Jehovah’s Witnesses will sometimes ask, “If Jesus rose from the dead in his own body, how is it that so many of his close friends didn’t recognize him?”

The Watchtower asserts:

Following his resurrection, Jesus did not always appear in the same body of flesh (perhaps to reinforce in their minds the fact that he was then a spirit), and so he was not immediately recognized even by his close associates. (John 20:14, 15; 21:4-7) However, by his repeatedly appearing to them in materialized bodies and then saying and doing things that they would identify with the Jesus they knew, he strengthened their faith in the fact that he truly had been resurrected from the dead. (Reasoning From the Scriptures, p. 335)

Let’s look one-by-one at the post-resurrection appearances where Jesus’ friends failed to recognize him.

Unless otherwise stated, I’ll use the Watchtower’s translation.

Jesus appeared “in another form”

Mark 16:12 (KJV) says that Jesus appeared “in another form” to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

If the Witnesses cite you this verse, ask how it reads in their translation.

It isn’t there.

The Watchtower’s translation states in a footnote that the verses after Mark 16:8 do not appear in the reliable early manuscripts of the Bible.

You can tell the Witnesses, “Since some Bible versions, including the Watchtower version, don’t recognize this passage as belonging in the canon of Scripture, I don’t think we should draw any conclusions from it.”

The Emmaus disciples didn’t recognize him

Luke 24:15-32 is a more detailed account of Jesus’ encounter with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

It’s true that they didn’t initially recognize him.

However, verse 16 says that this was because “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

When Jesus was ready, verse 31 says, “At that their eyes were fully opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from them.”

Ask, “Don’t these verses actually prove that Jesus didn’t materialize in a different body? If he had a different body, why would it be necessary for their eyes to be kept from recognizing him?”

Verse 31 concludes by saying that Jesus disappeared from their sight.

Note that it does not say that he dematerialized.

Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize him in the garden

John 20:14-16 is the account of Mary Magdalene at the tomb:

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

Does this encounter prove that Jesus was appearing in a different body?

Not at all.

Ask, “According to John 20:1, how much light was there when this happened?”

That verse tells us that it was dark.

Also ask, “Given that this happened in a garden in the dark, she was crying, and she thought Jesus was dead, is it any surprise that she would mistake him for the gardener?”

 The disciples who were fishing didn’t recognize him

In John 21:4-7, the risen Lord stood on a shore at daybreak and called to his disciples, who were out fishing in their boat.

It was only after they obtained a huge catch of fish at his instructions that they realized it was Jesus.

Say, “This incident occurred at daybreak, and they were a great distance away, so it’s not surprising that they didn’t immediately recognize him. It is certainly not evidence that he had manufactured a different body.”

You can also ask, “If the disciples’ confusion proves that Jesus materialized in a different body, then, by the same logic, doesn’t that mean that Jesus must also have materialized a different body before he died?

In Mark 6, the disciples on the Sea of Galilee didn’t recognize Jesus at first when they saw him walking on the water.” Of course, no one actually contends that this wasn’t Jesus’ own body, not even the Watchtower.