EASTER SUNDAY
JESUS APPEARS IN THE TEMPLE AND TO THE TWELVE
Chapters 86 and 87 of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve
The same day, at the time of sacrifice in the Temple there appeared among the dealers in beasts and in birds, one clothed in white raiment, bright as light, and in his hand a whip of seven cords. At the sight of Him, those who sold and bought fled in terror, and some of them fell as dead men, for they remembered how before his death Jesus had driven them away from the Temple enclosure, in the same way. Some declared that they had seen a spirit, others that they had seen Him who was crucified and that He had risen from the dead. The sacrifices ceased that day in the Temple, for all were fearful, and none could be had to sell or to buy, but, instead, they let their captives go free.
The priests and elders caused a report to be spread, that they who had seen this were drunk and had seen nothing. But many affirmed that they had seen Him with their own eyes, and felt the whip on their backs, but were powerless to resist, for when some of the bolder among them put forth their hands, they could not seize the form which they saw nor grasp the whip which punished them. From that time, these believed in Jesus, that He was sent from God to deliver the oppressed and to free those that were bound. And they turned from their ways and no longer sinned. He also appeared to others in love and mercy and healed them by his touch and delivered them from the hands of the persecutor. Many similar things were reported of him, and many said, “Truly the Kingdom has come.” When Jesus rose from the dead, appeared and was seen by many in the holy City, great fear fell upon the wicked, but light and gladness came to the righteous in heart.
Jesus Appears to the Twelve
The same day at evening, on the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be unto you.” But they were frightened and supposed that they had seen a spirit. He said to them, “Behold, it is I myself, like as you have seen me before. A spirit can indeed appear in flesh and bones as you see I have. Behold my hands and my feet, touch and see.” When he had so said, he showed them his hands and his heart. Then the disciples were glad, when they saw the Lord. For Thomas, called Didymus, one of the disciples, had said to them, “Unless I shall see the print of the nails in his hands, and thrust my hand into his heart, I will not believe.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Behold my hands, my heart, and my feet; reach your hands here, and do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” And Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.” Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace be unto you, as Abba Amma has sent me, even so I send you.”
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Ghost; preach the Gospel and announce to all nations the resurrection of the Son of Man. Teach the holy law of love which I have delivered to you. Whoever forsakes their sins, they are forgiven, and whoever continues in their sins, they are retained. Baptise them who believe and repent, bless and anoint them, and offer the pure gift of the fruits of the earth which I have furnished to you in memory of me. Lo, I have given my body and my blood to be offered on the Cross, for the redemption of the world from the sin against love, and from the bloody sacrifices and feasts of the past. You shall offer the Bread of Life and the Wine of Salvation for a pure offering with incense, as it is written of me; and you shall eat and drink thereof for a memorial, that I have delivered all who believe in me from the ancient bondage of your ancestors. For they, making a god of their belly, sacrificed unto their god the innocent creatures of the earth, in place of the carnal nature within themselves. Eating their flesh and drinking their blood to their own destruction, corrupted their bodies and shortened their days, even as the Gentiles who did not know the truth, or knowing it, changed it into a lie. As I send you, so send others also, to do these things in my Name.”
And he laid his hands upon them. “In the like manner as the Apostles, so also be ordained Prophets and Evangelists and Pastors, a Holy Priesthood.” Afterward he laid his hand upon those whom they chose for Deacons, one for each of the fourfold twelve. “These are for the rule and guidance of the Church Universal, that all may be perfected in their places in the Unity of the Body of the Christ.”