(2) Further, the body in which He appeared was a body identical (or continuous) with the body which He had on earth, and which had suffered on the Cross and been laid in the tomb. Apart from the fact that the grave in which the body of Jesus had been laid on the Friday evening was found empty on the morning of the third daj', identity (or continuity) was evidenced by the fact that the Risen Body bore the marks of the Passion, tlie print of the nails in the hands, and the spear-mark in the side (Lk 24™'-, Jn 20=').
Lk 24^0^ ko'l touto eLTttiV eSetfei' avTOis Tas X^^P'"-^ '^'"- tovs ir65a?, is called in question as omitted in some authorities, but Jn 2020, where probably the same appearance is described though there is a seeming discrepancy in the number of disciples present, is undoubted. See Plummer, ICC, * St. Luke ' 2, Edin- burgh, 1898, in loc.
The identity, it would seem, extended still further. Mary recognized Him by the familiar tone of the voice (Jn 20'^) and the two disciples by the familiar cesture in the breaking of bread (Lk 24").
(b) On the other hand, the body if the same was yet somehow not the same. It had undergone some marvellous change. If there was identity, there was yet contrast. The Risen Body had mysterious peculiarities which distinguished it from the natural earthly body. Indeed, so promi- nent were these distinguishing peculiarities that the Risen Lord is uniforndy represented in the narratives as with difficulty persuading the disciples of the identity of the two. Chief of these jjeouli- arities are—
(1) The transcendence of the ordinary laws of material or phi/sical existeru:e. — Matter w'as no longer an obstacle. The Risen Christ could pass through a closed sepulchre (apparently implied by Mt 28-) and through shut doors (Lk 24™, Jn 20"'-=''). Distance could not delay His movements; He could be present in ditl'erent and distant places at short intervals (Lk 24'°- "l. Suddenly lie appears without apparent physical locomotion (Lk 24'", Jn 20'"- ='', ' Jesus stood [#ffr77] in the midst'). As suddenly He disappears (Lk 24^', ' He vanished from their sight,' ii(pavTo^ iyivero dTr' aiViii/ — a dis- appearance, not a local withdrawal). Here appar- ently is an emerging from and a withdrawal into complete invisibility at will. And then, finally, as illustrating this transcendence of the ordinary laws of material existence, we are told He ascended from earth to heaven in visible form (Lk 24''', Ac P ; cf. Mk 16'").
The words Ka.\ ave^pero ei^Toi- oipardi' in Lk 24'^i and all v.ii* In Mk 16 are regarded as doubtful by textual criticism, and, even if they be accepted, it has been contended that they do not of themselves imply a visible ascent (see E. P. Gould in ICC, 'St. Mark,' Edinburgh, ISOti, p. y09). But such a visible ascent is directly stated in Luke's second treatise, Ac l^f-, and the subsequent joy of the disciples (Lk 24'>-f-) distinctly points to some such visible representation of His final triumph over death (cf. Forrest, The Christ of Hut. atui of Kzp^r.'^, p. 413).
(2) Difficulty of recognition from mere outward appearances. — So great was the change that, it would seem, the mere external form and features failed to disclose who He was, even to tliose with whom He had had familiar intercourse on earth. Mary Magdalene mistook Him for the gardener, until He called her by her name (Jn 20'^-i''). The two men on the way to Emmaus not only walked but conversed with Him for a considerable length of time, yet did not know who He was till He was made known to them in the breaking of bread (Lk 24™-»'-). When He stood in the midst of the assembled disciples He seemed so strange to them that they ' imfigined it was a ghost they saw ' and they were ' scared and terrified ' till ' he showed them his hands and feet' (Lk 24"-"' [Moffatt] ; cf. Jn 20™, 'his hands and his side'). And again, at the Sea of Tiberias, when Jesus stood on the beach, the disciples (amoni' whom were four apostles) failed to recognize Him (Jn 21^).
This is the more striking when we consider (i. ) that the appearances were not momentary glimpses, but, at least in several of the cases, pro- longed interviews; and (ii.) that even when He appeared to the same people a second or third time they were still at first perplexed and had their doubts as to His identity. What was the cause of this non-recognition? It may he that the failure of Mary Magd.alene to recognize Jesus at the beginning was due, as some maintain, to her eyes being dimmed with tears, and her mind bewildered and perplexed— this, combined with the dimness of the early morning light. It may be that the two disciples on the way to Emmaus failed to recognize Him because of mental preoccupation with their grief, and absorption in their puzzled discussion of the story told by the women. ' Their eyes were holden {iKparoOi'To, overpowered, spell- bound) that they should not know him (roi; fii) i-iriyvuimi avrbv),' says Luke in explanation (24'*).
346 KESUKllECTION OF CHRIST
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
These words need not be taken to imply any special supeinatiiral action on their senses on the part of the Kisen Clirist, '"who would not be seen by them till the time when He saw tit" ' (see I'lumnier, ICC, in loc). Tliey may mean simplj' that tliey did not know Him ; that, throuj;li some con<litions on their side, they failed to reco^^iiize Him (cf. Motl'att's translation, ' tlViy were jirevented from recognizing him'). It has to be rememliered that in tliis case neither of the two, so far as we know, l)eIonged to tlie company of the apostles, and so they may never before have come into close qnarters with tlie Master, so that their failure to recognize Him was not surprising (cf. Swete, Appearances, p. 23). Once more, in tlie incident at the Lake of Tiheria.s the words of the Evangelist, 'when early morn was now arrived, or arriving' ( Kpulas Si ijSrj yevofj-iv-qs, other MSS yi.voiiivr]%), suggest that the disciples may have been hindered from recognizing Jesus on the shore by the dimness of the dawning morning light. These and such like conditions may have contributed to the eflect. Tlieir mental condition in particular has to be taken into account as an operating factor in the case. It is altogether probable that their surprise and bewilderment, combined with their hopeless grief, made them less capable of exact observation than in ordinary circumstances. Yet the narra- tives convey the impression that there was some- thing more in the case than this ; that some mysterious change had occurred in Jesus' outward appearance which at least assisted non-recognition and excited awe in the beholders (Lk 24") ; that some change in bodily appearance had taken place corresponding to the mysterious cliange already referred to in Christ's relation to ordinary pliysical laws.