Jesus' Third Appearance 

On Sunday, April 9, 30 CE at noon in Bethany, Jesus appeared to his oldest brother, James, near the empty tomb of Lazarus. James had drifted into doubt regarding Jesus' claims of being the Messiah. As he stood in the garden, he received news from David's messenger about Jesus' resurrection. Shortly after, Mary Magdalene arrived, excitedly sharing her experiences at the tomb. Meanwhile, Jesus approached James, who was astonished by the gradual appearance of his morontia form. They talked about past experiences, future events, and Jesus urged James to join his brethren in the service of the kingdom. Overwhelmed, James rushed into the house to share the extraordinary encounter with his family.

James, the eldest brother of Jesus, was contemplating the news that the messenger of David had delivered about an hour earlier as he stood in the garden of Lazarus in front of the empty tomb where Lazarus had been raised. Although James had long since lost touch with Jesus' activity and had fallen into deep skepticism regarding the later assertions of the apostles that Jesus was the Messiah, he had always tended to believe in his elder brother's role on earth. The news that the courier delivered surprised and nearly confused the entire household. Mary Magdalene arrived on the scene and was eagerly sharing with the family her experiences of the early morning hours at the tomb of Joseph as James stood in front of Lazarus's empty tomb. David Zebedee and his mother showed up before she had time to finish. Naturally, Ruth trusted the report, and Jude also did so after speaking with David and Salome.

In the interim, while they searched for James and before they discovered him, he was standing in the garden close to the tomb when he felt a nearby presence, as if someone had touched him on the shoulder. When he turned to look, he saw a strange form gradually emerge at his side. He was too terrified to go away and too stunned to talk.

"James, I come to call you to the service of the kingdom. Join earnest hands with your brethren and follow after me.” James recognized that his elder brother, Jesus, had spoken to him when he heard his name mentioned. When the Master first started communicating with those he appeared to, they all had varying degrees of difficulty recognizing him in his morontia form, but very few of them had any trouble recognizing his voice or any other aspect of his endearing personality.

James started to kneel when he realized Jesus was speaking to him and cried out, "My father and my brother," but Jesus told him to stand while he talked to him. And as they moved across the garden, they conversed for over three minutes, recalling past events and speculating about the near future. Jesus bid James farewell and added, "Until I greet you all together," as they drew near the home.

James hurried into the house, even as they searched for him in Bethpage, exclaiming, “I have just seen Jesus and talked with him, visited with him. He is not dead; he has risen! He vanished before me, saying, ‘Farewell until I greet you all together.’” He had scarcely finished speaking when Jude returned, and he retold the experience of meeting Jesus in the garden for the benefit of Jude. And they all began to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. James announced that he would not return to Galilee, and DavidPerson exclaimed: “He is seen not only by excited women; even stronghearted men have begun to see him. I expect to see him myself.”

Following Jesus’ fourth appearance less than two hours later in the same home, James restrained his family members and others present from rushing off to the city to inform the apostles who were still having doubts about Jesus' resurrection. Because of specific things that Jesus had said to him as they conversed in the garden, James stopped them from publicly announcing the fact that he had seen Jesus in his resurrected form.

James never shared more information about his encounter with the risen Master on this day at the Lazarus household in Bethany.