Resurrection: The bizarre but illuminating experience

The gospel of the day stands out for me for one particular line which sums up for me, the whole state of mind of the apostles.

They (the apostles) did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. 

Witnessing the resurrection, or rather the empty tomb, the apostles are now at a very complex mode of understanding.  Amidst all the excitement and tension of the past three days, when things just seem to hit them like an avalanche, the latest awareness of the resurrection of Jesus makes everything so weird. All along they heard Jesus speak and preach, they journeyed along with him, saw all that he did, and now suddenly all of that takes on a totally different meaning and shape.  Every word, deed and interaction is viewed as if totally new - but not for the first time!

The Resurrection of Christ
by Nicolas Bertin

The only immediate analogy that comes to my mind of this state of 're-running the past' in a totally different light and thereby gaining a very different meaning, is the conclusion of the movie 'The sixth sense'.  The bizarre twist at the end of the movie reveals a fact that forces one to review all that one has watched for the past hour.  The strange feeling is 'how come I missed it'!  It was there all along, but I never really saw it. I did not even imagine it as per this new fact that is revealed.  The earlier viewing is not nonsensical or illogical.  It looks good in itself.  But with the fresh insight, the whole of it gains a totally different meaning.  Now that's a feeling after watching something just for 90 minutes.  Imagine what it would be re-running 3 full years of one's past life! Then there is also all that one has learnt about one's religion since birth!

This experience is like how one single thought can put a whole complex theory into a neat clear picture.  Once you see the whole picture, you wonder how come you did not see it, until you have the latest insight.  The Gospels do not explain the resurrection; it is resurrection that explains the Gospels!