Bible Synapse
Were the disciples terrified or glad when the risen Jesus appeared to them?
Hard question · The death and resurrection of Jesus · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
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They were “terrified and affrighted”; after he showed them his hands and feet they “believed not for joy, and wondered”.
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
When he had shown them his hands and side, “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord”.
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
The objection
Luke says that when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the evening of Easter Day they were terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. John says the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Critics ask which reaction is true.
The answer
Both reactions happened, one after the other, and both Gospels place the gladness after Jesus had shown the disciples his wounds. In Luke the fear comes first, at his sudden appearing: the disciples were “terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit” (Luke 24:37). Then Jesus showed them his hands and his feet and invited them to handle him, and their fear turned into a joy so great that they could hardly believe it: “they yet believed not for joy, and wondered” (24:41). He then ate before them (24:42–43).
John tells the same evening more briefly. The disciples were behind shut doors “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). Jesus came and stood among them, said “Peace be unto you”, and “shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord” (20:20). John’s ‘then’ (Greek oun, ‘so’ or ‘therefore’) marks the gladness as the result of being shown his wounds, just as in Luke. John does not deny that there was alarm first; he passes straight to the outcome. Luke dwells on the first moment, John on its end, and Ellicott reads John’s verse in exactly this way.
From the classic commentators
Their first impression was that they saw a spirit, and they were afraid, but the conviction that it was indeed the Lord, filled them with joy.C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Commentary for English Readers, on John 20:20 (1878)
Sources
- C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Commentary for English Readers: John 20, at Bible Hub
- C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Commentary for English Readers: Luke 24, at Bible Hub
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: John 20 (1746–1763), at Bible Hub