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How do we reconcile Jesus' appearance in the Luke & John passages relating to Thomas:

  • Matt 27 - Judas killed himself before Jesus' resurrection
  • Luke 24 - Jesus met the rest of the disciples eleven & 51) Jesus ascended to heaven on the same day
  • John 20 - Thomas story eight days later - but Jesus has already seen Thomas in Luke

If Judas killed himself already, there are only 11 disciples left, and Luke says Jesus met the eleven (include Thomas) & Jesus ascended to heaven on the day. Yet eight days later we have the Thomas story in John.

Matthew 27:3-5

3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? see thou to it. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.

Luke 24:33-36 & 51 (ASV)

33 And they rose up that very hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they rehearsed the things that happened in the way, and how he was known of them in the breaking of the bread. 36 And as they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.

John 20:24-26

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Note:

  1. John is the only one that mentions this story Clearly, one passage has to be wrong.

  2. Luke 24:40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. - it is astonishing that Luke does not even mention anything about Jesus marks / injuries or any one else.

  3. Twelve - some say it is a general term used for the Group and not a specific count - there doesn’t appear to be any passage to support this. if anything the passages show the opposite, some examples;

John 20:24 - But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

Matthew 26:14 - Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

Matthew 26:47 While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

Mark 14:43 Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Luke 22:3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.

Luke 22:47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.

1 Corinthians 15:5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Finally - why would Thomas not believe when in - Matt 10:7-8 he and the disciples had the power to raise the dead. "As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

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    'One of the twelve' is a designation that does not cease because Judas is deceased. He 'was' 'one of the twelve' for several years.
    – Nigel J
    Jul 5, 2022 at 17:11
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    Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I don't understand this question. If it's what Nigel J pointed out the question seems far too elaborate. But if not, what are the two facts that need to be reconciled? Jul 5, 2022 at 18:44
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    I second the motion of @RayButterworth—what exactly, precisely, has to be reconciled? How aren't 'Judas killed himself before the resurrection' and 'Jesus appeared to the 11' reconcilable? Both John and Luke affirm Thomas saw the resurrected Christ. Jul 8, 2022 at 18:06
  • @SolaGratia, I see what it being asked now. The main problem is that there is far too much extra information in the question (e.g. Judas and heaven). Luke says the eleven (implying Thomas too) were gathered together; John explicitly says Thomas was not there. Jul 9, 2022 at 12:23
  • This probably doesn't count as reconciling them... but one way of dealing with differing accounts is to assert that eyewitnesses do not always agree; and the Holy Spirit moved the authors to include varying accounts. When God looks through Luke's eyes he gets a different perspective than when he looks though Matthew's. Oct 13, 2022 at 13:38

4 Answers 4

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Chronology

The timing of the ascension is the easy part of this question to answer - the ascension did not take place the same day as the resurrection; Luke himself acknowledges this in Acts chapter 1.

One of the known, narrative features of Luke's Gospel is that he is not providing a play-by-play narrative, and skips around chronologically a number of times. Some object to this because Luke says he's writing an orderly account (Luke 1:3), but it is our western eyes that see "orderly account" and demand that must mean "chronological order".

Much of Luke's Gospel is arranged geographically, not necessarily chronologically. Luke will relate the key events, people, etc. in this town, then that town, and so on. Luke regularly name-drops key witnesses. It is as if Luke is challenging his readers to fact-check him: here's where to go and here's who to talk to, you can validate this story for yourself.

The geographic arrangement of much of Luke's Gospel facilitates this kind of fact-checking.

In Luke 24 there are several apparent discontinuities, where Luke jumps seamlessly from one set of contiguous events to another (he also does this throughout the passion narrative, e.g. compare the passion account of Mark to that of Luke - Mark is careful to log every day; Luke is less concerned with telling us what day it happened than he is about telling us that it happened).

  • There may be a chronology break between verses 43 & 44 (two different post-resurrection appearances)
  • There is probably a chronology break between verses 48 & 49 (initial teaching vs. later teaching, as further elaborated upon in Acts 1)
  • There is almost certainly a chronology break before verse 50. Jesus appeared to the disciples in the evening; the trip to Bethany for the ascension is almost certainly not that evening (and, according to Acts, is 40 days later)

So the ascension does not happen the same day as the resurrection; this becomes more apparent when we see how Luke has structured his account.

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Where was Thomas?

The answer to this portion of the question is less clear. 3 possibilities present themselves:

  • It's a genuine contradiction: Luke says Thomas was there the first time the apostles (as a group) saw Jesus; John says Thomas was not there
  • "The eleven" was used the same way "the twelve" is used elsewhere -- it's the way the apostles as a quorum were referred to, even if not exactly 11 or 12 are present at the moment. That is, "the eleven" is a term that was used to refer to "the apostles" during the interval between Judas' death & Matthias' call, but it does not actually tell us how many of the 11 were present
  • Thomas was present in verse 33 but has gone somewhere else prior to verse 36. If the apostles were gathered together and significant news such as this had reached them, it is not unreasonable that one of their number would have hurried to share the news elsewhere (or perhaps even to check the tomb for himself).
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I dont think there is a chronological contradiction here.

The issue is that Thomas did not think Jesus was truly ressurected in body and flesh.

He was convinced that Jesus had only appeared as a spirit.

When Jesus appeared to the eleven, Thomas saw that, but he didnt believe that Jesus was ressurected in body. This was an important distinction, appearing as a ghost versus being ressurected body, as Jesus prophesized about himself.

Essentially, simply appearing as a ghost would not qualify as truly being ressurected in body.

So Jesus appeared to Thomas and showed him he was truly ressureccted in body.

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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Jul 10, 2022 at 22:24
  • @ supercube - Jesus was quite clear that he was not a spirit - Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” & he didn't just come and disappear - Luke 24:43 and he took it and ate before them. Jul 11, 2022 at 9:57
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When the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, returned to Jerusalem reporting their encounter with Jesus, "They found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together" (Luke 24:33). So there were a lot of people there, and I am sure they were more eager to tell their happy encounter, instead of identifying who were in the room. Luke collected the details from witnesses, likely never from John, who could provided accurate details in his Gospel on that particular night, as he could recall exactly a week later, Jesus reappeared to strengthen Thomas.

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  • @ Vicent Wong - your point noted - 1) but Luke seems clear 'eleven' could easily have said disciples or some. 2) No other story of any other disciple meeting Jesus after 3) If so many people gathered it would have been the talk of the town, Thomas still waited 8 days, why? 4) If Luke wrong not very inspired Jul 13, 2022 at 8:30
  • @another theory - Luke was not in the room certainly. His record was based on, as the introduction in his Gospel, "investigation". John was there in the room. So which record is more creditable? I don't take Luke made a mistake for his focus was on Jesus resurrected into a flesh, not a spirit. You may note that Jesus gave the great commission in the room, contrary to Matthew 28:16-20, on the mountain in Galilee. I would accept some discrepancies in the Bible, perhaps God allow it, as a trial to our faith. Jul 13, 2022 at 16:24
  • @another theory - why Thomas waited 8 days? Since the last supper, many names were not mentioned. There was no clue where they went. Thomas might be with the disciples from the 2nd day onward, whereas Jesus came after 8 days. But truly this speculation is unnecessary. It doesn't change the focus of Jesus's resurrection into a fresh, as he ate fish in the room, similar record in John 21, Jesus ate fish with 7 disciples by the sea of Galilee. Jul 13, 2022 at 16:39
  • @ Vicent Wong - noted - Jesus appeared on a number of occasions & yes John arguably would take precedence if John the disciple really wrote the Gospel see link: hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/a/63568/33268 - that would still make Luke incorrect whatever the reason was. Astonishing that Luke nor the others mentions the the mark / injuries to Jesus. God is not going to inspire error. The Resurrected are spirits like the angels which they thought he was, which he cleared - he is not - that's for another Q. Jul 14, 2022 at 9:09
  • @another theory - Thanks for the link. chapter 21 of John is an addendum. It could be written by someone else quite some time later and then annexed to the book. But could chapter 21 deny the previous 20 chapters were not John's witness? Luke 24:39 NIV "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." One may wonder why Luke didn't mention the nail wound on Jesus. But if Luke did mentioned, will the focus shift? Bible authors written with a purpose, what to say and what not to say. In the end, who believe will believe. Jul 14, 2022 at 13:16
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Remember that by the time these books were written, the disciples of Christ became a famous and honored group among Christians. Probably the single most important and honored group in all of Christianity.

It was not a casual thing to say that you had met with "the twelve" or in Luke's case, "the eleven".

So I read "the eleven" as the name of a group, not as a count. And in this case, Jesus came upon "the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them", so it was a meeting of the eleven that Jesus came to. Now if we adopt the assumption of the question, then it would be impossible for a disciple to miss a meeting of the eleven, since there wouldn't be eleven if not all were there. But obviously a disciple can be absent from a meeting, and it remains a meeting of the group, just one in which not all were present.

On the other hand if I say "I saw eleven disciples" without the article and a qualification of disciples, it would mean that I had counted and saw eleven disciples. But if I say "I saw the eleven" (with an article and no "disciples" as in the Greek), then I am likely referring to the group, just as a meeting with the Sanhedrin remains a meeting with the Sanhedrin even if a few are absent, or a meeting with the Senate remains a meeting even if some senators are absent.

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  • @ Robert - noted - but is there any passage that quotes them as a collective group "the twelve" that shows it was not always 12 present? Jul 15, 2022 at 8:31
  • @anothertheory - How would we know? The point is that the group is referred to, so to know exactly who was present would require other verses tracking each individual's movement or a statement that X wasn't present/left, and that only happens twice, once with Judas and once with Thomas.
    – Robert
    Jul 15, 2022 at 16:54
  • @ Robert - I have add to my Q - the passages don't show twelve being used as a collective group, if anything the opposite. Jul 18, 2022 at 10:41
  • @anothertheory all of the passages you cite show the twelve being referred to as a group. The very phrase "one of the twelve" and lack of qualifier "disciple" means that it is a group.
    – Robert
    Jul 19, 2022 at 0:04
  • @ Robert - I read it different, 'twelve' means they are talking about a disciple, but it means all are present, unless it clarifies the 'one' they are talking about. So Luke 'eleven' meant they were all present, not talking about one or some. Your points noted. Jul 19, 2022 at 8:31

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