One Jesus seen in many ways
Jesus, though one, was many in aspect; and he was not seen alike by all who saw him. That he was many in aspect is clear from “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and “I am the bread” (John 6:35), and “I am the door” (John 10:9), and countless other sayings. That even when seen he did not appear the same to all who saw him, but according to what each beholder could receive, will be clear to those who consider why, when he was about to be transfigured on the high mountain, he did not take even all the apostles, but only Peter and James and John (Matthew 17:1–2). For they alone could take in the sight of his glory at that time, and were able also to perceive Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory (Luke 9:30–31), and to hear them talking together, and the voice from heaven out of the cloud (Matthew 17:5).
And I think that even before he went up the mountain, where only the disciples came to him and he taught them about the beatitudes (Matthew 5:1–12), when he was somewhere below the mountain and, “when evening had come” (Matthew 8:16), was healing those brought to him, freeing them from every disease and every sickness (Matthew 4:23), he did not appear the same to the sick who needed his healing as to those who, because they were healthy, were able to go up the mountain with him.
Moreover, since he privately explained to his own disciples the parables that had been spoken in a veiled way to the crowds outside (Mark 4:11, 34), then just as those who heard the explanation of the parables were superior in their hearing to those who heard the parables without explanations, so too were they superior in their sight: certainly the sight of the soul, and, I believe, of the body as well.
That he did not always appear the same is shown by what Judas said, when about to betray him, to the crowds who came out with him, as to men who did not know him: “Whomever I kiss, he is the one” (Matthew 26:48). I think the Saviour himself also indicates something of this in the words: “Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me” (Matthew 26:55; Mark 14:49).
Since, then, our view of Jesus is that he is so great, not only in the divinity within him, hidden from the many, but also in his body, which was transfigured when he wished and for those he wished, we say this: all were able to see Jesus while he had not yet “stripped off the principalities and the powers” (Colossians 2:15) and had not yet died “to sin” (Romans 6:10). But once he had stripped off “the principalities and the powers” and no longer had anything the many could take in by sight, not all who had seen him before were able to see him. Hence, sparing them, he did not appear to all when he had risen from the dead.
Greek
Ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἷς ὢν πλείονα τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ ἦν. καὶ τοῖς βλέπουσιν οὐχ ὁμοίως πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος. καὶ ὅτι μὲν τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ πλείονα ἦν, σαφὲς ἐκ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος“ καὶ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα“ καὶ ἄλλων μυρίων. ὅτι δὲ καὶ βλεπόμενος οὐχ ὡσαύτως τοῖς βλέπουσιν ἐφαίνετο. ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἐχώρουν οἱ βλέποντες, σαφὲς ἔσται τοῖς ἐφιστᾶσι, διὰ τί μέλλων μεταμορφοῦσθαι ἐν τῷ ὑψηλῷ ὄρει οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀποστόλους πάντας παρείληφεν ἀλλὰ μόνους τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὸν Ἰάκωβον καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην. ὡς μόνους χωροῦντας τὴν τότε δόξαν αὐτοῦ θεωρῆσαι. δυναμένους δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὀφθέντας ἔν δόξῃ Μωϋσέα καὶ Ἠλίαν κατανοῆσαι καὶ ἀκοῦσαι συλλαλούντων αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς νεφέλης οὐρανόθεν φωνῆς. ἐγὼ δ᾿ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἀναβῆναι εἰς τὸ ὄρος. ἔνθα προσῆλθον αὐτῷ μόνοι οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς τὰ περὶ τῶν μακαρισμῶν. ἡνίκα κάτω που ὢν τοῦ ὄρους „ὀψίας“ „γενομένης“ ἐθεράπευε τοὺς προσαχθέντας αὐτῷ. ἀπαλλάσσων πάσης νόσου καὶ πάσης μαλακίας. οὐχ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐφαίνετο τοῖς κάμνουσι καὶ δεομένοις αὐτοῦ θεραπεύοντος καὶ τοῖς διὰ τὸ ὑγιαίνειν συναναβῆναι αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ ὄρος δυνηθεῖσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ κατ᾿ ἰδίαν τοῖς ἰδίοις μαθηταῖς ἐπέλυεν τὰς παραβολὰς. μετ᾿ ἐπικρύψεως τοῖς ἔξω ὄχλοις εἰρημένας. ὥσπερ ταῖς ἀκοαῖς ἦσαν κρείττους οἱ ἀκούοντες τῆς λύσεως τῶν παραβολῶν παρὰ τοὺς ἀκούοντας τῶν χωρὶς λύσεων παραβολῶν. οὕτως καὶ ταῖς ὄψεσι πάντως μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς. ἐγὼ δ᾿ ἡγοῦμαι ὅτι καὶ τοῦ σώματος. δηλοῖ δὲ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ φαίνεσθαι τὸ Ἰούδαν μέλλοντα αὐτὸν προδιδόναι εἰρηκέναι ὡς μὴ εἰδόσιν αὐτὸν τοῖς συναπερχομένοις αὐτῷ ὄχλοις· „ὃν ἐὰν φιλήσω. αὐτός ἐστι.“ τοιοῦτο δ᾿ οἶμαι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν σωτῆρα ἐμφαίνειν διὰ τοῦ· „καθ᾿ ἡμέραν μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν ἤμην ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ διδάσκων. καὶ οὐκ ἐκρατήσατέ με.“ ὡς περὶ τηλικούτου οὖν φερόμενοι ἡμεῖς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν ἔνδον καὶ ἀποκεκρυμμένην τοῖς πολλοῖς θειότητα ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ μεταμορφούμενον σῶμα. ὅτ᾿ ἐβούλετο καὶ οἷς ἐβούλετο. φαμὲν ὅτι τὸν μὲν μὴ ἀπεκδυσάμενον „τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας“ Ἰησοῦν καὶ μηδέπω ἀποθανόντα „τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ“ πάντες βλέπειν ἐχώρουν. τὸν δ᾿ ἀπεκδυσάμενον „τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας“ καὶ μηκέτ᾿ ἔχοντά τι χωρητὸν ὁραθῆναι τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐχ οἶοί τε ἦσαν αὐτὸν βλέπειν οἱ πρότερον αὐτὸν ἰδόντες πάντες· ὅθεν φειδόμενος αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐφαίνετο πᾶσιν ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν.