Hearts Burning within Us

John 21:18–23

"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

The post-mortem (after-death) appearances of our Lord Jesus is one of the undisputed facts that point to the historical truth of His resurrection. Here are some interesting things to note that lend support to the veracity of this event, see 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, a very early document and also a pointer to earlier tradition (vv.3–5). Here we see a list of people experiencing the risen Lord and how it is historically corroborated in documents:

(1) Peter: Paul met Peter in Gal 1:18, Luke 24:34 also reports this event.

(2) 12 Disciples: Luke 24:36–42, John 20:19–20; this event was a demonstration of the physicality of the resurrection and that it is the same person Jesus right before them.

(3) 500 Brethren: probably in Galilee where "most of whom are still alive, though some have died"; Paul is saying here like "You can ask them if it is true." This is event is also predicted in Matt 28:16–17. This is also corroborated in Mark 16 and John 21 here.

(4) James, the brother of Jesus: This is really amazing, since it is likely none of Jesus siblings believed Him during His lifetime (Mark 3:21, 31–35) then they suddenly become active Christian leaders especially James! (Acts 1:14, 12:17, 21:18 Gal 1:19, 2:9, 1 Cor 9:5). Most scholars agree that the fact of the conversion of James is one of the surest proofs of the resurrection.

(5) All Apostles: An extension of the 12 similar to Acts 1:21–22 (6) Finally, to Paul: This is a shared physical manifestation of light and sound (voice) compared to a vision, i.e. Stephen seeing Jesus before his death. This is also comparable to the Transfiguration. Within the Gospels as well were similar accounts which Paul does not mention here, the appearances to women disciples (Matt 28:9–10, John 20:11–17) and the Road to Emmaeus, etc.

Now, the most popular criticism is that the disciples were hallucinating due to bereavement. But consider that it is even more highly fantastic that hallucinations would occur consistently in several various occasions, among different individuals and groups, across differing temperament towards Jesus and with varying psychological conditions. Also, it is fairly established that most hallucinations cannot happen in groups and for some reason can only occur in one sensory mode only, i.e., can see but can't hear, can feel but can't smell, similar to hallucinations of vibrating handphones in our pockets, we didn't hear it but we felt it. New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop NT Wright says, visions of the dead confirm to us that the person is dead, not alive. It was not a mere vision but an actual experience of the bodily resurrected Christ, that the disciples and critics (James, the brother of Jesus and Saul of Tarsus) witnessed. And oh how we long for such an experience of God. And yet we do have that to a certain extent through the ministry of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which the Lord gave us (v. 22)  then we can also say: "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32)

Psalm 110:1

"JEHOVAH said unto Adonai: Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."