Luke 24:36-43 (NIV)
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.
Those who had heard the news that Jesus had risen from the dead from reliable witnesses (Mary Magdalene, Peter, Cleopas, and his companion) believed their testimony, believed that Jesus really had risen from the dead. But they believed it in the abstract. But when Jesus suddenly appeared in the room with them, despite the fact that the doors were locked (John 20:19), they abandoned their new-found belief, and thought that they were seeing a ghost!
Jesus was troubled by this lack of acceptance of the truth of His resurrection. After all, He had told them several times exactly how all of this would play out, in enough detail that they should have simply received Him with joy when He showed up very much alive.
But Jesus was also patient and loving with these followers whom He had chosen to bear witness to the reality of the things that they were now seeing. Despite the fact that He had suddenly appeared in the locked room with them (after He had suddenly vanished in Emmaus!), He invited the whole assembly to not just see Him and hear Him, but to actually touch Him so that they would know that His body was not a phantom, but real flesh and bones.
He even showed them the nail holes in His wrists and ankles in an effort to prove that it really was Him in the flesh. But when they were still keeping their distance, joyful at the possibility that this was all true, but at the same time terrified at the sheer miraculousness of it all, He asked for something to eat. They gave Him some broiled fish left over from their supper, and He ate it in front of them, final proof that He was not just a ghost, but had actually risen from the dead.
Father, sometimes we are very much like these disciples. Sometimes we pray for a mighty miracle, but we are filled with a terrified awe when You actually answer and work in the situation in ways that we can’t explain. But still You are patient with us, helping us to receive the miracle and deepen our faith in You and in what You are capable of doing. Thank You for Your power, and thank You just as much for Your love and grace that continue to draw us forward to You. Amen.