Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost 

James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me. For I am the least of 

the apostles .  (1 Cor 15:3 8). 

    Sacred Scripture, in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, gives us the order of some of the appearances of 

Jesus Christ after the Resurrection. This list of appearances is not complete; it leaves out appearances to Mary 

Magdalene, the other holy women, and other appearances. However, Sacred Scripture is clearly stating an 

order to the appearances that are listed there. 

    Jesus appeared to Peter, as is also mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 24:34). Then, Jesus appeared to the 

Twelve Apostles. Notice that Paul counts the apostles as twelve, even though Judas Iscariot was dead (Mt 

27:5), so that there were only Eleven Apostles at this time (Mt 28:16; Mk 16:14; Lk 24:9, 33). Why then does 

Sacred Scripture, in Paul's letter, say that Jesus appeared after His Resurrection to the Twelve? The twelfth 

apostle must be Matthias, who was chosen, between the Ascension and Pentecost, to be the Apostle replacing 

Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26). Matthias was chosen partly because he was among the disciples of Christ from the 

beginning, as Peter himself says:   `So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the 

Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up 

from us one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.'   (Acts 1:21 22). Therefore, 

Matthias was among the Apostles and disciples of Christ from the beginning, and must have been with the 

Eleven Apostles when Jesus appeared to them. Sacred Scripture, in the words of Saint Paul, refers to Matthias 

as one of the Twelve, at the time of Jesus' appearances after the Resurrection, even though he was not chosen 

and enrolled as one of the Twelve Apostles, replacing Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:20), until after Jesus' Ascension. 

Appearances on the Christian Sabbath 

    When did the risen Lord Jesus appear to all twelve of the Apostles? It was not on the first day of the 

Resurrection, for the Apostle Thomas was not present that first evening when Jesus appeared to the Apostles 

(Jn 20:19,24).  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.  (Jn 

20:24). It was not until eight days later, on the first Sunday after the Resurrection, that Jesus appeared to 

Thomas for the first time (Jn 20:25 26). Therefore, the appearance of Jesus to all of the Twelve Apostles, as 

stated by Saint Paul, did not occur until that day. 

    Jesus appeared to ten of the Apostles on the evening of the first day of the Resurrection (and perhaps 

Matthias was present also). But Jesus did not appear to all eleven Apostles (twelve including Matthias) until 

the following Sunday, the eighth day of the Resurrection. Thus, when the Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus 

appeared to the eleven Apostles, this describes the eighth day of the Resurrection, not the first day.  Afterward 

he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table .  (Mk 16:14). 

Appearance on the Road to Emmaus 

    The Gospel of Luke describes the days from the Resurrection to the Ascension in condensed form. When 

the two disciples returned from Emmaus, they discussed the events of Emmaus with the apostles and other 

disciples (Lk 24:35).  As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, `Peace to 

you.'   (Lk 24:36). The phrase  As they were saying this  tells us that Jesus appeared to the Apostles and 

disciples while they were still discussing the events of Emmaus and other appearances of the risen Christ. 

There was a length of time between the disciples return from Emmaus and the appearance of Jesus that 

evening, which may have been as long as a few hours. 

    Notice that the Eleven Apostles were gathered together when the two disciples returned from Emmaus (Lk 

24:33), but Thomas, one of the Eleven, was not present when Jesus appeared later that same evening, the first 

day of the Resurrection (Jn 20:19 29). Thus, Thomas must have departed sometime between the return of the 

disciples from Emmaus and the appearance of the risen Christ that same evening. Blessed Anne Catherine 

adds that Thomas did leave the company of the other Apostles that day, to go to  some little place near 

Samaria with a disciple from that part of the country. 

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