John's original Gospel warrants appearances of Jesus, first, to Mary Magdalene, the other Mary not being with her (John XX:15, 16, 17); second, an appearance on Sunday evening to the apostles, except Thomas (John XX:19); third, an appearance eight days later to all the eleven apostles (John XX:26). Nothing is said about any ascension.
John's Chapter XXI, which, as has been said, appears clearly to have been a later addition to the original Gospel, relates an appearance of Jesus in Galilee, which is materially different from that of Matthew. The appearance is not on a mountain, but on the shores of the sea of Tiberias, and, instead of the eleven apostles being present, there were, at most, only seven, including Nathaniel of Cana (John XXI:2). All of them have considerable trouble in recognizing Jesus (John XXI:4, 12). Nothing is said by Jesus about baptizing, or preaching to, the Gentiles, but, on the contrary, Jesus tells Peter to feed "my sheep," or "my lambs" (John XXI:15, 16, 17). Nothing is said about any ascension of Jesus into heaven.
The Gospels of Mark and Luke, the original Gospel of John, and the Acts, all agree in fixing the after-death appearances and ascension of Jesus in Jerusalem or its neighborhood (Luke XXIV:50; Acts I:12). Apparently the apostles remained for some time in Jerusalem after the Crucifixion (possibly for forty days, Acts I:3; II:1), until they separated and "went forth and preached everywhere" (Mark XVI:20). In the Acts it is said that Jesus "commanded" them to remain in Jerusalem, until the gift of the Holy Ghost should be sent to them (Acts I:4).
It is evident, in all these accounts, that the apostles had never understood, or had entirely forgotten, the predictions of Jesus in His lifetime that He would rise from the dead (Matt. XVI:21; XVII:23; XX:19; Mark VIII:31; IX:31; X:34; Luke IX:22; XVIII:33). They were not expecting any resurrection. They were not waiting at the tomb for it to occur, and, by the unanimous testimony of all the writers, they showed the greatest surprise and incredulity at the first reports of Jesus' appearance alive (Matt. XXVIII:17; Mark XVI:11, 13; Luke XXIV:11, 16, 37, 41; John XX:9, 14, 25).
Furthermore, it is also evident that Jesus, in these appearances, must have assumed some form or shape different from His natural earthly body. Otherwise His intimate friends and associates could not have been in such uncertainty about recognizing His identity.
Thus Matthew says that when He appeared to the eleven "some doubted." But if He had appeared in His natural form, how could any of the apostles have doubted as to whether the apparition was He or some other person?
According to Mark, the apostles questioned the accuracy of the report by Mary and the two disciples that they had seen Jesus (Mark XVI:13, 14).
Luke relates that Jesus spent a considerable portion of one day with two of the disciples, and joined them at their evening meal. But they did not recognize Him until He blessed some bread, brake it, and gave to them, and then "He vanished out of their sight" (Luke XXIV:13-31). On His first appearance in the midst of the apostles, "they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit." Even after He showed them His hands and feet, their doubts were not dissipated, and, although He ate a piece of fish and some honey comb, it is not explicitly stated that this removed all their uncertainty (Luke XXIV:36-43).
According to John, Mary Magdalene, who was well acquainted with Jesus in His lifetime, when she saw this apparition, "knew not that it was Jesus." She spoke to Him, "supposing Him to be the gardener." He gives her a message to His disciples, and it is implied in the narrative that she then recognizes Him as Jesus, although it is not explained how this change came about (John XX:14-17). On His appearance to the apostles, He shows them His hands and feet, as though that were necessary to confirm their recognition of His identity. Thomas, apparently, will not trust to the story of the other apostles; nor even to the personal appearance of Jesus, until he has put his fingers into the prints on Jesus' hands and feet (John XX:19-28). If Jesus had worn His earthly form these prints, which the apostles had never before seen, could not have aided in His identification.
The account in John, Chap. XXI, shows that the seven assembled at the sea of Tiberias did not at first recognize Jesus, although one of them was Thomas, who had already identified Him in Jerusalem. "But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus" (John XXI:4). A little later it is said: "And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art Thou? Knowing that it was the Lord" (John XXI:12). No explanation is given as to how this knowledge finally came to them.