They were startled and terrified at the sudden appearing of Jesus in their midst…They thought they were seeing a ghost. The post-resurrection confusion continues. As we have been reading these past few days, the disciples are yet to come to terms with the post-resurrection events which were unfolding before their very eyes. The two disciples to whom Jesus appeared while on their way to Emmaus (yesterday’s Gospel Reading) are back in Jerusalem and are met with the seemingly “good news” of the risen Lord appearing to Simon. And as the two also begin to recount how the Lord had joined them for the journey and conversed with them, the house suddenly goes into panic at the unannounced appearance of Jesus in their midst. The apparent joy and excitement which had pervaded the room is suddenly replaced with questions and doubts. Instead of Jesus being overwhelmed with hugs and embraces from his friends, he is met with gazes and blank stares. It was not until Jesus assured the disciples that calm slowly returned in the room. Even so, amazement still abounded. Why was this so?
Jesus’ resurrection was not a one-time event, and certainly coming to believe in it had to take place in phases. Jesus’ immediate followers had accompanied him for a couple of years ever since Jesus embarked upon his public ministry. They had heard him preach and witnessed the mighty acts God was working 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. This is because they themselves were yet to pass through that portal of Jesus’ resurrection. Their minds needed to be “opened” in order for them 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.