Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:5

"and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve;" — 1 Corinthians 15:5 (ASV)

That he was seen of Cephas.—From the indications of sequence given here, we may conclude that the appearances grouped together here are arranged in chronological order. We have these appearances:

1. To Cephas .
2. To the Twelve—the phrase “the Twelve” is used to indicate not the number of those present, but the group to which they belonged (as “Decemviri” or “Hebdomadal Council” might be used, not to express the exact number but the corporate body)—(John 20:19). This was probably the appearance to the ten Apostles and is distinguished from a subsequent appearance to “all the Apostles.”
3. To over five hundred brethren at once. This must have been in Galilee, for at a later date the Church at Jerusalem consisted of only one hundred and twenty disciples (see Matthew 28:16-17, and Acts 1:15).
4. To James. This appearance is recorded only here and in the Gospel of the Hebrews, which is quoted by St. Jerome: “But the Lord, when He had given the sindôn” (the same word as that for the “linen garment,” in Mark 14:51) “to the servant of the priest, had a table brought out, and bread on it, which He blessed and gave to James, saying, ‘Eat your bread now, brother, since the Son of Man has risen from the dead;’ for James had sworn that he would not eat bread from the hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord until he should see Him rising from the dead.”
5. To all the Apostles, Thomas being present (John 20:26).
6. To St. Paul himself (Acts 9:5).

St. Paul appeals to these facts. Most of those who saw Him were still alive when Paul wrote, and their enemies were also alive to dispute the testimony if they could.

The witnesses had nothing to gain and everything to lose by telling the truth. The evidence was set forth some twenty-five or thirty years after the alleged facts occurred.

The Apostle here maintains the truth of an historical fact. He appeals solely to historical proof, accumulating a mass of historical testimony which, in any other matter of history, if produced so shortly after the occurrence, would be deemed overwhelming.