Luke 24:34

The Lord is risen indeed,— Our Lord appeared to St. Peter the same day as he did to the disciples, in their way to Emmaus; but whether, before he conversed with the disciples, or after, is not certain. It was not till after the two disciples had left Jerusalem, and set out for Emmaus; for it appears from the account which they give our Lord of what had come to their knowledge, that they knew nothing of any appearance to St. Peter: and yet it must have been before they returned to Jerusalem; for they found the eleven discoursing of this appearance to Simon. It is doubtful therefore which of these two appearances should be placed first; but they both happened on the day of Christ's resurrection. As neither the time nor the particulars of this appearance are recorded by the evangelists, though St. Paul expressly refers to it, 1 Corinthians 15:5 we shall not pretend to say any thing more about it, than that the apostles seem to have laid greater stress upon that alone, than upon all those related by the women; for upon the two disciples coming into the chamber, they accost them immediately, without waiting to hear their relation, with the Lord it risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon, but make no mention of any of his appearances to the women. Probably Peter was the first man, as Mary Magdalene was the first woman, favoured with a sight of our Saviour after his resurrection. St. Peter's report of his being risen may have been supposed less subject to suspicion, after his having denied him; and therefore our Lord's first appearance to him might have been designed to establish this important circumstance upon the most unexceptionable evidence. Peter had denied his Master; and had his Master shewn himself to any other disciple before he shewed himself to him, might not Peter have thought his repentance ineffectual, his reconciliation impossible, and consequently have been plunged in despair? but what greater consolation could be afforded to this penitent sinner, and through him to all other penitents, than to find that his Lord was entirely reconciled to him, by the peculiar honour paid him; that thoughhe had denied him, he was not rejected by him; and though his fall wasattended with inconceivable aggravations, the magnanimity and mercy of his Saviour was still greater. As the faith of the disciples was much strengthened by the report of St. Peter, so must it have been greatly confirmed by the arrival of these two disciples, who declared that the Lord had appeared to them also. St. Mark, however, represents the reception which their report met with somewhat differently, ch. Luke 16:12. They went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. But there is no inconsistency between the evangelists; for though the greatest part of the apostles believed that Jesus was risen, as St. Luke affirms, some, who had not given credit either to the women nor to Simon, continued obstinately to disbelieve, in spite of all that the two disciples or the rest could say. This seems to be a better method of reconciling the evangelists, than to suppose that on St. Peter's information the apostles believed Jesus was risen, but did not believe that he had appeared to the two disciples; because, according to their own account of the matter, they did not know him at first, and because at parting he had vanished out of their sight: for surely it is natural to think that the disciples, who, on this occasion, were more than twentyin number, would divide in their opinions upon such a subject as the resurrection of their Master from the dead. We know from St. Luke himself, that a few did not believe after they had seen Jesus with their own eyes. See Luke 24:41 and compare Matthew 28:17. It is therefore no straining of the text to suppose, that by the eleven saying, the Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon, St. Luke means only some of the eleven; perhaps the greatest part of them said so. Besides, we must understand the evangelist's words in a limited sense, because St. Peter, of whom he speaks, was himself one of the eleven.