Where did he appear to his disciples?
Matthew: In Galilee.
Luke: In Jerusalem.
Matthew says that when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary visited the tomb an angel appeared to them and said: “Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him” ([xxviii, 7]). As they ran to convey this intelligence, Jesus himself met them and repeated the command: “Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me” ([10]). “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him” ([16, 17]).
Luke ([xxiv, 13–35]) states that on the day of the resurrection Jesus journeyed to Emmaus, a village some distance from Jerusalem, with Cleopas and his companion. They did not recognize him until after their arrival there, when they returned at once to Jerusalem and informed the disciples. “As they thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them” ([36]). He conversed with them for a time, after which “he led them out as far as to Bethany” where he took his final leave of them and ascended to heaven ([38–51]). Instead of bidding them go to Galilee, a three days journey from Jerusalem, as Matthew states, his command was “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high,” which, according to Acts ([ii, 1–13]), was not until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later.
Matthew’s narrative forbids the supposition of any meeting in Judea, while Luke’s precludes the possibility of a meeting in Galilee.
Regarding this discrepancy Dean Alford says: “We must be content to walk by faith, and not by sight” (Greek Testament, p. 905).
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How far from Jerusalem was Emmaus, where Jesus made his first appearance?