Disclaimer: This article reflects on what the apostles were feeling after the death and resurrection of Jesus. I have taken normal human emotions and woven them into a narrative. We don’t know exactly what happened when they were alone, other than what the Bible tells us. The liberties I have taken give us a glimpse into the emotions and the doubts they felt after the crucifixion, and the restored faith of the apostles on Resurrection Sunday.

The Waiting Begins

They had so much faith in Jesus, but now he was dead and they saw their faith as failure. They felt like they had put their faith in an elaborate deception. Or perhaps, they thought, Jesus was just wrong about being the Messiah.

Just last night they celebrated the Passover, commemorating Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They were expecting Jesus to deliver Israel again, this time from Roman rule. Now it no longer felt like deliverance was imminent, and in fact it felt like they were left waiting again. —Excerpted from The Day Faith Felt Like Failure

What Comes Next?

While the men were still grieving and practically paralyzed by their loss, the women went out to the tomb early on the third day to complete the burial process. At this point, the men tried to gather themselves emotionally. They had to determine what all this meant, and they needed to figure out what was next in their lives.

He is Risen!

While they were contemplating all of this, the women suddenly returned. They hadn’t been gone long enough to complete anointing Jesus’ body, so the men wondered what had happened. Perhaps they ran into trouble with the guards and weren’t allowed to anoint the body, or perhaps there was nobody there to roll the stone away for them.

When they finally caught their breath, the story they told was remarkable! They got to the grave and the stone was rolled away and Jesus’ body was missing. But that was not all; an angel had told them Jesus had risen and is alive!

They thought the women were out of their minds, this couldn’t possibly be true. Yet, they wanted to believe it.

They started to remember what Jesus told them about rising from the dead, the miracles, and how he restored life to Lazarus. And finally they remembered the bread and the wine.

The fear, anxiety, and depression they had been feeling since his death quickly turned to stunned disbelief. Hope began to slip in, but they tried to push it aside. They had hope before, and now Jesus was dead and they didn’t want to be disappointed again.

Curiosity got the best of them. Forgetting their emotions for a little while, John and Peter ran to the tomb and saw that the body was indeed gone. They still didn’t know what to make of this; it was hard to believe they would see their teacher again. They went back to the locked room feeling more confused than before.

While they were still processing these events, Jesus suddenly appeared to them in the locked room and said “peace be with you.” The apostles sat in stunned silence; they saw his wounds yet couldn’t believe their eyes. They thought they were seeing a ghost, Jesus repeated, “peace be with you,” and they finally understood and rejoiced!

Their faith had been restored and they had not believed in vain after all. Jesus was the Messiah. Like everyone else, they had misunderstood what the Messiah would be.

Now it was up to them to tell the world all they had seen, and that Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!

If you enjoyed this content please scroll down and comment, subscribe, and share! You can also follow Cross Talk on Facebook by clicking on the link in the sidebar on the Cross Talk home page.