Continued from post #6.
Matthew 27: 52, And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that slept arose. Verse 53, And came out of the graves three days later [On the day of the resurrection,] they went into the Holy city and appeared to many.
One would expect the risen body of the anointed one to appear to the family of Jesus first, and this is exactly what we see.
The first to see one of they, who were of the body of the risen Christ, the 365 day old unblemished Lamb, the sacrificial offering prepared for us by God, were his Mother, Mary the wife of Cleophas and her [Sister or daughter-in-law] Mary Magdalene, who, although looking straight at him, thought that he was the gardener, until he spoke her name.
The next to who one of the risen body of Christ appeared, were the carpenter ‘Cleophas’ who is also called Alpheas, and Simon/Simeon the half-brother of Jesus, who was to inherit the Episcopal throne of the church of the circumcision after his half-brother, 'James the righteous,' was killed at the instigation of the same Sadducee sect that had Jesus the full brother of James killed.
Although Cleophas and Simon walked and talked with one of the risen body of Christ for some 11 kilometres to the small town of Emmaus, they did not recognise him for who he was, until Simon saw the manner in which he broke the bread.
See John 20: 19 to 24; Cleophas then returned to Jerusalem, where the disciples, which included Simon Peter and Simon the Patriot, the only two of the twelve disciples by the name Simon, were cowering in a darkened room. The only one of the twelve who was absent that evening when Jesus appeared in that dimly lit room in the form that they recognised as Jesus, was Thomas Jude another half-brother of Jesus, the one who was called the Twin, although nowhere does the bible say that he was an actual twin or whether he just held a striking resemblance to someone else, perhaps one with who he shared a common father.
But back to Cleophas, who said to the disciples, who would have opened the door for him, "He has risen, he appeared to Simon," who was of course Simon the son of Cleophas and half-brother to Jesus and the one who succeeded ‘James the younger’ as the head of the church founded by their brother Jesus.
It was then that a figure appeared in that dimly lit room in the form that they recognised as Jesus, the following week, Jesus appeared in the locked room, where this time, Thomas who was called the ‘TWIN’ was with the other disciples.
See John 21: 1 to 12; Then there were the seven disciples who were fishing on Lake Galilee having no success at all, when someone on the bank told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat in which they caught 153 fishes, later on while sitting down to eat with the person who had a fire prepared with fish on it and some bread, not one of the seven disciples of Jesus who had walked and talked with him, dared to ask who he was, but they understood that he was of the risen body of Christ. Even when he ascended up into heaven as a cloud, some of the 11 disciples doubted that it was he.
When Thomas called the ‘TWIN,’ finally saw the risen Jesus, he THOUGHT the he was his God, but Jesus ‘KNEW’ that, like his brothers, he was no more than a man. Admittedly a man chosen by the Lord and raised from death in order that He would be the heavenly head to the risen body of the anointed one, who are to take the thrones that are prepared for them and rule with Jesus as Kings for the thousand year Sabbath, as seen in Acts 17: 30-31; In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by means of the MAN he has CHOSEN. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that MAN from the dead.”
And it was Jesus, who according to the bible Knew that he was a human being, who said to Mary Magdalene in John 20: 17; Go to my brothers {Which included Thomas called the ‘TWIN.’] and say to them; “I am ascending to HIM who is my Father and who is your Father, to my God who is your God. Revealing to his brother Thomas Didymus Jude, that he was not the God that the one called the ‘TWIN” thought him to be.