Previously, the apostles had not understood that Jesus would rise again or be resurrected the third day. They didn’t understand that His body and spirit would be reunited and that He would be alive again. Having this knowledge helps us understand a little more about why the apostles may have been afraid. Next, Jesus opened the scriptures up to them and helped them to understand what the prophets had written and what He had said about rising again the third day (Luke 24:45-48). Then, to help them gain sure knowledge of His resurrection, and that He had a physical body, He asked them for meat and ate it. A spirit cannot eat since it has no physical body.You can also test your knowledge on the New Testament and many other topics by taking our Bible Quizzes (link above).

Throughout history, God and/or Jesus have appeared to prophets. For example, God spoke to Moses face to face (Exodus 33:11). Also, Jesus made many appearances to His apostles. Jesus also appeared unto the ancient inhabitants of the Americas which is recorded in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 11). Finally, in our time, God and Jesus Christ both appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1820 in response to a prayer about which church to join. Later, Joseph was directed to buried gold plates, the record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and he translated them through the power of God called the Book of Mormon (as referenced previously). Order a copy of the Book of Mormon to the right of the page.