?→“The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.”How can one Person be fully God and fully man at once?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?→“because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”What is the final judgment, and who will be there?→“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”What did Jesus teach about the kingdom of God?→“From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.””How is the new covenant different from the old one?→“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”What was it like to see the risen Jesus?→“See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.””Why did Jesus appear only to certain people after His resurrection?→“God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”Who were 'the spirits in prison', and what did Christ preach to them?→“in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”What does it mean that God is one?→“Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.”What will believers be rewarded for, if salvation is by grace alone?→“each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?→“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”For whom did Christ die?→“I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”What does the title 'Christ' mean?→“The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,”Does the Bible teach there are other gods?→“It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.”Who are the 'gods' (elohim) of Psalm 82?→“God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.”If Jesus is the 'firstborn of all creation,' was He created?→“who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”Do I need a priest to reach God?→“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”What does Scripture show us about Mary?→“Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,”Does it matter which Jesus I believe in?→“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.”Which modern portraits of Jesus preach another Jesus?→“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?””How does Jesus becoming man show us the Father's love?→“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Lion of Judah?→“One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.”Explore further
What is faith, exactly?→The Gospel trail“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave to them. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me,you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
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