Lord after his resurrection, but selects a few which he details in the order of their occurrence. The first appearance men- tioned is that to Cephas ; see Luke 24, 34. The second oc- curred on the same day " to the eleven and those who were with them," Luke 24, 33-36. To this Paul refers by saying, " then to the twelve ; " comp. also John 20, 19. On this occa- sion, when the disciples were terrified by his sudden appear- ance in the midst of them, he said, " Why are ye troubled ? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet." Luke 24, 38-40. The apostles collectively, after the apostasy of Judas, are spoken of as the twelve according to a common usage, although at the time there were only eleven.
6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once ; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
There is no distinct record of this event in the evangelical history. It may have taken place on the occasion when Christ met his disciples in Galilee. Before his death he told them, " After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee," Matt. 26, 32. Early in the morning of his resurrection he met the women who had been at his tomb, and said to them, " Be not afraid ; go tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me," Matt. 28, 10 ; and accordingly in v. 16, it is said, "Then the eleven went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them." This, therefore, was a formally appointed meeting, and doubtless made known as extensively as possible to his followers, and it is probable, therefore, that there was a concourse of all who could come, not only from Jerusalem, but from the surrounding country, and from Galilee. Though intended specially for the eleven, it is probable that all attended who knew of the meeting, and could possibly reach the appointed place. Who would will- ingly be absent on such an occasion ? Others think that this appearance took place at Jerusalem, where, in addition to the one hundred and twenty who constituted the nucleus of the church in the holy city, there were probably many discij^les gathered from all parts of Judea in attendance on the pass- over. The special value of this testimony to the fact of