He greeted them with words of comfort, He gently rebuked their doubts, and He offered them assurances to strengthen their faith. Can you imagine the chill of horror that would run down your spine if suddenly someone appeared in a closed room where you were standing? They thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then, while they were still discussing all of these strange happenings, the Lord Himself stood in their midst. Maybe they were thinking, “Why would the Lord appear to them? They aren’t even apostles! They must have just seen a vision!” Sometime during that day, the Lord had appeared to Peter, forgiving and restoring him, but the others still had not seen the Lord firsthand, and they still doubted. But the apostles did not at first believe these men (Mark 16:12). Late on that first Sunday, they burst into the room where the disciples were gathered and excitedly told about their encounter with the Lord. Then the Lord appeared to the two men on the road to Emmaus. Peter went away marveling, but not yet believing. Then, Peter and John went and looked into the empty tomb.
First, the women came telling them that the tomb was empty and that they had seen the risen Lord Jesus. Whether to protect ourselves from disappointment or because it happens so rarely, we are prone to disbelieve really good news.Įven so, the disciples were all prone to doubt the reports that Jesus was risen from the dead. Some news seems too good to be true and, usually, it is not true. I probably wouldn’t believe it until the check had cleared my bank, and even then I would often have to pinch myself and say, “It really is true! I really did win all that money!” Even if they rang my doorbell and handed me the check, I would be skeptical. I’ve never had a call telling me that I won a lot of money, but if I did, I wouldn’t believe it. I’m calling to tell you that you have just won our $5 million sweepstakes!” “Yeah, sure!” Click! Cole?” “Yes.” “This is Robert Jones with the Reader’s Digest. “Another telemarketer,” I grumble to myself.
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