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This Sunday we will celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. Sin and death were conquered. The victory that the religious leaders and Satan thought they had achieved on Friday was overturned once and for all. Jesus revealed that He had been the One who was victorious on the cross, and the empty tomb was His proof, just as He had told His disciples. And yet, somehow, they had forgotten. Somehow, they were not looking for Him to arise from the dead. Somehow His return had been unexpected. If it was true of those who walked with Him physically for three years, what can the rest of us learn from them?
This was the first time that all of Jesus’ apostles had been back together since the night of His arrest, with the exception of Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) and Thomas (the one called “the doubter”). But others had also more than likely joined them. His mother, Mary, was surely there, as were His brothers at their mother’s prompting. Bear in mind that until that night, His brothers had not believed Him to be the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were probably counted among them, together with others who had traveled with Him. It was a roomful of His closest followers.