Resurrection not to be
witnessed by men directly, but to be proclaimed to them by angels.
Accordingly, Hilary (Comment. Matth. cap. ult.) says: "An angel is
therefore the first herald of the Resurrection, that it might be
declared out of obedience to the Father's will."

Reply Obj. 1: The apostles were able to testify to the Resurrection
even by sight, because from the testimony of their own eyes they saw
Christ alive, whom they had known to be dead. But just as man comes
from the hearing of faith to the beatific vision, so did men come to
the sight of the risen Christ through the message already received
from angels.

Reply Obj. 2: Christ's Ascension as to its term wherefrom, was not
above men's common knowledge, but only as to its term whereunto.
Consequently, the disciples were able to behold Christ's Ascension as
to the term wherefrom, that is, according as He was uplifted from the
earth; but they did not behold Him as to the term whereunto, because
they did not see how He was received into heaven. But Christ's
Resurrection transcended common knowledge as to the term wherefrom,
according as His soul returned from hell and His body from the closed
sepulchre; and likewise as to the term whereunto, according as He
attained to the life of glory. Consequently, the Resurrection ought
not to be accomplished so as to be seen by man.

Reply Obj. 3: Lazarus was raised so that he returned to the same life
as before, which life is not beyond man's common ken. Consequently,
there is no parity.
_______________________

THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 55, Art. 3]

Whether Christ Ought to Have Lived Constantly with His Disciples
After the Resurrection?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ ought to have lived constantly
with His Disciples, because He appeared to them after His
Resurrection in order to confirm their faith in the Resurrection, and
to bring them comfort in their disturbed state, according to John
20:20: "The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord." But they
would have been more assured and consoled had He constantly shown
them His presence. Therefore it seems that He ought to have lived
constantly with them.

Obj. 2: Further, Christ rising from the dead did not at once ascend
to heaven, but after forty days, as is narrated in Acts 1:3. But
meanwhile He could have been in no more suitable place than where the
disciples were met together. Therefore it seems that He ought to have
lived with them continually.

O