1 Corinthians 15:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

How then does the Gospel say, on the contrary, that Christ appeared first of all to Mary? Among the men, He appeared first to Peter, who especially desired to see Him.

Of what eleven apostles does Paul speak here, when Matthias was chosen after Christ's ascension, and not immediately after the resurrection? Probably He appeared also after the ascension. Therefore this very apostle was both chosen after the ascension and saw Him.

Paul does not indicate the time, but simply and indefinitely lists the appearances, which were probably many. Therefore John also says, 'This is now the third time He appeared' (Jn. 21:14).

'After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren.' Some say that the word 'more' means 'from above,' from heaven. That is, He appeared to them not walking upon the earth, but above, over their head, because He wished to assure them not only of His resurrection, but also of His ascension.

Others maintain that 'more than five hundred' means more than five hundred. 'Of whom the greater part remain to the present.' Though I am recounting past events, he says, I still have witnesses who are alive.

'But some have fallen asleep.' He did not say 'died,' but 'fallen asleep,' confirming by this expression also the truth of the resurrection.

'After that He appeared to James.' I think he means His brother. They say that He Himself ordained him and made him the first bishop in Jerusalem.

'Then to all the apostles,' because there were also other apostles, namely the seventy.

'Then last of all He appeared to me also, as to one born out of due time.' He says this more from humility. Christ did not appear to him after the others because he was lower than all. Although he calls himself last, he proved more glorious than many called before him, indeed than all.

Nor were the five hundred brethren better than James because Christ appeared to them before him.

Why did Christ not appear to all together? In order first to sow the seeds of faith. The first who saw Him and was fully assured spoke of it to others. Then the report spread, produced in the hearers expectation of this great wonder, and prepared the way for faith in His appearance.

Therefore Christ did not appear to all together, nor to many at the beginning, but first of all to one only, namely to the chief and most faithful of all. The most faithful soul had to be the first to be counted worthy of such an appearance.

Those who saw after others had seen, and when they had already heard from them, had no small help in their testimony. It disposed them toward faith and prepared the soul. But the first who was counted worthy to see the Lord needed great faith, as I have said, so as not to be troubled by the extraordinary sight.

For this reason Christ appeared first of all to Peter. The one who first confessed Him as Christ was rightly the first counted worthy to see His resurrection. Christ appeared first of all to him alone not only for this reason, but also because he had denied Him.

To comfort him completely and show that he had not been rejected, Christ counted him worthy of His appearance before the others and entrusted the sheep to him first.

For this reason He appeared first also to the women. Since their sex was subjected to humiliation, it was the first to be counted worthy of grace both at Christ's birth and at His resurrection.

After Peter, Christ appeared both to each separately and to few and to many, so that they might become witnesses and teachers for one another in this matter, and so that the apostles might be trustworthy preachers.

'Then last of all He appeared to me also, as to one born out of due time.' What does he wish to say here by these humble words, and for what reason? If he wishes to show himself trustworthy and to number himself among the witnesses of the resurrection, he ought to have done the opposite.

He ought to have exalted and magnified himself, as he does in many places when circumstances require it. Yet here he humbles himself because he intends to do the same thing, though not immediately, but with his characteristic prudence.

First he humbles himself and says many reproachful things about himself. Then he magnifies his deeds. Why? So that when he says of himself the great and lofty statement, 'But I labored more abundantly than they all' (1 Cor. 15:10), his words may be beyond suspicion and received as spoken in the course of the discourse, not by design.

So also in the epistle to Timothy, when he intends to say something great about himself, he first sets forth his offenses. Whoever says something great about others speaks boldly and confidently. But whoever is compelled to praise himself, especially when presenting himself as a witness, feels shame and blushes.

Therefore this blessed man first humbles and then magnifies himself. He does this both to soften the unpleasantness of self-praise and to give credibility to the words that follow.

By speaking truthfully about what deserves condemnation, and by concealing nothing of this kind, for example, that he persecuted the Church and laid waste the faith, he makes his praiseworthy deeds also beyond doubt.

And see how great his humility is. Having said, 'Then last of all He appeared to me,' he was not satisfied with this, since the Lord says, 'Many who are first will be last, and the last first' (Mt. 19:30). He adds, 'as to one born out of due time.'

Nor does he stop there, but adds his own judgment and gives the reason: 'For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God' (1 Cor. 15:9).

[...] See how he abounds in words of humility: 'Then last of all,' he says, 'He appeared to me.' In this way he does not compare himself with anyone else. And by saying, 'as to one born out of due time,' he acknowledges himself last of the apostles, and even unworthy of that name.

Not content with this, he wished to show that his humility was not only in words, and so he gives reasons and proofs. He is one born out of due time because he saw Jesus after all the others. He is unworthy of the name apostle because he persecuted the Church.

One who humbles himself only in words does not act this way. But one who also gives reasons speaks everything from a contrite heart. He mentions the same thing elsewhere: 'I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man' (1 Tim. 1:12-13).

So also now there are people who do not believe in present-day miracles, though there are living witnesses of a miracle. They themselves experienced it, or saw those miraculously healed, such as people unable to use their legs, completely paralyzed for several years, the possessed, the blind, and others.

To such people apply the prophetic words spoken more than once by Christ as well. These people have eyes and do not see. They have ears and do not hear. All this is because their senses have grown dull, their heart has hardened, and their mind has been darkened (Is 6:9-10; Mt 23:14).

Paul says "the eleven" here because, after Christ's resurrection, only eleven Apostles remained. Judas had already lost apostolic grace through his betrayal, "and he went and hanged himself" (Mt 27:5) (Chrysostom on this passage).

But did the Lord not appear also in particular to Matthew, as He appeared to Paul and James? Or was Matthew one of the five hundred brethren to whom the Lord appeared? Who were these five hundred brethren? Where did Christ appear to them, and how, to each separately or to all together?

Neither the Gospel nor the Acts of the Apostles mentions this. Only the divinely inspired Paul says that Christ appeared to more than five hundred brethren. He also says that "He appeared to James, then to all the Apostles." Here, by Apostles, he does not mean the eleven whom he mentioned above, but the seventy disciples.

Of these five hundred brethren, he says, very many remain alive even until now, "but some have fallen asleep." Here the word "fallen asleep," used of the saints, stands in place of "died." The Apostle said, "of whom the greater part remain," in order to make his hearers more certain of the truth of his words. Anyone who doubted their correctness could ask the still-living witnesses who had seen the Lord after His resurrection from the dead.

Even now, gathered on the deserted mountain, they awaited Him with joy, but their joy was not without reflection. Their reflection was interrupted by the appearance of the Teacher. "When they saw Him, the disciples worshiped Him; but some doubted." The latter were troubled by the suddenness with which the Teacher stood before them. They did not understand the spirituality of the being of their Teacher, transformed by the Resurrection. They still supposed that in Him they would see the former Jesus, clothed in coarse flesh. But the Teacher drew near to the disciples, and from His lips they heard the great words of His authoritative testament. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth," He said. "Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:18-20). With reverent trembling the disciples listened to the great covenant of their Teacher. They had never heard such words before. Earlier they had heard from the Teacher that "all things have been delivered to Him by His Father" (Mt 11:27). But they understood these words in the sense of His authority on earth. This authority had been manifested in signs and miracles that served to relieve people's earthly sufferings and calamities. In their understanding, it was to be manifested in the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Now, however, they heard that their Teacher's authority extended also to heaven. Much became clear to them from what the Teacher had said and taught them formerly. Yet they had understood it vaguely, often giving it a completely opposite interpretation. But the command to "go and teach all nations" could not fail to cast them again into confusion. For the whole time the Teacher had preached His teaching to one people only. He had even declared that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Yet now He commands them to go into the whole world and preach to all nations. Who were they, poor fishermen, to go into the whole world? They scarcely had a vague notion that there existed other nations. All their geographical knowledge was limited to an unclear idea of the borders of their native land. Beyond those borders lay an unknown world, terrifying to the imagination, of beastlike "nations." It had never entered their minds that they would have to go and teach all nations. Even in their own native land, in their own language, they had difficulty communicating the teaching of their Teacher. They constantly turned to His help for explanation. How then would they now go preach through the whole world, to all nations, and moreover alone? How could they do this without the Teacher, who was leaving them forever? The all-loving Teacher, seeing the confusion of His disciples, spoke to them a great word of encouragement. "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age!" The disciples rejoiced in the comforting word, and they felt a new surge of courage in their hearts. The mental horizon of the fishermen expanded. Before them opened the prospect of the whole world of that time. Before them, in the blue beyond the sea, appeared Greece, submerged in the deification of nature and intoxicated with the enchantments of beauty. Before them opened iron Rome with its worldwide dominion. Egypt also opened before them, with its still proud and splendid priests and its eternal pyramids. The poor fishermen were no longer troubled to go and teach the peoples of these enlightened lands. With Him, with their Teacher, they would go through the whole world. And indeed, afterwards, when they received the Comforter promised to them, they flew through the whole world like winged eagles, in the words of the Church hymn. The astonished nations bowed before the banner of the Cross.

Among these appearances, the appearance to Peter deserves special attention. It is not mentioned in the Gospel, yet it was essentially necessary for him before the others. St. John Chrysostom observes: "He who first confessed Him as the Christ was rightly the first to be counted worthy to see His resurrection. And Christ appeared first of all to Peter alone not only for this reason, but also because Peter had denied Him, so that He might comfort him completely."

The Apostle Paul could have heard about the appearance of the risen Lord to Peter from Peter himself. The testimony concerning the Lord's appearance to more than five hundred is also remarkable. Their testimony could be especially important because the greater part of them were alive when the Apostle wrote, and perhaps he himself had seen them.

Then the Apostle speaks of the appearance to the eleven, or, according to the accepted reckoning, to the twelve Apostles (cf. Jn 20:21); to the Apostle James, whom, according to John Chrysostom, He Himself appointed Bishop of Jerusalem; and to all the other Apostles, who were then among the seventy.

"Although," he says, "I am recounting events past, I still have witnesses who are alive. But some have fallen asleep. He did not say, 'they died,' but 'they fell asleep,' confirming by this expression also the truth of the resurrection" (St. Chrysostom).