Reagan LaPrairie said
 

I have always wondered why Jesus is not recognized by his apostles

I think the gospel writers preserved ambiguity as a kind of wink to the wise: “This is not to be taken literally!” The first witnesses must have known full well that the resurrection of Jesus wasn’t a literal, physical one, and the gospel writers preserved that awareness–they were trying to tell their stories in nuanced ways that would reveal the actual nature of the resurrection appearances. 

I’ve been pondering Luke’s “flesh and bone” appearance.

** you do not have permission to see this link **

** you do not have permission to see this link **And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them (who??) gathered together, ** you do not have permission to see this link **Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread…

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said… See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ** you do not have permission to see this link **And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet…. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…

In Acts 1:13-14 we learn more about those in the “upper room”–the eleven are named, and some others are identified as “Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers”.

The presence of close biological kin of Jesus in the room at the time of the “flesh and bone” revelation strikes me as potentially illuminating. Unlike John’s account, there is no talk of wounded hands and feet. Rather the emphasis is on “flesh and bone” recognition–meaning what? This phrase echoes an LXX usage that combines “bone” and “flesh” to refer to people who share the same immediate or extended lineage–blood relatives. So if we suppose that when Jesus appeared as “flesh and bone”, it was in the presence of his closest kin–his “bone” and his “flesh”–then that makes the story more interesting. Jesus is not a generic spirit body, he had biological kin and they were there. When we remember the dead, do we not “see” them in the resemblance to their kin? Their “flesh and bone”?

Such a manifestation of Jesus in “the flesh” is paralleled in Paul’s writings:

Gal. 2:20 “ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh (ἐν σαρκί), I live in faith–that of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gal. 6:1 Τοῦ λοιποῦ κόπους μοι μηδεὶς παρεχέτω· ἐγὼ γὰρ τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματί μου βαστάζω.

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear in my body (ἐν τῷ σώματί) the marks of Jesus.

2 Cor. 4:11 ἀεὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόμεθα διὰ Ἰησοῦν, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φανερωθῇ ἐν τῇ θνητῇ σαρκὶ ἡμῶν.

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh (ἐν τῇ θνητῇ σαρκὶ ἡμῶν).

Stephen said
The  motif  of  nonrecognition  of  the  divine  is  not  exclusive  to  the  NT  but  is  found  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  particularly  constellated  around  the figure  of  the  Angel  of  the  Lord.   Hebrew  scholar  James  L  Kugel  has  a  chapter  about  it  in  his  book ** you do not have permission to see this link **. 

Thank you so much for this very relevant reference! Kugel’s writing is scholarly, devout and readable. Chapter One on the Moment of Confusion gets into the heart of the textually mediated encounter with divine mystery.

** you do not have permission to see this link **