Identifying the Resurrected Jesus

After Luke related the experience of Cleopas and his companion on the Road to Emmaus and how they did not at first recognize the resurrected Jesus (Luke 24:13-35), he then related the event where he appeared suddenly in a room full of his disciples, which John identified as being locked when describing the same event.

In these famous accounts in Luke and John, it is noteworthy that there is no indication that they immediately recognized the instantaneously appearing figure as being the resurrected Jesus.
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NET Bible

Luke 24:36-41 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” John 20:19-27 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Luke 24:36-41 36 While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 But they were startled and terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 Then he said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; it’s me! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones like you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still could not believe it (because of their joy) and were amazed, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” John 20:19-27 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” 24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!” 26 Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and examine my hands. Extend your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.”

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The NET Bible translation in its footnote for “ghost” informs us that this is not “a phantom” but that πνεῦμα (pneuma) here may be rendered as a “ghost,” or “an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses” as the BDAG defines. So, the disciples did not immediately think it was Jesus but something else, and were thus understandably frightened. Yet, it was only after Jesus spoke to them in his familiar way and showed them his stigmata (specifically in his hands, feet and side only) that they began to see this was a materialization of the risen Lord Jesus—obviously not in his sacrificed form, but in a form representing it with select stigmata on display (the thorn wounds and scourging marks were not spoken for, as they certainly would have been if it was his actual sacrificed form on display).

In another instance, the resurrected Jesus later appeared to his disciples when they were engaged in fishing on a boat, and he was only recognized when he performed an unmistakable miracle of fishes—not before, not with his voice or form, silhouette or not, but only by the effects of his unmistakable identifying miracle.—John 21:1-8; Luke 5:3-6.

This confusion over who was appearing to them is resolved by the conclusion that Jesus’ sacrificed body was forever gone, and thus he was appearing in a different human body, different enough to prevent immediate identification, but similar enough to prevent continued doubt.

Hungry Jesus?
When the resurrected Jesus appeared to Cleopas and his companion, he agreed to dine with them. At this point their eyes were still “kept from recognizing him,” which was understood to be due to Jesus appearing “in another form” by the author of Mark 16:12. (Luke 24:16) The account relates that Jesus took a loaf of bread, and in his characteristic manner prayed over it, then distributed it to them. (Luke 24:29-31, 35) Then after he was recognized by his idiosyncrasies, he suddenly disappeared just like the “angel of Jehovah” did previously in Judges 6:21. So he vanished before eating any bread. Then following that and after appearing in the locked room, he apparently is still hungry, for he asks: “Do you have anything here to eat?” They then gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in front of them. (Luke 24:41-43) So why would he materialize with a hungry body? “He asked for something to eat, not because he was hungry, but merely to help impress upon them that he was a real person, not imaginary.”^[1] This request then is a logical follow-up from his invitation for them to touch and see that he was a physical person. Him eating is also a reminder of how Abraham’s three materialized angels also ate a meal.—Genesis 18:1-8.


Footnotes:
^[1] w60 9/15 p. 576 Questions From Readers

Credits:

• Opening picture from: After Jesus’ Resurrection, Was His Body Flesh or Spirit?
  www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/jesus-body/
• Jesus eating picture from Free Bible Images: Two Disciples on Road to Emmaus
  www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/disciples-emmaus