Resurrection

1. Why did Jesus appear only to certain people after His resurrection?

He wanted it that way and He told His disciples so in advance: "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me" (John 14:19). His resurrection would become a matter of faith, just as all He had said and done before that. He said to Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). The gospels describe some of His appearances, and Paul gives a list of them in 1 Cor. 15:3-8. We have to believe these witnesses just as we believe those who testified about His life in the four gospels.

2. Why is the resurrection of Jesus a vital part of the Christian faith? 

Paul said that if Christ was not raised from the dead then our faith is empty and futile (1 Cor. 15:14 and 17). If He died for our sins and remained dead, He would have been a martyr who died for a good cause. His resurrection showed His victory over sin, death and evil, and that the Father had accepted the sacrifice of His Son as sufficient to reconcile all believers to God. His death enabled forgiveness of sin; His resurrection enabled victory over sin. Through Him we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). Before the resurrection people saw Him as an ordinary man in spite of His extraordinary words and deeds. After the resurrection the glory of His divine nature became visible to His followers. Even His skeptical family changed their views (Acts 1:14). The resurrection of Jesus assures us of our own resurrection when He returns (Phil. 3:20-21).