How do we know Christ rose from death?

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Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after re...
Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The appearances Christ made after He rose from the dead provide the most convincing proof of the resurrection. Scripture records at least ten distinct appearances of Christ between the resurrection and the ascension: to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18), to other women who had been at the tomb (Matt. 28:8–10), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–32), to Peter (Luke 24:34), to ten of the eleven remaining apostles, Thomas being absent (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25), to all eleven apostles, with Thomas present (John 20:26–31), to seven of the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–25), to more than five hundred disciples, probably on a mountain in Galilee (1 Cor. 15:7), to James (1 Cor. 15:7), and to the apostles when He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3–11). In addition, the risen Christ later appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–9), and several subsequent occasions (Acts 18:9; 22:17–18; 23:11).

It is significant to note that all of the Lord’s postresurrection appearances were to believers (except Paul, who was not yet a believer when He appeared to him the first time). His normal method of reaching the lost is not through performing spectacular miracles, such as personally appearing to them, but through the witness of His church in the power of His Spirit (Matt. 28:19–20; Acts 1:8). Nor would such miracles convince unbelievers anyway. “But though He had performed so many signs before them,” John noted, “yet they were not believing in Him” (John 12:37). Even a resurrection appearance would not convince hardened unbelievers, since those who “do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, … will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).


MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 376–377). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

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