They were startled and terrified at the sudden appearing of Jesus in their midst. They thought they were seeing a ghost. The chaos that descended upon the camp of the disciples upon the arrest and prosecution of Jesus did not lessen with the news of Jesus’ resurrection. It appears that the post-resurrection appearances that continued to unfold as days went by only served to add fuel to the confusion that engulfed the disciples for they were yet to come to terms with the vents of the recent days. When the two disciples to whom Jesus appeared while en-route to Emmaus (and of whom we heard about in yesterday’s Gospel passage) made their return to Jerusalem, they were met with the seemingly “good news” of the Lord appearing to Simon. And as the two also recounted how the Lord had joined them for the journey and conversed with them, Jesus suddenly appeared and stood in their midst. While one would have expected the the house to erupt in cries of jubilation, such was not the case. The apparent joy and excitement that had pervaded the room was replaced with fear even as questions and doubts arose in the hearts of the disciples. Instead of Jesus being overwhelmed with hugs and embraces from his friends, he was met with gazes and blank stares. It took reassurances from Jesus to slowly restore calm in the house. Even so, amazement and questions still abounded. Why was it taking long for the disciples to wrap their heads around Jesus’ resurrection?
Jesus’ resurrection was not a one-time event, and certainly coming to believe in it had to take place in stages. Jesus’ immediate followers had been with him from the time he embarked on his public ministry. They had heard him preach and witnessed the mighty acts God wrought through him. If there was any group that should have been at the forefront of understanding the “recent events that took place in Jerusalem,” it certainly had to be this group. However, they were yet to connect the events with what Jesus had told them regarding himself because they had not passed through that portal of Jesus’ resurrection. Their minds had still to be “opened” in order to comprehend the resurrection of Jesus. In other words, they were yet to experience their own resurrection. It was only through their own “resurrections” that they could come to understand Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus had to resurrect in them.