Why was the risen Christ unrecognizable to Mary Magdalene and the Disciples?

[Sword of the Lord]

Why couldn't Mary Magdalene recognize Jesus outside of the sepulchre, where she was weeping? Why did she think he was the gardener? Why also couldn't the disciples recognize Jesus on the shore when they were fishing, until he had performed the miracle of 153 fish? Did he have a different appearance or were they all simply temporarily blinded by the fact that it was him? Either way, I think that he was unrecognizable to them visually, and left it up to them to recognize him by his words and deeds, before he fully revealed himself to them.

 

[Albion]

Why couldn't Mary Magdalene recognize Jesus outside of the sepulchre, where she was weeping? Why did she think he was the gardener? Why also couldn't the disciples recognize Jesus on the shore when they were fishing, until he had performed the miracle of 153 fish? Did he have a different appearance or were they all simply temporarily blinded by the fact that it was him? Either way, I think that he was unrecognizable to them visually, and left it up to them to recognize him by his words and deeds, before he fully revealed himself to them.

No one really has the answer for this. And some of the ones I've heard just seem farfetched.

 

[Steeno7]

He was wearing a hoodie.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

He was wearing a hoodie.

Oh. I was thinking that maybe it was Halloween or something.

But seriously...

 

[WirSindBettler]

You guys are so silly. I mean come on, it was Easter. He was obviously wearing a giant bunny costume.

Seriously though . . .

From what I've heard, He hadn't yet wanted to be revealed. The veil hadn't been lifted. That's it.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

You guys are so silly. I mean come on, it was Easter. He was obviously wearing a giant bunny costume.

Seriously though . . .

From what I've heard, He hadn't yet wanted to be revealed. The veil hadn't been lifted. That's it.

I don't know about that. He appeared clearly to the disciples in the room where they were praying (twice in eight days) after Mary told them she had seen him. Then he was once again masked, for lack of a better word, on the shore.

 

[ebia]

Why couldn't Mary Magdalene recognize Jesus outside of the sepulchre, where she was weeping? Why did she think he was the gardener? Why also couldn't the disciples recognize Jesus on the shore when they were fishing, until he had performed the miracle of 153 fish? Did he have a different appearance or were they all simply temporarily blinded by the fact that it was him? Either way, I think that he was unrecognizable to them visually, and left it up to them to recognize him by his words and deeds, before he fully revealed himself to them.

As Tom wright puts it, the John 20 story is a creation account; mistaking him as the gardener is the right mistake to make.

More generally it's seems part of something that goes through all the creation accounts, a struggle to put into words but the continuity and the discontinuity, he sameness but the difference. They recognise him but they don't recognise him at the same time.

 

[James Is Back]

Why didn't people always recognize the resurrected Jesus?

 

[Grafted In]

For one thing He had a glorified body and, as I've posted before on other threads, I believe He was wearing the pure white robe from the Heavenly Tabernacle brought to Him by the 2 angels Scripture tells us were in the cave when they looked in....one at the foot and one at the head where Jesus' s body was lain.
. A very clear picture of the Holy of Holys.

 

[ebia]

For one thing He had a glorified body and, as I've posted before on other threads, I believe He was wearing the pure white robe from the Heavenly Tabernacle brought to Him by the 2 angels Scripture tells us were in the cave when they looked in....one at the foot and one at the head where Jesus' s body was lain.
. A very clear picture of the Holy of Holys.

And yet people mistake him for ordinary people.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

For one thing He had a glorified body and, as I've posted before on other threads, I believe He was wearing the pure white robe from the Heavenly Tabernacle brought to Him by the 2 angels Scripture tells us were in the cave when they looked in....one at the foot and one at the head where Jesus' s body was lain.
. A very clear picture of the Holy of Holys.

There's no indication at all that he was arrayed like that. Quite opposite, actually. He was seen as ordinary.

 

[Grafted In]

I once watched a Bible teacher on TV explain what may have caused Him to not be recognized. He said that gardeners at that time often wore white robes thus Him having been mistaken for the gardener. Also we are not told in Scripture how a man beaten to the point that He no longer looked like Himself and what exactly that would mean with a resurection body.

 

[pdudgeon]

perhaps it's more telling to say that He didn't look like they had been used to seeing Him look. That He had to point out His wounds as verification to them before they could believe.

And from personal experience i can tell you that it is not at all unusual for people who have been through such trauma as the disciples and the two Mary's not to recognize someone that they would otherwise know, or even to mistake them for someone else.

Grief and shock do that.

 

[Grafted In]

There's no indication at all that he was arrayed like that. Quite opposite, actually. He was seen as ordinary.

But we do know He was not wearing His burial garments and I'm sure most if not all members would agree that He would not have been able to enter The Heavenly Holy of Holys to apply His blood in an earthly garment.

 

[Albion]

perhaps it's more telling to say that He didn't look like they had been used to seeing Him look. That He had to point out His wounds as verification to them before they could believe.

And from personal experience i can tell you that it is not at all unusual for people who have been through such trauma as the disciples and the two Mary's not to recognize someone that they would otherwise know, or even to mistake them for someone else.

Grief and shock do that.

...or that the victim had gone through so much that he was not immediately recognizable. I don't know if this is the answer, in part because it took a rather long time for some of those who met him after the Resurrection to know who they were talking to, but the bodies of the dead in open caskets never look to me just exactly like the persons had looked in life...and this case was much worse. In addition, if you knew that a closer friend were dead and you later met someone who bore a good resemblance to him, chances are your first thought would not be that the deceased had come back to life and was now talking with you.

 

[ebia]

...or that the victim had gone through so much that he was not immediately recognizable. I don't know if this is the answer, in part because it took a rather long time for some of those who met him after the Resurrection to know who they were talking to, but the bodies of the dead in open caskets never look to me just exactly like the persons had looked in life...and this case was much worse. In addition, if you knew that a closer friend were dead and you later met someone who bore a good resemblance to him, chances are your first thought would not be that the deceased had come back to life and was now talking with you.

they must have treated their gardeners shockingly back then. did they expect them to work from inside the rose-bushes or something?

 

[Sword of the Lord]

...or that the victim had gone through so much that he was not immediately recognizable. I don't know if this is the answer, in part because it took a rather long time for some of those who met him after the Resurrection to know who they were talking to, but the bodies of the dead in open caskets never look to me just exactly like the persons had looked in life...and this case was much worse. In addition, if you knew that a closer friend were dead and you later met someone who bore a good resemblance to him, chances are your first thought would not be that the deceased had come back to life and was now talking with you.

Well I highly doubt he looked like a brutally beaten, decomposing corpse, and they did have the experience of Lazarus.

 

[Grafted In]

they must have treated their gardeners shockingly back then. did they expect them to work from inside the rose-bushes or something?

Fair enough. So then is it your belief that He ascended to Heaven in the nude, then put on the robe of the priest? If not what are your thoughts on the matter? Jesus told Mary not to touch Him . I think He must have meant not to touch His garment either. He was on his way to Heaven to apply His blood in the Holy of Holys and neither He nor His clothes could be corrupted by the world.
You know, I'm glad someone took issue with my words. As I continued to think on these things suddenly a great Truth was revealed to me. After He returned from Heaven they could touch Him all they wanted. He had completed the job of reconciliation between God and man. The Scripture " come boldly before the Throne of Grace" was brought to mind.

 

[ebia]

Fair enough. So then is it your belief that He ascended to Heaven in the nude, then put on the robe of the priest? If not what are your thoughts on the matter? Jesus told Mary not to touch Him .

Not to hang on to him, which is quite different.

 

[TillICollapse]

Prejudice in Biblical times. "They all look the same".

[/joke]