The women were not only in the wrong place. Their minds were clouded with the wrong thoughts. As much as they loved Jesus, they didn’t expect him to rise from the dead.

The same was true of two disciples headed for Emmaus that same morning. “Jesus came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him.” They told him how they felt cheated: “Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free.”

“You foolish men,” Jesus replied. “So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?” We may listen with a tinge of smug complacency: Look at them! How dumb! Didn’t our Lord tell them he was going to resurrect on the third day?

Are we any different? Don’t we feel sad or get angry when things go wrong? Doesn’t this often change to fear and anxiety? While this is only natural, it is not super-natural.

Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven.”

Christians live with the joy that comes from knowing we are sons and daughters of God. St Paul said: “Make sure that you do not grieve like the other people who have no hope.”

When people today use the word “supernatural”, they use it in a pagan sense, expecting ghosts to appear and bewitch them. Anyone with faith ought to laugh at such fears.

Super means above. There is a world above nature. This supernatural world is not a haunted world. It is a world where all is light and peace. Any Christian still captive to fear deserves the rebuke Jesus had to give his apostles.

When he appeared to them in the Upper Room, they thought they were seeing a ghost. He said, “Why are you so frightened? Look at my hands and feet! Touch me and see for yourselves. A ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.”

Fear means that our faith is weak. Fear means that we still treasure success and comfort in this world above all else. It is not enough to believe that Christ has risen. We must also take to heart the message of the prophet Zechariah: “Do not be afraid. Behold your King is coming!”

This article by Fr. Joe Babendreier first appeared in the Sunday Nation on 24th April 2011.