Why didn’t the disciples always recognize Jesus after His resurrection?

Answer

The Bible does not specifically explain why the disciples of Christ did not always recognize Jesus after His resurrection. Therefore, some of the following discussion is based on speculation. With this in mind, there are a few factors that might have led to the disciples not immediately recognizing Jesus when He first appeared to them after His resurrection. First, although Jesus had foretold His resurrection on the third day, the disciples did not fully comprehend «But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.», (Mark 9:32), as they were not anticipating His resurrection. This lack of expectation could explain some of their surprise and disbelief upon seeing Him.

One such instance where Jesus went unrecognized was when Mary Magdalene visited the tomb early in the morning «Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.», (John 20:15). Instead of identifying Jesus, she initially mistook Him for the gardener. It is crucial to consider that we do not know the distance between Mary and Jesus when she misidentified Him. It is possible that she was too far away to recognize Him clearly until He spoke to her. Additionally, given the early hour, the dim light may have hindered her ability to see Him distinctly. When combined with her lack of expectation to see Him alive, it becomes understandable why she did not recognize Him until He addressed her.

Another instance where Jesus was not immediately recognized occurred when the diSciples did not recognize Him when they were out fishing «But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. », (John 21:4). This could also be related to the distance Jesus might have been from them. A third instance is when the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) did not recognize Jesus until He broke bread. How could these two disciples have walked, talked, and eaten with Jesus without recognizing Him? In this instance, it seems that they were supernaturally prevented from recognizing Jesus. Jesus perhaps had taken on a different appearance to keep Himself from being recognized. Why would Jesus have done this? The Bible does not say. Perhaps Jesus “veiled” His identity so the two disciples would truly think through the things Jesus was saying, rather than accepting the teaching blindly, as they likely would have if they had known it was Jesus.

What we can know for certain is that it was Jesus Himself who appeared to them because of all the testimony of those who saw the resurrected Christ. In addition, there was the witness of the remarkable change that took place in the lives of the disciples. Immediately before and after the crucifixion, the eleven apostles were in hiding in fear, yet after spending considerable time with the resurrected Christ, they became fearless evangelists proclaiming the gospel boldly no matter how strong the opposition. In addition, all eventually gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. Only witnessing the resurrected Jesus Christ can account for such a radical change.