New Testament History

The Passion until Pentecost

The places of the Passion
The two weeks before Passover
The dates of the crucifixion and resurrection
The Passion
The two weeks after the resurrection
The ascension until Pentecost
 
Abbreviations and bibliography
 
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The two weeks after the resurrection


Christ appeared to the disciples of Emmaus (i.e. Luke and Cleopas)[1] on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:13 “that very same day,” trans. NJB). He appeared to 10 Apostles on that evening (John 20:24; Judas Iscariot and Thomas were not present). Luke and Cleopas returned to Jerusalem before Christ appeared to these Apostles (Mark 16:12-13). The publication of the visions on the public ministry situates both the apparition on the way to Emmaus and the apparition to the 10 Apostles on Easter Monday (the vision of Monday 2 April 1821).[2] A.C.E. saw the events of Easter Sunday on two successive days (on Sunday and Monday) because many events took place on Sunday. This is evidenced by various data in the visions:
  • Thomas was not present at the meal seen on Sunday evening because he had withdrawn himself.[3] Yet he was present at the meal seen on Monday morning,[4] and he withdrew himself after that morning meal.[5] Hence the meal seen on Monday morning took place on Sunday morning, i.e. before Thomas left the Apostles.
  • The meal seen on Sunday evening[6] is similar to the one seen on Monday evening[7] (e.g. the cloths were the same during both meals). The vision on the Sunday evening gathering mentions an eating, while the one on the Monday gathering does not. Different parts of the same gathering on the Sunday evening were seen on the evenings of Sunday and Monday.
  • The Passover Festival closed during the Monday evening gathering.[8] Passover ends at the close of 16 Nisan,[9] on which day the first fruits are offered (Lev 23:11). 16 Nisan is also the festival day, added by tradition, on which a second seder is held (in addition to the one held on the High Day of 15 Nisan).[10] The close of Passover seen on the Monday evening thus took place on the Sunday evening of 16 Nisan.
  • In the year 1820 the apparitions on the way to Emmaus[11] and to the 10 Apostles[12] were seen on a Sunday.
  • The apparition to the Apostles with Thomas being present was seen on both Sunday 8 April 1821[13] and Monday 9 April 1821.[14]
  • The publication of the visions in the diary situates the apparition on the way to Emmaus on Tuesday 3 April 1821[15] instead of on Monday 2 April 1821 (the date that is given in the publication of the visions on the public ministry).
  • Until the year 1969, the Gospel about the apparition on the way to Emmaus was read on Easter Monday[16] A.C.E. saw the event on the liturgical date instead of on the historical date.
A.C.E. saw the Apostles going from Bethany to Shechem (situated about 60 km from Jerusalem) on Tuesday 3 April 1821. They arrived there on Wednesday 4 April 1821. The trip must have taken a considerable time since the Apostles were preaching on the way.[17] They travelled back the same way on the following Friday, on which day the Apostles left Shechem before daybreak[18] and arrived in Jerusalem after sunset (given that the Sabbath had already begun).[19] In this case, they travelled in a hurry, without any preaching.[20] Since the quick journey took more than a daytime, the tranquil journey must have taken two days (Monday-Wednesday) instead of one day (Tuesday-Wednesday). The journey of the two days (Monday-Tuesday 6-7 April 33 AD) was seen on one day (the vision of Tuesday 3 April 1821).

Christ appeared to Thomas for the first time after the close of the Sabbath, on the evening of Saturday 11 April = at the start of 23 Nisan (the vision of Saturday 7 April 1821, Mark 16:14; John 20:26).[21] It was eight (inclusive) days (John 20:26) since the apparition to the 10 Apostles on the first day of the week (John 20:19), Sunday 16 Nisan-Saturday/Sunday 23 Nisan. Christ did not appear to a group of Apostles between Sunday 5 April and the Saturday evening of 11 April, but He did appear to some individual persons.[22]

In the period 23-25 Nisan = Sunday-Tuesday 12-14 April (the visions of Sunday-Tuesday 8-10 April 1821), Christ appeared to the Apostles and disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-13). It was the third time that He appeared to them (John 21:14), i.e. after the apparitions on Sunday 5 April and Saturday 11 April. The Apostles and disciples present were seven (John 21:2): Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, John, James the Greater, and two other disciples (John Mark and Silas).[23]

On 27 Nisan = Thursday 16 April (the vision of Thursday 12 April 1821), the seven were joined by the other Apostles. They gathered on a hilltop near the Sea of Tiberias (Matt 28:16), where Christ appeared to more than 500 (1 Cor 15:6). Christ appeared to James alone on that occasion (1 Cor 15:7a)[24] and to the multitude, including all the Apostles (1 Cor 15:7b).[25]

 


[1] A.C.E., Life, 4:319, 378-382.

[2] A.C.E., Life, 4:378-385.

[3] A.C.E., Life, 4:374.

[4] A.C.E., Life, 4:377.

[5] A.C.E., Life, 4:378.

[6] A.C.E., Life, 4:374-376.

[7] A.C.E., Life, 4:381-385.

[8] A.C.E., Life, 4:381.

[9] 16 Nisan marks the end of the first part of the Passover Festival, which part lasted from the close of 14 Nisan until 16 Nisan (Exod 12:6, 16; Lev 23:5-7, 10-14; Num 28:16-17). A further feast day occurred at the end of the seven Days of Unleavened Bread (15-21 Nisan), on 21 Nisan (Exod 12:16; Lev 23:8; Num 28:25).

[10] Baskin 2007: 769.

[11] A.C.E., Visionen April 1820, 33: “Jesus erscheint den Jüngern zu Emmaus. Dieses Bild hatte sie zuerst am Ostersonntag abends, dann am Osterdienstag nachmittags infolge einer Betrachtung desselben.” A.C.E. also saw the apparition on Easter Monday in that year: A.C.E., Visionen April 1820, 63: “2. - 3. April 1820. Ostermontag. […] Nach Tisch hat sie eine Betrachtung von Emmaus.”

[12] A.C.E., Visionen April 1820, 41: “seit dem vorigen Sonntag, wo sie Christum den Jüngern ohne Thomas erscheinen sah.”

[13] A.C.E., Visionen April 1821, 25.

[14] A.C.E., Visionen April 1821, 28.

[15] A.C.E., Visionen April 1821, 2: “2. - 3. April 1821. Die Jünger in Emmaus. Christus erscheint den Jüngern. Übertragen in Apostelgeschichte.” A.C.E. also saw the apparition on a Tuesday in the year 1820 (in addition to the visions on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday in that year): A.C.E., Visionen April 1820, 33.

[16] Miss. Rom. (Johnson and Ward 1994: 332).

[17] A.C.E., Life, 4:385-386.

[18] A.C.E., Vie, 6:179: “Je les vis repartir le vendredi avant le jour.”

[19] A.C.E., Life, 4:390: “It was so late when the Apostles assembled in the house of the Last Supper that they could not partake of the meal prepared for them. They had to begin the Sabbath solemnities.”

[20] A.C.E., Life, 4:389: “The Apostles very quickly returned from the region of Sichar. […] The Apostles only passed through the different places on the road without stopping.”

[21] A.C.E., Life, 4:391-396.

[22] A.C.E., Life, 4:389.

[23] A.C.E., Life, 4:396-402.

[24] A.C.E., Life, 4:447: “James the Less said that Jesus, when He appeared to him alone on the mountain in Galilee, had told him that […].”

[25] A.C.E., Life, 4:405-407.