They literally saw Him face to face in actual bodily from and talked with Him and saw Him eat. Others later heard of it through their personal eyewitness testimony. Today we hear of it through the reliable New Testament documents.
Simply - for two very profound reasons. 1. They saw him die. The Romans knew how to execute and faced execution themselves if a victim survived. Jesus was executed - period, and as dead as a door nail. He was buried in a borrowed unused tomb and a stone laid across the entrance. Another messianic preachet dead and forgotten. 2. On the Sunday morning after the crucifixion, the tomb was found empty by some of the women who were his followers, despite it having been guarded by Roman soldiers. leter that day Jesus appeared to his followers alive. Not as a resuscitated corpse, but someone in a 'glorified' body that shone. He showed them the holes in his hands and feet - where the nails had been - and the wound in his side where he was speared by a Roman soldier. He not only appeared to his disciples on several occasions but to the others (like Mary Magdalene, Cephas, and so on) to Paul, and, on one occasion to over 500 gathered together. Those to whom he appeared were so convinced by what they saw that they were willing to die for what they believed - hardly the actions of people who were deluded, misguided or conned. And for many they did die - either by crucifixion (eg Peter and Andrew) by stoning (Stephen), by beheading (Paul) or by being thrown to the lions in the Roman sports stadiums. Those who saw him as a resurrected Christ, like John, wrote about their experiences (eg John's gospel) and were utterly convinced that Jesus was divine and the long-awaited Messiah. In John's case, he passed on his knowledge, not only to us through his account and his letters in The Bible, but also through his own followers in turn, like Polycarp, who was also convinced of Christ's resurrection - so much so that he too died for his beliefs.
The earliest of the gospels is now known to be Mark's Gospel, written approximately 70 CE. This originally finished at verse 16:8, when the young man explained that Jesus had risen, and the women fled in fear, telling no-one. So the oldest teaching was merely that an unknown young man said that Jesus was risen, leaving the reader to decide whether the young man was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus or, for example, whether he was a grave robber.
Apart from this, the gospels tell us that no one saw the actual resurrection of Jesus, although each provides a different account of who then saw the risen Jesus, and where.
The disciples encountered Jesus many times after his resurrection. The most noticeable time was when he ate with them, broke bread and said the blessing they realized that this "stranger" they were talking to on the road was actually Jesus. They did recognize that it was him until that moment. Eating was very important because the fact that he could eat proved that he was real and not a ghost.
In Matthew's Gospel, the disciples met Jesus in a mountain in Galilee, where the women had instructed them to go. We are not told how the disciples knew it was Jesus, but they had known him intimately for at least a year, and probably only Jesus and his close associates knew that the disciples would be there.
In Luke's Gospel, the two disciples that Jesus first met on the road the Emmaeus did not know that it was Jesus until he broke bread, blessed it and gave it to them, probably a ritual they had seen often. In Luke 24:36, the eleven disciples together in the upper room suddenly saw Jesus in their midst. Only Jesus could have done this. He also showed them his wounds, confirming what they already knew.
In John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus, but she thought he was the gardener, not recognising him until he addressed her by name. In this gospel, the disciples already knew from Mary Magdalene that Jesus was risen, so the ten who were together in the upper room would not have been surprised when he suddenly appeared in their midst. As in Luke's Gospel, he showed them his hands, as well as his side, confirming what they already knew. Thomas was not present on that occasion, but saw Jesus eight days later and believed.
Mark's Gospel was the first New Testament gospel to be written and originally ended at verse 16:8 with the young man telling the women that Jesus was risen and they fled in terror, telling no one. In this original gospel, none of the disciples ever saw the risen Jesus.
The 'Long Ending' (verses 16:9-20), added to Mark's Gospel much later, is very close to Luke's Gospel. Again, Jesus in another form met "two of them" as they walked on the road (although this could also be intended as the two women of Matthew's Gospel), but here there is no suggestion that they did not know it was Jesus. Afterwards, he appeared to the eleven at a meal and upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, so if they did not already know this was Jesus they would soon do so.
If he hadn't shown himself, would anyone believe he had risen from the dead?
Principally, followers of Jesus believed he had risen from the dead.
The disciple named Thomas was called a doubter when he did not believe that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.
Thomas, also known as Doubting Thomas, did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw and touched Jesus's wounds for himself. Jesus appeared to Thomas and invited him to touch his wounds, after which Thomas declared his belief.
Doubting Thomas, from the disciple who would not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw Him.
Hope. Just as Jesus rose from the dead so will believers rise from the dead.
Jesus appeared to many of his disciples. It was described as stunning to many of them, some could not believe it was Jesus speaking to them. Others saw and believed right away and knew that he had risen from the dead.
no but only to the people to believe them
Christian music about Jesus Christ being risen from the dead.
a) Christianity is a faith, not a religion b) People were called Christians when they started believing that Jesus was risen from the dead, and they believed He was their Saviour.
Thomas the Apostle, also called Judas Thomas, Doubting Thomas, or Didymus.
Thomas